Early November, and first bird-crop session.

Andy had another couple of hours (on Friday 6 November), at the Pennorth feeders. The first bird caught in the early morning fog) was a Brambling, our first of the year and an excellent start to the day. He finished on a useful catch of 33 + (3), but unfortunately, had to release about 10 other birds (unringed), as he had not collected the next packet of A rings from the hut. The species mix was - Blue Tit 10 + (2), Coal Tit 4, Great Tit 6, Nuthatch 1, House Sparrow 5 + (1), Chaffinch 1, Brambling 1, and Greenfinch 5. During the session, he also ringed our 2,000th bird of the year - a Blue Tit.

On Tuesday 10th, only a day after the recent "firebreak" restrictions in Wales had ended, Andy had checked with the landowner, and he was joined by Alan J, Peter and Jerry for a (socially distancing) Llangorse bird-crop catch. The wet ground needed three attempts to get a car (carrying all the kit), across the field. After that, the first three hours were very quiet, with the c150 strong sparrow/finch/bunting flock reluctant to go anywhere near the nets, and only a single Great Tit had been caught. After "walking" the line of nets to the other end of the hedgerow, and trying some tapes (no response to House Sparrow, but some success with Reed Bunting/Yellowhammer), the next two hours were better. Two decent net rounds resulted in a welcome total of 29 birds (no re-traps). The variety was Dunnock 1, Blue Tit 4, Great Tit 1, House Sparrow 7, Chaffinch 2, Reed Bunting 2 and Yellowhammer 12.

On Thursday 12th, Jerry set up the scrub nets mid morning, and Jeremy took over for the afternoon/roost. It had been almost three weeks since the scrub was last netted, and they were hoping for a decent catch. Unfortunately it was very quiet, with just 5 + (5) caught. There were still a few Redwing about, but most seem to have moved through during the "firebreak" period. The forecasts for the weekend, and into the following week, didn't look very promising. So despite the poor catch, Jerry tried again on Friday, when he did marginally better with 5 + (7). The visit was improved by close views of a Barn Owl (hunting the shelterbelt/church fields), and a count of 40+ Snipe (in the point field). The species mix (for the two visits) was Wren (4), Dunnock (1), Robin (3), Blackbird 2, Song Thrush 1 + (1), Redwing 2, Chiffchaff 1, Goldcrest (1), Blue Tit 1, Coal Tit 1, Long-tailed Tit (1), Lesser Redpoll 1 and Bullfinch 1 + (1).

The Chiffchaff was only our 6th November capture and our 3rd latest ever with the other November birds caught on the 1st in 2008, 4th in 2015, the 7th and 15th in 2016 and the latest on the 24th in 2001.