HABITAT WETLANDS
Restoration of this wetland habitat has hugely benefited two iconic species, but they’re not its only attractions, writes Hannah Lilly (and Dominic Couzens)
When I imagine a wetland, the first image that comes to mind is a Marsh Harrier effortlessly gliding over rustling reeds, talons dangling like landing gear as it searches for its next meal. Having visited south-eastern marshland reserves like Stodmarsh since the mid-2000s, this isn’t an uncommon sight for me, and I’m somewhat ashamed to admit that I’ve grown quite blasé about seeing Marsh Harriers.
Of course, they’re still lovely birds to see, especially during their aerial courtship displays, but I find myself scouring the horizon for more elusive birds instead. The same can’t be said for my 57-year-old father, who still positively vibrates when spotting the black-tipped wings of a Marsh Harrier. In his own words, “in the ‘70s they were as rare as rocking horse poo!”
As a younger birder, it’s difficult to imagine the historic plight of the Marsh Harrier. Following extensive habitat loss during the Enclosure Movement and relentless persecution in the 19th Century, the species disappeared from the British Isles in 1899. They made a fleeting comeback, with sporadic nests recorded from 1927, but due largely to the catastrophic pesticide use of the mid-20th Century, Marsh Harriers became extinct as breeding birds in the British Isles again in 1961.
Fortunately, they were still common on the near continent and in 1971, a lone pair came over and successfully bred at Minsmere RSPB. Following bans on organochlorine pesticide use, egg collection and the persecution of Marsh Harriers, in parallel with the restoration of reedbed habitat, both their numbers and their distribution drastically increased.
Now, the UK is home to around 600 breeding pairs and their range has doubled since the 1990s, with small populations found as far as northern Scotland. Excitingly, in 2020 the Republic of Ireland saw not one, but two pairs successfully breed for the first time in more than a century.
The star of one of modern conservation’s great success stories, the Marsh Harrier now sits comfortably on the Amber List of Conservation Concern, downgraded from Red, and registers as a European species of least concern.
But the Marsh Harrier isn’t the only marshland species to make a comeback from extinction. Bitterns also became extinct in the late 19th Century, following the extensive loss of their dense reedbed habitat. Despite a small population increase in the mid-20th Century, with around 80 booming males recorded in th
