Little Bittern - 2013

Ixobrychus minutus

Little Bitterns breed through much of Europe but is a rare vagrant to Britain. The first early records come from Mathew (1894): an adult  male at Merlin’s Bridge  was trapped beneath the wheel of the Mill and became part of the Mathias collection, later donated to Tenby Museum. He cites two other specimens collected including one in the same collection but there is no evidence either was obtained in Pembs. Later Lockley  et al (1945) wrote of ‘singles off the Pembrokeshire Coast’ in 1899, shot near Fishguard in ‘about 1916’ and ‘taken’ near Solva ‘many years ago’.

There have been a further seven records in the modern era and these records are, thankfully, properly documented:

Adult male Merlin’s Bridge, Haverfordwest (H Mathias, per M Murray 1894)

One found dead at Broad Haven 26^th April 1964 (KJS Devonald)

Sandy Haven 18^th April 1970 (J Lloyd et al)

Dowrog Common 3^rd May 1983 (C Lambourne, KJS Devonald, GH Rees)

Whitesands, found dead 12^th April 1993 (J Bennett, R Hadfield) Specimen retained by JB.

Castlemartin, a wing found 2nd April 1995 (GH Rees et al)

Cilgerran Gorge 6^th May 1995 (PE Davies)

A garden near  Haverfordwest  7^th-10^th May 2008 (G&S Davies) later found dead (ID by RJ Haycock).

Teifi Marshes  19^TH-20^TH April, 2012 (S Bebb et al)

That four of the seven records involved dead birds is remarkable. The Teifi Marshes bird stayed just long enough to allow an opportunity for photographs. Clearly a male, the body plumage has moulted to attain adult plumage and  an adult  tertial can be clearly seen, contrasting with the majority of the retained juvenile wing feathers, proving that this is an immature bird.

MYP 29/05/2013