American Bittern

This is the third consecutive year my calendar has featured an American bittern. It is the only species to appear three times, but bitterns are so difficult to spot that I cannot resist including them when I manage to get a photo. The three calendar birds are the only three American bitterns I have ever seen! This individual appeared at Beckley Creek Park in mid-October, just barely making my informal cut-off. It was unusually tolerant of people for a normally secretive bittern; hunting daily along the edges of a pond near a heavily traveled path for several weeks, apparently in no particular hurry to reach its winter grounds in the south. Unlike last year’s bittern, which stood still as the headstones of the cemetery in which it landed, this bird was incredibly active, and a voracious eater. Various birders observed it consuming bugs, fish, a frog, a mouse, and even a small turtle. Will the 2025 calendar include a bittern? I would have to guess not, but then again, I would not have predicted any of the last three, either. The future is full of the unexpected, and often that is not a bad thing.