My husband spotted this American Bittern just off the walking path in the Nisqually Wildlife Refuge. The bird blended in so well with its surroundings that birders young and old were walking within 20 feet of it and had not noticed it at all. I stopped to watch as the bird dove head-first into the dried grass and came out with a juicy frog in its beak. The bittern then dipped the frog in the water a couple times before swallowing it whole.
Photographed March, 2012.