Botaurus lentiginosus – Mia McPherson's On The Wing Photography

American Bitterns Can Be Hard To Spot

By Mia McPherson|2023-12-18T10:38:54-06:00October 14th, 2019|Categories: American Bitterns, Birds, Box Elder County, Utah|Tags: American Bittern, autumn, bittern, bitterns, Botaurus lentiginosus, fall, habitat, marsh, pointing out, spot, spotting, vision, wading birds, wetlands|

American Bitterns can be very hard to spot at times since they blend into their habitat so well because of their cryptic plumage patterns and because they are so skulky.

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Two American Bitterns – My Best Finds of the Day

By Mia McPherson|2023-12-18T10:27:34-06:00January 18th, 2018|Categories: American Bitterns, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Box Elder County, Utah|Tags: adult, American Bittern, Bear River, bittern, bitterns, Botaurus lentiginosus, migratory, reflection, riverbank, wading birds, wetlands, winter|

My best finds of the day yesterday morning were two American Bitterns on the riverbank of the Bear River at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, birds I do not normally see in January here in northern Utah.

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Looking at 2016 in the Rear View Mirror or My Photographic Year in Review

By Mia McPherson|2024-03-27T06:20:55-05:00December 31st, 2016|Categories: American Bitterns, American Pipits, Bald Eagles, Barn Owls, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Beaverhead County, Belted Kingfishers, Birds, Box Elder County, Burrowing Owls, Centennial Valley, Clark County, Davis County, Double-crested Cormorants, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Great Horned Owls, High Uintas, Hybrid Geese, Idaho, Leucistic, Montana, Peregrine Falcons, Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge, Red-naped Sapsuckers, Red-tailed Hawks, Salt Lake County, Short-eared Owls, Summit County, Targhee National Forest, Tooele County, Turkey Vultures, Utah, Wayne County, Western Bluebirds, Wilson's Phalaropes, Woodhouse's Scrub-Jays, Yellow-bellied Marmots|Tags: American Bittern, American Pipit, Anthus rubescens, Aphelocoma woodhouseii, Asio flammeus, Athene cunicularia, Bald Eagle, Barn Owl, Belted Kingfisher, Botaurus lentiginosus, Bubo virginianus, Burrowing Owl, Buteo jamaicensis, Canada x Snow Goose, Cathartes aura, Double-crested Cormorant, Falco peregrinus, Great Horned Owl, Haliaeetus leucocephalus, hybrid, Marmota flaviventris, Megaceryle alcyon, Nannopterum auritus, Peregrine Falcon, Phalaropus tricolor, Red-naped Sapsucker, Red-tailed Hawk, Short-eared Owl, Sialia mexicana, Sphyrapicus nuchalis, Turkey Vulture, Tyto alba, Western Bluebird, Wilson's Phalarope, Woodhouse's Scrub-Jay, Yellow-bellied Marmot|

Wow, today is the last day of the year 2016. This is my photographic year in review from Utah, Idaho and Montana!

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American Bittern – Juvenile Black-crowned Night Heron Comparison

By Mia McPherson|2023-12-18T11:05:09-06:00October 21st, 2016|Categories: American Bitterns, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Black-crowned Night Herons, Box Elder County, Utah|Tags: adult, American Bittern, bittern, bitterns, Black-crowned Night Heron, Botaurus lentiginosus, comparing, comparison, herons, identification, identifying, immature, juvenile, marsh, night heron, night herons, Nycticorax nycticorax, wading birds, wetlands, young|

To the untrained eye American Bitterns and Black-crowned Night Herons can be confused so I thought I'd visually compare the two species with other keys to aid in their identification.

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Adult American Bittern at Bear River NWR

By Mia McPherson|2023-12-18T11:28:12-06:00July 28th, 2016|Categories: American Bitterns, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Box Elder County, Utah|Tags: adult, American Bittern, better, bitterns, Botaurus lentiginosus, fluffed up, marsh, marsh habitat, marshy vegetation, rushes, scratching, wading birds, wetlands|

The bird I was looking at wasn't a juvenile Black-crowned Night Heron at all, it was an adult American Bittern out in the open!

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