The Bittern is one of our most elusive birds and quite a character – as its nickname the ‘bogblutter’ well suggests. Let’s delve into the reedbed and find out more!

Amwell Nature Reserve is the top spot in Hertfordshire to see one of these scarce and shy birds but don’t go there thinking a sighting will be easy! When it comes to seeking out the Bittern, patience is definitely a virtue but the rewards of encountering one are truly wondrous.

Look deep into those reeds and you might see something stirring. At first you may believe that your eyes are deceiving you, so well-camouflaged is the Bittern, but the blink of a yellow eye gives it away. Watch as a bony foot stretches out and a dagger-sharp beak snaps, as it does so you hear a low, almost dog-like ‘grrrr’ followed by a ‘click’- the sound at odds with nature’s music of the wind rustling within the reeds.

The Bittern is part of the heron family. In contrast to it is more commonly seen cousin, the Grey Heron, the Bittern is shorter and more thick set – if you’re thinking more thug-like, you may be on the right track! For when it comes to being vocal, the Bittern’s certainly got the chat! The Bittern’s mating call is what’s known as booming and boom this bird does – in fact it might be hard to tell apart from a fog-horn such is the strength of its mating call, which carries a great distance across the reedbed. In reality, the Bittern’s boom is more often than not heard at a distance and then it sounds like the low pitched ‘hooo’ from blowing across the top of the lip of a bottle. It is this, together with the birds’ love of wet reedbed habitat and its once common population in Norfolk and Suffolk, that has earned the bird its title of ‘bogblutter’ - and also ‘bull of the bog’ and ‘bog monster’– charming eh!

Like many habitats, reedbed has declined over the years and with it so has the Bittern. Take a step back in time, when reedbeds were more prevalent, the Bittern was a common bird, hunted for the table. In keeping with its stocky appearance, the Bittern has a thick layer of fat – this was liked by cooks, who appreciated its self-basting quality. In Norfolk, accordingly, its local name was the ‘butterbump’. Thankfully Bitterns are now protected by law and no longer make an appearance on the menu.

Far from common even now, the Bittern hit its lowest ebb in 1997 when there were thought to be just 11 booming males left in the UK. Led by the RSPB, a huge nationwide conservation effort followed to create more reedbed habitat. At a local level, Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust worked with conservation partners and from 2004-2010, doubled the area of Bittern-suitable reedbed to 24 hectares. At Amwell Nature Reserve the Trust improved the reserve’s reedbeds to provide undisturbed places for the species to hunt and hopefully eventually breed.

Nationally, the story of Bittern conservation intervention is one of success and The British Trust for Ornithology reports their numbers have increased tenfold since the start of the century as a result of the conservation action.

Whilst Bitterns are now a frequent winter visitor to Amwell and have been sighted at Rye Meads and Marsworth Reservoir, we are still waiting for them to breed once again in Hertfordshire – the prospect of baby bogblutters is an exciting one!

In 2024 conservation groups are celebrating this special bird on ‘Hertfordshire Bittern Day’, Sunday 21^st January. If you would like to join a guided walk in search of the bogblutter and other wetland birds, we are leading a guided walk at 2pm at Amwell Nature Reserve. Visit our events page to book your place here.

Find out more information about visiting the nature reserves mentioned here.