Our first full day here and an open day for the station. Catching has been slow of late, although there have been a few good days when numbers have risen above the hundred mark with the tempting prospect of capturing Nutcracker after a second was caught here on the 28th. Three were also seen to fly over.
However, the winds were against us today and the garden was distinctly lacking in bird life, barring Robins that are mostly trying to attain sufficient condition to make the Baltic crossing to Germany. Robins, and retraps in particular made up a sizeable section of the catch with little more than a handful of other birds.
We kept some nets down throughout the day but there was no increase in numbers as the day drew on.
3M Common Redstart
All in all there were probably as many visitors to the station as we had birds in the nets. The visitors very much enjoyed seeing the birds, meanwhile we hope for a better migration tomorrow.
Totals: 25 (19)
Gærdesmutte / Wren - 2
Rødhals / Robin - 15 (17)
Rødstjert / Common Redstart - 1
Sangdrossel / SongThrush - 4 (1)
Munk / Blackcap - 1
Gransanger / Eurasian Chiffchaff - 1
Fuglekonge / Goldcrest - 1
Blåmejse / Blue Tit - 0 (1)
1st October
We were hopeful that today's low wind from the NNW in the morning would bring a few more birds. Added to the fact that there had been overnight rain we felt that conditions were favourable for migration. Things had definitely picked up but there was no large scale fall and nothing unusual in the nets. We did have a few small flocks of tits moving through, with one Blue tit weighing in at a healthy 12.1g.
3M Reed Bunting
Chiffchaff
3M Sparrowhawk
Totals: 88 (29)
Spurvehøg/ Sparrowhawk - 1
Gærdesmutte / Wren - 9
Jernsperv / Dunnock - 8 (1)
Rødhals / Robin - 14 (26)
Sangdrossel / SongThrush - 3
Rørsanger / Reed Warbler - 1
Munk / Blackcap - 8 (1)
Gransanger / Eurasian Chiffchaff - 18
Fuglekonge / Goldcrest - 3 (1)
Blåmejse / Blue Tit - 13
Musvit/ Great Tit - 5
Bogfinke / Chaffinch - 4
Rørspurv / Reed Bunting - 1
2nd October
The wind had freshened again and after some low catch days,
the only thing certain to come to the observatory today was the brand new
dishwasher arriving with Gert and Hans sometime after 9am! If only birds could
be as punctual.
There would probably be some more Robins to join the growing
number of previously processed birds that remain in the garden, feeding up
before making the crossing to Germany, and maybe a few more Chiffchaff, but the question that’s
keeping us on our toes is when will the Blue Tits arrive? There have been very
large catches at observatories to the North of Gedser and it seems to be just a
matter of time before they find their way into our ringing rides, grabbing at
the net and biting the fingers that gently extract them.
As well as the expected strong wind, there were also a few spots of rain
but we managed to complete the session, although not too many birds in the nets and a lot passing overhead, we did
catch our first Brambling and Redwing of the season. As for Blue Tits,
there was just one so we must wait to see what tomorrow brings.
3F Brambling
Brambling underwing colouration, rarely seen in the field
Adult Redwing
Totals: 35 (9)
Gærdesmutte / Wren - 3
Rødhals / Robin - 11 (9)
Sangdrossel / SongThrush - 6
Vindrossel / Redwing - 1
Munk / Blackcap - 1
Gransanger / Eurasian Chiffchaff - 9
Fuglekonge / Goldcrest - 1
Blåmejse / Blue Tit - 1
Bogfinke / Chaffinch - 1
Kvækerfinke / Brambling - 1