Birdwatch: Rare visitor makes exciting return but patience is required

BILL TEALE

07:00Saturday 11 June 2016

For those who missed it last year there is another chance to see a rare visitor.

A male little bittern is back at the RSPB’s Old Moor reserve near Barnsley. It was first seen early on Saturday morning and since then, true to form, in brief flights across the reedbeds. It has also been making its spring call, a muted dog-like barking.

Little bitterns, the smallest of Europe’s herons, are summer visitors to Europe from Africa including wetlands along the coasts of France, Belgium and the Netherlands.

Last year the first sighting was on June 30 and the fact that this year the male is back about a month earlier raises hopes that he might be joined by a female. A pair has bred in South Yorkshire before, at the Potteric Carr reserve, Doncaster in 1984 and successfully reared three young.

Good numbers of birders are arriving at Old Moor in the hopes of seeing the little bittern from the Bittern Hide or the Bus Stop, with varied success and often after a lengthy wait.

There are more sightings and booming calls from its larger relative the Eurasian bittern with two nests located on the reserve this year.

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Birdwatchers astounded to spot rare little bittern bird for the first time ever at Barnes wetland centre

 3 days ago / Ben Weich, Reporter - Richmond + Twickenham /  weichben

Birdwatchers were astounded to see a rare bird for the first-ever time at a Barnes wetland centre on the Bank Holiday weekend.

Eagle-eyed ornithologists spotted the seldom-seen Little Bittern at the London Wetland Centre last weekend, which is normally found in southern European climes.

The small wading bird is among the smallest of the heron species, with the male exhibiting a ‘splendid orangey-red beak’.

Reserve manager Joe Davison said the most likely explanation was that unusually hot weather had altered the bird’s normal migration course.

Mr Davison said: “It’s caused quite a stir and we hope it continues to stay around for a few more days.

“The Little Bittern is an incredibly rare sighting and is seldom spotted north of its breeding grounds in southern Europe and Africa so it’s even more exciting that this is the first time it has been spotted here at London Wetland Centre."

Other sightings in May included the first of the orchids that have come into flower including Southern Marsh Orchids and Bee Orchids, a pair of Kingfishers, Shelducks and Sand Martins.

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Little bittern at RSPB Lakenheath Fen: delight at first sighting in Suffolk since 1979

By Cambridge News | Posted: May 23, 2015

By Paul Brackley

A little bittern has drawn birders from far and wide to RSPB Lakenheath Fen.

The rare bird has not been spotted in Suffolk since 1979. It is found elsewhere in Europe, but is a very rare visitor to Britain - with typically only one or a few sightings a year. It is only known to have nested in Britain twice: once at Ham Wall nature reserve in Somerset and once in Yorkshire in 1984.

The little bittern - a member of the heron family and, at about the size of a moorhen, considerably smaller than a bittern - was first seen at RSPB Lakenheath Fen on May 16. It was heard making its distinctive and bizarre 'barking' call and seen climbing up some reed stems before making a brief flight.

The search for the little bittern was really a game of cat and dog as it was barking almost non-stop - David White, RSPB communication officer

The sighting prompted many birders to turn up expectantly on May 17, to no avail. But it was back on May 20, when it was heard barking intermittently in a part of the reserve known as New Fen North triangle, between Mere Hide and Joist Fen viewpoint.

David White, communications officer for the RSPB, wrote in his May 21 blog, which is featured in the News each Wednesday: "Well, after listening to it barking for around three hours last night, I am pleased to say that I saw the little bittern last night at around 8.30pm!

"The search for the little bittern was really a game of cat and dog last night as it was barking almost non-stop between 5.30pm and 8.30pm. I based myself on the northern side of the triangle and the bird did sound like it was very close. It was seen on the southern edge of the triangle slightly later but all we saw of it was the reeds shaking and not the bird itself!

"We went round to the southern side of the triangle where there were more pairs of eyes. The bird was seen again by several people as it "flopped" across the channel (this was the description we got!) As the light faded, we eventually saw it in flight east over the triangle at around 8.35pm. Success! It was great to see this special bird which was not only a first for the reserve, but the first record of this species in Suffolk since 1979."

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Little bitterns breeding in Somerset

Guard set up to protect rare birds on RSPB Ham Wall nature reserve

June 2013. The RSPB has set up a guard on the nest of a pair of rare little bitterns at the wildlife charity's Ham Wall nature reserve, in Somerset.

Only breeding pair in UK

This is the only known UK location of the bird, a member of the heron family. The species first nested in Yorkshire in 1984, but it wasn't until 2010 that they bred again in the extensive reedbeds of the RSPB reserve. Since then breeding has been suspected, but this year birds are known to be nesting.

Steve Hughes is the site manager for the RSPB's Ham Wall nature reserve. He said: "The male has a very distinctive "barking" call and appears to be holding territory, and we've had glimpses of a female."

To protect the birds from disturbance and the unwanted attention of obsessive egg collectors, RSPB staff and volunteers will be watching the site and access to some parts of the reserve has been restricted.

Steve Hughes continued: "Everything is in place to make sure these rare and very special birds are fully protected - we don't want to take any chances."

Little bittern - In decline across Europe

Little bittern are found across the world. In Europe over the past 40 years their populations have been in decline. Although the reasons are not entirely clear it is thought that this is linked to loss of habitat, both in the areas they nest, and in Africa where they spend their winter.

Continued