Bittern
Surfbirds News: RSPB Archives
The breeding grounds for some of the UK's rarest birds have narrowly escaped the storm surge that swept down the coast of East Anglia this week.
In the wake of the surge, the RSPB has called for urgent Government action to create large areas of important habitat like reedbeds further inland to prepare for the day when the sea claims large areas of the English coast.
Freshwater reedbeds along the coasts and Broads of Norfolk and Suffolk are home to more than 70 per cent of the UK's breeding male bitterns. There were just 51 breeding males recorded this year, with 37 in Norfolk and Suffolk.
Bittern © Steve Round, breeding habitat suffers, from the surfbirds galleries
Several areas have flooded however, including reedbeds at the RSPB's reserve at Dingle Marshes in Suffolk and the neighbouring NNR at Walberswick, both considered prime bittern habitat.
For the first time, the sea has also managed to overtop the wall protecting the large Westwood Marshes reedbed on the site.
Saltwater is still pouring into the reedbeds at the Society's Strumpshaw Fen reserve, killing large numbers of fish in the second major flood in as many years. No bitterns are likely to breed there next spring, while other birds and otters are likely to be short of food.
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