A Record November

On Wednesday 30th, Ron and Andy set the nets at the Llangorse bird crop, and were later joined by Jerry. It didn't start well, as the back edge of the hedge had been flailed since our last visit, so the top shelf was now well above the (2m) top of the hedge. Fortunately, there was a high hedge/tree line, about 30m behind, which provided some cover, though a lot of birds were seen veering over the top of the nets (when they saw them). While setting, one shelf string became loose, and it was necessary to make a temporary repair (proper job made at the end of the session). Although it was calm, it was very cold, -5C at 09.30, warming to +3C when they packed up at 13.00. Most of the birds were feeding in the NW corner of the plot - possibly because it was the first part that the sunshine reached, and catching for the first hour was slow. Later, when the whole crop was in sunshine (and the frost had melted), the three of them were able to guide the birds towards the nets. They then had three "decent" catches, to end the session on 83 + (5), made up of:
Wren 2 + (2), Robin 4, Dunnock 7 + (3), Blackbird 1, Great Tit 1, House Sparrow 20 (a new record day catch), Chaffinch 10, Greenfinch 1 and Yellowhammer 37.

The ringed total for the month was 341 (a record for November), bringing the YTD to 2559, already our 5th highest annual total (with still a month to go).