Britain’s loudest bird, which had been driven to extinction, has been caught on camera at a nature reserve.

The bittern was spotted at Willington Wetlands, in Derbyshire, on 16 January, months after the bird bred in the county for the first time since records began.

Male bitterns make a distinctive, booming “foghorn” call.

They are part of the heron family, and were driven to extinction across the UK in the 1870s before they returned to Britain in small numbers in the early 20th Century.

Kate Lemon, landscape recovery manager at Derbyshire Wildlife Trust, said she was “absolutely thrilled” bitterns had made Willington Wetlands their home.