Bittern - Botaurus stellaris
Canon 800mm f7.1 for 1/800th @ iso400
When Christmas is out of the way and the evenings and mornings start to get a lighter and the temperatures start to drop and the ponds ice over is a good time to see the elusive Bittern at Moore Nature Reserve.
The arrival of the Bittern to the reserve is an annual event one or two or maybe more on a good year settle into the reedbeds for a month or two.
Not an easy photographic subject - often long waits and the bird is not one to announce it's presence and despite it's size it can move through the reedbeds with minimal or no movement of the reeds around it.
On cold sub zero days a wait of a couple of hours can pay off - a sharp crack of a branch when the Bittern is on the move or the almost imperceptible movement of a reed head laden in ice can you provide you with at least of glimmer of hope that a Bittern may be on the move and about to cross the frozen lake between reedbeds.
Although equally the bird can move off deeper into the reedbed... all part of the "game".
The Eastern Reedbed as the name suggests is at the far eastern end of the reserve - and that easterly wind carrying cold air can be bitter and no matter how many layers of clothing eventually the cold finds a way through and once it does its time to go home for coffee.
When Christmas is out of the way and the evenings and mornings start to get a lighter and the temperatures start to drop and the ponds ice over is a good time to see the elusive Bittern at Moore Nature Reserve.
The arrival of the Bittern to the reserve is an annual event one or two or maybe more on a good year settle into the reedbeds for a month or two.
Not an easy photographic subject - often long waits and the bird is not one to announce it's presence and despite it's size it can move through the reedbeds with minimal or no movement of the reeds around it.
On cold sub zero days a wait of a couple of hours can pay off - a sharp crack of a branch when the Bittern is on the move or the almost imperceptible movement of a reed head laden in ice can you provide you with at least of glimmer of hope that a Bittern may be on the move and about to cross the frozen lake between reedbeds.
Although equally the bird can move off deeper into the reedbed... all part of the "game".
The Eastern Reedbed as the name suggests is at the far eastern end of the reserve - and that easterly wind carrying cold air can be bitter and no matter how many layers of clothing eventually the cold finds a way through and once it does its time to go home for coffee.