For myself, and I am sure I speak for many others where this species resides, getting a view or even glimpse is infrequent and can be challenging. Over the past several years my personal encounters have been far and few between. Once was at dusk (a momentary flyby) and other times were simply calls. Fortunately this past April during an apparent mating season at Laguna Niguel Regional Park you could not only hear but also see the Least Bitterns in mid-day hours. I was first attracted by their calls on April 10 at dusk, then opted to revisit the park again during day time hours the following day, April 11, 2016.. Additionally I was able to obtain reasonably good sound recordings on a cell phone and at close range. Both photos and also the sound recordings can be found below.
For additional photos go here: https://ocbirds.com/gallery/least-bittern/
Sound Samples:
Lisa Townsend
About 3 yrs ago my friend and I came across an injured bird in Villa Park. We caught it before the coyotes could get him as it was close to dusk. Not sure what type of bird it was we went online to discover it was a Bittern. It had an injured leg so my friend was able to splint it for support hoping it would heal. She fed him raw fish and nursed him back to health. After she released him back into the wild she would see him a couple times a week come back to her yard looking for fish. He did this several times a week for months to follow. We never knew what a Bittern was until we rescued this one. So glad we could help him.