The bittern is a rather mysterious bird that doesn’t show up much. The animal is on the red list of Dutch breeding birds, but has been doing well in the north of our province in recent years. Bird watcher Greet van der Pouw-Kraan from Veenoord wants to know more about this bird and wonders: ‘Can the bittern swim?’
“We’ve always lived by the water,” says Greet. “And the other day we were at a birthday party and we were talking about the bittern. I then said that bird can’t swim, but my eldest brother claims that the bittern is a swimmer and now I want to make sure, because I can can’t find it anywhere.”
And so Greet sent her question to Find Out! The editors are of course happy to take up the challenge and dive into the Onlanden for the answer. Forester Bart Zwiers of Natuurmonumenten visits that nature reserve in the north of Drenthe every day and he knows a lot about the bittern.
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