Firecrest - Matlock Forest

The Firecrest is a very scarce breeding bird in Derbyshire with confirmed breeding in 1981, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2007, 2008, 2016, 2018 and 2020 according to the Derbyshire Ornithological Society. It is more regularly found in the winter with one or two birds recorded most years.

This morning I located a singing male in an area of Sitka Spruce in Matlock Forest. Typically they are in some of the oldest and darkest coniferous forest making their features difficult to see in the wild but the photographs show what a superb looking bird they are.

Firecrest - male

There is a history of them occurring in Matlock Forest with the first breeding season record there in 2006 and I was fortunate to see a pair with three youngsters there in 2020.

Nationally the first UK breeding record was in Hampshire in 1962 with numbers increasing rapidly since then and it is now estimated that there could be 4000 pairs mainly concentrated in the south and southeast of Britain.

Firecrest Breeding distribution 2008-2011

Derbyshire and South Yorkshire are at the northern tip of the UK breeding distribution but with summer temperatures rising we may see more in the future.

Fingers crossed that this male can attract a female and produce some youngsters.