THIS IS FINDON — www.findonvillage.com  created by Valerie Martin, contains scenes from her home village of Findon, West Sussex, U.K.

THE SHEPHERDS' WILD TURKEY

Copyright Valerie Martin 2002

Gilbert White, the natural historian of Selborne, Hampshire, who wrote “The Natural History of Selbourne”, was often seen passing through Findon on his bouncy carriage journeys on the way to Ringmer to visit his Aunt whose enchanting name was Rebecca Snooke.   It is guessed that he stopped off at the Gun Inn for a break in his journey.

What was Findon like at this time?  It was quite an obscure rural community.   For instance, the town of Worthing just to the south of Findon was described as inhabited —

He wrote in the early 1770s a tantalising sentence recording his visit to Findon  —

So I can only guess that some bustard farming was undertaken in Findon at this era.

Unfortunately, he added no further information.  If only he had paused to give us a one-liner explanation.  Where were they seen?  Were they an every day sight?  If only he had written whereabouts in Findon they were bred and by whom, it would have given us a glimpse of Findon of the past.  The breeding must have been conducted on quite a large scale, perhaps on one of the larger estates, for him to bother to mention it in his writings.  We do not even know if Gilbert White ever clapped eyes on the wary birds himself.  We have to be satisfied with the knowledge that “bustards are bred in the Parish of Findon”, which in those days must have been an ideal spot for them.

The final attempt to breed bustards in Britain was in Suffolk in 1832.  Since then their presence has been limited to occasional sightings of fugitives from severe weather on the Continent.

The magnificent, but nervous, bustards were built like small ostriches and were turkey sized (about 40 lb), 3 ft. long and nicknamed “the shepherds’ wild turkey”. The bustards were swift-running creatures with strong flight capabilities.  They were giants among birds with a 6 ft. wingspan — and must have been a stunning sight in the Findon countryside until hunted to extinction.  The mating display of the bustard was also a vision to behold.  Apparently the male would put its head into its feathers and ruffle himself up for all the world like a fluffy cushion.  Thus transforming a mostly brown bird into an entirely white one.

William Borrer was a noted ornithogist of the nineteenth century born was born in 1814.  Fortunately for us he was informative on the subject of the bustards.  He left us a legacy in the way of a description enabling us to imagine the birds grazing on the Sussex hillsides.  

He had been told about the big birds with long legs by his grandfather who was also named William Borrer (born 1753 and died in 1844).   He had often hunted bustards with his greyhounds:-

He added that his Grandfather —

 William Borrer added —

From Cissbury Ring the Lancing Clump can be seen, along with Steep Down, and beyond is Thunders Barrow — not that far from Findon.  

As bustards were bred in Findon it is presumed they were a frequent sight on the village’s downland in the eighteenth century.  How fascinating to think that the Great Bustard was seen on the South Downs.  

About 1830 there appears to have been a single example occasionally seen near Blatchington by a Mr. Catt who then occupied the farm there.   It frequented the flat table-land which ran for a considerable distance in the direction of the Dyke.  

Prior to this flocks of these noble birds had been witnessed frequently on the Downs.   They were bred in Britain until 1832 but on the decline from 1825 when they were resident on the downland..... and virtually disappeared by 1850, though one was reported on the hillsides above Brighton just prior to Christmas 1875.   It was eventually shot on the hills in the Eastbourne environs....... near Ripe on 12th January 1876.    People seemed to shoot anything that moved in those days.  Since then there have been no further recorded sightings.

On 6th January 1891, a Great Bustard was shot at Pett Level (Rye, East Sussex) and that appears to be the last of the Great Bustard in Sussex.

The great bustard’s size was its downfall, aided by human interference.  Hunting and the loss of the vast open downland as at Findon, dramatically reduced its numbers.  They were very wary, retiring birds and needed plenty of space around them.

A project in 1970 to establish a colony of bustards on Ministry of Defence land at Porton Down, Wiltshire, came to nothing.

In April 2002 I heard the great news that bird conservationists reintroduced the bustard back into Britain.  The Great Bustard Group sought a licence to import twenty-five birds each year for five years.  The project was increasingly important because the Russian bustard population on the steppes of the Volga is coming under pressure from agricultural development.  The project was a delicate one to undertake to transport bustard chicks to Britain and care for them through quarantine.  Once reared the bustards were given a warm welcome and their freedom to roam Salisbury Plain just as the shepherds' wild turkeys once graced the Findon landscape.

At the beginning of August 2004 the first bustard chicks in Britain arrived from Russia to start a new life in Britain.   Good luck, baby bustard chicks!  I look forward to seeing you on the downland again.

Continue if you would like to read about Cold Pidgeon Pie at the Gun Inn.

This is Findon Village — www.findonvillage.com is a continually growing record created by Valerie Martin exclusively for documenting life in Findon.