Spot The Bittern Competition

We spent Saturday at Potteric Carr Nature Reserve. Whilst you are quite likely to see lots of interesting wildlife the one bird everyone goes to see at this time of year is the Bittern. We did manage to see one (two in fact) although always at something of a distance. Just to show you how difficult they can be to spot try playing spot the Bittern in this photograph.

If you don't know what a Bittern looks like then the RSPB has some useful drawings. If you still can't see it then I'll give you a hint, it's looking right and has it's head down. When you give up just click the image and you'll get a version where I've ringed the Bittern to make it more obvious.

This was the best view we got of the Bittern, other than a quick glimpse of it flying. A friend of mine actually went and sat in the same hide on Sunday and spent about 45 minutes watching it walk right across the front of the hide just 12 feet in front of him. I guess he was just in the right place at the right time. It would have been nice to get such a good view but we had a great day and would have enjoyed the trip even if we hadn't seen the Bittern at all.