British wildlife recordings The British Library Board
acknowledges the intellectual property rights of those named as
contributors to this recording and the rights of those not
identified. Legal and ethical usage » W Botaurus stellaris R1 C1
Hickling Broad, Norfolk: OS Grid Reference(641500,321500) Deep
booming call of a bittern hidden in reeds in marshland at
Hinkling Broad, Norfolk. 4.30 am on 13 May 1966. The species is
now extinct in the area and extremely rare nationally. Very few
people have seen a bittern in the wild, but considerably more
have heard its totally unforgettable call. This cryptically
camouflaged bird is never found far from the monoculture that is
its reed-bed home and it has even mastered the art of swaying
with the reeds to further ensure that it melts into the
background! Although singletons can survive in small reed-beds
in the winter, when summer comes they need huge tracts of this
wetland habitat to enable them to find enough food to raise a
brood. The booming call, sounds like a c