American Bittern

This was a first for me today.  Birders have pointed out the call of this bird on several occasions, but I have never seen it until today when it suddenly took off and flew overhead and as luck would have it, I managed to get a a fairly decent shot.   

Brisk would be the best way to describe this morning.  It was much cooler than I expected it to be as well as breezy with only partial sunshine so some of my shots were a challenge.  The gnatcatcher nest I posted last week was gone today. :-(. The Phoebe was still sitting in her nest.  I saw a Gallinule and a Goose family with two goslings.  There were tree swallows and barn swallows swooping all over the area and I managed to get a shot of a nest-building tree swallow which I have included as an extra. 

All in all, it was a good morning at Hughes Hollow.