{"id":173655,"date":"2026-03-31T05:33:48","date_gmt":"2026-03-31T10:33:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=173655"},"modified":"2026-04-06T04:35:03","modified_gmt":"2026-04-06T09:35:03","slug":"surprise-american-bittern-at-sequoyah-national-wildlife-refuge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2026\/03\/31\/surprise-american-bittern-at-sequoyah-national-wildlife-refuge\/","title":{"rendered":"Surprise American Bittern At Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"RoadsideRoadside American Bittern at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge<\/span><\/p>\n

While I was driving near Miner’s Cove at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge yesterday, I saw and photographed a surprise American Bittern right after the bird crossed the dirt road.<\/p>\n

I took a few photos of the bittern using the door of my Jeep to stabilize my lens, then left voicemails and texted Steve and Bret and told them where the bird was, since I knew they were at the refuge too.<\/p>\n

\"StaringStaring American Bittern portrait<\/span><\/p>\n

After parking my Jeep next to the shoulder of the road, I hopped out to see if I could locate the bittern in the slough. These bitterns can be very cooperative, and I was able to get close enough to take well lit, beautiful portraits of the bird.<\/p>\n

\"MigratingMigrating American Bittern at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge<\/span><\/p>\n

While waiting for Steve and Bret to show up, I also took a few full body photos of the bittern in the slough. The bird didn’t seem uncomfortable with my presence at all.<\/p>\n

\"AmericanAmerican Bittern close up in Oklahoma<\/span><\/p>\n

The presence of the American Bittern surprised me because they only migrate through this area and I knew that they are uncommon at the refuge.<\/p>\n

\"AmericanAmerican Bittern stare down<\/span><\/p>\n

I had this striking American Bittern in my viewfinder, and I took hundreds of photos of them while looking for Steve and Bret to drive up. When I have birds in view that I don’t see often, I take as many photos of them as I can.<\/p>\n

Afterall, it could be years before I find and photograph another American Bittern. I found them about once a year or less while I lived in Utah but only photographed them four times.<\/p>\n

Bitterns can be extremely hard to spot<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

\"AmericanAmerican Bittern on migration through Oklahoma<\/span><\/p>\n

The bittern didn’t move much while I had them in my viewfinder; the bird seemed focused on finding breakfast. By the time I took this image, I knew Steve was on the way; I still hadn’t heard from Bret.<\/p>\n

\"AmericanAmerican Bittern portrait at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge<\/span><\/p>\n

I was so thrilled to have found the American Bittern<\/span><\/a> and to have been able to take close up, intimate portraits of it that I practically danced on the dusty dirt road.<\/p>\n

\"AmericanAmerican Bittern in dappled light<\/span><\/p>\n

When Steve showed up, I was easily able to point out the bittern, and shortly after that I could see Bret driving towards us. I hopped in my Jeep, backed up until Bret reached me, and told him where to pull over to get out to see the bird.<\/p>\n

Read about Steve’s encounter with the bittern here: American Bittern at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Steve then pointed the bird out to Bret. The American Bittern was a lifer for him.<\/p>\n

The American Bittern? Made my day.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

These photos were taken using my Canon R7 with the Canon RF 100-500mm at various focal lengths.<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my American Bittern photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

While I was driving near Miner’s Cove at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge yesterday, I saw and photographed a surprise American Bittern right after the bird crossed the dirt road.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":173631,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5320,27,13973,13974],"tags":[4004,5321,6328,632,5322,13984,4142,5369,3946,530,14047,4046,5300,13976,165,17422,5875,313],"class_list":["post-173655","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-american-bitterns","category-avian","category-oklahoma","category-sequoyah-national-wildlife-refuge","tag-adult","tag-american-bittern","tag-bittern","tag-bitterns","tag-botaurus-lentiginosus","tag-bottomlands","tag-close-up","tag-dappled-light","tag-migrating","tag-migration","tag-miners-cove","tag-portrait","tag-roadside","tag-slough","tag-spring","tag-stare-down","tag-staring","tag-wading-birds"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/american-bittern-sequoyah-nwr-mia-mcpherson-2247.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-JaT","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":174859,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2026\/04\/15\/resting-american-bittern-at-sequoyah-national-wildlife-refuge\/","url_meta":{"origin":173655,"position":0},"title":"Resting American Bittern at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 15, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Nine days after finding a surprise American Bittern at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge, I found a bittern again in the same area of the refuge.","rel":"","context":"In "American Bitterns"","block_context":{"text":"American Bitterns","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/wading-birds\/american-bitterns\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Resting American Bittern at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge, Oklahoma","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/american-bittern-migrating-mia-mcpherson-4203.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/american-bittern-migrating-mia-mcpherson-4203.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/american-bittern-migrating-mia-mcpherson-4203.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/american-bittern-migrating-mia-mcpherson-4203.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":50708,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/01\/18\/two-american-bitterns-my-best-finds-of-the-day\/","url_meta":{"origin":173655,"position":1},"title":"Two American Bitterns – My Best Finds of the Day","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 18, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"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.","rel":"","context":"In "American Bitterns"","block_context":{"text":"American Bitterns","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/wading-birds\/american-bitterns\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"January American Bittern on the bank of the Bear River, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/american-bittern-winter-mia-mcpherson-5489.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/american-bittern-winter-mia-mcpherson-5489.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/american-bittern-winter-mia-mcpherson-5489.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/american-bittern-winter-mia-mcpherson-5489.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":40686,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/07\/28\/adult-american-bittern-at-bear-river-nwr\/","url_meta":{"origin":173655,"position":2},"title":"Adult American Bittern at Bear River NWR","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 28, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"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!","rel":"","context":"In "American Bitterns"","block_context":{"text":"American Bitterns","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/wading-birds\/american-bitterns\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"American Bittern scratching, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/american-bittern-bear-river-utah-mia-mcpherson-6466.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/american-bittern-bear-river-utah-mia-mcpherson-6466.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/american-bittern-bear-river-utah-mia-mcpherson-6466.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/american-bittern-bear-river-utah-mia-mcpherson-6466.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":158106,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2025\/09\/27\/hatch-year-osprey-migrating-through-sequoyah-national-wildlife-refuge\/","url_meta":{"origin":173655,"position":3},"title":"Hatch Year Osprey Migrating Through Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"September 27, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"My best find at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge in Oklahoma yesterday was a migrating hatch year Osprey perched in the dead trees at Miner\u2019s Cove.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Hatch year Osprey at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge, Oklahoma","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/osprey-young-sequoyah-nwr-ma-mcpherson-8938.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/osprey-young-sequoyah-nwr-ma-mcpherson-8938.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/osprey-young-sequoyah-nwr-ma-mcpherson-8938.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/osprey-young-sequoyah-nwr-ma-mcpherson-8938.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":166199,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2025\/12\/27\/christmas-day-great-blue-heron-and-turtle-at-sequoyah-national-wildlife-refuge\/","url_meta":{"origin":173655,"position":4},"title":"Christmas Day Great Blue Heron And Turtle At Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 27, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"On Christmas Day I photographed a Great Blue Heron and a turtle in Miner's Cove at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge in Oklahoma. Yes, a turtle in winter!","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Great Blue Heron and turtle on Christmas Day at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge, Oklahoma","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/great-blue-heron-turtle-christmas-day-mia-mcpherson-3601.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/great-blue-heron-turtle-christmas-day-mia-mcpherson-3601.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/great-blue-heron-turtle-christmas-day-mia-mcpherson-3601.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/great-blue-heron-turtle-christmas-day-mia-mcpherson-3601.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":42748,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/10\/21\/american-bittern-juvenile-black-crowned-night-heron-comparison\/","url_meta":{"origin":173655,"position":5},"title":"American Bittern – Juvenile Black-crowned Night Heron Comparison","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 21, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"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.","rel":"","context":"In "American Bitterns"","block_context":{"text":"American Bitterns","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/wading-birds\/american-bitterns\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"American Bittern standing on one leg, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/american-bittern-adult-mia-mcpherson-6498.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/american-bittern-adult-mia-mcpherson-6498.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/american-bittern-adult-mia-mcpherson-6498.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/american-bittern-adult-mia-mcpherson-6498.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173655","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=173655"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173655\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/173631"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=173655"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=173655"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=173655"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}