[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

american bittern on ocracoke



We spent the weekend on Ocracoke Island doing a little birding and a lot of
mucking about the beach. Lots of the usual suspects, and one unusual one
(for us at least): a juvenile American Bittern was poking around the ditch
on the side of Highway 12 just south of the NPS campground entrance on
Saturday morning around 10. The only reason that we spotted him (her?) was
that we stopped the car to look at a kestrel on the power line. We spent
half an hour watching the bittern hang out, as he alternated between
looking in the ditch for food, and doing his 'I am one with the grass'
routine. Very Zen.

He was still there Saturday afternoon on the way back from the beach, and
on Sunday morning around 11am. He was consistently  on the west side of the
road, between 100 and 500 meters south of the campground. The NPS birding
brochure lists them as being uncommon winter residents, so I feel pretty
lucky.

Any ideas out there as to why he was out of the marsh and on the side of
the road?

Cheers,

Ken Bennett