Was That a Willet?

 

For the first time in two months, I finally made it out to Antelope Island and the first birds I spotted on the island were the shore birds as American Avocets along with Ring-billed gulls.  Sometimes the Eared Grebes joined them but not for long.

At some point, I noticed the grayish bird with a pointed sharp beak and began to watch this bird.  This unfamiliar bird constantly followed the Avocet and I got the impression that it for some reason wanted to stay close to it. 

There were several moments when an unfamiliar bird made me smile.  The bird decided to climb onto a rock to be noticed, but all its efforts to attract attention were futile.

Aggression to get attention? Or defend the rock as its own territory?

The bird eventually returned back to the rock and continued to watch the avocet.

I watched the unfamiliar bird for a long time; one might say that I dedicated almost all morning to it. The bird was amazing in its behavior.

Unfortunately, I had a difficult time to identify the interesting bird.  I wrote "Willet" in the tags, but I am not sure if this bird is a Western Willet.

Interestingly, that Willets do often hang around with other birds and are not as skittish as some and importantly they are larger than most sandpipers.  Whether was it Willet or not, I leave the question open.

Generally, life is good!