Some more Bitterns

Most of my photography this winter has been spent with me sitting in pretty much the same chair in a hide waiting for Bitterns. On one occasion, I was watching one across a stretch of water when it suddenly erupted out of the reedbed and flew towards the hide into the reeds to the side of the hide.

It was great to see it ruffling out its feathers just before it took off.

I was back in the hide a couple of days after that, and in 7 and a half hours of waiting, I had 1 minute of photography, glad I didn't miss it! I had been watching one from the hide for a while, but it didn't come out until mid-afternoon, when it climbed up the reeds before taking off and flying away from me.

They won't be around much longer, and with this recent warm weather which is forecast to continue, I doubt it will be more than 2 weeks. Hopefully I'll get another chance to photograph them before they go!

Thanks for reading,

Oscar.