Staff and visitors at RSPB Leighton Moss nature reserve in Silverdale were cracking open the champagne as well as the Easter Eggs this week when they at long last heard the 'booming' of a bittern from the reeds.
This very rare and much loved bird normally 'booms' to seduce the females on or around Valentine's Day, but this year he lost his romantic streak and chose Easter Sunday to start his courtship instead!
David Mower, the reserve's warden said "We've been eagerly anticipating this fantastic news and are all extremely thrilled! It's been a huge relief to know that there's still a booming male bittern here despite the worst winter weather for many years."
The first calls are a bit like a grunt as the birds 'tune' up, but then build to an impressive 'booming' call that sounds a bit like a foghorn and can be heard for several kilometers.
David continues, "With a lot of bitterns being seen on the reserve over the winter, we're keeping our fingers crossed that this will be a good year for breeding bitterns."
Leighton Moss is the only place in the north-west where bitterns are known to breed and extensive work to restore and create reedbeds has been carried out in recent years to improve the conditions for these elusive birds which has been part-funded by the EU-LIFE bittern programme and DEFRA.
The smartly camouflaged brown 'heron-like' bittern was actually extinct in Britain in the early 20th Century due to the extensive drainage of wetlands. Thanks to the work of the RSPB and other conservation organisations it's been making a slow comeback in recent years. The numbers of booming males in the UK have increased from a worryingly low 11 in 1997 to a record 82 last year - the best number for over 120 years!
Jen Walker, Visitor Officer at Leighton Moss adds "Why not visit Leighton Moss this spring and experience this wonderful sound and see our other wonderful wildlife too. Throughout May you can join our 'Booming Bittern' guided walks that are run every Wednesday evening from 7.30 pm to dusk. The cost is £4.50 (£2 for RSPB members). There's no need to book so just come along-we'd love to see you!"
Saving threatened species like the bittern is a key part of the RSPB's Letter to the Future campaign, which is a direct call to politicians to do more to protect our wildlife, countryside and the environment. You can sign the letter at your nearest RSPB reserve, where you'll be adding your name to hundreds of thousands of others determined to ensure future generations inherit a world worth living in, or sign online at
www.signtheletter.org
