Traveling Ted

Prior to a couple of weeks ago, I have only seen maybe two or three American bitterns in my life and only two least bitterns. Although, relatively common, they are exceedingly difficult to see. They live in cattail swamps and blend in extremely well. Unlike herons or egrets, they are shy and elusive and stay hidden in vegetation.

It is crazy that I have only seen three given how much time I have spent in a canoe and birding, but that is how rare they are to see. This narrative changed a bit as I have now seen two in a matter of seven days.

The first one was at Baker’s Lake in Barrington. I was standing on a floating pier overlooking a cattail marsh at Ron Beese Park. It was literally right in front of me for two or three minutes, but I never saw it. Then it took off flying. I was only able to get a shot of it flying away.

This last weekend, ebird reported an American bittern at LaBagh Woods. I went over there and two nice young ladies saw me with my zoom lens and pointed me in the right direction. This bittern was on a log out in the open. It was most likely me migrating farther north. They usually do not appear out in the open like this, so I feel fortunate to have been able to take these photographs. Spring migration is off to a good start.

Tanager palooza in Panama featuring nine different species. In the Chicago area we only have two tanagers. In Panama, there are more than 50. Here are nine with species name and where they were photographed.

Pic 1 - Bay-headed tanager - Las Nubes feeders - Cerro Azul
Pic 2 - Blue-gray tanager- El Valle Danton
Pic 3 - Crimson-backed tanager- El Valle Danton
Pic 4 - Golden-hooded tanager- El Valle Danton
Pic 5 - Gray-headed tanager- Pipeline Road - Gamboa
Pic 6 - Hepatic tanager- Las Nubes feeders - Cerro Azul
Pic 7 - Rufous-winged tanager- Cerro Azul
Pic 8 - Speckled tanager- Cerro Azul
Pic 9 - Silver-throated tanager- El Valle Danton