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Bittern, seen at Slimbridge WWT.; Two Bitterns at Slimbridge, added 9th January.
Topic Started: Dec 11 2011, 10:39 PM (3,309 Views)
Dovetail-Marg
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I was up very early this morning to go to an event at Slimbridge. We had to be there by 8.30am and were being taken to all the hides with a couple of wardens, and I really enjoyed it. I learn't so much, and thankfully we didn't have the rain that had been forecast. :grin:

I was looking forward to going to Zeiss hide as Bitterns have been seen there ( there are three there at the moment, only the third one is more elusive than the other two) I had been going there quite a few times but only saw two of them once and they were too far away to get any descent photos. I have been sitting in that hide for hours at a time .......and I mean hours, 2 to 3 hours at a time. This time we all crept up the stairs ( there are two flights of stairs to the top) and low and behold there was one quite close to the hide. I was so :yay: :yay: I've still got a big :grin: on my face. :girlygiggle:

Here are some photos. I have taken some footage, but I've got to edit that.

At first it had it's back to us.

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Then it decided to have a look round.....probably thinking, 'oh! no I'm being watched again' and moved off into the reeds.

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We thought that was it, but no after about a minute it came back out again. :giggle:

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A few more........

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Tabatha
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:wow: :greatpic: Marg. Well worth getting up early for.

:thanks: for posting
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Dovetail-Marg
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I must admit, I didn't realize that Bitterns had a slate colour on the top of their heads.

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After this last photo, it came really close to the hide, so close that we couldn't see it, unless we'd all hung out of the window. :giggle: and it disappeared.
I love those big feet. :girlygiggle:

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I'll sort the footage out tomorrow.

Thanks for looking. :grin:
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NBShaz
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OH :wow2: :wow2: :wow2: Marg :fantastic: Photos ..

They are indeed the best photos I have EVER seen of a Bittern

I am so pleased for you that you accomplished your mission and how good of the rain to keep away too. Superb photos marg :clap3: I didn't realise they had the slate grey on top either .. what a stunning bird the Bittern is :grin:

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happyhare
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Osprey
:woo:

Marg, superb photos! I'm glad the weathermen got it wrong again and you didn't get the rain. I'm not surprised you've got :grin: on your face still!

Edited by happyhare, Dec 12 2011, 08:29 AM.
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peppiB
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[div style='visibility: hidden']test[/div]
Fabulous photos Marg :cool: :cool: :cool: :cool: :cool: :cool: :cool:
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celticsparrow-Jan
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Fantastic photos Marg,i agree with what Shaz says they are the best i have seen too. :clap:
Well worth the early visit to get such a brilliant sighting
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Deleted User
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Absolutely stonking photos Marg :clap3: :clap3: :clap3:

How wonderful to have been rewarded like that, thanks so much for sharing them with us. Looking forward to your footage now :encore:
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Davebutterflyman
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:wow2: what can you say! amazing photos of the Bittern Marg and you have managed to capture every aspect of this beautiful bird quite brilliantly.....wildlife magazine stuff! :clap3:
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NBShaz
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That's what I was thinking too Dave, or perhaps if WWT Slimbridge (I know Arundle and Welney do) have members photographs on display in and around the reception areas. Might be worth you asking them Marg if they would like to display your fantastic photos. That's if you haven't enquired already :grin:

:encore: Looking forward to seeing the footage as well :D

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Dovetail-Marg
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Aww!! thanks for all of the really lovely comments, now I'm :blushing: :giggle:

There has been a lovely lot of photos of the Bittern taken by various people visiting Slimbridge on the Slimbridge website.
But it's thanks to James and Martin the two wardens, as they have cut back some of the reeds near to the hide, without them doing that, we wouldn't have had the chance to see them so clearly.

I might well send a couple of my photos to James, because he has put up his email address and is asking any of us to send photos to him....that applies to photos of any birds that you see there.

I managed to edit the footage today so I've put it into two clips.

I haven't added any music so please excuse the background talking and sniffing!!! but we were all feeling a tad cold, as the wind was coming in straight at us at times. :giggle: There were quite a lot of us up in one corner of the hide, so we're quite close to one another. The woman next to me said fantastic, so many times, she really made me smile, but she was right, it was fantastic. Sorry about my little titter at one point in the second little vid, but the woman next to me made a very funny comment about the Bittern when it did it's bottom wiggle.

[utube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=beCoD1Hfmqc&list=UUvaz3VCvHbbctC7xcSPBK9w&feature=plcp[/utube]

[utube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_rMs-XtYGk&list=UUvaz3VCvHbbctC7xcSPBK9w&feature=plcp[/utube]

Thanks for looking.
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Night Owl
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:wow2: :wow2: :wow2: Marg like others have said those are the BEST photos i have ever seen of a Bittern! I didn't know they had such beautiful markings and you've captured them superbly :grin: I really enjoyed watching the video clips too :thanks1: for sharing them with us Marg :clap5:
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happyhare
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Osprey
:wow2: :clap5: excellent vids Marge!
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NBShaz
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Aww Marg :thankyou: for taking the videos that was just .. well .. I think the word is :fantastic: :girlygiggle: Superb footage and I loved the titter in the 2nd clip :lol2: I felt as tho I was right there with you in the hide .. a great experience and thanks again for posting :cool2:
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lavendergirl
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Red Kite
:wow2: :wow2: Amazing photos Marg,such a beautiful bird,the markings are stunnng :clap3: and :wow2: loved the videos :fantastic: :clap5:
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Davebutterflyman
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:wow2: brilliant footage Marg and what a treat to see such a beautiful bird so close up :clap3:
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Dovetail-Marg
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:thankyou: everyone, I'm glad that you enjoyed the little videos.. :grin:

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Deleted User
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Those are absolutely brilliant Marg. You must be thrilled with the footage and photos. What an experience :grin:
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Tabatha
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:wow: Amazing close ups. Great footage too. It is lovely see one so close up. They have got pretty markings. That is probably the closest I will ever see one. It was definitely worth the waiting around.


:thanks: for posting
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Deleted User
Deleted User

Fabulous footage Marg :clap3: .... that must have felt like a really special early Christmas present!!

:thanks1: so much for sharing it as I agree with Tabatha, that's probably the closest I'll ever come to seeing one too.
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