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Andre Farrar

In 1997 there were just 11 booming bitterns in Britain.  Bitterns, once memorably likened to a toasted heron by a young visitor to one of our reedbed nature reserves, have had a tough time. Driven to Victorian extinction, the fortunes of this secretive wetland dweller during the twentieth century were linked to the extent and quality of the right reedbed habitat. 

Boom time for the toasted heron

The low point in 1997 marked a watershed – if this bird was to make a comeback then we needed a plan, one that didn’t just concentrate on the flagship bittern but one that started to restore and recreate some seriously special places.

So today’s news that there are at least 18 booming males in Somerset’s Avalon Marshes is a fantastic payback for 15 years of hard work.  The booming, of course, is the sonorous call of the male bittern so it will be later in the year before we fully know the outcome of the season – but the signs are good.

Now let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves – bitterns in the UK are still not common, but their story is an important one as it shows that decline and loss is not an inevitable fate for the natural world. Make the right choice and nature can make a comeback.  It’s a lesson that is at the heart of our new campaign, Stepping Up for Nature, we going to keep the pressure on to stop  the declines of wildlife and start their recovery – not easy or short term, but achievable.

And we aren’t alone – the funding for the Avalon Marshes (which includes the RSPB Ham Wall reserve) was part of an EU LIFE-Nature funding programme to reverse bittern declines.  Last year the site was one of 47 across the country with nesting bitterns – and gained extra fame as only the second place in the UK to host nesting little bitterns. The partnership is a close collaboration between ourselves, Natural England and the Somerset Wildlife Trust.  The future is exciting as we are now getting on with the £1.8m Heritage Lottery Funded Avalon Marshes Landscape Partnership.

While I’m on – the RSPB Community Pages will be off for a refit for three days starting on 16 May.  But you will still be able to follow me on twitter.