Shy and rarely seen

Go back to the 1970's and one of the totemic birds for bird conservationists was the bittern. Almost lost to the UK they clung on in a few RSPB reserves. I remember Birds, the RSPB magazine, quoting the number of booming males at the few reserves they had them and it being in low single figures. Since then because of sympathetic habitat management and no hunting their numbers have grown and they are present in many large reedbeds in the south of the country. They are however notorious for being tricky to see. They lurk in dense reed beds and are cryptically camouflaged. Even at places where you know they are doing well, such as Lakenheath Fen, a normal view is of one flying over the reeds to drop down and go out of sight.
Minsmere on the Suffolk coast was one of the original reserves where they started to return in numbers and is now becoming a real hotspot for them. I had seen on the interweb that some had been showing "well" from the Island Mere hide. With a break in the dull weather and the promise of a bit of decent light I headed off very early doors. I arrived just after dawn and there was only one other car in the carpark. It was only a short walk to the hide and the misty start to the day was starting to lift. The hide is right on the edge, or virtually in, the main reed bed and should be ideal territory for the bitterns. Seeing them of course would require a lot of luck and no doubt a modicum of patience so I took my lunch with me expecting a long stay.
One other order was already in the hides and all the windows were open.

The hide is next to the mere with its associated ducks and geese and to the side was this area of flattened and burnt reeds. This looked ideal. After a brief chat with the other birder I got my camera set up pointing to the flattened area and poured myself a coffee.
Now the phrase "showing well" can mean many things in the birding world. It can mean "on view but a really long way away" or "really brief views but quite close when it shows". Sometimes it really does mean that it is showing well and today almost immediately turned into one of those days. Checking the time-stamp on my camera I waited 9 minutes for the first bittern to show!

 It climbed into the reeds on the channel opposite us, probably 50 yard away and crossed to the other side of the reed bed. A brief view but I'd classify it as good, especially for a bittern.

For the next 30 minutes we had only brief flight views on it, or another bird, flying over the reeds - much more typical - but the first hour still had 4 separate views. Then it all started to get slightly surreal. The hide was pretty much empty still, only 4 of us by now, and one new arrival commented that he had come because he had never seen a bittern before. He waited about 2 minutes.

Firstly we saw a dark shape in the reeds trying to catch a fish. Again, a very typical view of a bittern and so far only the frequency of views was unusual. Then it decided the fishing wasn't any good so it might as well have a walk.

Right into the open area of reeds finishing barely 20 yards from us before it strolled out of view. A shy, retiring bittern just having a morning stroll around its domain.
Over the next 5 hours that I was in the hide this was pretty much the pattern. We certainly had 4 of them in the reeds near us, probably more and others flying around.

They showed absolutely no fear or nervousness about the hide of people - peaking at I guess 30 people around 10.30am. The windows were all open, cameras were pointing out, motor drives going mad and people getting pretty excited with ooh's and aah's. The bitterns just carried on and ignored us.

Talking to the RSPB volunteers they think there are 40 birds on the reserve and 12 nests this year. A really healthy population. There are 4 or 5 who have become used to the people in the hide and put on this display most days.

The only down side was that whilst I was there they had no success in catching any fish, despite trying hard and stalking around the margins of the reeds and the pools. The light was pretty good though and really showed off the finery of their plumage.

After lunch the hide thinned out of people but the birds kept up their appearances. I dragged myself away about 2 but I know I'll be back. I still want to see them catch something and there are also otters around. All for another day though. Rare, shy, hard to see? I don't think so!!!!!