NOTE: THIS TEXT WILL NEED TO BE ALTERED AS I JUST REALIZED THAT IT IS A GREEN HERON. ![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhz8WBgbzHqyjgo9fYRPzoy6oxiPxKBYEHA33eMsW6Ly149205o47BEK8Qt100tlSS3Hy2q-fgY23F3G-YNYN_ajUn7rKyZMcWbaNyYXQ6CWDhq2gbU8FXgUKPwhT5T4MZwJC-mY_g2uTvy/s320/bittern5+signed.jpg)
In early Summer, I often heard the strange gulping/gurgling sound at Long Pond. It sounded like a boot had just been plucked from the mud, very strange. I thought it must be a bird because it consistently happened about every 5 minutes. I had no idea what it was. When I ran into another birder at Kent's Pond, I described the sound and he identified the bird as an American Bittern. I researched the bird and armed with an idea of what it looked like, I returned to Long Pond. Try as I might, I could hear it and narrow in on its location, but I could never see it. Then the bird went away. I figured I had lost all chance of seeing an American Bittern this year.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhz8WBgbzHqyjgo9fYRPzoy6oxiPxKBYEHA33eMsW6Ly149205o47BEK8Qt100tlSS3Hy2q-fgY23F3G-YNYN_ajUn7rKyZMcWbaNyYXQ6CWDhq2gbU8FXgUKPwhT5T4MZwJC-mY_g2uTvy/s320/bittern5+signed.jpg)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheDWsQ7esmyHxbNQRQJX1yegm-Mwluo35VA41LTLL5-K2jk2H0BymrYdVs6JpDZJbLhgWTHLCBpZ2TeDb51VfpCJ2zaAhOLVE1jeuKcrd3EmogkvQ6MnwyGsrUGGhraNnXqLMa1FK8JzZj/s320/bittern3+signed.jpg)
Well, that was not the case. While in Eureka Springs, Arkansas waiting for a tour boat, I spotted this American Bittern sitting in a tree. It was extremely cooperative, probably because it had two young Bitterns in the area. The American Bittern is typically a migratory bird in Arkansas but this one stayed to breed in the area.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe_fKZIgNk91P8fLDcQz2xLXjLKgdYZoii285RDm_6hbruf-xzlHxIJH48B2JpnMWhGLDm-SGX6-KPglhXP25Qp7QYWHbhyq8gt4uXnNbnIKm78ycEl0hBTGhS-ECKgSspKVYN6TRN3SWp/s320/bittern6+signed.jpg)
When I was comparing these pictures of the Bittern with other images in the Field Guides and the Internet, I found some discrepancies. Then I began to compare it to the Green Heron, another wading bird. There were striking similarities between the American Bittern and the juvenile Green Heron. I began to doubt my identification of this bird. However, I kept searching the Internet and confirmed that this, indeed, is an American Bittern.
No comments:
Post a Comment