Tringa semipalmata

* Birds Willet

Breeding Willets

July 24, 2021July 23, 2021 Marty Nicolaus 107 Views 3 Comments Tringa semipalmata

The Willet is a familiar sight in the North Basin, but it usually wears a plain coat of gray, as

* Birds Willet

Willet’s Blink

December 29, 2020August 6, 2021 Marty Nicolaus 301 Views 0 Comments Tringa semipalmata

Given the interest in the eye blink of the Great Blue Heron and the Snowy Egret, I thought it would

* Birds Greater Scaup Willet

Winter Scaup

December 12, 2020December 1, 2020 Marty Nicolaus 199 Views 0 Comments Aythya marila, Tringa semipalmata

The thousands of Greater Scaup that visited the North Basin in late October mostly moved on, but a few dozen

* Birds Surf Scoter

Bird Nap

October 12, 2020October 12, 2020 Marty Nicolaus 254 Views 0 Comments Melanitta perspicillata, Tringa semipalmata

It was just before 5 in the afternoon, and you’d expect birds to be up and about getting their evening

* American Coot Birds Black-crowned Night Heron Willet

Saving Breath

September 17, 2020September 20, 2020 Marty Nicolaus 329 Views 0 Comments Fulica americana, Nycticorax nycticorax, Tringa semipalmata

It was 10:30 in the morning already, and plenty of people were up and in the park, so you’d think

* Birds Willet

Restless Leg

July 10, 2020July 10, 2020 Marty Nicolaus 320 Views Tringa semipalmata

Restless leg syndrome is a neurological disorder affecting up to 10 percent of people in the U.S. Also known as

* American Kestrel Birds Spotted Sandpiper Willet

Prettiest Raptor

July 1, 2020July 1, 2020 Marty Nicolaus 435 Views 0 Comments Actitis macularius, Falco sparverius, James Kusz, Tringa semipalmata

Photographer James Kusz had a great walk in the park. He caught a mature Spotted Sandpiper, a pair of Willets,

* Birds Black Turnstone Willet

Morning Ritual

April 2, 2020March 21, 2020 Marty Nicolaus 446 Views 2 Comments Arenaria melanocephala, Tringa semipalmata

This looks like parents and chicks waking up, doing the morning ritual of preening together. In fact these are two

* Birds Willet

Willet’s Main Course

October 5, 2019October 5, 2019 Marty Nicolaus 424 Views 0 Comments Tringa semipalmata

Last week I filmed a Willet having a meal of seaweed salad. That’s unusual for a bird usually classified as

* Birds Willet

Willets Go Veg

September 18, 2019September 15, 2019 Mosey2014 481 Views 1 Comment Tringa semipalmata

The Willet’s normal diet centers on little invertebrates: bugs, shrimp, marine worms, crabs, spiders, mollusks, and also little fish. But

* Birds Issues Mallard Willet

Checking Out the Rip-Rap Job

July 4, 2019July 5, 2019 Mosey2014 472 Views 0 Comments Anas platyrhynchos, rip-rap, Tringa semipalmata

The rip-rap rehab job is over, all but the landscape repair and the tidying up. A rusting bucket from a

* Birds Not BUOW Willet

Willets Awake and Not

February 24, 2019February 17, 2019 Mosey2014 470 Views Tringa semipalmata

Lit by the morning sun, this Willet (Tringa semipalmata) posed like a model, legs artfully crossed, head turned to show

* Birds Willet

A Willet’s Morning Ritual

November 18, 2018June 28, 2021 Mosey2014 792 Views 1 Comment Tringa semipalmata

The rising sun’s slanting rays woke up this Willet in the rip-rap on the east side of the park. Perched

* Birds Black Turnstone Willet

Feathered Fellows

August 5, 2018August 14, 2018 Mosey2014 1057 Views Arenaria melanocephala, Tringa semipalmata

Some birds seem to be very sociable with other species. The Willet is an example. I’ve seen Willets hanging close

* American Coot Birds Black Turnstone Bufflehead Horned Grebe Willet

Siesta Time in Birdland

July 26, 2018July 31, 2018 Mosey2014 1048 Views Arenaria melanocephala, Bucephala albeola, Fulica americana, Podiceps auritus, Tringa semipalmata

The rocks and waters below the Open Circle viewpoint harbored a diverse feathered fellowship this afternoon. I was surprised and

* Birds Black Oystercatcher Snowy Egret Willet

Summer Steadies

July 9, 2018July 31, 2018 Mosey2014 1147 Views Egretta thula, Haematopus bachmani, Tringa semipalmata

The Red-winged Blackbirds, their breeding done, departed about a week after Summer Solstice. They usually leave earlier, but then they

* Birds Marbled Godwit Willet

A Company of Willets

March 22, 2018July 31, 2018 Mosey2014 1324 Views Limosa fedoa, Tringa semipalmata

Down on the rip-rap on the east side of the park, it’s not unusual to see a Willet or two

* American Avocet American Coot American Crow American White Pelican American Wigeon Belted Kingfisher Birds Black Oystercatcher Black Phoebe Black Turnstone Black-bellied Plover Black-crowned Night Heron Black-necked Stilt Brown Pelican Bufflehead Burrowing Owl Canada Goose Clark's Grebe Common Goldeneye Common Loon Double-crested Cormorant Eared Grebe Eurasian Wigeon Featured Video Forster's Tern Great Blue Heron Great Egret Greater Scaup Greater Yellowlegs Horned Grebe Least Sandpiper Long-billed Curlew Mallard Marbled Godwit Mew Gull Northern Pintail Red-throated Loon Ring-billed Gull Ruddy Duck Snowy Egret Spotted Sandpiper Surf Scoter Turkey Vulture Western Grebe Western Gull Whimbrel White-tailed Kite Willet

North Basin: The Video

February 12, 2018May 20, 2020 Mosey2014 2454 Views 2 Comments Actitis macularius, Aechmophorus clarkii, Aechmophorus occidentalis, Anas acuta, Anas platyrhynchos, Ardea alba, Ardea herodias, Arenaria melanocephala, Athene cunicularia, Aythya marila, Branta canadensis, Bucephala albeola, Bucephala clangula, Calidris minutilla, Cathartes aura, Corvus brachyrhynchos, Egretta thula, Elanus leucurus, Fulica americana, Gavia immer, Gavia stellata, Haematopus bachmani, Himantopus mexicanus, Larus canus, Larus delawarensis, Larus occidentalis, Limosa fedoa, Mareca americana, Mareca penelope, Megaceryle alcyon, Melanitta perspicillata, Numenius americanus, Numenius phaeopus, Nycticorax nycticorax, Oxyura jamaicensis, Pelecanus erythrorhynchos, Pelecanus occidentalis, Phalacrocorax auritus, Pluvialis squatarola, Podiceps auritus, Podiceps nigricollis, Recurvirostra americana, Sayornis nigricans, Sterna forsteri, Tringa melanoleuca, Tringa semipalmata

The North Basin is the body of water between Cesar Chavez Park and the Berkeley mainland. When I first started

* Birds Willet

Willets in the Rain

January 5, 2018January 21, 2019 Mosey2014 1337 Views 1 Comment Tringa semipalmata

I’ve long wondered where birds go and what they do in the rain. I got part of the answer this

* Birds Willet

Willet Gets a Big One

December 29, 2017January 21, 2019 Mosey2014 1397 Views 0 Comments Tringa semipalmata

This Willet managed to spear a crab. Compared to human scale this wiggling crustacean is tiny in the extreme. But

* American Coot Black Oystercatcher Brown Pelican Bufflehead Great Blue Heron Mallard Western Gull White-Crowned Sparrow Willet

The Usual Feathered Suspects

November 12, 2017January 21, 2019 Mosey2014 1290 Views 0 Comments Anas platyrhynchos, Ardea herodias, Bucephala albeola, Fulica americana, Haematopus bachmani, Larus occidentalis, Pelecanus occidentalis, Tringa semipalmata, Zonotrichia leucophrys

The big news in the park this past week was the rain. Soon those brown hills will be green. In

* American Coot Birds Brown Pelican Burrowing Owl Double-crested Cormorant Extreme Tides Greater Scaup Maintenance Western Gull Willet

Consolation for No Owls

October 2, 2017February 12, 2019 Mosey2014 1549 Views 0 Comments Athene cunicularia, Aythya marila, Fulica americana, Larus occidentalis, Pelecanus occidentalis, Phalacrocorax auritus, Tringa semipalmata

As a new graduate of the Burrowing Owl Docent Training Program, I knew that these unique birds are crepuscular (most

* Birds Mallard Willet

Sharing a Rock

July 2, 2017January 21, 2019 Mosey2014 1343 Views 0 Comments Anas platyrhynchos, Tringa semipalmata

A green covered rock near the Open Circle promontory this morning served as shared platform for a female Mallard

Birds Black Turnstone Mallard Willet

A Tuesday Walk

February 21, 2017January 21, 2019 Mosey2014 1510 Views 0 Comments Anas platyrhynchos, Arenaria melanocephala, Tringa semipalmata

On our first venture to the park shortly after noon, we saw a group of Mallards making themselves at home

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