Bittern at WWT Barnes.

So here is the scenario which I'm sure many of us have experienced. You enter a bird hide and one or more of the occupants says "There's a Bittern out here" (inwardly I think great ... that's one of the reasons why I came here today) and then one of two options ... either you are left to scan everywhere or you are given some sort of directions ... such as "It's in the reeds, over there on the right".

So above is the general view that greeted me out of a hide window at W.W.T. Barnes today and a similar greeting (as detailed above) from another visitor, who then waited a few moments before adding "Have you found it?". Well for anyone who knows what a Bittern looks like (it is  one of the ultimate camouflage species) you then scan the reed margins for a slightly darker shape that is usually absolutely stationary within the similarly coloured reed stems.

It didn't take me long to locate my quarry but the dull overcast conditions and distance were far from ideal for my set up but I'll share these 'record' shots (heavily cropped) just to show how difficult this species can be to locate for the inexperienced. 

One day I'll capture one out in the open on a nice sunny day ... lol!

Needless to say that when some other visitors joined me in the hide I was more than happy to provide them with far easier instructions in order to locate this winter visitor and one guy was overjoyed to get a close up view through my scope.

Of course there were plenty of other species on view including lots of Northern Lapwings plus a distant view of a single female 'red-headed' Smew.

Male Gadwall (Anas strepera)
For more information on this species, please CLICK here.

Northern Shoveler (Anas clypeata).

Well at least a couple of ducks came close enough for the lens before the dark clouds rolled in. The forecast doesn't look particularly promising for the next few days so I may have to revert to looking through some of last years images for the next post.   FAB.

Linking up to WILD BIRD WEDNESDAY.