Birdwatchers across Britain and Ireland have been recording breeding and wintering birds over the last three years for the national bird atlas. All of the areas around Ticknall have now been surveyed. I have included below a list of the birds recorded within about 5 km of Ticknall.
There is still one year of the atlas to go, so I would be very interested to hear of any birds seen which are not on this list. Over the next year, we hope to fill in some of the gaps, and some species are almost certainly more widespread than we have recorded so far. In particular, I would be keen to know where you have seen or heard any species of owl, grey (English) partridges, nesting lapwings, woodcock, turtle doves, yellow wagtails, tree sparrows or corn buntings: it would be ideal to know in which 1km square you recorded them, the date and any evidence that they actually bred. It would seem likely that several of these might disappear from the Ticknall area before the next atlas survey in 20 years time. In contrast, there are a number of birds in the Ticknall area now which were not present 20 years ago, notably buzzard, hobby, peregrine, raven, little egret, mandarin duck and Egyptian goose.
The new tree planting for the National Forest will benefit a number of species in the future, and has already shown benefits for the grasshopper warbler, whose continuous reeling song can be heard in the spring from areas of rough grassland planted with young trees. However, it is surprising that two other species typical of this habitat, the meadow and tree pipits, appear to have completely disappeared as local nesting birds in the last 20 years. This mirrors national declines which remain unexplained. If you see or hear either of these singing in the spring, they would be very noteworthy.
Richard Winspear
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or 07943 399781
Mute swan Common resident
Whooper swan Rare winter visitor
Pink-footed goose Rare winter visitor
Greylag goose Common resident
Canada goose Common resident
Barnacle goose Rare feral visitor
Brent goose Rare winter visitor
Bar-headed goose Rare feral visitor
Egyptian goose Rare resident
Shelduck Rare resident
Mandarin Duck Scarce resident
Wigeon Common winter visitor
Gadwall Common winter visitor
Teal Common winter visitor
Mallard Common resident
Pintail Rare winter visitor
Shoveler Scarce winter visitor
Red-crested pochard Rare winter visitor
Pochard Common winter visitor
Tufted duck Common resident
Scaup Rare winter visitor
Common scoter Rare winter visitor
Goldeneye Common winter visitor
Smew Rare winter visitor
Goosander Common winter visitor
Ruddy duck Rare resident
Red-legged partridge Common resident
Grey partridge Rare resident
Pheasant Common resident
Little grebe Common resident
Great crested grebe Common resident
Red-necked grebe Rare winter visitor
Cormorant Common resident
Little egret Rare resident
Grey heron Common resident
Hen harrier Rare winter visitor
Sparrowhawk Common resident
Buzzard Common resident
Kestrel Common resident
Red-footed falcon Rare migrant
Hobby Rare summer visitor
Merlin Rare winter visitor
Peregrine Rare resident
Water rail Rare winter visitor
Moorhen Common resident
Coot common resident
Oystercatcher Scarce resident
Little ringed plover Scarce summer visitor
Golden plover Scarce winter visitor
Lapwing Common resident
Dunlin Rare migrant
Snipe Common winter visitor
Woodcock Scarce resident
Curlew Scarce migrant
Redshank Rare resident
Green sandpiper Common migrant
Common sandpiper Common migrant
Mediterranean gull Rare winter visitor
Black-headed gull Common winter visitor
Common gull Common winter visitor
Lesser black-backed gull Common winter visitor
Herring gull Common winter visitor
Yellow-legged gull Rare winter visitor
Caspian gull Rare winter visitor
Iceland gull Rare winter visitor
Glaucous gull Rare winter visitor
Great-black-backed gull Common winter visitor
Feral Pigeon Common resident
Stock dove Common resident
Woodpigeon Common resident
Collared dove Common resident
Turtle dove Scarce summer visitor
Cuckoo Common summer visitor
Barn owl Scarce resident
Little owl Common resident
Tawny owl Common resident
Swift Common summer visitor
Kingfisher Common resident
Green woodpecker Common resident
Great-spotted woodpecker Common resident
Lesser-spotted woodpecker Rare resident
Skylark Common resident
Meadow pipit Common winter visitor
Sand martin Common summer visitor
Swallow Common summer visitor
House martin Common summer visitor
Yellow wagtail Common summer visitor
Grey wagtail Common resident
Pied wagtail Common resident
Wren Common resident
Dunnock Common resident
Robin Common resident
Stonechat Rare winter visitor
Whinchat Rare migrant
Wheatear Common migrant
Blackbird Common resident
Fieldfare Common winter visitor
Song thrush Common resident
Redwing Common winter visitor
Mistle thrush Common resident
Grasshopper warbler Common summer visitor
Sedge warbler Common summer visitor
Reed warbler Common summer visitor
Blackcap Common summer visitor
Garden warbler Common summer visitor
Lesser whitethroat Common summer visitor
Whitethroat Common summer visitor
Wood warbler Rare migrant
Chiffchaff Common summer visitor
Willow warbler Common summer visitor
Goldcrest Common resident
Spotted flycatcher Scarce summer visitor
Pied flycatcher Rare migrant
Long-tailed tit Common resident
Marsh tit Common resident
Willow tit Scarce resident
Coal tit Common resident
Blue tit Common resident
Great tit Common resident
Nuthatch Common resident
Treecreeper Common resident
Jay Common resident
Magpie Common resident
Jackdaw Common resident
Rook Common resident
Carrion crow Common resident
Raven Rare resident
Starling Common resident
House sparrow Common resident
Tree sparrow Common resident
Chaffinch Common resident
Brambling Rare winter visitor
Greenfinch Common resident
Goldfinch Common resident
Siskin Common winter visitor
Linnet Common resident
Lesser redpoll Common winter visitor
Mealy redpoll Rare winter visitor
Common crossbill Rare winter visitor
Bullfinch Common resident
Yellowhammer Common resident
Reed bunting Common resident
Corn bunting Rare resident
