Bad Finnish Birdwatcher

Saturday, October 11, 2008 - Bittern

The dry ones seem to defy gravity as they slowly float down towards the ground. Some glide down in long swoops ending up far from where they left the tree. Some come down in a spiralling motion. The wet ones fall strait down. If the wind is still, you can hear them parting with the branch and the bustling sound as they hit the lower ones in the tree-top on their way towards the ground. The sound they make as they hit the green and lush grass resonates with your soul. Some are red, maples have yellow-ones, alders don't care about drama and let them go while still green. Autumn leaves.

I waded through a thick carpet of yellow maple-ones on my way towards the Lake. There were plenty of Coots and Wigeons. Among the flocks of the more common waterbirds there were ten Smews, driven south by the cold weathers in the north. I combed through the flocks floating further on the other side of the lake in hope of something special - there were a few Pintails and a small group of Grey Herons on the opposite shore - when a peculiar sight made me stop turning the telescope. On the shore among the reeds there were vertical stripes of black and brown and on top of the stripes a dot - an eye! It was a Bittern. It was stretching itself straight and long and obviously enjoying the warmth of the sunshine. I watched it for a while preening itself, it was in no hurry to go anywhere and it was still standing in the same spot in the sunshine when I left driven away by the cold - for my side of the lake was in the shade.
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Me - Timo Janhonen

Fabulous birding adventures on the south coast of Finland.

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