BIRD WATCH: On the look out for bittern

WORK by environmentalists in Notts could help increase numbers of the bittern, the bird with a voice like a foghorn.

The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds has warned the bittern could be extinct within two years.

But a wetland nature reserve in a quarry near Langford, developed by the RSPB in partnership with Tarmac, has been altered specifically to encourage bitterns to nest there. The first planting at Langford Lowfields is due to start next spring.

Habitat
Bitterns, the same size as large hens, became extinct in Britain almost 150 years ago after the destruction of their favourite habitat.

But birds from the Continent wintering over in England helped recolonise East Anglia during the 1950s.

The RSPB said only 11 male bitterns were recorded in the UK in 1997 - half the number recorded in 1996.
It is now launching a £500,000 appeal to finance reedbed creation.

Chief executive Barbara Young said: "We must build on current work to save this species from extinction."