Bottlebrush Boomless Bittern

I was thinking positive as usual as I walked into The Bittern Hide at Fishers Green in the Lee Valley Park. Nothing interesting was showing and I had a nice chat with a couple of people, one of whom had his two dogs with him.

Dog man left to look for bullfinches that the younger man had seen earlier. Soon after another man joined us. We were chatting shutter speeds and the like when young man spotted a bittern, then another. The second bittern to appear raised all the feathers on its neck and head making it look twice the size of the other. We were transfixed. I thought they were going to fight. What an exciting and amazing sight. Young man seemed to be very well-informed regarding wildlife and said that this was a courtship display. Strange that Lothario didn't boom beforehand.