Here's a picture of an American Bittern I saw on Mill Pond yesterday.



This is a relatively large bird usually between 24 to 33 inches with a wing span of about 3 feet. It comes up to Maine to breed in wetlands. The American Bittern is also well known for freezing in position with it's neck stiff and head pointing upwards as in this shot, making itself resemble the landscape. Sometimes it also holds this position and sways gently mimicking the wind blown reeds around itself. Since they're not usually out and about in the middle of the day I was lucky to encounter this one.