Rare Bittern Rescue

A very rare Bittern has been rescued over the weekend at Pinetree Leisure Park near Skegness. The site were aware of the bird, one of two that were feeding on the site's fishing lakes for the last couple of weeks. On Friday 12 Feb Simon Dodsworth, a member of the family business, noticed the bird caught in fishing line in reeds at the edge of the lake. He phoned Roger Wardle, a wildlife consultant who had designed a 180 acre wetland habitat project for the Dodsworths on adjacent land. Roger and his partner came over on Friday afternoon and captured the bird; the fishing line was removed from its neck and we attempted to release it. The Bittern, subsequently discovered to be an adult female, did not have the strength to fly off, although it had been strong enough to peck Roger's face during the rescue and was taken to Fenwold Vetinary Spilsby.

The bird was kindly checked over and, having sustained no injuries, given a long lasting penicillin shot. The vet made arrangements for Mablethorpe Seal Sanctuary to care for the bird until she was strong enough for release. Paul King, at Mablethorpe Seal Sanctuary who have only had one Bittern before in the 1980's, made sure the bird had some fish and by Sunday 14 th February she was deemed strong enough for release. Roger collected the bird and made arrangements for Mr Alan Ball, Lincolnshire 's leading ring, to ring the bird. Mr Ball commented that he had never seen, let alone ringed a Bittern.

What had caused these birds to be feeding on fishing lakes on our caravan site is not certain. However, the site is keen to promote conservation (we were awarded the David Bellamy Silver award this year) and deliberately leaves areas overgrown and allows some reed growth on the lakes.

Mr Wardle feels it is most likely the birds were displaced from their usual territory, possibly in Northern Europe , by the harsh winter and flying over would have been drawn in by the large areas of water on the adjacent Middlemarsh Wetland Project. From there it would not have been too difficult to find the reeds and abundance of food in our well stocked fishing lakes. It is unlikely the Bitterns will hang around for long when the weather improves but it has been a thrill to see them in Lincolnshire and a privilege to be able to help such a rare bird. RSPB web site suggests there are between 50-150 of these Schedule 1 protected, Red-list birds overwintering in the UK . Mr Dodsworth has stated that even more care will now be taken to ensure that anglers using the lake recover lost tackle.