Willet with Wings Extended

Here is the full series of my recent Willet encounter at Galveston Island.  After you are around these birds for a while you learn their behavior and can be ready for the action shot.  After they take a bath, they flap their wings to dry them off.  Always a good opportunity to get a shot of their colorful wings, which aren’t evident when they are just walking around.  You would think that they are kind of boring looking until you see them in flight.  They tend to be my go-to shorebird as they always seem to be around and are fairly cooperative, especially when you lay down to shoot them.  They will come within a few feet of you before noticing that you don’t belong on the beach.

Taken with Canon 7D and Canon 500mm F4 IS II mounted on Skimmer ground pod with Wimberley gimbal head.

1/1250 sec @ F4, ISO 400, spot metering, +1/3 exposure compensation

1/1250 sec @ F4, ISO 400, spot metering, +1/3 exposure compensation

1/800 sec @ F4, ISO 400, spot metering, +1/3 exposure compensation