Have you ever been Bittern by a bitten?

I was visiting Linda's family over the weekend and took the opportunity to rush along to Marsworth/Wilstone area to see if I could strike lucky and see the Bitterns that are supposed to be wintering there.

However, I popped by College Lake on the way. It was spitting and enormously windy but I was ready to see some birds! College Lake was as large as ever, but nothing spectacular was floating around on the water.

So I headed to Wilstone Reservoir, walked up the steps, stood in the gale-force winds for about 30 seconds, then decided it wasn't for me and went straight to Startops Reservoir instead!

I walked down to the 'main channel' that I had read about and set up scope, then stood and waited. Within only about 20 minutes, I was rewarded with the hugest 'double take' ever, when a Bittern slowly crept out from the left hand side of the channel and stood in the middle, staring at me. It stayed for about 20 seconds, then crept along the right hand side of the channel and disappeared into the reeds. I picked myself up off the ground and continued to wait to see if it came back.

It was worth the wait. I looked away, and when I looked back, something Bittern-sized flew along the channel and I just caught it disappearing to the left into the reeds. I trained the scope on it quickly and then out it came into the open, with another one following it - chasing it, it seemed. The second Bittern had its neck feathers puffed out and was stretched up very tall - perhaps it was courting. The first Bittern ran off into the reeds on the right and the second Bittern skulked about for a minute or so, affording me superb views before it waded off after its mate (define that word as you will).

Finally, I had a third sighting a little while later where one of the two walked across the channel for about 10 seconds from right to left and was gone. That was the last I saw of them, despite waiting for another hour (I was there for three hours in total, getting rather cold, but it was completely worth it!) Of that final sighting, I managed to get the briefest bit of video evidence on my phone through the scope. Please note that it was windy and I was panicking madly, and the scope is not supposed to be used in such a manner. But it is evidence nonetheless!!

And that was my first ever sighting of (a) Bittern(s)! It was a superb experience, and I'm completely in awe of the beauty and mystery of these birds. Surprisingly, they were a lot smaller than I had previously imagined, despite reading descriptions and seeing photos etc. It didn't detract from their sheer amazingness though, and I spent the whole of yesterday evening watching the video to make sure I hadn't imagined the whole thing. It seemed rather dreamlike looking back on it! Here's to seeing another Bittern in the future!

Also, I saw two Buzzards, my first Great Crested Grebe of the year, and a Little Grebe in the channel where the Bitterns showed up. I also saw a dark bird of prey that was around Harrier sized, but a bit more slim-lined, and I didn't see any proper markings as it was quite distant. Never mind, the Bitterns were easily the main highlight!

EDIT: I have just read that there are apparently FOUR Bitterns at Marsworth at the moment. This means I may well have seen more than two individual birds, but at different times. What an incredible number for such a small reedbed! Here's hoping they breed there.