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Project Noah Nature School
Catoptrophorus semipalmatus
These were taken on a foggy, horrible-lighting day...sorry about the poor quality! There were several Marbled Godwits & Greater Yellowlegs poking around in this brackish pond, and this Willet. He (it) tried for about 15 minutes to eat a fish that was much too big to swallow. I've never seen a shorebird like that even try to eat a fish!
Spotted on Sep 11, 2011
Submitted on Sep 15, 2011
7 Comments
Nice series, with 4th quick shot,
You're very welcome.
Excellent group - well done!
Thanks to you too, annorion, we must've been writing at the same time. But I'm sure now that it's a NON-breeding adult. I'm going by my pictures, and "The Sibley Guide to Birds", which shows two distinctly different races, Eastern & Western. The Eastern in breeding plumage is brownish mostly, while the Western is Gray, as my photos testify to. In fact, I'll post a set from Feb. & July so you and everyone can see the difference. Thanks again!
Yes! I do believe you're correct. I only started photographing, and paying any attention to, birds since Feb., so even though I've photographed & I.D.'d over 120 birds so far, I haven't seen a whole years cycle of plumage for any of them. We do have Willets here in Summer, and I just went back and reviewed some pics I took in July, and compared them to the ones I took in Feb. Big difference! In breeding plumage they are much grayer and plain-looking than in non-breeding plumage, which is what this has to be. And I had dismissed that possibility already!! Thanks very much, Sarah!!
I agree with Sarah it looks alot like the breeding adult pictured here http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Wille...
I think it is a willet. Check out
http://identify.whatbird.com/obj/217/_/W...
It shouldn't be there in summer. I'm just not sure if you're far enough north that the birds may have already started to move.