PixController, based in Murrysville, Pennsylvania, is famous for its wildlife video cameras, especially the Lily the Bear cam and Pittsburgh’s peregrine streaming cams.

This month PixController set up a videocam in a Murrysville wetland to see what sort of wildlife used the area.  In just a week the camera recorded a great blue heron, a family of Canada geese, an American bittern, a mallard, and a raccoon.

An American bittern is a great find because these birds are rarely seen.  Notice in the video above that the bittern looks like a short, striped-brown version of the great blue heron and has a similar hunting style.

For an even better look at the bittern, Bill Powers put all the footage into one video, shown below.  Near the end of the video the bittern successfully catches a frog.

Though I’ve seen American bitterns in the wild I have never seen them move. I always find them hiding in the reeds, standing motionless with their beaks straight up.  These videos provide a window on their world.

(videos from PixController)