We had some great news to tell about one of the oddest birds in Britain this week – the bittern.
The shy reed dwelling birds – whose instantly recognisable call lends them their nickname ‘boomer’ – were in serious trouble throughout the latter half of the 20th century. In 1997 there were just 11 booming males recorded.
After a concerted conservation effort there are now 82 males – the highest recorded number for 120 years
To celebrate the revival of these curious and elusive creatures, here’s 10 fascinating facts about bitterns to impress your friends with.
* The bittern has had many different names over the years including bitter bum, bog blutter, bog-bull, bog bumper, bog drum, boom bird, bottle-bump, bull of the bog, bumpy cors, butter bump and heather blutter.
* The bittern’s booming call is lowest pitched song produced by any European bird and also carries over the furthest distance –up to three miles.
* Fenlanders once believed that the call was made by the birds blowing into reed stems.
* Bitterns have in the past been considered an evil omen and in the Bible a bittern's boom pronounced the doom of Babylon.
* Bitterns will seek out open water in hard winters and occasionally mistake roads for wetlands. They have been seen in some strange places including a bus stop at Stoke Newington in London, the central reservation of a motorway at Durham, and a shop window at Gravesend in Kent.
* Roast bittern was a fenland delicacy in the 19th century and was known as fenman’s turkey. However skill and specialist knowledge was needed to prepare them in order to rid them of their natural unpleasant odour.
* 204 bitterns graced the table for a banquet to mark the investiture of George Neville as the Archbishop of York in 1465, alongside 400 swans, 2,000 geese and 1,000 capons.
* When alarmed a bittern often points its bill skywards and freezes. It will stay motionless in this position for up to 45 minutes.
* The railway line between Sheringham and Norwich was named the Bittern Line in honour of the birds which are heard booming from the reedbeds of the Norfolk broads.
* In the 1950s Lord Buxton, creator of the Anglia TV series Survival, offered a £1,000 prize to anyone who could capture a booming bittern on film.