Sussex Ornithological Society Firecrest Survey Crowborough 25/05/2018

I am signed up to partake in the SOS's Firecrest survey. Thus, I was found from 10:00 until 11:00 in my designated 'square' - TQ52##. I spent an hour walking round. This was my second visit, and I identified six Firecrest territories and an equal number of Goldcrest territories. On my first visit, a few weeks ago, I found ten possible Goldcrest territories and five of Firecrest. On this later trip, one thought-to-be Goldcrest territory was re-identified as Firecrest, and three putative Goldcrest and one Firecrest territory appeared to be vacant. These birds may have been migrants, or just winter visitors. The weather was not great, so some of them may simply have taken to shelter, as it was cloudy and very dull, but hopefully my next and last trip will confirm whether they are territories or not. There were quite a few other birds around, including Chiffchaffs, at least three male Blackcaps, and a lone Garden Warbler around. Several Blackbirds were loudly proclaiming their territories, and a Song Thrush was quietly warbling still. A 3rd summer Herring Gull was floating overhead, and the fields held several families of Woodpigeons, complete with juveniles.