Could your kids imitate a Bittern booming?

CLICK HERE TO HEAR THE BOOM

If you're up for the challenge please create a short mobile phone video clip (max 30 seconds) in horizontal format and send to boomers@chrispackham.co.uk or upload to Dropbox and email the link.

  • Be as imaginative as you like - blow down a hoover tube, use old kettles, dustbins, buckets, whatever.  Maybe two of you could try having a ‘boom-off’ or dress up to look like Bitterns.

  • Open to everyone under 10 years old (but if you're older it would still be great to see what you can come up with).

  • Include your contact details so we can contact you if your entry reaches the top twenty and we want to offer national stardom.

We return to Minsmere this year for another romp through Suffolk’s finest and I’d really like your help to engage the nation with the wonderful Bittern.

Boom boom ...

The extraordinary call of the Bittern which males pump out from deep within the reed beds has no equal in terms of charisma, weirdness and the ability to conjure a sense of ancient wilderness. Its deep, low, penetrating resonance make this enigmatic bird something even more special than its remarkable plumage and its great rarity and inaccessibility. Once heard this ‘booming’ is never forgotten but could you, or more precisely, your kids be hidden ‘boomers’?

No rules . . .

Of course, whilst I will always be in admiration of scientific accuracy and integrity . . . the amusement angle needs to be central to this performance!

Best

Chris