The Bitterns are Back

26th September 2023

Received a message to say that a Bittern had been seen at the Lee Valley Wildlife Discovery Centre so off to try my luck. I didn't arrive at the hide until 12.30pm and by the time I left at 3.30pm there had been three appearances. Sadly the orientation of the hide means that the sun is always in your eyes and the birds are back-lit, although not quite so bad at this time of the year when the sun is still fairly high in the sky.

There were two birds present although never simultaneously and the first sequence of photos are all of the same bird.

The next sequence is of the second bird.

I have prepared a composite of the two birds to aid comparison.

The bird above is an adult and has a black crown and moustachial stripe. The bird below is a juvenile with a brown crown and moustachial stripe, also paler wing coverts in fact a paler appearance overall. Let's hope more arrive.

Also nice to meet Rebekah Weatherhead.