Willet Sprinting with Crab

We went to Bunche Beach near Fort Myers Beach and were not disappointed. There were many dozens of birds around. I moved into the extended shallow water off the beach with my tripod (carefully--it was quite mucky in places), looking to catch birds reflected against the green foliage in front of me and lit by the low sun behind.

This blip was near the end of perhaps a two minute tussle for this crab--initially caught by another willet (I think) and and then pursued; it disappeared for perhaps 30 seconds, and then this fellow emerged with the crab and raced across in front of me, perfectly lighted and sufficiently reflected. No other willet was pursuing him, weirdly enough, but he raced well to my right and I heaved a sigh of modest triumph :) It's fun to view large.

Willets (Tringa semipalmata--formerly Catoptrophorus semipalmatus) are the commonest large shorebird in this area. They are now in plain non-breeding plumage, in contrast to the more pronounced breeding plumage seen here. In flight they display a vivid wing pattern, seen here in the next image on my web site.