Little bittern walking on water lillies and eating a fish

The little bittern is usually a bird that is pretty shy and not so easy to spot but I already had luck several times and could take some nice pictures of this bird. It is the smallest of the breeding herons of Europe and is characterized by its tiny size, long and sharp bill and thick neck. During winter it lives in Africa and in summer it comes to Europe to breed and live. In Vienna I have a spot where it can be found and where it is not so shy so you have the chance to see it running over the water lilies. The little bittern is crepuscular, skulking and normally solitary. It feeds on fishes, amphibians and insects which are caught within reedbeds or at their edges by the bird slowly stalking the prey.

Little bittern walkingon water lillies. Picture: Florian Glechner.

Vienna is such a nice place for wildlife photography because since all the animals that live there are used to humans it is a lot easier to get close to them and take some nice pictures. But at them moment I try not to drive so far anymore since the petrol prices in Austria are at the moment at a very high price. So I try to take some pictures in Linz and the surrounding places. Also Lake Neusiedler or the Wetlands of the Inn River are far away. 300 or 100 Kilometers depending where I want to go. And since there are not so much birds and animals that I can explore during the day when it is hot outside and most of them can be found in the morning or the evening, my output is not so great compared to spring time.

Little bittern eating a fish. Picture: Florian Glechner.

Little bittern in the wild. Picture: Florian Glechner.

Usual hunting position. Picture: Florian Glechner.