ML480624961

Age

Not specified

Sex

Not specified

Observation details

Digiscope photos. As I approached the beach, I spotted this large shorebird at the edge of the water. In silhouette, and from a distance, I expected it to be a Greater Yellowlegs, but when I looked through my binoculars, I immediately recognized it as a Willet. The first thing that caught my eye was the bill, being much deeper than that of a Greater Yellowlegs, both at the base and along the entire length. The bill also struck me as being straighter and less upturned, and blacker/much darker in coloration than a yellowlegs. I quickly ran back up to my car to get my phone to digiscope some photos. After watching the bird for over 20 mins, I saw it make two short flights, revealing the striking white and black wing pattern. It worked its way northward, foraging along the shore, then circled back to the south of me. After ~45mins, it flew out to the island, and was seen on the island, then just off the south side of the island. I was very impressed. This is the first time I’ve found this species in Addison County (or VT for that matter), despite hoping to find one for several years. There are only 6 previous eBird records for this species in Addison County, and only one since 1998. Not surprisingly, the bird appeared to be a “Western” Willet, being paler in overall color, with white-ish breast, and longer-billed than “Eastern”. As an additional note, I returned to this site briefly on each of the following two days, but did not re-locate this bird. On the first of these days, a hunter was set up on the island.

Technical information

Model

iPhone 13

Lens

iPhone 13 back dual wide camera 5.1mm f/1.6

ISO

125

Focal length

5.1 mm

Flash

Flash did not fire

f-stop

f/1.6

Shutter speed

1/65 sec

Dimensions

4032 pixels x 3024 pixels

Original file size

2.11 MB