Bearded tits, Bittern's and Short-eared owls!

[poschiavanus]

Attenborough Nature Reserve is within not much more than an hour's drive from P'boro, and has been excellent for views of Bittern most winters in the last 10 years. The recently opened Keith Corbett Memorial Hide is a tower hide overlooking reed-beds which is now a favoured place for Bittern watching & photography: it can get crowded. The hide is open whilst the ranger is on site (usually 8:00-16:00 hours).

There is another hide (the Delta Hide) which is also good for Bitterns, but this is key-access only (keys can be rented from the Nature Centre) and very small. Just to show that Bitterns can be seen from this location:



A word of warning. Bitterns are not too difficult to find once you know what to look for. The trick is to be able to pick up signs as they move through the reed-bed and also their appearance when roosting. I only learnt this from someone with much more experience showing me, but after that I went from regarding seeing a Bittern as an absolutely special birding moment, to a bird I could almost count on in a day list! (Still a very special bird 'tho). A willingness to practice a bit of patience is a great help too!

Last winter in the snow they were feeding in the open along side the outflow from one of the pits.

[MetalMoth]

Wow thanks for your help guys. I shall have to check out these sites.

[FUDGEY]

Originally Posted by rossy

how far do you want to travel ? they have bearded tit walks throughout october at leighton moss, up near morecambe, also bitterns, but they are illusive birds, but now is a good time to visit, with many other winter spieces arriving ,rossy.

Hi Rossy do you know if the B Tit walks are every day and how regular they are? Its a bird I want to see this year,thanks.