SPECIES UPDATE

Research, education and monitoring are key to bringing our breeding Bitterns back from the brink

MBitterns were served at a feast for the Archbishop of York in 1465, as well as in excess of 200 Common Cranes, 100 Curlews, 4,000 Mallard and Teal, and many other animals and birds. In medieval times, Britain was rich in extensive, ancient wetlands, supporting plentiful fish, eels, amphibians, and, clearly, a very heathy population of Bitterns. Over time, we lost these marshes and reedbeds: they were drained, polluted, reclaimed for agriculture, and today just tiny fragments remain. The Bitterns disappeared, and by 1997, there were just 11 breeding males in the UK. They were as good as lost, fast becoming a footnote in the story of how things used to be, though they did gain the near-mythical status that comes with elusiveness and extreme rarity. Bitterns are secretive herons, slender and beautifully camouflaged; perfectly adapted to a life spent within reedbeds. Their voice, however, is conspicuous and larger than life – the famous ‘boom’, a far-carrying, low-pitched call, with a timbre likened to the sound of blowing across an empty milk bottle. Their nests are hidden deep in the reeds, built up on platforms of vegetation in shallow water, so often the only indication that a site holds a breeding pair is the presence of a booming male. However, booming does not necessarily

Bitterns are secretive herons, slender and beautifully camouflaged; perfectly adapted to a life spent within reedbeds