Just for a change of pace, here is a photo of a least bittern in a wetland south of Madison, Wisconsin. One thing about wetlands in summer, they are pockets of wilderness surrounded by people. I've found that I'm less likely to run into people in a wetland than in the Boundary Waters! Wetlands are one of my favorite places to photograph, especially wildlife, and they are usually quick and convenient to get to when its not possible to hit places like the Boundary Waters.
On this particular trip, I was trying to photograph blue herons, but they were being particularly uncollaborative. As I was slogging back to my car, I flushed this bittern off her nest. Over the course of the next three weeks (on and off) she became so used to me, I didn't even have to hide in a blind to photograph her. On one occasion, I walked right up to the nest and removed a reed that had fallen in front of her. She couldn't have been more than three feet away. (But all of my photos were taken with a 300mm lens from about 15 feet away, to make sure I didn't stress her too much.)
This particular photo was taken when I approached the nest the second weekend. She went into her "I'm just a reed in the wind" camouflage act, but relaxed within 5 minutes. After that she pretty much ignored me and never performed that behavior again, even during subsequent visits.
Gordon Dietzman