Bittern photographed at Grands Marais/Pr� [PRE] on 24/1/2010 Photo: © Mark Guppy (visit site)

In 1878 Smith noted that 'Bitterns were probably at one time more common in Guernsey than they are at present, drainage and better cultivation having contributed to thin their numbers as it has done in England'. These prescient comments remain as true today as when they were first written. The areas of suitable habitat left today compared to Smith's time will be a mere fraction. The loss of La Grande Mare and the Track Marais has deprived the species of large areas of Phragmites. Fragments of this habitat are being retained in a series of nature reserves but they seem unable to sustain a wintering population.

Occurrences in the island are linked to the severity of weather on the continent. There were only four records in the period 1990-1999. It seems probable that the source of birds reported is from north-west Europe. Ringing recoveries in the UK have included birds from Sweden, Germany and the Netherlands. Breeding in Normandy is confined to the area around Le Havre.

Nearly all recent records are of single birds in the period from late November to April. Favoured sites include the Vale Pond, Grand Pre and Marais Nord. A unusual late summer record was of a bird at La Claire Mare on the 28th August 1999. Another sighting on the same day at La Grande Mare undoubtably refers to the same bird.