Gedser Fuglestation - 16 September 2015

Another disappointing day due to windy conditions. There are few birds in the garden and birds still flying over the station, and in many cases, straight out to sea.

 1k Goldcrest (Fuglekonge)

 1k Treecreeper (Træløber)

We caught our first Goldcrest (Fuglekonge) and Treecreeper (Træløber) of the season and a few more Sparrowhawks, that pleased Craig as wing shape and primary length data form the basis of his dissertation.

A Long-eared Owl (Skovhornugle) was heard calling in the station garden in the afternoon.

So, still no large numbers of migrants in the garden, but they have to pass through and it's only a matter of time.

Totals: 17 (15)

Spervehog / Sparrowhawk - 5
Skovpiber / Tree Pipit - 1
Rødhals / Robin - 0 (3)
Jernspurv / Dunnock - 1
Rødstejrt / Redstart - 0 (2)
Sangdrossel / Song Thrush - 1
Gærdesanger / Lesser Whitethroat - 0 (1)
Tornsanger / Whitethroat - 1 (3)
Havesanger / Garden Warbler - 0 (2)
Munk / Blackcap - 0 (3)
Gransanger / Chiffchaff -  2
Løvsanger / Willow Warbler - 2
Fuglekonge / Goldcrest - 1
Grå Fluesnapper / Spotted Flycatcher - 1
Blåmejse / Blue Tit - 0 (1)
Musvit /Great Tit- 1
Træløber / Treecreeper - 1

Gedser Fuglestation - 15 September 2015

A very windy day, the windiest since we arrived. Some nets had to stay furled but we still managed to meet the criteria for standard.

It was very slow going, so slow in fact that Craig decided to 'just fix the bottom line' on one of the nets because 'it won't take long'. I had to leave them to it and four rounds later it was finally fixed.

There were three first year male Sparrowhawks today.

 

Two of the first year Sparrowhawks (Spervehog) caught this morning.

 We had quite a few retraps - and some flycatchers, all caught in the bottom shelf, as the birds kept very low in the blustery conditions.

 Our first Red-breasted Flycatcher (Lille Fluesnapper) of the season.

The current weather system is blocking many migrants from progressing southwards. It's only a matter of time before they can get moving and much larger numbers of birds start arriving in the observatory garden.

Totals: 11 (7)

Spervehog / Sparrowhawk - 3
Rødhals / Robin - 3 (1)
Rørsanger / Reed Warbler - 1
Gærdesanger / Lesser Whitethroat - 0 (1)
Tornsanger / Whitethroat - 0 (1)
Gransanger / Chiffchaff -  1 (2)
Grå Fluesnapper / Spotted Flycatcher - 1
Lille Fluesnapper / Red-breasted Flycatcher - 1
Broget Fluesnapper / Pied Flycatcher - 1
Musvit /Great Tit- 0 (2)

Gedser Fuglestation - 14 September 2015

Well, no one expected the last bird ringed at Gedser today. The morning started off quietly.
Finally, there was no rain and we were able to drop nets ready for a dawn start. We were also joined by Hans and Bo, and the birds were rather thin on the ground.

Despite this CL & DKL both managed to get a new bird each as two Icterine Warblers were caught. The birds were both first years and had fat scores of 5 and 6. We haven't seen any up to now but they apparently breed in the garden.

 Hers 'n' His Icterine Warblers

The final total showed a high proportion of recaptures again. Birds, particularly Tree Pipit, Yellow Wagtail, Chaffinch, Goldfinch and Siskin are flying over, heading south purposefully, and not dropping down into the obs garden or surrounding area.

A Painted Lady was in the observatory garden for the second day running with other individuals seen between the station and the tip.

  Painted Lady ( Tidselsommerfugl)

In the early afternoon some visitors reported a large bird on the beach close to the car park. The photo they had taken revealed the bird to be a young Cormorant. All three of us set off in search of the bird and it was soon located, and picked up by CB. A brief check over showed no broken bones, and apart from being somewhat disoriented it was alright, but the bird was a little thin so it was released into the nearby fishing port after processing.

1k Cormorant (Skarv)

Totals: 18 (32)

Skarv / Cormorant - 1
Jernspurv / Dunnock - 0 (1)

Rødhals / Robin - 3 (7)

Rødstjert / Redstart- 1 (3)

Sangdrossel / Song Thrush - 5
Gulbug / Icterine Warbler - 2

Gærdesanger / Lesser Whitethroat - 1 (3)

Tornsanger / Whitethroat - 0 (2)
Havesanger / Garden Warbler - 0 (3)

Munk / Blackcap - 0 (4)

Gransanger / Chiffchaff - 0 (3)
Grå Fluesnapper / Spotted Flycatcher - 0 (2)
Broget Fluesnapper / Pied Flycatcher - 4 (1)
Blåmejse / Blue Tit - 0 (1)

Musvit / Great Tit - 1 ( 2)

Gedser Fuglestation - 13 September 2015

It was blowing a hoolie at the allotted start time and the rain due to move across country was just about starting. There was no sense in dropping nets as heavier rain was forecast for the whole morning.

Chris braved the wind and rain to watch the sea for a while and I collated some data on Chiffchaffs from our Cyprus trip in November 2014. The rain kept going for a good few hours.

We dropped some nets just before 1pm, hoping to catch a few of the passerines flitting around the garden and had some success but many of the birds were recaptures, showing that there had not been any significant influx of migrants and the retrapped birds were sitting tight for the time being. 

 

Spotted Flycatcher (Grå Fluesnapper)

A Painted Lady was noticed among the many Red Admirals.

Red Admiral butterflies

Totals:   16 (25)

Robin - 2 (9)

Redstart- 1 (1)
Song Thrush - 1

Lesser Whitethroat - 1 (10)

Garden Warbler - 0 (1)
Blackcap - 0 (1)

Chiffchaff - 1 (1)
Willow Warbler - 8
Spotted Flycatcher - 2 (1)
Great Tit - 0 (1)

Gedser Fuglestation - 12 September 2015

The overnight rain was only just stopping by 7am. This meant that standard ringing was not possible, but every cloud had a silver lining and for us it was not just a few extra hours in bed but also that the wind had finally abated during the rain.

A few nets were dropped in the immediate vicinity of the house while CL & CB headed for the tip. It wasn't long before CL was back since he had seen several Redstarts, and there was also a Red-backed Shrike close to the watchpoint - so it seemed worthwhile getting some more nettage up. By the time he returned some flycatchers had already been processed. It wasn't long before the wind started up again.

1k Pied Flycatcher ( Broget fluesnapper)

There were quite a few birds  feeding in the garden so nets were kept open for most of the day and a respectable 40 individuals were processed.

Lesser Whitethroat (Gærdesanger)

Spotted Flycatcher (Grå fluesnapper)

Totals: 23 (17)

Kestrel - 0 (2)

Tree Pipit - 1
Meadow Pipit - 1

Robin - 6 (8)
Dunnock - 2

Redstart- 2 (1)

Lesser Whitethroat - 1 (2)

Whitethroat - 1
Sedge Warbler - 1
Garden Warbler - 2 (1)

Chiffchaff - 1 (1)
Spotted Flycatcher - 2
Pied Flycatcher - 2
Blue Tit - 1 (1)

Great Tit - 0 ( 1)

Gedser Fuglestation - 11 September 2015

It was very windy by the end of the day yesterday, and by 5am this morning it was still really blowy. Thankfully the ringing site has plenty of well sheltered areas. We dropped the nets knowing that rain was forecast for later on so kept a close eye on the weather throughout the morning.

It wasn't very busy at all and by the time we felt the first drops of rain and closed at 10am we had only processed 17 new and 16 recaptured birds. Best ringed birds were a Spotted Flycatcher (Grå fluesnapper) and Tree Pipit (Skovpiber).

1k Tree Pipit

During the morning a Hobby, Kestrel and Raven were seen interacting about the nets but evaded capture. A few Siskin, Swallow and Chaffinch were seen overhead.

During a brief seawatch for just over an hour from 12.15 produced a couple of juvenile Long-tailed Skuas, plus a couple of Little Gulls, with c250 Common Scoters, with a few Eider, all heading west.

Late afternoon during making a necessary shop visit, we did a short tour around Gedser, picking up a flock of c40 Greylags, a single Wheatear and a Merlin resting on a hay bale outside the ringing station.

 1k Merlin

Totals: 17 (16)

Tree Pipit - 1

Robin - 6 (3)

Redstart-2

Blackbird - 0 (1)

Lesser Whitethroat - 1

Whitethroat - 1 (1)
Garden Warbler - 0 (1)

Blackcap - 3 (3)

Chiffchaff - 1 (5)
Spotted Flycatcher - 1
Blue Tit - 1

Great Tit - 0 ( 2)

Gedser Fuglestation - 10 September 2015

At 5am it was calm and extremely dark after rain in the night. Nets were opened in good time and we awaited our first birds from Gedser. The first couple of rounds confirmed that the Robins (Rødhals) were most numerous around the station nets. We caught 33 new and 5 retrapped birds.

We began to familiarise ourselves with the Danish names, correct rings for different species (Dunnock, Wren, Blackcap, Garden Warbler and Greenfinch all have rings that differ to equivalent UK rings) and the station nets and protocols.

We caught some rather nice birds with highlights being some Redstarts (Rødstjert) and a juvenile Kestrel (Tårnfalk).

 2k+ Male Redstart

 1k Kestrel

We also caught an adult Lesser Whitethroat (Gærdesanger) showing lots of moult.

 Lesser Whitethroat in primary and tail moult.

2k+ Lesser Whitethroat

It became windier as the morning progressed so we went down to the tip, after lunch, for some seawatching.

 This building marks the spot of the most southerly point of Denmark and Scandanavia.

Among the birds on the sea were 100s of male Eiders heading west.

We set some nets in an open area near the house, in spite of so very windy conditions, then furled in preparation of calm days and migrating wagtails, pipits and hirundines.

Totals - 100 (28)

Kestrel - 1

Tree Pipit - 1

Wren - 1

Dunnock - 6 (1)

Robin - 33 (5)

Redstart- 3

Blackbird - 0 (1)

Song Thrush - 1
Lesser Whitethroat - 13 (10)

Whitethroat - 2 (2)

Garden Warbler - 2

Blackcap - 12 (5)

Chiffchaff - 16 (2)

Willow Warbler - 6

Great Tit - 0 (2)

Tree Sparrow - 1

Chaffinch - 1

Greenfinch - 1