I was shopping in the area Wednesday, so I stopped by the West Lebanon Wetlands to see if I could spot the Least Bittern pair that have been raising their young at one of the “Cranberry Ponds” again this year. This was my third trip in 2020; all were triggered by grocery or hardware needs. During my first trip in June, I was lucky to find a bittern fairly close. On my second trip, I got some photos of the bitterns flying, but they were quite far away.
When I arrived on Wednesday, there were two women with binoculars studying the area where a bittern had disappeared in the phragmites far across the pond. I set up over to the side, not the spot I favor when I am alone. After a short while I noticed some movement in the reeds just below me a few yards away. Sure enough, it was a bittern. It was very close, but it could barely be seen because of the dense reeds. I managed to maneuver a bit to get a couple of shots of his head. One is at the top of this blog.
That bittern flew into the reeds to the left and disappeared. So that is where I then placed my attention. About 20 minutes after I arrived, the bittern reappeared.
Almost immediately it flew toward us and landed on a tree stump, one of the few that remain.
It stayed on the stump for 4 minutes, then it flew to a second stump even closer to me. Only one of the birders remained at this point.
It stayed on that stump for six minutes looking right and left at the water searching for a fish to grab. Meanwhile, my good friend and great photographer Marc arrived. It took him almost no time to grab a camera and start shooting.
Eventually the bittern stretched its neck out over the pond and dove into the water. It grabbed a fish by its tail and returned to the stump. Here is a 12-photo sequence of the action.
Once back on the jagged stump, it maneuvered the fish to a position aligned with its bill and swallowed it.
David read this blog and asked the listserv what species of fish it was. Several replied, “Banded Killifish”. I uploaded a highly cropped photo to iNaturalist to check. Yes, that seems to be correct. Here is my “Observation ” on iNaturalist.
After its morning snack, the bittern flew to the back left reeds and perched.
Over the next minute it moved around a bit.
But soon it leaped deeper into the reeds and disappeared.
Not much happened for 20 minutes until a female Wood Duck swam across the far side of the pond.
I managed to get a shot of the Wood Duck with the bittern that had been hanging out far across the pond.
I spent 70 minutes there. My good friend Marc showed up after also shopping in the area. He only stayed for about 10 minutes because he did want the frozen food in his car to thaw. Those were absolutely the best 10 minutes of my 70 minutes. He got to see the bittern sitting on the second stump, catch, and swallow the fish.
Marc got very lucky Wednesday. He gets fantastic nature photos without relying on luck, but instead on his incredible patience. He works hard and spends a lot of time in the field. If you’d like to see some of his recent photos, you can click these links for peregrine falcons and great blue herons.