Bramblings

It's worth checking out your local stands of Beech for Bramblings at the moment. I had a small flock above Withens Clough last Monday in pretty poor weather conditions. I had intended to look for Crossbills in Sunderland Pasture but the mist and drizzle made it a no goer.
A return visit today in order to try for better pictures of the brambling flock came to nowt. Although I had a few sporadic flyovers of what may (?) have been bramblings, I wasn't able to locate the 20 - 30 strong flock of last Monday. There is still mast on the trees, but it is difficult to say how much of it still bore seed, and how much had already been plundered.