American Bittern

Strolling along the Nisqually national wildlife refuge dike, Erika and I always stay alert for American Bitterns. We don’t see them often, although these herons are reported from the refuge all year. Bitterns are cryptically colored and they often remain motionless while waiting for passing prey—insects, amphibians, crayfish, small mammals and fish (Lowther et al. 2020).  On 9 November 2020, we independently noticed something move in the marsh. When I raised my camera, I couldn’t find the bird. “Its to the right of the dark brown vegetation,” instructed Erika. So I took a photo of the vegetation, which you can see above. Enlarging and cropping the image, I was surprised to have captured the bittern. If you can not see the bird in the second photo, look for the bittern’s eye. These birds can be common, if infrequently seen. Unfortunately, their populations are declining due to loss of wetland habitats across much of the northern United States and southern Canada.