Brilliant boost for booming bitterns at RSPB Leighton Moss in Silverdale

One of Britain’s rarest birds is about to get a boost at RSPB Leighton Moss, in Silverdale, following the start of a major new wetland project on the Lancashire nature reserve.
A bittern by Mike Malpass.A bittern by Mike Malpass.
A bittern by Mike Malpass.

Bitterns, famous for their unusual booming song, need very specific habitats in which to thrive and an ambitious ‘reedbed rejuvenation cell project’, funded by partners including EDF Energy and the Lancashire Environmental Fund has got underway. This will provide a better home not only for bitterns but also for critically endangered European eels.

Once common in wetlands, bitterns became extinct as breeding birds in the UK in the late 19th century as a result of wetland drainage and hunting. They slowly recolonised and by 1954 there were around 80 booming males, mostly in East Anglia. However, numbers dropped again as their reedbed habitats became drier through lack of management. By 1997 only 11 booming male bitterns were recorded across the UK.

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European eels are one of the fish species most severely affected by over-fishing in recent decades. This, combined with habitat degredation, barriers to migration (such as weirs) and reductions in water quality in many European wetlands and waterways, is having a major impact on the global eel population.

This work at Leighton Moss will produce ideal ditch and shallow pool habitat for eels as well as improving overall water quality by isolating the new cell from the main reedbed for much of the year.

The project will involve the construction of a 600 metre bund, made from clay and earth, which will result in an overall 9 hectare cell area. There will be a sluice structure installed to control water both entering and leaving this cell which will allow the RSPB wardens to manage water levels within the project area, independently of those on the wider nature reserve.

Richard Miller, warden at Leighton Moss, said: “The purpose of this dynamic project is to create a hydrologically independent cell within the Leighton Moss reedbed with deep ditches and pool features. This is essential, as reedbeds are transient habitats that will deteriorate without ongoing maintenance.”

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“The key aim is to accellerate the rejuvenation of habitats at RSPB Leighton Moss nature reserve for struggling wetland wildlife, particularly two threatened species – bittern and european eel - and to ensure the site continues to be the great wildlife experience that visitors come to experience and enjoy.

"It is also an essential better element in the principles of bigger, better and more connectedset out in the government white paper 'Making Space for Nature'; principles which drive our efforts within the wider Morecambe Bay Local Nature Partnership area and the RSPB Priority Landscape, that encompass Leighton Moss and its satellites sites.”

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