Blooming, booming bitterns heard across Yorkshire

Record numbers of bittern booming calls have been heard in Yorkshire during the bird's breeding season, the RSPB has said.

One of the rarest breeding birds in the UK, the bittern is also Britain's loudest bird due to the sound males make in the spring.

The bird was once extinct in the UK but returned in the 20th Century, although by 1997 there were only 11 males recorded in the country.

The RSPB said a record seven boomers had been heard at RSPB St Aidan's near Leeds, two at RSPB Fairburn Ings near Castleford, four at RSPB Blacktoft Sands in East Yorkshire, and in South Yorkshire's Dearne Valley reserves five had been recorded.

The Yorkshire figures come on the back of the national annual bittern survey results announced in March, which showed 283 booming males were recorded in the latest results from the RSPB and Natural England.

Richard Barnard, Yorkshire area manager for the RSPB, said the results for the county were a "testament to the huge conservation efforts" made.

"At our three flagship wetland nature reserves in the region our teams have worked tirelessly to create and crucially maintain the reedbeds in tip-top condition for the bitterns to thrive.

"Most of our UK population can now be found in inland reedbeds, which means they are safe from coastal flooding."

Bitterns are a secretive and rare bird and are dependent on reedbed habitats, seeking out fish, insects and amphibians on the water's edge.

It is the male's far-carrying booming sound, made in spring and summer to establish territories and attract mates, which can help give conservationists an indication of how well the species is doing.

Persecution and draining of their wetland habitat saw the bittern extinct in the UK by the 1880s. They returned in the early 20th Century but were in danger of extinction in the UK again by the late 1990s.

This prompted a wide-scale, targeted conservation effort led by the RSPB and Natural England to slow the decline and encourage numbers to increase.

Emma Tuckey, from RSPB Old Moor near Barnsley, said it was "amazing to think that back in the 1990s we only had 11 booming bitterns left in the whole country".

"It just goes to show, if you build it, they will come, and we've created acres of reedbeds across Yorkshire so that these amazing birds can thrive, not to mention delight our visitors with their booming calls."

A minimum of five bitterns had fledged from the Dearne Valley so far this year.

At RSPB Blacktoft Sands, at least six young have fledged from two nests.

Senior reserve manager Pete Short said seeing bitterns doing well was a "dream come true".

"The excitement of hearing Britain's loudest bird is difficult to put into words.

"Thirty or 40 years ago you wouldn't have a chance of hearing bitterns in Yorkshire but now you can hear them here as well as right across the county, the Aire Valley and Dearne Valley.

"Their sound carries for miles when they are booming. You just have to hear a bittern boom and see one to really understand why we should save them."

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