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Bittern, seen at Slimbridge WWT.; Two Bitterns at Slimbridge, added 9th January.
Topic Started: Dec 11 2011, 10:39 PM (3,310 Views)
Tabatha
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:wow: :greatpic: Marg. Reasonably close as well. I have never seen the feet before.
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celticsparrow-Jan
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Brilliant photos Marg :clap2:
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Niggit
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[div style='visibility: hidden']test[/div]
How have I missed this thread up to now?! Marg, I can only echo what everybody else has said - what fantastic sightings, and wonderful photos that really do them justice. They are, without doubt, the best photos of a Bittern I've ever seen - and that includes the ones they have on the walls at reserves etc.
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Grayling
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:wow2: Beautiful photos Marg :encore: You are lucky to have seen the Bittern so often - I'm not in the slightest bit :jealous: :no: :yes: :grin:
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Davebutterflyman
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Brilliant captures Marg :clap3:

The feet and legs are one feature of this bird that really stand out.
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Dovetail-Marg
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Aww! thank you so much for all of the lovely comments everyone, they mean a lot. :hug:

I know I've got more photos and footage of a Bittern from a visit there at the beginning of this month, so I'll get on with those next. I thought the Bittern had gone, but some-one saw it this morning.....not me! I'm just amazed that it's still there, as they've usually gone by now.

Slimbridge is a fantastic reserve to go to, and I'm so lucky to be only 40/45 minutes drive (according to traffic) from it. The new hide that one of the wardens has built (Willow Hide ) has proved to be such a success too, that's where I see the Water Rail up really close, I saw it again today, at times it was only about 10ft from the hide, how brilliant is that! :grin:

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Danny's Nature
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Buzzard
Wow nice shots Marg. Not the easiest bird to approach and photograph. :cool2:
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Dovetail-Marg
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Well it's a few years since I've seen any Bitterns at Slimbridge, but I was very lucky when I went there last Thursday. I'd just got up the flight of stairs in the hide where two Bitterns had been seen, when someone said there's a Bittern over there. It was a job to see it at first, because it was further away than the ones that I'd seen before, but thankfully the light was brilliant, so I managed to few photos. :)

As I said it was a lot further away this time, so the photos aren't as good as previous ones from a few years ago.

The Bittern was just starting to come out of the reeds, and until I'd downloaded these photos I hadn't realized that the second Bittern was hidden away. You can just make it out deeper in the reeds above the first Bittern. :)

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After a while it decided to walk on the ice to reach a bank the other side.

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You can see the second Bittern peeping out and wondering whether to walk on the ice too.

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Well this is as far as it would go, it definitely didn't like walking on ice, and after this was taken it was soon back in the reeds.

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This is the first Bittern taking off......the second one was soon in the air too.

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Here's a very short piece of very shaky footage, the first part is of the first one walking on ice, and the second is where they both took off. I was surrounded by chaps again, and one seemed to repeat things already said, so there's a bit of what sounded like an echo at times. :giggle:

[utube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhr-Y792jVI[/utube]

Thanks for looking.
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Pam M
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:) Brilliant Marg. So glad you saw them. We went to Slimbridge on the holiday Monday, it was packed. We guessed folk were looking at a Bittern from the Kingfisher hide but it was 4 deep so we didn`t bother!!
We did see our first & only Bitteren so far there a couple of years ago :)
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celticsparrow-Jan
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A great sighting Marg it put on quite a good show for you :greatpics:
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Grayling
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Super sighting - well done Marg :wow:
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Eric Hardy
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Lovely photos of the Bittern Marg and I like the video too. I have never knowingly seen a bittern. I have just Googled this so it is not surprising that I haven't.

"The first bitterns to breed in Oxfordshire for more than 150 years have been recorded at the RSPB Otmoor reserve.
The bittern, related to the heron, is a rare breeding species in the UK, nesting only in big, wet reedbeds. They are camouflaged and very secretive, however in the breeding season the males make a distinctive booming sound which can be heard over a mile away.
The first ‘booming’ bittern was recorded at the Otmoor reserve in 2013, it was only recently proved that successful breeding had finally taken place, with the discovery of two nests.
In the late 19th century they had vanished from our shores; prized as a medieval banquet dish, they were hit by hunting and by loss of their reedbed habitat. They started to re-colonise slowly at the beginning of the 20th century, but due to continuing habitat loss their numbers slumped yet again, and by 1997 there were only eleven booming males across the country".
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Dovetail-Marg
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Thanks Pam, Jan, Grayling and Eric.

It was the first time that I've seen two of them at the same time. :)

Pam, I was there on that Monday too, and yes it got really busy so I left about 12pm because it just got too chaotic for me. As you said the Bittern was really hidden away that day. I did try to take a photo but with my bridge camera but I didn't stand a chance really, even those with super duper lenses couldn't get a sharp photo.
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AnnB
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Brilliant photos and video, Marg. Amazing to see two together.
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Davebutterflyman
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Very well done Marg, a real treat to be able to see two Bitterns together.

Great photos and footage.
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Pam M
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:) We may have passed each other without knowing Marg, that`s a shame :)
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Dovetail-Marg
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Thanks Ann and Dave.

We may well have passed each other Pam, and it was a shame if that happened. :yep:
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Night Owl
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Fantastic photos and footage Marg, what a treat to see two together! :greatpics:
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Davebutterflyman
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Both Bitterns are still there today.
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JennyWren
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^^ well done on the sighting Marg , you've super photos and video clip there :cool3: Well worth the visit
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