THIS IS FINDON VILLAGE - The Big Bird Debate

THIS IS FINDON VILLAGE — these Findon Chronicles were created by Valerie Martin and contain scenes from her home village of Findon,
West Sussex, U.K. Everyday stories about real people. In fact a potted history of the village.

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THE BIG BIRD DEBATE — 2008

Above is a watercolour executed 140 years ago depicting Cissbury Ring from the sea. Also the Cissbury Windmill can be seen on the hillside .....and even some of the properties on the Worthing seafront are the same as today.

In January 2009 I was delighted to receive from Brian Clay at High Salvington the totals for ringing birds at Cissbury Ring during the previous year. I always find this extremely fascinating and wonder how I could possibly have missed seeing and identifying so many birds myself during my rambles. Many migrants use the Cissbury summit as their last point of departure before making a hazardous crossing. It is also their first port of call on arrival in Sussex each year.

Hi Valerie.....I hope you are well. Here are the Cissbury ringing totals as promised. Fewer birds were ringed this year.

This is partly because there was less effort by the ringers but also because there were fewer birds.

The greater proportion of the birds that are caught are juveniles – mostly migrant warblers heading for the continent. I guess the very poor weather resulted many failed breeding attempts, hence the low numbers.

A week or so ago I thought the Rooks had deserted their traditional rookery around the roundabout and southward down the valley. I couldn’t see any nests or birds. However they seemed to be back the other day so I guess the strong wind must have blown the old nests down. All the best, Brian.

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What is the point in Bird Ringing I am often asked.... it appears to be a taboo subject among bird watchers.

I am not a professional birder or a twitcher..... I am just a wandering soul with a couple of pooches and I can just about recognise all of the birds who frequent my garden feeders including the various woodpeckers and wayward sparrowhawk. I do quite well with the Cissbury Ring ones too..... buzzard and woodcock ..... and one or two others. I have binoculars but never seem to have them with me when I actually see anything of interest !

I have been present in the past with the Ringers when they have caught birds and brought them to the table for documenting at Cissbury Ring ..........and it is absolutely fascinating to see the little birds at close quarters .......but their eyes look very frightened...... ah, well, perhaps that's just silly me imaging things and I can't help it.

I admit that I DO like to read the results of the capturings and to know which of our feathered friends are frequenting Cissbury Ring....but I DON'T think I like the ethics...... so you will be imaging that I am sitting on the fence. Although I admit I do waver in favour of the latter......

Imagine that YOU are a little bird (choose whether you want to be a sparrow, a bluetit or whatever)....happily flying along .... having perhaps left your eggs in a nest. Ooooops....would you be just a little startled and displeased to fly full-tilt into a fine meshed net and get entangled? Oooops... you are stuffed in a bag and manhandled back to a table to be measured and bundled back in the bag to be weighed.... and Ooooops!...ringed? You might even be a little disorientated when set free once more and perhaps forget all about your eggs and abandon your nest. Ah well, that's just my personal opinion.

Is it right that tired and underweight migrants, such as little Goldcrests, have to endure half an hour of manhandling after accidentally flapping into a net at a migration hot-spot?

Can it be classed as just a little bit cruel when catching countless numbers of our delicate birds for the purpose of gathering data on them. There must be a number of undocumented instances where birds are injured or die of stress as a result of mist netting. An undisclosed percentage of Greenfinches and Bullfinches do haemorrhage when trapped in the net and keel over. I guess horrors often happen but no one mentions those.

Some are even put through the experience of being "caught" more than once too. I've learned that a certain female Garden Warbler was enjoying her freedom on Cissbury Ring when she was first trapped as an adult bird in 1999. She was subsequently re-caught a total of 13 times in the years to come (that's not a typing mistake..... I do mean thirteen). I am told with no ill effects. The many miles flown by this plucky little bird and the unimaginable dangers encountered failed to daunt her haunting the our environs..... nor did the experience of being repeatedly trapped and documented. She was perhaps one of the lucky ones.

Were you aware that bird ringers in the UK need to be licensed and the process involves a considerable apprenticeship whereby trainees are tutored by an already licensed ringer?

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The summit of Cissbury Ring...... looking south towards the sea.

Over 50,000 Sussex birds are ringed each year giving us a wealth of information relating to numbers, movement and migration. That's more than one million over the last 20 years.

How many get hurt.... no one mentions those? On the other hand, you may ask is it really important that a particular genus has managed to make it across the Atlantic? Let's look at the pros and cons.

Have you ever seen a wild bird with a ring on its leg.... I know it can be a bit difficult when they are on the wing....and I can't say that I have. I do wonder if their metal shackles hinder their flight at all ......is it akin to wearing a bracelet myself..... I find bracelets a little bit annoying at times. It just may make all the difference to a successful migration across the sea or desert. Have you ever seen a bird pecking at its ring to try and get it off?

Did you know that controversial tapes blasting out bird calls are used to lure birds into the nets at at least one Sussex site..... I'm not sure which location this is... so I can't name it and shame it.

The debate rumbles on.

FROM JOHN GREVES IN WALTON ON THAMES...."Cruelty to Animals (and birds)....".Dear Valerie, Yes I agree with you that "mist netting" does look a bit traumatic and a bit out of date with the photographic technology that is available these days.

Lot really depends on how they are handled - my time as a holiday student on North Farm spent looking after sheep and thousands of turkeys - later worked for 2 years with MAFF Vets.

Right touch and most animals are very relaxed and compliant - get it wrong can get very distressing for all concerned.

Might have seen the newsreel of the Ayreshire swans covered in oil from that rail crash - petite lass in the rescue centre had everything very well under control.

Again many thanks for the good wishes from you all. Regards John"

FROM SARAH PATTON IN SURREY...."Hi Valerie....Birding Comment....Sorry for the delay in getting back to you - I was working to a deadline for one of my Open University exams.

I have had some experience of bird ringing. Firstly at Dungeness Bird Observatory over 20 years ago and then, more recently, on Cissbury.

At 'Dunge', certainly in those days, there was a scale of donations you were supposed to make to the obs for every ringing 'tick' you got. Rare birds were often trapped in the heligoland traps there (quite different to mist nets and, possibly, less stressful) and they would be shown to visiting birders. There were often tales of birds being kept bagged for several hours until lots of people had a chance to see it.

It's different at Cissbury as there is little chance of anything rare. It's known as a constant effort site which is used regularly over a number of years. The people there certainly do it with the aim of adding to scientific knowledge but, as was suggested on the Sussex Birds chat site, we know most of the movements of migrant birds now and the chance of any bird being relocated(extremely small) means that you have to ring an awful lot of birds to get a few recoveries.

Rarities will almost certainly never be found again, so you have to reconsider what the motives are for trapping them. In some places mobile nets are used which are known to chase rarities.

I have also seen the ringing at Portland BO in Dorset, where they use tape lures to attract birds. I can't agree with that, but then I also don't agree with guided walk leaders who play tapes of Nightjars churring in order to get them to respond and entertain the punters.

Overall, I think it is probably outdated.

Both Liz and I had Fieldfares in our gardens today - first ever!
Hope the above is helpful
Best Wishes Sarah"

FROM DOUG ATTRELL IN GORING-ON-SEA...."Good morning Valerie. On the subject of bird ringing; I've never really thought about it before. I know that the RSPB ring the Peregrine chicks at Chichester Cathedral & always assumed they know what they're doing. This is done before the chicks can fly so they're easy enough to catch.

I don't know how long this procedure takes but it obviously upsets the parents while it's being done.

However, it doesn't seem to bother them at all & life soon returns to normal afterwards. Take care....Doug"

Continue if you would like to read Findon's Parson Rabbit (or is he a Winnick?)

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

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Do let me know of anything you hear about Findon - not too controversial. Please note that opinions expressed in the Findon Chronicles are not necessarily reflective of my own thoughts.... but sometimes they are!