Motif, Open Bill – Willet, Canaveral National Seashore

November 20, 2004 at Playalinda Beach and you can still go in the water; Florida is wonderful. While not frolicking in the surf, I positioned myself on the sand and low to the ground with the sun at my back to catch the passer-bys that afternoon.

This willet had downed a large morsel about 15 minutes before this shot. He stayed in the same area all the time, first working that morsel down the throat and then appearing to me at least to be in some distress about it. This shot was as he readied to regurgitate the digested morsel. I snapped it and then the camera decided to focus on the water behind him or her. By the time I refocused it was too late and I had missed the discharge.

However I did capture this nice open bill image, water drops and all. This is full frame w/o cropping. Thanks for looking. Comments welcome.


© 2005 Robert J. Amoruso, Wildscape Images


Shooting Details
Canon 1DMKII
600mm (300mm f/5.6 IS with 2x converter, Canon Lens)
1/1250 sec, f/11
Mode: Av
Metering: Evaluative
Exp comp: -1
ISO: 250
AF mode: AI Servo AF