First sighting of a bittern this year

Out for a nice post xmas stroll really with Julie around Summer Leys this morning. Not a cloud in the sky and 10 degrees it was a pleasure to be out and if you kept walking you were as warm as toast.

I did stop a couple of times. The first was when there were a group of birders looking out into the reed bed behind the feeding station. On Ruth's suggestion i had a quick look through the scope and there was a Bittern tucked behind a few reeds as camouflaged as can be. Excellent. We walked to the screen hide and got a much better view with the bins. By the time i got my camera out though it had stopped showing. So i turned around for this heron shot instead.
I have been surprised how many Bullfinches seem to have come over this year, from Scandinavia i presume. In previous years i usually only get a few fleeting glimpses of a white arse. However over the last few weeks i have seen some on each trip. Very colourful as was this one on Summer Leys feeding station.