Bitterns

Very interesting talk last night at The Hancock Museum  all about Bitterns a lot of it was about what they require in the form of habitat and I was surprised to learn that Leighton Moss has a decline in breeding birds , this was "the" place to go if you wanted to see your first ,or many birders had to wait years to see one in their  County, also touched on the booming of the Males again I did not know that each male has it's own unique boom , three different males  called Tom ,Dick, and I forget the other, had been recorded and their sonograms showed when listening to their boom they  where all distinctly different (although they are not sure if the more immature Bitterns develop  perhaps louder or more resonant call as they age ) I remember sonograms in the early editions of BWP and for the main could not make head nor tail of them , but have more recently used them myself on bat and bird recordings . So all I need is a Bittern( or more)booming over East Chevington , Cresswell etc: and I will be there to record and produce my own sonagram and then I can come up with my own name  perhaps something like ELVIS.

The Natural History Society of Northumbria gives a range of talks on many subjects as well as many other benefits of membership . check out the link below
.LINK : Natural History Society of Northumbria