American Bittern Buffet

For more than 1o years my short travels have been at the Farmington Bay Bird Refuge. Only once I have witnessed and photographed the American Bittern.

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 This winter day I saw my first.  The American Bittern has a very long migratory range.  This stop had to have been to dine.  To fuel up.  The first sighting of a fish he was off in a big hurray…

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Wikipedia states; “The American Bittern (Botaurus lentiginosus) is protected under the United States Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918.  It is also protected under the CanadianMigratory Birds Convention Act of 1994.”  To see the whole description of the Wikipedia page on the American Bittern check here.

This guy quickly attempted to grab the first fish he saw.

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This guy was pretty fast. Especially considering that the water was rushing by.  Caught by the tail!!

The idea is to get the whole fish in his mouth and swallow whole.  On several attempts he would drop then re-grab the fish.

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