Conservationists are celebrating a record year for bitterns after a monitoring project revealed numbers had increased by a fifth since last year.

Bitterns were declared extinct in the UK in the late 1800s as a result of persecution and habitat loss, before returning to Norfolk in 1900.

Results from the RSPB and Natural England’s annual project found 283 “booming” males counted in 2024, a rise of 20% in 12 months.