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

FLYING OVER THE RING

Copyright Valerie Martin 2006

Flying over the ring....   a bird in the hand is worth two in the net.    A rather unusual feathered friend to turn up on Cissbury Ring on the morning of 13th May 2006 was a Spotted Flycatcher caught in a ringer's net.    This one as you may guess mainly feeds on flying insects, especially larger flies.... and also devours butterflies.   It is a disappearing species to be found on this particular downland.

An interesting fact about this tiny house sparrow sized bird that is not so well known is that they are nocturnal migrants.    How they manage to fly from Africa is a mystery to me.   Just imagine navigating all that way at night and finding Cissbury Ring and then being captured in a net.   This poor little mite was ringed this morning by the British Trust for Ornithology team and now wears a bracelet.....

The Spotted Flycatcher is a summer visitor to the Ring and large numbers have been recorded in the past...

I have been asked about bird ringing on Cissbury Ring.   As I understand it.... the ringing of birds involves the trapping of wild birds for scientific purposes..... and it involves birds of a rare nature as well as the common varieties such as  blackbirds. 

Rather surprising to me it is also undertaken during the nesting session.   

Last year I discovered poles in the undergrowth at Cissbury Ring and wondered what they were used for and now I know. 

The main method for trapping wild birds is in "mist nets" which are strung between these poles when erected. These are very fine-mesh nets which are strung between two poles in shrubby areas.  The idea is that unsuspecting birds will flutter into the nets (which is all but invisible to the eye) and be firmly caught.   Mist nets contain several shelves or pockets, and it is these which prevent the birds from escaping the nets once trapped – they simply ‘sit’ in the nets and await the ringers to return to weigh them and collect data.

The birds are finally fitted with a uniquely numbered lightweight metal leg ring — the idea being that the bird will be caught again, either at the same site or elsewhere, and information can be gathered on its movements, age, weight, health, breeding condition etc.   

A female Great Tit was caught in the nets this morning at Cissbury Ring while I was watching..... it was her second experience of being "netted" at Cissbury.

Bird ringing in the UK is supposed to be strictly regulated, and is administered by the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO).   All ringers are said to undergo thorough training and only when competence is demonstrated are they issued with a ringing permit.  This permit is in effect a license from the Government’s conservation bodies to allow the trapping of wild birds in the UK.

Another fascinating sighting on that hazy May morning was a deer with attendant cock pheasants and hens in an open field of newly sown crops at Lychpole...

It then made off at high speed for cover...

Continue if you would like to read Who Was Sacrificed on Cissbury Ring?

THIS IS FINDON VILLAGE — www.findonvillage.com is a continually growing record created by Valerie Martin exclusively for documenting life in Findon.