(tigriornis leucolopha)
The White-crested Tiger Heron (or White-crested Tiger Bittern) was one of the star birds of our Gabon trip. On our first visit to the Mpivie River we got brief snatched views of a couple of birds which were far from satisfactory. Our second trip to the river was timed a bit earlier and we were fortunate to see four birds. The field guides say that when disturbed the bird will freeze in a typical Bittern pose with elongated neck. This was certainly not the case with the birds which we found - most of them would clumsily crash away through the mangroves and overhanging trees leaving only some quivering leaves to show where they had been.
The bird photographed here was more obliging. Andrew spotted it some distance ahead on a big tree bough overhanging the river and we drifted slowly and silently down the river towards it. It hopped up a couple of times then flew across the river to an open stance on a fallen tree and glared a us indignantly before disappearing into the forest. Truly a magical moment.