View allAll Photos Tagged bittern
Bitterns are a conservation success story as they were heading for extinction in Britain 28 years ago with just 20 breeding pairs in 1990 and a downward trajectory. New reedbeds were created and old reedbeds were rewetted and the population is now cruising towards 200 breeding pairs (164 booming males at 71 sites last year). There are strong populations in East Anglia and Somerset, and they are breeding in North, South, East and West Yorkshire. South Yorkshire is where I photographed this adult female this morning at Old Moor RSPB reserve. When they are nesting in reedbeds it is usually the females that are seen as they make regular feeding flights over the reeds. Once males have mated they play no further part in incubation or chick rearing.
The scientific name Botaurus stellaris is interesting. Botaurus combines two words for bull; Bos and Taurus. Relating to the deep booming noise made by males which also gives rise to folk names like Bull of the Bog. Stellaris means of the stars, supposedly because of the yellow star-like spangles on the upperparts.
One from the archives. Forest Farm, Cardiff. To see a wider range of images. Please click on the link below.
Good Saturday morning everyone and hope a great one is in store for all. Here is a species that is a personal fave, and when posed like this I just cannot resist. Thank you for visiting and as always enjoy your day and weekend.
Running with additional tender, ex-LNER class A4 no. 60019 'Bittern' passes Copmanthorpe on 25th July 2009, heading 1Z51, a Transport Trust railtour returning from York to Kings Cross.
Bittern, Botaurus stellaris
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More snow last night, enough to cover my tracks in the gdn so now up to about 6 inches - 150mm. Not gone out again & nothing coming to my feeders of any note. Unloading some unposted Bittern pictures from 2012. Had never been so close to a Bittern
Day at Hamwall (Avalon) watching these most curious birds perform.
There were actually 3 in the air along with a Marsh Harrier.
Great company as well to go along with some good views of the inhabitants.
Dungeness.
After a day when all the birds that we had been hoping to see had remained elusive this smart Bittern suddenly appeared in the reedbed and saved the day!!
I was happy to have spotted this wading bird, a lifer for me. I believe it to be a juvenile. When standing upright, it is difficult to see as it blends in with the reeds.
Bittern - Botaurus Stellaris
Norfolk
The bittern is a thickset heron with all-over bright, pale, buffy-brown plumage covered with dark streaks and bars. It flies on broad, rounded, bowed wings. A secretive bird, very difficult to see, as it moves silently through reeds at water's edge, looking for fish. The males make a remarkable far-carrying, booming sound in spring. It's very small, reedbed-dependent population make it an Amber List species.
It is also a Schedule 1 species.
Unlike the similar storks, ibises, and spoonbills, herons, egrets, pelicans, and bitterns fly with their necks retracted, not outstretched.
Eurasian bitterns feed on fish, small mammals, amphibians and invertebrates, hunting along the reed margins in shallow water. British records include eels up to 35 cm (14 in) and other fish, mice and voles, small birds and fledglings, frogs, newts, crabs, shrimps, molluscs, spiders and insects. In continental Europe, members of over twenty families of beetle are eaten, as well as dragonflies, bees, grasshoppers and earwigs. Some vegetable matter such as aquatic plants is also consumed.
Males are polygamous, mating with up to five females. The nest is built in the previous year's standing reeds and consists of an untidy platform some 30 cm (12 in) across. It may be on a tussock surrounded by water or on matted roots close to water and is built by the female using bits of reed, sedges and grass stalks, with a lining of finer fragments. Four to six eggs are laid in late March and April and incubated by the female for about twenty-six days. After hatching, the chicks spend about two weeks in the nest before leaving to swim amongst the reeds. The female rears them without help from the male, regurgitating food into the nest from her crop, the young seizing her bill and pulling it down. They become fully fledged at about eight weeks.
The Eurasian bittern has a very wide range and a large total population, estimated to be 110,000 to 340,000 individuals. The International Union for Conservation of Nature has assessed its overall conservation status as being of "least concern because although the population trend is downward, the rate of decline is insufficient to justify rating it in a more threatened category. The chief threat the bird faces is destruction of reed beds and drainage and disturbance of its wetland habitats. It is one of the species to which the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) applies. The southern race has suffered catastrophic decline during the 20th century due to wetland degradation and, unlike the northern race, is of high conservation concern.
In the United Kingdom, the main areas in which the Eurasian bittern breeds have been Lancashire and East Anglia with an estimated 44 breeding pairs in total in 2007. However, the Lancashire population at Leighton Moss RSPB reserve has declined in recent decades, while bitterns have been attracted to new reed beds in the West Country. In Ireland, it died out as a breeding species in the mid-19th century, but in 2011 a single bird was spotted in County Wexford and there have been a number of subsequent sightings. In the 21st century, bitterns are regular winter visitors to the London Wetland Centre, enabling city dwellers to view these scarce birds.
Population:
UK breeding:
80 males
UK wintering:
600 birds
Europe:
21 - 29,000 pairs
American Bittern
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This one appears to be very skittish compared to the one that appeared last year at the same location. Colonel Sam Smith Park, Toronto
Best and closest look at an American Bittern I ever had. Interesting, the eyes point down in the skull. So when he hunts, the eyes are naturally looking down. To horizontal he must hold his head vertical.
Least Bittern 2 Everglades National Park Florida, USA.
No post-processing done to photo. Nikon NEF (RAW) files available. NPP Straight Photography at noPhotoShopping.com
Normally I Iike to show more of the bird and it's surroundings but this Bittern was fishing near the road where I was parked so had to go with a close up using my telephoto. I cropped to a square format but other than that this is full frame. [Explore].
We have a few that are year round residents at our refuge. Kind of a boring shot...but they barely move when waiting for their prey. First Bittern shot for 2009.
Taken at: Ridgefield Wildlife Refuge
In between rain showers.....overcast skies made more muted colors.
You're a young Bittern., you're a growing bird., You need food!
Yet despite already having a beak like 'dagger' the fishing 'thing' isn't quite as easy as it looks!
So what to do?
How about those large colourful insects?
There's lots of them and they may make for a tasty snack!
'snap'!!
Yes they are rather good....
Would've preferred a nice big fish though!
Give it time young Bittern! you'll learn!
The bittern is a thickset heron with all-over bright, pale, buffy-brown plumage covered with dark streaks and bars. It flies on broad, rounded, bowed wings. A secretive bird, very difficult to see, as it moves silently through reeds at water's edge, looking for fish. The males make a remarkable far-carrying, booming sound in spring. It's very small, reedbed-dependent population make it an Amber List species. It is also a Schedule 1 species.
Read more at www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/wildlife-guides/bird-a...
Another visit to our local celebrity Bittern, Viewed and taken from the hide this time as opposed to the visitor centre. So pleased to see it out in the open and improve on my previous shots.
Ixobrychus exilis
This Least Bittern came and checked us out on Monday out at Brazoria NWR while we were checking out some Wood Storks. It was quite a surprise to see him land so close to us. In fact, he was so close that this image is uncropped and is the only one that I managed to get the entire bird to fit in the frame.
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