The day before I headed off on my Eastbourne holiday I managed to find my first – quite possibly my only – Firecrest of the autumn, and, amazingly, this was at my first attempt. Maybe I’m slowly getting better at this birding lark! On this occasion, I went looking in a local park where Firecrests were seen last year. It took about an hour of watching, waiting, walking a little way along the path, more watching, more waiting, moving to another part of the park where I’d had lucky previously, watching, waiting … then, ta-daaaah! Not the most crisp of shots, I’ll grant you, but certainly recognisable as a Firecrest, so I’ll take it.