A video of a rare Bittern filmed with a trail camera at the Wetland Centre by the National Trust’s clerk of Works and local wildlife photographer, John Ovenden, has garnered 237,000 views, 522 shares and nearly 10k likes on Facebook and continues to be shared worldwide.
John’s film of the Bittern at the National Trust for Jersey’s St Ouen’s pond has elicited comments from around the world including north America, the Middle East and Europe.
Known by some ornithologists as a ‘ghost bird’ and Britain’s loudest bird for their boom, Bitterns were driven to extinction in the 1870’s due to the draining of their wetland habitats for agriculture and being hunted for food.
However, their numbers have increased by 24% (RSPB April 2024) since 2019 marking the significant conservation progress that has been made in the species’ recovery with 80 male breeding birds in the UK.
The incredibly camouflaged species is an elusive resident of reedbeds across England and Wales and makes an incredible and far-carrying “booming” sound when the males are looking to attract a mate. As the loudest bird in the UK, their remarkable boom can be heard up to three miles away in spring.
As a bird dependent on reedbed habitats, Bitterns can occasionally be spotted moving among the reeds at the water’s edge at St Ouen’s pond, seeking out fish, insects, and amphibians to eat. The Wetland centre is probably one of the best places to observe the Bittern in the UK and whilst we currently only have 2 males that appear each year, the Trust is ever hopeful that with the growth in numbers in the UK that we will hear the boom locally as our male Bitterns look for and find a mate….
