American Bitterns are known for being hard to spot, standing motionless in among camouflaging vegetation. At the end of January one had been spotted multiple times at the edge of a swamp I frequent, always near sundown making it even harder to see in the low light.

On a recent visit to the swamp I had been scanning this area as the sun illuminated it and saw nothing. I walked away to check out the corner and when I returned about 5 minutes later the sun was gone but there he was!

I don’t know if he flew or walked out into the open. I turned away for another minute or two and he had moved closer to me, nicely tucked behind some dead vines.

Taken February 8, 2019.