Bitterns at RSPB Minsmere, early June 2024

We stayed locally to RSPB Minsmere on our journey back from RSPB Bempton Cliffs in Yorkshire. It was our first time at Minsmere but we were delighted by the eight Bittern flights we witnessed during our two visits.  It lived up to its reputation as an excellent reserve.

Bitterns

The Eurasian Bittern, known by its scientific name Botaurus stellaris, is a large, stocky wading bird belonging to the heron family. Bitterns are renowned for their elusive nature and distinctive booming call, which can be heard during the breeding season. These birds prefer reed beds and wetlands, where their streaked brown plumage provides excellent camouflage among the reeds.

In the UK, Bitterns were once on the brink of extinction due to habitat loss but have made a significant recovery thanks to extensive conservation efforts. As of recent estimates, there are approximately 200 booming males in the UK, suggesting a stable and growing population. 














Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

WWT London, Jan 2024

Image
I took advantage of a rare day of sunshine to visit the WWT London site in SW13.   There was a Bittern sighted in the morning, but it eluded me (no surprise) and it had not been seen by anyone I talked with in the hides. As always, it was a pleasure to get close to their managed collection of waterfowl. Canada geese Common Pochard (wild bird) Cormorant (wild birds) Common Crane Eider Goldeneye Greater Scaup Hooded Merganser North American bird, female pictured below. Maned Duck Australian wood duck. Red crested Pochard Southern europe / Central Asia bird but there are reports of it breeding in the Uk, possibly escaped birds. Ring necked Duck Smew Wood duck North American perching duck. Vagrants occaisonally arive in the UK. I saw one in 2022 on Creekmoor ponds. That bird was assumed to be an escapee. Ring necked Parakeets (wild birds) Goldcrest An apparently very confident bird, feeding on a fire tree right next to a path. However it had a damaged right eye, so perhaps it was expandi
Read more

North Norfolk, late April 2024

Image
We had a lovely short break in a hotel near Holt at the end of April. The weather was not kind, wet and with a bitter wind from the North but we enjoyed ourselves nevertheless. Weeting Heath We stopped at Weeting Heath NNR on the way up and the way back to watch the Stone Curlews (a first for us). We had good views on both visits, spotting 5 birds on the way and 6 on the way back.  They had a well sighted webcam on one nest and the birds swapped incubation duties regularly. The Stone-curlew ( Burhinus oedicnemus ), also known as the Eurasian Thick-knee, is a distinctive, nocturnal wader found in the UK, particularly on dry, open grasslands and heathlands. With its large, yellow eyes, upright stance, and cryptic plumage, it blends well into its arid habitat, feeding primarily on insects and small invertebrates. In the UK, its breeding range is mainly confined to the southern and eastern regions of England, with conservation efforts helping to stabilize its population. Currently, there
Read more

Which SD card to use in the Canon R7?

Image
The Canon R7 has two UHS-II slots and relatively limited buffering capacity.   To delay hitting the buffer limits, the ‘no-expense spared’ solution would be to buy expensive well reviewed UHS-II SD cards such as the Lexar Professional 2000x (£154 for 128Gb), ProGrade Digital SDXC UHS-II V90 300R (£149 for 128Gb) or the Sony SF-G series TOUGH (£189 for 128Gb).   Or perhaps the even more expensive 256Gb versions. However, some of us can’t afford these high-end solutions – hence the rest of this post. The similarly specified but more modestly priced Kingston Canvas React Plus SD card has also been well reviewed on several camera sites, so I purchased this when the price dropped, briefly, on Amazon UK to £83 for the 128Gb card.   I also managed to pick up two Kingston Canvas React Plus 64Gb micro-SD cards for the ridiculously low price of £12 each from another UK site. These don’t seem to be available anymore – I think they may have realized their pricing error! Using Crystal Disk Ma
Read more