Not being able to get away to Kaeng Krachan as planned last
weekend, I opted to spend a couple of hours around my local rice fields. The
rice was just being harvested, so there was a fair bit of activity going on
with Munias being the most in abundance. I noticed a head pop up from the
threshed rice, which I immediately identified as a Cinnamon Bittern. The
Cinnamon Bittern is one of those birds that I have only briefly seen before,
with limited chances of getting a decent shot. I snapped off a few shots of the
distant head only to then notice another and then another. Cinnamon Bitterns
seemed to be popping up all across the field. It kind of reminded of the arcade
game where heads pop up, which then you have to hit with a mallet……
Up and down they bobbed until a brave one
appeared in the open. The brave lad seemed to encourage the others, as within
five minutes I managed to count fourteen at one time. There must have been over
twenty in the one field as they kept appearing and disappearing. I am not
really sure about the Cinnamon Bittern’s courtship behavior, but there did only
seem to be one female that was attracting the attention of all the males.
Everywhere she flew the males would follow, then luckily she landed reasonably
close to me so I could get a few half decent shots. After about 30 minutes they
all seemed to disappear into the rows of cut rice straw. It seemed that I had
been extremely lucky and arrived at just the right time.
After the Bitterns had gone, a single male Watercock appeared followed by a pair of Black-shouldered Kites which gave a nice aerial display, hovering and diving for prey, although I didn’t see them actually catch anything. The next afternoon I return to the same spot, but nothing was about… It really must have been one of those “right place, right time days”…
