The Willet

I am extremely happy with the image of the Willet and the way his wing coloring was captured. My goal was to capture the uniqueness of the Willet that you only see while its flying. Otherwise, the Willet’s brown drab coloring is perfect for its environment and acts as natural camouflage. Plus I got the, “Two for the price of one!” special deal and got his reflection off the still waters of Oyster Bay. I am so glad that his reflection was captured too.

This image is not colorful like a sunrise image nor does it document a dramatic scene. Its just a picture of a drab colored bird flying against a gray background and its reflection off still waters. Photography has the ability to evoke strong emotional responses. I look at this image and I know exactly where, when and what I was doing when this bird flew by. Luckily, these are good memories and feelings and it brings a deep sense of happiness. Sometimes we are not so fortunate in the response we get when we look at an image. That is the power of photography.

This Willet would always randomly come back and do his Willet call on the pole after that, until our vacation ended. Just like he did before I snapped this image. That’s life and we just go about doing our thing. I am thankful that my passion allows me to record moments like the one above. For some pictures captured it’s not just an image, it’s a memory. And they will always be worth far more than just a mere thousand words.

It was a magical day on Chincoteague Island. It was also a rare day on the island too. There was no breeze blowing and everything was still. The sun was being filtered by a layer of high opaque cloud cover and it was giving off light and yet no shadows were being cast. This weather was a continuation from the morning sunrise, which had been spectacular and memorable for the colors.

Between the house we were staying in and the next house over to our left is several acres of undeveloped marsh. It is both a bird lovers and photographer’s dream home. The sunrises on Oyster Bay are always worth the trip just by themselves, but to be this close to an untouched part of the island was a deal changer. Waterfowl birds of all types would use the area. Herons, egrets, ibises, terns, ducks, Canadian Geese and all kinds of small songbirds came and went all day long into this area to feed in the small pools.

This month’s featured image is of a shorebird, called the Willet. This male would come and perch on a pole in the cove at the mouth of the marsh and sing his song of territory ownership. Willets have very strong voices and their calls can be heard over long distances. It really isn’t the most pleasant one to listen to for extended periods of time though, in my opinion.

This male had just finished his semi-regular performance at this pole and decided to head south and fly off over Oyster Bay, staying close to the shoreline. I was up on the second story balcony doing nothing of great importance (that’s what vacations are for, right?) except enjoying that unique moment of place and time, and trying to capture some images when the opportunity arose. As he was flying by I aimed the camera down and captured this image.

This image has been added to the PRINTS gallery.