Least Bittern Chick barely a week old
We are fortunate to have a great birding area in our city.
The Sweetwater Wetlands Park has been a wonderful early morning destination for both walking and photographing.
A wide range of wading birds (and their chicks) from the purple gallinule to the wood stork and raptors such as the osprey keep this photographer busy.
With a 70-300 mm lens on my Fuji XT5, I am close enough to the alligators, wood storks and sandhill cranes.
In Florida you need to walk the paths in the early morning because by 10:30 a.m., it’s just too hot. The birds know this and have finished their morning dining. They seek and hide in dense foilage for its coolness. Aside from some tourists who think the heat is wonderful and don’t seem to wear hats or sunglasses, the sun really becomes intense for people too.
We were fortunate early in June to see the Least Bittern chicks who had hatched in a nest in tall bulrushes/cattails and reeds near the boardwalk. While I never saw the parent Least Bitterns, there were four chicks who were a delight to watch grow over the next few weeks. We hoped they would not be a snack for the many alligators in the area.
In the first week (June 2), they could barely navigate the tall grasses near the nest. They ranged from having very developed eyes, to one whose eyes were barely open. And it was hard to tell about the fourth chick because it remained in the nest. Their skin was so fresh it showed the blood beneath their fuzzy feathers that looked more like soft fur.
Least Bitterns are one of the smallest herons. Least Bitterns are listed as Endangered, Threatened or Special Concern in all states adjacent to New York except Vermont.
Born in a clutch of 2 to 7 eggs, some leave their nest as soon as 6 days after hatching. This is an early departure as some will stay for 2 weeks in the nest. These little chicks looked very young with their long yellow legs and feet clutching awkwardly at leaves and stems.
Ultimately they will grow enough to climb adeptly on reeds and look into the water to hunt small fish and other crustaceans. But the wobbly wee chicks in the photos above would still likely be fed by the parent.
Below are photographs of the chicks on June 8, 2023. They were larger and wiggling their way through the reeds.
Their feathers had taken on the more distinctive colors and patterns of their future selves but they still had fuzzy little heads.
We did not see them feeding themselves yet, however they were learning to balance with each leg on two different reeds. One was confident enough to sit there and yawn. You could see a couple of the chicks practicing — slowly leaning toward the water as if to catch something. But still they were just practicing.
By the next visit on June 18, they were much much larger and more confident (as photos show below). A few remnants of the fuzzy heads were visible but they had much larger and more alert eyes. A couple of the chicks extended their wings and gave a flutter to indicate it might be only a short while before their first flight.
To learn more about Least Bitterns – Audubon