Once Bittern, Twice ...

I know this is a very blurry blip, but I just had to use it because it was so exciting and unusual to see this pair of bitterns on the wing at HamWall Nature Reserve this afternoon.

I caught their movement out of the corner of my eye, heard a woman further up the track cry "Bitterns" and managed to turn the camera in their direction and fire off a couple of hand held shots before they disappeared.

This is only the third time I've seen these notoriously shy birds and the first I've had a camera to hand so, for all it's faults, this had to be my blip for the day.

We swam in torrential, and very cold, rain this morning. As you can see, the weather improved this afternoon for our stroll on the reserve.