Having stayed up way too late last night I was feeling a bit worn out at
lunch so I wandered off from the students today for a bit of quiet time. We
are working in the Echo Lake Wetlands doing field studies in Snohomish
County. I plunked myself down in the sunshine, back to an alder, boots just
touching the water of the wetland and almost fell asleep. I was startled out
of my reverie by a large thing moving quite close by, and it turned out to
be a very stoic bittern, which I had sat down virtually next to and not even
noticed! It very slowly glided away, its head pointing skyward as it slowly
moved into the cattails, melting out of site just 2 meters from where I sat.
Only it was still there, and after a bit, it put its head down and I saw the
movement. It was quite remarkable how well it blended in against the
cattails, even at close range.

I was loathe to move, both from the sunshine and the bird, but I had
teaching to do so I stood up. The bird simply lifted its head pointing
upwards again. Later I brought a couple students down to see if we could see
it, and we watched and waited but saw nothing. Just as I was about to give
it up, it came into focus, like one of those trick diagrams. The roundness
of its shoulder was a perfect match for the arched cattails. What an amazing
camouflage.

Rob Sandelin
Naturalist, Writer, Teacher
East of Maltby, Snohomish Co.

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