Birds in Scrooby

Birds in Scrooby

Ed Marshall

You may see around sixty species of bird in a typical garden in Scrooby, with around one hundred species within a twenty minute walk diameter of the village.

Equipment

If you are interested in taking up bird watching, you should invest in a good set of binoculars. Binoculars with 42mm lens are ideal. Also, the binoculars should be marked Z. This denotes that the lens are further apart than your eyes, yielding the benefit that as the light is gathered to your pupils there is a slight stereoscopic effect which counters the foreshortening effect of magnification. Binoculars with around five times magnification ratio are ideal. Binoculars with greater than eight times magnification are too shaky to be used while held in the hand. Binoculars with less than five times magnification do not let enough light into the lens to enable identification of colour and markings.

To encourage birds to visit your garden, put out peanuts, loose seed, niger seed, and bread. It is not harmful to feed birds year round, as used to be thought. There is a general scarcity of wild food for birds.

Bird Species Recognition

There are four cues to recognition of bird species.

Size

When attempting to recognise a bird, size is the first cue. It is useful to think of relative size, rather than an absolute measurement. Try to peg the bird in relation to this scale of bird sizing:

• Swan

• Heron

• Pigeon

• Blackbird

• Sparrow

• Wren

Habitat

Is the bird a tree dweller, or a water bird, for example?

Features

Does the bird have a distinctive feature such as a bright yellow beak or a long tail?

Song

Bird song can be distinctive. Song is particularly common during the breeding season, when birds advertise for a mate, and defend territory.

Common Birds in Scrooby

Robin

The robin is the only bird singing in September, when it is already territorial in anticipation of next Spring's breeding season. It also sings through the night. It is a member of the thrush family. It is not possible to distinguish the male from the female on looks.

Collared Dove

The collared dove has been in the UK for around twenty years; its arrival and spread being due to natural expansion of the species' territory. The collared dove breeds year round.

Starling

A group of starlings can usually be seen at Hawk's Nest to the north of Scrooby around 4pm on December and January evenings.

Blackbird

Female blackbird if light brown, the male blackbird is black.

Greenfinch

Starts singing in early April.

Chaffinch

Dunnock

Female dunnock is dominant and has an unusual breeding pattern. The dunnock is not a sparrow, but is sometimes known as the hedgesparrow.

Wren

The wren is the smallest bird in the UK.

Wood Pigeon

The wood pigeon is also known as the rock dove.

Blue Tit

The blue tit can be encouraged into your garden with peanuts.

Great Tit

The great tit is recognisable by its black cap and throat. The great tit sings in January.

Coal Tit

The coal tit is recognisable by the white stripe on its neck and back. The coal tit will not stay on nuts, but visit and leave quickly.

Long Tail Tit

While other tits are usually seen in pairs, the long tail tit flocks. The long tail tit is currently becoming more common in Scrooby. The long tail tit constructs a domed nest from more than three thousand pieces of building material.

House Sparrow

There are around twenty-four house sparrows in Scrooby. The nesting sites of the house sparrow are increasingly threatened as house exteriors become tidier.

Tree Sparrow

The tree sparrow has a brown head. There are about fifteen tree sparrows in Scrooby.

Song Thrushes

The song thrush is doing well in Scrooby. The song thrush eats snails, breeds two or three times a year, and sings from halfway down trees.

Goldfinch

The goldfinch is recognisable by the red stripe across its eyes. The goldfinch is a flocking bird.

Siskin

Siskins are seen in Scrooby most winters. They are reminiscent of a small spotty goldfinch.

Rook

The rook is very common in Scrooby.

Pye Wag Tail

The pye wag tail is a fairly rare bird we are lucky to have in Scrooby.

Mistle Thrush

The mistle thrush is bigger version of the song thrush.

Mallard Duck

Greater Spotted Woodpecker

The male greater spotted woodpecker has red on the back of his head, while the female has none.

Sparrow Hawk

The sparrow hawk has a rusty coloured front and grey back.

Gull

Black head in summer only, white head in winter.

Heron

Magpie

The magpie eats wildlife such as frogs.

Jay

The jay is unusual in Scrooby, which is odd. More would be expected.

Egret

Egrets have moved into the UK in the last ten years. They can be seen on the wetland to the north of Scrooby, for example at Newington.

Night Jar

The night jar can be seen on the wetland to the north of Scrooby, for example at Thorne, and to the south west of Scrooby at Budby.

Nightingale

The nightingale is not a common bird in Nottinghamshire.

Winter Birds in Scrooby

Red Wing

Green Shank

Field Fair

The field fair is the same size as the mistle thrush, with a yellow spotted front. The field fair is seen in flocks.

Grey Wag Tail

Golden Plover

The golden plover is seen in fields, not gardens. There are around two hundred in the fields to the north of Scrooby beyond the Winz and to the south of Scrooby beyond the quarry. The golden plover relocates to the high moors in Summer.

Summer Birds in Scrooby

Sand Martin

The sand martin may be seen in the quarry to the south of Scrooby. They arrive around the last week in March. Scrooby Top quarry has the largest colony of sand martins in Nottinghamshire.

Chiff Chaff

The chiff chaff is the first arrival of summer. It may be seen on the Mill Field, along Mill Lane.

Willow Warbler

The willow warbler is nearly identical with the chiff chaff, except for its song.

Swallow

Yellow Wag Tail

Yellow wag tails may be seen in the quarry to the south of Scrooby.

White Throats

White Throats may be seen on the hawthorn bushes on and near the Winz in Scrooby.

House Martin

The house martin is blue with a white vent. The house martin nests under the eaves of houses.

Swift

Although common in Tickhill and other nearby villages, the swift is not common in Scrooby.

Spotted Fly Catcher

The spotted fly catcher can seen nesting in Mill House, Low Road during Summer.

Black Cap

Owls in Scrooby

Tawny Owl

The tawny owl is the commonest owl in Scrooby. The tawny owl has a distinctive loud hooting call. The owl hunts during the day.

Short Eared Owl

The short eared owl hunts during the day.

Barn Owl

The barn owl hunts at dusk on the grassland on the east side of the East Coast Mainline railway. The barn owl has a white face and front.

Little Owl

The little owl is around thrush-sized.

Long Eared Owl

The long eared owl hunts at dusk. The long eared owl is a big bird, without the white markings of the barn owl.