A bittern was reported at Cranberry marsh a couple of days ago, for two days running. I went out there to have a look, and also because I had not visited that marsh in quite a while. The marsh is mostly dried-up when viewed from the beach looking northward. There are a few puddles her and there and the rest is either wet mud or dried mud. I didn't see a bittern, or any other species of heron. It was a forlorn site. I must conclude that beavers have dammed up the source flow as they once did at Reesor (lower) Pond a few years ago. Actually, now that I think about it, even Cranberry Marsh was once completely dried up a few years ago. I think that Green-winged teal and a Sora were seen along Lynde Creek at about the same time. By contrast, there is plenty of water in McLaughlin Bay in Oshawa, although some of the most shallow part of the marsh are quite low. I just wish it wasn't so far a haul from the western edge of Pickering to McLaughlin Bay & beachfront. It looks like it's going to be more humid for the next ten days, so I'm not sure I'll be making the trip out there until conditions cool down, or if something truly spectacular shows up. The trouble is, when that happens, by the time I find out about it, it's already too late.
