14/09/2026
Saturday morning started with a beautiful sunrise, the mist was hanging over the river at home, and the geese were starting to move on the water meadows, but I was jumping in the car and heading to RSPB Ham Wall for the day to meet up with 8 members of Avon Images Photography Group.
As I neared Ham Wall, there was a pretty thick layer of cloud hanging over the reserve which was hampering the light for the days photography which was a shame as it had been sunny all the way up.
The main target was to see and hopefully photograph a bittern, bitterns became almost extinct in the UK due to habitat loss and persecution, in 1997, there were only 11 booming males recorded in the UK, but with special thanks to the RSPB England and various other conservation groups, the bitterns numbers have made a good recovery, there are now 283 recorded males in the last national survey, so a huge well done to all involved in their recovery 👏👏👏
Now, I've previously never seen a bittern, or even heard one, the males boom can be heard for approximately 5km on a still day, but this is only usually heard in the spring when the males are calling for a female, so imagine my delight when one of these beautiful herons flew straight towards me (albeit in silence), i definitely had a smile on my face 😀
To all at RSPB Ham Wall, keep doing what you're doing, you have an amazing reserve, and I'll definitely be back in the spring to hear these amazing birds 😊
