A Eurasian bittern (Botaurus stellaris) has been spotted at the National Trust for Jersey Wetland Centre in St Ouen on the island of Jersey in the English Channel.
It may be Britain's loudest bird (its ‘booming’ spring call can be heard up to three miles away) but the bittern is also one of the rarest, driven to extinction in the 19th century due to hunting and the drainage of wetlands, where it lives, for agriculture.
The timid nature and impressive camouflaged of this broad member of the heron family make it even more elusive – hence its nickname, the 'ghost bird' – and the recent sighting in Jersey has attracted international attention.
"Another video from a trail camera showing the strange behaviour of the very secretive bittern," says photographer John Ovenden, whose footage of the bird sighting, posted on social media, received comments from all corners of the globe.
"The Wetland centre is probably one of the best places to observe the bittern in the UK,” says National Trust for Jersey, "and whilst we currently only have two males that appear each year, the Trust is ever hopeful that with the growth in numbers in the UK we will hear the boom locally as our male bitterns look for and find a mate."
According to a 2024 survey by the RSPB and Natural England, bittern numbers have increased by 24% in the UK over the past five years, offering hope that the buff-brown plumage of this secretive bird may become a more common sight in the British countryside in the future.
Main image: Eurasian bittern (Botaurus stellaris) adult bird emerging from a reedbed (not the individual sighted at the National Trust for Jersey Wetland Centre in St Ouen)
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