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Ringing first began in our area over fifty years ago under the auspices
of Sorby Natural History Society. The extensive area studied by the Sorby
NHS was matched by the early group's ringing activities, ranging from
Nottinghamshire, Yorkshire, Derbyshire, Staffordshire and Lincolnshire.
Before mist nets were widely available, most ringing involved ringing
nestlings with adult birds caught by traps or clap nets. In the fifties
Norman Barker and Ray Hawley were amongst the first to use mist nets in
the area and this changed the nature of bird study both locally and nationally.
Norman was the first to describe 'flick' netting Swifts at Hackenthorpe
in an article for BTO. In the sixties a new generation of young ringers
joined the group, including myself, and their use of mist nets moved the
ringing of full grown birds to a new level.
At the same time this expansion of ringing saw the establishment of new
ringing groups and ringing partnerships in the wider area. Amongst the
new groups was Breck Ringing Group whose base was at Breck Farm near Staveley,
under the leadership of Mike
Wareing. A ringer in those days would be a member of a number of groups.
Ringers would also gain wider experience by ringing at Bird Observatories
and ringing seabird colonies. Spurn and Gibraltar Point were regular autumn
haunts with island ringing taking place in Scotland on Foula, Colonsay
and Oransay. The 'older' ringers were exceptional nest finders and they
continued to search out chicks to ring. The first Goshawk, Red backed
Shrike and Honey Buzzard were amongst the rarer birds ringed at this time.
SBRG members relaxing on a ringing trip to Gibraltar Point, Lincs.
From left to right they are Oly Biddulph, Tony Sinnott, Alan Peachey,
Geoff Mawson, Ken (Gibraltar Point ringer), Mike Wareing and Ian Hartley.
In the early seventies the ringers in the Sorby NHS had the wider area
to ring in but the ringers at Breck Farm RG were the more active ringers.
With ringers being members of both groups it became a natural progression
to amalgamate them and to rename the new group 'Sorby Breck Ringing Group'.
I remember the BTO being a little reluctant to accept the name at first
saying it sounded like a 'breakfast cereal!' Despite this, the Group went
on from strength to strength consolidating their ringing in Derbyshire
and South Yorkshire to the present day with over 14,000 birds ringed during
2009.
Today the group has over thirty ringers with different licences to ring
birds. Ringers still travel to gain experience of birds from further afield
and this now includes ringing overseas. In addition to ringing in Europe,
ringers have ringed in Canada, USA, South America, Africa, Asia and Australia.
Their experiences have added to the knowledge available to those training
to ring wild birds. At a recent meeting of the senior ringers within the
group I asked, "Should we change the name of our group?" We
agreed that we often had to tell the story of the group to explain its
name, but, the general feeling was that the 'breakfast cereal' name had
its place in history and suited us well.
Geoff Mawson
Much has been discovered about birds by watching and counting them,
but such methods rarely allow birds to be identified as individuals. This
is essential if we are to learn about how long they live and when and
where they move, questions that are vital for bird conservation. Placing
a lightweight, uniquely numbered, metal ring around a bird’s leg
provides a reliable and harmless method of identifying birds as individuals.
Each ring also has an address so that anyone finding a ringed bird can
help by reporting where and when it was found and what happened to it.
Some ringing projects also use colour rings to allow individual birds
to be identified without being caught.
Although we have been ringing birds in Britain and Ireland
for nearly 100 years, we are still discovering new facts about migration
routes and wintering areas. However, the main focus of the Ringing Scheme
today is monitoring bird populations. Ringing allows us to study how many
young birds leave the nest and survive to become adults, as well as how
many adults survive the stresses of breeding, migration and severe weather.
Changes in survival rates and other aspects of birds’ biology help
us to understand the causes of population declines.
Training those interested to ring is part of what I do. I've always had
trainees but now with my trainees fast approaching "C" status
( allowing them to ring independently ) it is the time for an interested
"would-be" ringer/s to make contact. Most of my ringing takes
place in Derbyshire close to Sheffield and Chesterfield and often in the
Peak District. Being semi- retired I ring frequently, from 3 to 5 times
each week, so there is an opportunity for a trainee/s to ring to suit
their work/life pattern. Training takes from one to two years, shorter
if specific projects are intended. Realistically, some 30 to 50 ringing
occasions each year. The more ringing you do the shorter the training.
There are no exclusions, just a starting age of 16+yrs. and being comfortable
with early starts. If after reading this you are interested in training
to become a ringer then email Geoff Mawson at moonpenny@talktalk.net
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