Ledge Road, Horicon National Wildlife Refuge, near Mayville, Wisconsin

Lebi09144184

These guys are masters of camouflage! Not only are they cryptically colored, but they also point their heads up and sway in the wind like the grass they're hiding in!

Suffolk County, NY

just a record shot of Bittern in flight, I need much higher shutter speed than my camera can produce to get a clean image

First shots with my new toy....a Sony a6000. I'm very pleased with it thus far!

Digiscoped.

Just for my European friends who were asking - yup, they're just the same!

Botaurus stellaris.....Bittern at Minsmere Nature Reserve, Suffolk, England

Nikon D7100, Nikon 500mm afs vr, + Nikon 1.4 t/c.

Ham Wall, Somerset.

Zmudowski Beach State Park, Moss Landing, CA

© Brian E Kushner

Nikon D4, Nikon 600 F/4 VRII, Nikon TC-17E II

yellow bittern (Ixobrychus sinensis)

@ LH

Whalon Lake Forest Preserve, DuPage County, IL

Green Cay

I just love it when the birds pose for me. That is exactly what this American Bittern did when I pointed the camera at him.

Best viewed large on black.

no need to burn the background, nature provided the perfect light.

Digiscoped.

Bittern in flight

Phinizy Swamp, Augusta, GA

Yellow bittern (Ixobrychus sinensis)

American Bittern at Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary, Florida

Three of the bitterns from Ham Wall. I like that they are set in the Spring landscape of woods and reeds of the Marshes of the Somerset Levels.

sorry for another bittern.

Oso Flaco Lake, Guadaluoe, CA

Bittern Blast Part One: Least Bittern hunting bait fish in morning light on Horsepen Bayou.

Explored #360

© Brian E Kushner

Nikon D7000, Nikon 200-400 F/4 VRII

An American Bittern is part of the heron family. Seeing one here is a sure sign of spring. They will be gone come summer. Generally reclusive, it's rare to see one out in the open such as here.

Best on black.

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Do Not copy or use this image in any way without my explicit written permission.

All rights reserved © 2015 G. R. Hensen

Far Ings Nature Reserve, Lincolnshire, England

I've been really lucky to have some nice views of these splendid birds.

And have a great deal of nice shots and vid clips. So it's a bit hard to choose which to post......and having literally hundreds of shots.......I haven't had time to go through them all.

So as not to over do them.......I'll do another post later in the week with another vid clip too.

Bittern at Minsmere Nature reserve...ok this is definitely the last upload of Bittern taken last March!

This American Bittern was preening and posing near the Cypress Forest at Green Cay yesterday morning. It then took off and flew across the boardwalk to land in the bullrushes on the side of the pond.

Best viewed large on black.

I was informed this was a female?

Bittern at Ham Wall from the new Avalon Hide – Sadly one of only a few in focus images, but a fun entertaining afternoon with friends, and amazing bird activity.

Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge

Chambers County, Texas

American bittern inhabits grassy habitat where voles, and leopard frogs abound.

The Yellow Bittern (Ixobrychus sinensis) is a small bittern. It is of Old World origins, breeding in much of the Indian Subcontinent, east to Japan and Indonesia. It is mainly resident, but some northern birds migrate short distances. It has been recorded as a vagrant in Alaska and there is a single record from Britain, from Radipole Lake, Dorset on November 23, 1962 - however, the BOU have always considered this occurrence to be of uncertain provenance and currently it is not accepted onto the official British List.

This is a small species at 38 cm length, with a short neck and longish bill. The male is uniformly dull yellow above and buff below. The head and neck are chestnut, with a black crown.

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Caught in the act of downing a salamander.

Marble Hot Springs, CA - 06/15/13