Wildlife

It was a little more elusive, and always active, but sometimes showed very well indeed. We observed further antagonistic activity between the Firecrest and its congeners, including plenty of crest flaunting.

The appearance of this bird is quite a surprise. Birds breed 20 miles away on the Holt-Cromer ridge but not nearer, as far as I am aware. Although I have long hoped for wintering Firecrest in the garden, I am sure that this bird has not been around previously; I have not heard its distinctive song until today. The habitat - a suburban garden - would be a little surprising for breeders. And late May seems a tardy date for a bird to be setting up territory. My conclusion is that this is a one-day passage bird. My hunch is that it won't be around tomorrow, sadly...

James Lowen

The bird, a male, gave great views as it moved around between fir and apple trees, sometimes in the company of Goldcrests. I tweeted the news out, and Yoav Perlman was swiftly round to twitch it, over a coffee. (Hedonists, aren't we?)

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24 May 2016 Firecracker

Whilst heading out to do the mothtrap this morning, I hear an interesting song. I am used to our resident Goldcrests singing away, but this one was more insistent and lacked the final twinkling flourish. It sounded bang on for Firecrest! I scurried inside for my bins, and swiftly picked the bird up, singing in a fir tree. Result! Garden MEGA!