Tuning up the Willet Eyes

It's the big national holiday weekend, which means the motorboat amateur hour will be in full swing on any water deep enough for a propeller. I head, early enough, to my local marsh.

The sky is hazy with forest fire smoke, but it isn't too bad. The weather is all around good, and the tide will peak in an hour or so. I set out from the NWR launch, so as to not have to deal with motorboat launch mayhem at my usual spot upstream.

Willet

There are several people getting started as well. But, with the tide nearing high, there are dozens of places where I can disappear and paddle alone. I spend the next two hours crisscrossing the interior. I spot three Black Crowned Night Herons and one Harrier - everything else counts higher. Yellow Crowned Night Herons are common enough that there seems to be at least two in sight at any time. Willets seem more numerous than I remember, but only out in the center of the marsh where there are better nesting areas. It may be that they are just particularly aggressive right now with either eggs or new hatchlings on their nests. Willets are sentinel birds, so they come out and harass intruders and make a lot of noise. During the trip, I see them chase off and Osprey, and a Great Blue Heron, and myself. I note to myself that my "Willet eyes" are not in tune, yet, as I keep flushing them before seeing them. If they hold still with their wings folded, they can be tough to pick out against the swamp mud and spartina.