Firecrest at Hockham, Norfolk

The month of March 2017 will be remembered for some early arrivals on the patch, most notably, Blackcaps, of which I found 5 singing males with the first being on 16th March at Hethersett.  Chiffchaffs also arrived in force from the middle of the second week of March, and then becoming well established by the second week of that month.

One of several Bramblings at Hockham 1st April 2017 (many were singing)

This morning I walked around forest trails at Hockham with Firecrest being my target species.  At least 5 singing Blackcaps were found along with good numbers of Chiffchaffs.
A walk along a line of mixed Beech and Birch woodland produced good numbers of Bramblings with Redpolls, Siskins, and Goldfinches within the mix.  As far as I know I have never before heard Brambling singing, however, this morning I heard these Bramblings singing long before I arrived at their location, the song was given as "shreeeeeee".

Singing Firecrest at Hockham (photographed April 2016)

The final part of my walk took me along an area which has been reliable for Firecrest for years.  Within minutes of walking along the road a singing Firecrest was found in tall conifers, and to give good comparison, 2 male Goldcrests were also singing.
The distinctive song of the Firecrest is somewhat different to that of Goldcrest, it is thin and piercing, and given as "suu-si-si-si-si-si-si-si" or "zuu-zu-zu-zu-zu-zu-zu-zu" and appears sometimes to rise in strength.  The song of the Goldcrest is different and given as a thin, high pitched "cedar-cedar-cedar-cedar-cedar-cedar" and ending in a jumbled flourish.  Once heard, the two species songs are easily identifiable.