Least Bittern – a Rarity in Western North Carolina, May 11, 2020

Early morning on May 11th I received a text from the local western NC text group that a Least Bittern had been found at Beaver Lake Bird Sanctuary in Asheville by Aaron Steed.  Then a couple minutes later another text came across – there was a Wilson’s Warbler there too.  I need both birds for my NC state list.  Plus Least Bittern is quite a rarity locally.  So minutes later I was out the door and heading to Beaver Lake.

I arrived at the park within an hour of the initial sighting, and soon was at the South Overlook as suggested in the text.  There was another birder already there, though the bird had not been seen since that first sighting.  On a positive note, he had gotten the specific details on the location from Aaron – the Bittern was seen among the vegetation at the edge of the creek just a short distance away.  There seemed to be pretty limited habitat for a Bittern, so I was hopeful that it didn’t go far.  But the vegetation that was there was pretty thick and more than enough for an elusive Bittern to hide in.  Ever the optimist, I started my vigil scanning the vegetation waiting for the Bittern to reappear.

It had been about 30 minutes since I started my search, and there were now 3 or 4 other birders on site.  The most excitement we had was when a Green Heron flew into that same area of the creek.  For a second or two we thought that we had the Bittern, but it was certainly not its smaller, browner cousin.  A couple minutes later the Green Heron flew off behind the creek and disappeared behind a tree line.  Was there a larger marsh back there out of view?  Could that mean there was a lot more habitat for the Bittern to be foraging in?  I briefly thought about changing my search to look for the Wilson’s Warbler, but realized I should maintain my focus on the much rarer target instead.

I now repositioned myself a short distance away to the North Overlook, getting me closer to the creek and giving me a different set of angles into the creek edge.  Other birders walked a short distance up the creek to get different views as well.  And just then I heard local birder Jay Wherley say that he had the bird.  Within seconds I was about 20 feet farther up the creek peering into the thickets.  After some anxious moments I finally noticed the tawny brown and yellow colors of the target Least Bittern, just a few feet away but mostly obscured by the vegetation.  I got this barely passable phonescoped photo of the bird as it perched motionless in the brush.  Just a minute later the bird had disappeared back in the vegetation – we got the bird just in time.

Least Bittern was #293 for my NC statelist.  In my statebird map below, the blue-shaded states are those where I’ve seen this species; cross-hatched states are those where it is regular though I’ve yet to see it.  And the 2 tan states, NV and NH, are those where I’ve seen Least Bittern as a rarity.  In both states it wasn’t my first time searching for this elusive species – I remember those searches well! 

With a bit of research I found only 6 previous eBird records of Least Bittern in western NC, with several of these records going back to the 1980’s.  It sure was quite a local rarity. 

After a bit of well-deserved celebration, I started my search for the Wilson’s Warbler.  Almost the entire park has low wet habitat which is ideal for this species so I was hopeful.  But despite 3 hours slowly wandering through this small park looking and listening for the bird, I came up empty.  I’m sure glad I maintained my focus on the key goal - the Least Bittern.