{"id":5417,"date":"2012-07-29T13:12:45","date_gmt":"2012-07-29T19:12:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=5417"},"modified":"2026-10-26T16:15:40","modified_gmt":"2026-10-26T21:15:40","slug":"prairie-willets-in-beaverhead-county-montana","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/07\/29\/prairie-willets-in-beaverhead-county-montana\/","title":{"rendered":"Prairie Willets in Beaverhead County, Montana"},"content":{"rendered":"

These images were taken at Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge<\/span><\/a> in southwestern Montana. There were two juvenile Prairie Willets plus an adult on the shoreline of the Lower Lake that delighted me.<\/p>\n

\"JuvenileJuvenile Prairie Willets on a lake shore – Nikon D300, f6.3, 1\/1250, ISO 400, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 357mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I have a fondness for shorebirds because\u00a0their beauty and abundance\u00a0were\u00a0part of the reason\u00a0why I got hooked (addicted) to bird photography while I lived in Florida and I’m glad that I still get to see and photograph them in the western U.S.<\/p>\n

\"PrairiePrairie Willet adult with a headturn in Montana – Nikon D300, f7.1, 1\/1250, ISO 400, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 357mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

These Prairie Willets were very relaxed, this juvenile often tucked its bill under the feathers on its back and dozed, while the adult took a very long bath.<\/p>\n

\"JuvenileJuvenile Prairie Willet wing lift – Nikon D300, f7.1, 1\/1250, ISO 400, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 357mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

The juvenile didn’t bathe but it would fluff up and stretch now and then which showed off the striking pattern of the underside of the wings.<\/p>\n

\"JuvenileJuvenile Prairie Willet stretching a wing – Nikon D300, f7.1, 1\/1600, ISO 400, -0.3 EV, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 328mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

And the top of the wing too.<\/p>\n

\"CallingCalling adult Prairie Willet at Red Rock Lakes – Nikon D300, f7.1, 1\/1000, ISO 400, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x Tc at 357mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

The adult Prairie Willet called several times while I was photographing the birds. After having seen a Peregrine Falcon in the area I wondered if the adult might have spotted the falcon but it soon went back to bathing and foraging along the shoreline.<\/p>\n

\"BathingBathing adult Prairie Willet – Nikon D300, f7.1, 1\/1000, ISO 400, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 357mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

What can I say about this image of the adult willet? I LOVE those ripples!<\/p>\n

\"JuvenileJuvenile Prairie Willet in the shallows – Nikon D300, f7.1, 1\/1600, ISO 400, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

The juvenile willet’s plumage was soft and beautiful. I like how well this image shows it off.<\/p>\n

It won’t be all that long before the Prairie Willets will begin their migration south but I know that next spring they will be back again to delight me.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Prairie Willet photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n

Update<\/strong>: Willets were split into two species in October 2026, Eastern willets are now Saltmarsh Willets, Tringa semipalmata<\/em>. Western willets are now Prairie Willets, Tringa inornata<\/em>. This post has been updated to reflect those changes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

These images were taken at Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge in southwestern Montana. There were two juvenile Prairie Willets plus an adult on the shoreline of the lower lake that delighted me.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":163526,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1513,27,12,17616,608],"tags":[4004,4373,4072,4067,4071,5178,11483,11484,11385,1053,17618,274,3964,2315,17617,5434,3996,4047,4748,5079,4135,4193],"class_list":["post-5417","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-beaverhead-county-montana","category-avian","category-montana","category-prairie-willets","category-red-rock-lakes-national-wildlife-refuge","tag-adult","tag-bathing","tag-calling","tag-immature","tag-juvenile","tag-lake","tag-lake-shore","tag-lakeshore","tag-lakeside","tag-plumage","tag-prairie-willet","tag-shorebirds-2","tag-stretching","tag-summer-3","tag-tringa-inornata","tag-valley","tag-water","tag-willet","tag-willets","tag-wing","tag-wing-lift","tag-young"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t