{"id":60807,"date":"2019-10-14T05:45:14","date_gmt":"2019-10-14T11:45:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=60807"},"modified":"2025-02-11T10:20:32","modified_gmt":"2025-02-11T16:20:32","slug":"american-bitterns-can-be-hard-to-spot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/10\/14\/american-bitterns-can-be-hard-to-spot\/","title":{"rendered":"American Bitterns Can Be Hard To Spot"},"content":{"rendered":"

Almost two years ago I was in Box Elder County<\/span><\/a> of northern Utah looking for birds to photograph when I located an American Bittern in a marsh.<\/p>\n

\"SpotSpot the American Bittern in a northern Utah marsh – Nikon D810, f13, 1\/1000, ISO 320, Nikkor 18-200mm VR at 50mm, natural light
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

There is an American Bittern can be seen in the photo above, can you see it? I promise that the bittern I found is there.<\/p>\n

I took this photo at 50mm.<\/p>\n

\"WhereWhere is the American Bittern? – Nikon D810, f13, 1\/1000, ISO 320, Nikkor 18-200mm VR at 50mm, natural light
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

I cropped the image above in post processing to allow for a closer view. Can you see the American Bittern yet? Or its reflection?<\/p>\n

\"AmericanAmerican Bittern in a northern Utah marsh – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1600, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

This is the American Bittern that I found in the marsh unassisted by my lens or any other optical devices. This is a crop from the original file taken with my 500mm lens with the 1.4x TC attached which gives me 1050mm of reach on my cropped sensor Nikon D500 body.<\/p>\n

\"SpotSpot the American Bittern in a northern Utah marsh – Isolated<\/span><\/p>\n

I isolated the American Bittern in the first two images, the bittern is circled in red in both photos.<\/p>\n

Pointing this bird out to my companion? Almost impossible.<\/p>\n

\"WhereWhere is the American Bittern? – Isolated<\/span><\/p>\n

I’m grateful that I have excellent long distance vision which does help me tremendously when I am looking for birds in the field. It helps other people with me too, whether they acknowledge it, or not.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/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":"

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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":60809,"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":[5320,27,1148,26],"tags":[5321,970,6328,632,5322,4620,683,4094,14609,7847,7848,1110,313,4095],"class_list":["post-60807","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-american-bitterns","category-avian","category-box-elder-county-utah","category-utah","tag-american-bittern","tag-autumn","tag-bittern","tag-bitterns","tag-botaurus-lentiginosus","tag-fall","tag-habitat-2","tag-marsh","tag-pointing-out","tag-spot","tag-spotting","tag-vision","tag-wading-birds","tag-wetlands"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/american-bittern-marsh-mia-mcpherson-8283.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-fOL","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":40686,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/07\/28\/adult-american-bittern-at-bear-river-nwr\/","url_meta":{"origin":60807,"position":0},"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, 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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 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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":[]},{"id":173655,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2026\/03\/31\/surprise-american-bittern-at-sequoyah-national-wildlife-refuge\/","url_meta":{"origin":60807,"position":3},"title":"Surprise American Bittern At Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 31, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"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.","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":"Staring American Bittern portrait, Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge, Oklahoma","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/american-bittern-sequoyah-nwr-mia-mcpherson-2247.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/american-bittern-sequoyah-nwr-mia-mcpherson-2247.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/american-bittern-sequoyah-nwr-mia-mcpherson-2247.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/american-bittern-sequoyah-nwr-mia-mcpherson-2247.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":174859,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2026\/04\/15\/resting-american-bittern-at-sequoyah-national-wildlife-refuge\/","url_meta":{"origin":60807,"position":4},"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 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