{"id":5402,"date":"2012-07-26T05:36:14","date_gmt":"2012-07-26T11:36:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=5402"},"modified":"2025-11-11T13:07:49","modified_gmt":"2025-11-11T19:07:49","slug":"willet-boreal-bluet-damselfly","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/07\/26\/willet-boreal-bluet-damselfly\/","title":{"rendered":"Willet and Boreal Bluet Damselfly"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"JuvenileJuvenile Willet and damselfly – Nikon D300, f7.1, 1\/1250, ISO 400, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

On the first day of my recent trip to southwestern Montana I came across two Willets near a lake shore, one was an adult and one was a juvenile.<\/p>\n

There were plenty of bugs around, the horse flies bit me up pretty good and they even made me miss a few shots because I had to keep swatting them off of my skin.<\/p>\n

There were insects that the Willets were hunting and eating, primarily they seemed to be focused on dragonfly and damselfly nymphs.<\/p>\n

I thought this image of the juvenile Willet and\u00a0a Boreal Bluet<\/span><\/a> (Enallagma boreale<\/em>) damselfly was interesting, although it appears the shorebird is attempting to catch the damselfly.<\/p>\n

I believe the bluet was just flying by as the Willet searched for food in the water.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Willet photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On the first day of my recent trip to southwestern Montana I came across two Willets (Tringa semipalmata) near a lake shore, one was an adult and one was a juvenile.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":163507,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1513,223,12,608,308],"tags":[4436,415,11486,1701,11485,4437,4067,4071,5178,11385,615,992,2315,4168,3996,4047,4748,4193],"class_list":["post-5402","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-beaverhead-county-montana","category-centennial-valley","category-montana","category-red-rock-lakes-national-wildlife-refuge","category-willets","tag-boreal-bluet","tag-damselfly","tag-damselfly-nymphs","tag-darning-needle","tag-dragonfly-nymphs","tag-enallagma-boreale","tag-immature","tag-juvenile","tag-lake","tag-lakeside","tag-lower-lake","tag-sandpipers","tag-summer-3","tag-tringa-semipalmata","tag-water","tag-willet","tag-willets","tag-young"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/willet-juvenile-damselfly-mia-mcpherson-1115.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-1p8","jetpack_sharing_enabled":false,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":138985,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2025\/01\/27\/willet-and-the-gulf-of-mexico\/","url_meta":{"origin":5402,"position":0},"title":"Willet And The Gulf Of Mexico","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 27, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"I dug way back into my archives for this photo of a Willet with waves rolling in from the Gulf of Mexico, taken in 2008 at Fort De Soto County Park in Florida.","rel":"","context":"In "Florida"","block_context":{"text":"Florida","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/florida\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Willet with waves coming in from the Gulf of Mexico, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/willet-gulf-of-mexico-mia-mcpherson-8966.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/willet-gulf-of-mexico-mia-mcpherson-8966.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/willet-gulf-of-mexico-mia-mcpherson-8966.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/willet-gulf-of-mexico-mia-mcpherson-8966.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":8533,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/06\/07\/juvenile-willet-looking-for-prey\/","url_meta":{"origin":5402,"position":1},"title":"Juvenile Willet looking for prey","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"June 7, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"It won't be long before I start seeing juvenile Willets that are about the size of the one pictured here.","rel":"","context":"In "Beaverhead County"","block_context":{"text":"Beaverhead County","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/montana\/beaverhead-county-montana\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Juvenile Willet on the shore of the Lower Lake, Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge, Montana","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/willet-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-2488.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/willet-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-2488.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/willet-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-2488.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/willet-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-2488.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5417,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/07\/29\/willets-in-beaverhead-county-montana\/","url_meta":{"origin":5402,"position":2},"title":"Willets in Beaverhead County, Montana","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 29, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"These images were taken at Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge in southwestern Montana. There were two juvenile Willets plus an adult on the shoreline of the lower lake that delighted me.","rel":"","context":"In "Beaverhead County"","block_context":{"text":"Beaverhead County","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/montana\/beaverhead-county-montana\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Juvenile Willet stretching a wing at the Lower Lake of Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge, Montana","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/willet-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-1383.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/willet-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-1383.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/willet-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-1383.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/willet-adult-landing-mia-mcpherson-8241.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/willet-adult-landing-mia-mcpherson-8241.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/willet-adult-landing-mia-mcpherson-8241.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/willet-adult-landing-mia-mcpherson-8241.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":6294,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/10\/07\/eastern-and-western-willets-in-breeding-plumage\/","url_meta":{"origin":5402,"position":4},"title":"Eastern And Western Willets In Breeding Plumage","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 7, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"I've had the good fortune to photograph both the eastern and western Willets in breeding plumage, the eastern in Florida and the western in Utah and Montana.","rel":"","context":"In "Antelope Island State Park"","block_context":{"text":"Antelope Island State Park","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/antelope-island-state-park\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Eastern Willet in breeding plumage, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/willet-eastern-breeding-mia-mcpherson-7007.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/willet-eastern-breeding-mia-mcpherson-7007.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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