American Bittern at Evening At Columbia National Wildlife Refuge, 2016-06-10 by Andy Martin, Field Recordist

The Columbia National Wildlife Refuge is an important stopover for many migrating birds, including Sandhill Crane. I missed the Crane stopover for this year, but did manage to catch a few other temporary residents, including the American Bittern. I’d never heard a bittern before this week, and so I was not actually aware of what I was hearing until I inquired at the refuge headquarters. To put it simply, Bitterns sound like great, giant drops of water followed by a loud swallowing-gulp.