{"id":72612,"date":"2026-02-24T09:54:22","date_gmt":"2026-02-24T16:54:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.moosepeterson.com\/blog\/?p=72612"},"modified":"2026-02-24T19:41:02","modified_gmt":"2026-02-25T02:41:02","slug":"the-illusive-gorgeous-american-bittern","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.moosepeterson.com\/blog\/the-illusive-gorgeous-american-bittern\/","title":{"rendered":"The Elusive, Gorgeous American Bittern"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>[et_pb_section fb_built=&#8221;1&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;4.16&#8243; _module_preset=&#8221;default&#8221; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221;][et_pb_row _builder_version=&#8221;4.16&#8243; _module_preset=&#8221;default&#8221; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221;][et_pb_column type=&#8221;4_4&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;4.16&#8243; _module_preset=&#8221;default&#8221; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221;][et_pb_image src=&#8221;https:\/\/www.moosepeterson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/BMP7505lp-scaled.jpg&#8221; title_text=&#8221;Z9#2&#8243; align=&#8221;center&#8221; _builder_version=&#8221;4.27.5&#8243; _module_preset=&#8221;default&#8221; box_shadow_style=&#8221;preset1&#8243; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221;][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=&#8221;4.27.5&#8243; _module_preset=&#8221;default&#8221; text_orientation=&#8221;center&#8221; custom_margin=&#8221;|||0px|false|false&#8221; custom_padding=&#8221;||0px|||&#8221; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221;]<\/p>\n<p>American Bittern captured by Z 9 \/ Z600f4TC<\/p>\n<p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=&#8221;4.27.5&#8243; _module_preset=&#8221;default&#8221; text_text_color=&#8221;#000000&#8243; text_font_size=&#8221;16px&#8221; custom_padding=&#8221;20px||30px||false|false&#8221; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221;]<\/p>\n<p>The American Bittern is more than two feet in length and yet can hide in almost thin air, standing vertically. It stands amongst the bulrushes as tall as it can be, sways with them when there is a breeze, and its feathers are the colors that make it just disappear. It doesn&#8217;t do this sneak up and prey and catch it, I think it does it because it&#8217;s fun. I&#8217;m sure one of two gets snatched by aerial predators, but it forages like other herons and bitterns. One when caught out in the open, it appears to be like a kid with his fingers caught in the cookie jar. I don&#8217;t get them in the lens very often, wish I did. It&#8217;s a great bird, the elusive, gorgeous American Bittern.<\/p>\n<p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=&#8221;https:\/\/www.moosepeterson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/BMP7399lp-1-scaled.jpg&#8221; title_text=&#8221;Z9#2&#8243; align=&#8221;center&#8221; _builder_version=&#8221;4.27.5&#8243; _module_preset=&#8221;default&#8221; box_shadow_style=&#8221;preset1&#8243; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221;][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=&#8221;4.27.5&#8243; _module_preset=&#8221;default&#8221; text_orientation=&#8221;center&#8221; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221;]<\/p>\n<p>American Bittern captured by Z 9 \/ Z600f4TC<\/p>\n<p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=&#8221;4.27.5&#8243; _module_preset=&#8221;default&#8221; text_text_color=&#8221;#000000&#8243; text_font_size=&#8221;16px&#8221; custom_padding=&#8221;20px||30px||false|false&#8221; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221;]<\/p>\n<p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>American Bittern captured by Z 9 \/ Z600f4TCThe American Bittern is more than two feet in length and yet can hide in almost thin air, standing vertically. It stands amongst [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":72613,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"1219","advanced_seo_description":"Moose Peterson Wildlife and Aviation Photography with Nikon","jetpack_seo_html_title":"Moose Peterson Wildlife and Aviation Photography","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","sync_status":"none","episode_type":"audio","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","castos_file_data":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"The Illusive, Gorgeous American Bittern https:\/\/wp.me\/p6YJx-iTa this big dweller of NoAm marshes isn't rare, it's just rarely scene. 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