Bitterns Abound

Did you know that the Bittern is one of the UK’s rarest breeding bird ? Did you also know that you can actually see these birds here in London during the winter? The UK stronghold is notably in East Anglia where there are more reed beds but a few do appear in the Capital and the best place to see them in London is undoubtedly the WWT centre in Barnes. At the moment there are 2 on site but last year there were up to 6 which was remarkable. They are generally difficult to see as they hide in the fringes of reeds and the striped patterned feather and colours make them almost invisible . Perhaps the best time to see them is on a very cold day when the lakes and channels have iced up , they cant fish within the reeds so emerge out into the ice.

Bitterns were declared extinct at the end of the 18th Century, this was primarily to the following reasons. The decline and drainage of their normal wetland habitat. Their feathers were prized for hats and decoration . They were tasty!! and were once also nicknamed the ‘Fenman’s turkey’. It seems odd that anyone would want to eat these magnificent birds but eaten they were and have been since the Middle Ages. For the curious amongst us I found the following recipe - This is an excerpt from A Noble Boke off Cookry (England, 1468)

Bittur Rost

A Bittur take and sley him in the mouthe as a heron drawe him as a henne and fold up his leggs as a crayne and lett the wings be on then tak a waye the bone of the nek as ye did a heron and put the hed into the gullet or in to the shulder then raise hym and raise his leggs and his wyngs as a herone and no sauce but salt.

Thankfully Bitterns and Herons are protected these days and since the late 1950s they have been making a steady and slow comeback. There are currently believed to be 100 breeding pairs in the UK.