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https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-04-24/australasian-bittern-returns-to-lagoon-of-islands/103754336>
'The endangered Australasian bittern likes to keep a low profile, and if it
feels threatened it's known to stand still, extend its wings and pretend to be
a reed.
It has the nickname 'bunyip bird' because its eerie deep hoot is said to
resemble that of a bunyip — a mythical creature that is said to inhabit swamps
and waterholes.
The secretive, camouflaged bird is partially nocturnal and likes to be heard
and not seen.
But the booming call of the bittern has been detected at Lagoon of Islands in
Tasmania's central highlands for the first time in 40 years, in a sign that the
environment is healing after damming damage was reversed.
Bird expert Geoff Shannon spotted a pair of bitterns with chicks through his
binoculars on a chance visit to the area.
"I was amazed, it was pure chance that I decided to stop," he told Joel
Rheinberger on
ABC Radio Hobart.
"It's probably one of the memories of my life in terms of birding, and I've
done a lot of birding.
"It's the best record of breeding in Tasmania we've had for many years I would
think."
Dr Shannon said he hadn't seem a bittern in Australia since the 1980s and said
numbers have dramatically reduced in the past few decades.'
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
