Cerknica photographer Zoran Vidrih managed to capture a rare scene in his camera lens: a bittern bird in flight. As Vidrih wrote next to the photo posted on his Facebook profile, “The bittern bird certainly is the most mysterious bird of Lake Cerknica. It is usually camouflaged in reeds, but it also hides perfectly in the morning mists. It only lasted a few seconds and it has disappeared in the gray of the early morning.“
Bittern bird in the morning mist. Photo: Zoran Vidrih
It really is an extremely difficult bird to spot, let alone to catcth. As part of the LIFE Stržen project, for 3 years in a row, we have tried in vain to catch this special heron, which in Slovenia only nests on Lake Cerknica. We were planning to ring it and install a GPS transmitter on her, but without any success. However, Notranjska Park, by successfully executing the Stržen meanders renaturation, took care of improving the living space of the bird. In the immediate vicinity of the restored part of the Stržen watercourse, the park established a quiet zone and arranged a living space for it.
Bittern bird quiet zone. Photo: Aleksander Vučanović