Bird of the Day, theme 'Heads Up'

A bittern stood among tall reeds with its neck and beak angled straight upward, giving the brief a literal reading of Heads Up. Others read it as Meal Time, as a blackbird clutched a worm on a broken garden trellis in pouring rain. A darter perched on a bare dead branch, wings spread and neck stretched skyward, suggested inspection or drying behavior.