I didn’t see it. That’s worth saying upfront. I wasn’t crouched in a hide with binoculars, I didn’t get the photo, and I didn’t hear the foghorn call cutting through the reeds. But someone did – and for once, the report that followed wasn’t about extinction, collapse or crisis. It was about a comeback.
Last week, a juvenile bittern was spotted at North Cave Wetlands near Hull. For those not deep into the world of secretive waterbirds, that’s like hearing an ice cream van playing the Match of the Day theme: rare, mysterious, and more than a little eerie. Bitterns were once declared extinct in the UK. Now they’re creeping back in, camouflaged against the reeds they rely on.
Rare birds on a roll
In Yorkshire, the last count logged just 20 breeding pairs, so even one juvenile matters. The reedbeds at North Cave – over 30,000 plugs’ worth painstakingly planted by hand – are finally mature enough to tempt this famously shy heron to settle in.
It’s not just bitterns either. A clutch of pochard chicks was also found on the reserve; the pochard is a once-common diving duck now so rare it’s on the IUCN red list of threatened species. In fact, with fewer than 80 breeding pairs in Yorkshire, there are more branches of Greggs in West Yorkshire alone than there are pochard pairs in the entire region.
Yet, somehow, here they are. Nesting. Feeding. Surviving. The wetlands are working.
Not entirely natural, but not ‘not’
North Cave Wetlands isn’t a natural ancient fen or untouched by human hand. Quite the opposite. It’s a reclaimed quarry – 140 hectares of what was once industry, now being reshaped into habitat. The transformation has been deliberate, steady, and deeply hopeful. Each area, post-quarrying, has been handed over to the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust by Breedon Ltd and restored with wildlife in mind.
It’s tempting to think of conservation as something wild and untouched. But in 2025, conservation often means rebuilding, replanting, and sometimes rethinking the entire shape of the land. These birds aren’t just survivors – their success is the result of spreadsheets, meetings, volunteer weekends, and people who decided that biodiversity wasn’t just something to mourn, but something to do.
Yorkshire Wildlife Trust’s reserve manager, Tony Martin, summed it up: “These successes emphasise the value of wetlands for wildlife, and the importance of providing more space for nature. Our ongoing work to manage North Cave Wetlands as an ever-increasing wild haven shows that dedicated time and attention to wildlife is vital if we are to turn the tide on the biodiversity crisis.”
Once bittern…
I didn’t see the bittern. I may never hear its foghorn call. But I know it’s there – and for now, that’s enough.
Freely adapted from a Yorkshire Wildlife Trust press release.
