black bitterns @ SBWR - June 2015

Looks like the black bitters are still around at the Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve (SBWR).

There might actually be more than two black bitterns. The mizzle (miserable drizzle) added to the difficulty in spotting anything. More so for a well camouflaged bird. I only noticed the first two black bitterns when one took off from one far corner of the pond and flew towards another which caused the second one to fly off too and both landed in a sea hibiscus bush at the edge of the pond. The second one disappeared behind the branches and leaves soon after landing but the first sat exposed on a branch for a few moments before it too decided to seek cover further in the bushy thicket of sea hibiscus shrubs. With both birds well hidden, i thought that was the show for the morning. Then, after about 5 minutes, i saw a little movement on the marshy ground in front of me and realised that it was a black bittern out hunting in the rain. I had not observed the second bird flying back to roughly the same spot it must have been at earlier. This could be a third bird (or maybe it was the second bird sneaking back to the same spot.).

Despite the mizzle, it continued its extreme slow motion hunt for small fish in the shallows. The drizzle did not seem to affect it much at all. However, the constant splashing of raindrops onto the water surface might have made spotting fish near the surface of the water more difficult for the bird to spot prey. The fishkill success rate was much lower than what i had observed the previous weekend when i had seen a black bittern enjoy easy fishing in bright sunny conditions.

With its deceptively slow steps and slow-motion like movements, one would not be wrong to assume that this bird was not capable of fast movement. Nevertheless, when it did lunge for a fish, the action was incredibly fast. With its very dark almost jet black coat, this bittern blended in very well with the foliage at the pond. Perhaps this is why spotting this bird is so difficult.

black bitterns @ SBWR - June 2015 from SgBeachBum on Vimeo.

Find out more about this rarely seen bird :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_bittern
http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/species/factsheet/22697334
http://besgroup.blogspot.com/2006/12/black-bittern.html
http://besgroup.blogspot.com/2006/12/black-bittern-hunter.html
http://www.theguardian.com/science/punctuated-equilibrium/2011/feb/04/4
http://www.heronconservation.org/herons-of-the-world/black-bittern/