[Maine-birds] Re: American bittern on Portland waterfront

Upon getting home and looking more at the pictures (which were horribly back lit on the camera) and the guides I have here which were not with me at the time of the sighting, the bird I saw was an immature Black-Crowned Night Heron. I had a guide on my phone that did not show immature plumage or flight plumage  for any of the small herons/bitterns so with the major ID fact at the time of it being a smallish heron with overall brown body and heavily brown striped chest, the AM Bittern was the only thing I could find that looked like a match. When I was able to see the pictures after getting home and see some of the features on a larger than 2" screen, the large reddish eye, large overall yellow beak with black on top and tip, and then in one picture, the tops of the wings in flight, I was able to find the immature BCNH matchup. It makes a lot more sense to me as I was very much not expecting a bittern in Portland. 

Here is a picture that has been adjusted to bring out a lot of the details I could not see during the initial flyby. 

Still not unhappy with the spotting though, but sorry to cause any undue fuss. 

Cheers. 

On Sunday, July 19, 2015 at 3:55:04 PM UTC-4, Rob O'Connell wrote:

Was watching the terns off the Maine state pier and  had an American bittern fly down the waterfront towards the Cisco bay bridge. It then turned around and flew back past, circled a few times around the gap where the Picton Castle is docked and then flew off in the direction of the eastern prom. If you are out with the tall ships, keep looking up! Will post pictures later.

Cheers!
Rob O'Connell

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