Lee Valley’s Bittern Roost Watch returns

This free event will begin with a short walk from Fishers Green car park and a talk overlooking Seventy Acres Lake before heading into the Wildlife Discovery Centre as the sun sets to warm up with a hot drink while searching for Bittern roosting in the reedbed.

As with all wildlife watching, there’s no guarantee that the Bittern will show on the night, but there should be plenty of other wildlife to keep visitors entertained while they watch, along with information about the Bittern.

Bittern were once extinct in the UK but are now thriving thanks to conservation efforts in wetlands across the country. Lee Valley’s conservation team will provide information on the ongoing works that take place in the park for these incredible birds and other wetland wildlife.

Set overlooking Seventy Acres Lake, the Wildlife Discovery Centre is one of the best places in the country to see wintering Bittern, a member of the Heron family that returns to overwinter in the valley’s reedbeds, alongside other winter visitors including Teal, the UK’s smallest duck and the impressive Smew.

The Roost Watch will take place in the Bittern hide at the centre which offers the perfect viewpoint over the reedbeds. The centre also boasts wildlife cameras with live, up-close footage and a five metre viewing tower with 360 degree views of the surrounding area.

Participants are advised to bring binoculars, a torch and wear warm clothes. Refreshments will be provided.

Event summary

What: Bittern Roost Watch

When: Sunday 19 January, 15:15

Where: River Lee Country Park, Fishers Green. Meet at Fishers Green car park, Stubbins Hall

Lane, Waltham Abbey, EN9 2EF (parking charges apply)

Cost: FREE

Other information

• Please check visitleevalley.org.uk and the event listing before heading off in case of any last minute changes due to the weather

• The walk from Fishers Green car park to the hide is approximately 200m on flat ground

• We would encourage visitors to bring a reusable cup for drinks if they have one

-ENDS-

Hi-res imagery is available to download from here: https://leevalleypark.canto.global/b/H2MFK

For more information, hi-res imagery or to request interviews, please contact:

Jackie Tolland, Senior Communications Officer

M: 07785 303 718 E: jtolland@leevalleypark.org.uk

Notes to Editors

Bittern

Bittern is a member of the heron family. They’re a buff brown colour, allowing them to be perfectly camouflaged against Common Reed where they hunt their prey of fish and amphibians. In the evening Bittern climb high in the reeds to roost overnight.

Once widespread in the UK, Bittern numbers dramatically declined and they became extinct primarily due to the widespread loss of reedbed habitat. Conservation work nationally has seen them return and increase in number. Each year they come to Lee Valley Regional Park to over-winter and the park has become known as one of the best places in the country to get up-close views of this elusive bird.

About Lee Valley Regional Park:

London’s largest green space, Lee Valley Regional Park stretches 26 miles along the River Lee from Ware in Hertfordshire to East India Dock Basin on the Thames and offers a range of great activities, days out and attractions from cycling and white water sports to ice skating, horse riding, hockey, tennis and camping, alongside award winning nature reserves, green spaces, heritage sites and riverside trails, attracting around eight million visits a year.

• The park was created by a unique Act of Parliament as a “green lung” for London, Essex and Hertfordshire and features a 10,000 acre patchwork of heritage sites, nature reserves and open green spaces, alongside world class sports venues, attracting over 10 million visitors every year.

• Just over 50 years ago much of the area around the River Lee was derelict, neglected and unloved, home to redundant industry, sewage works, gravel pits, rubbish dumps and railway sidings. Over the last five decades Lee Valley Regional Park Authority has, with partners, led the almost wholesale transformation of the 10,000 acre, 26 mile long area.

• Our open spaces include eight Sites of Special Scientific Interest, a designation reserved for the most important areas for nature across the UK. Four of these form the Lee Valley Special Protection Area, the designation for sites in Europe with habitats that are important for migratory birds. They also form a Ramsar site, an area which has been globally recognised as an internationally important wetland.

• Nine of Lee Valley Regional Park’s open spaces, gardens and heritage sites retained the prestigious Green Flag Award in 2024. A tenth Green Flag was awarded to Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, which is jointly managed by The London Legacy Development Corporation and Lee Valley Regional Park Authority. This internationally recognised award signifies quality open spaces. Myddelton House Gardens in Enfield also retained the coveted Green Heritage Site Accreditation, in recognition of the Authority’s successful management of this historic venue.

• In further recognition of the Authority’s dedication to providing high quality open spaces, six sites across Lee Valley Regional Park were awarded the highest Gold accolade from the prestigious London in Bloom Awards for 2024, and two sites were judged the best in the capital.

• Lee Valley Regional Park Authority owns three London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games venues: Lee Valley White Water Centre in Waltham Cross, Hertfordshire and Lee Valley

VeloPark and Lee Valley Hockey and Tennis Centre in east London’s Queen Elizabeth Olympic

Park.

• The Authority’s sporting offer also includes the world class Lee Valley Athletics Centre, British Horse Society-approved Lee Valley Riding Centre and the newly constructed Olympic standard twin rink Lee Valley Ice Centre, the only venue of its kind in the south east.

• Three of Lee Valley’s sports venues were awarded an ‘Excellent’ Quest rating in 2023, with Lee Valley White Water Centre receiving the coveted ‘Outstanding’ rating, having achieved excellence in all criteria – the venue is one of only two centres in the country to hold this accreditation. Quest, the Sport England recommended Continuous Improvement Tool for leisure facilities, recognises quality facilities and the highest standard of customer service. Lee Valley Athletics Centre secured a ‘Very Good’ rating in 2023, and the new Lee Valley Ice Centre will be eligible for its first assessment in 2024.

• Other recreational activities at Lee Valley Regional Park include cycling, angling, walking and bird watching. Historical sites such as Myddelton House Gardens, Waltham Abbey Gardens, Rye House Gatehouse and Three Mills Green can be found throughout the park.

• The Authority's Learning and Engagement service offers a range of outdoor learning programmes for Primary, Secondary, SEN schools and community groups, delivered by a team of experienced and trained staff and coaches. In 2023 the service retained the nationally recognised Learning Outside the Classroom (LOtC) Quality Badge, demonstrating the quality of learning and effectiveness of risk management.

• Lee Valley Regional Park Authority offers a range of volunteering opportunities from individual roles to corporate volunteering and collaboration with clubs, groups and organisations. The Authority has held an Investing in Volunteers award for the past 15 years, the national standard for organisations who maintain quality volunteer management and procedure regimes.

• Lee Valley Regional Park offers four camping and caravan sites at a variety of scenic locations: Dobbs Weir in Hertfordshire, Sewardstone in north east London and Edmonton in north London and the bushcraft inspired Lee Valley Almost Wild Campsite in Broxbourne.

visitleevalley.org.uk

03000 030 610

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