Gedser Fuglestation - 1 November 2015

Only a couple of weeks of the ringing programme left now. Catching was steady today with the flock of Long-tailed Tits (Halemejse) from yesterday, returning to the ringing garden having joined up with another flock. In the afternoon we left a few nets up and played audiolures for Repoll (Gråsisken) and Redwing (Vindrossel). The figures show how one recording was much more successful than the other.
The past few days I have sometimes struggled for interesting images to post - today I have no such problems. At first I was going to lead with some pictures of the adult male Long-eared Owl (Skovhornugle) that we caught last night, then decided it would have to be the Firecrest (Rødtoppet Fuglekonge) that we captured first thing this morning. But this afternoon we have attracted some Redpoll (Gråsisken), mostly Lessers (Lille) and one Common (Nordlig).

 Common and Lesser Redpoll (Nordlig & Lille Gråsisken) Both adult males (2k+ han)

The first bird out of the nets today was a juvenile female firecrest ( 1k hun Rødtoppet Fuglekonge).

 First year female Firecrest ( 1k hun Rødtoppet Fuglekonge)

We also caught a couple of immature female Sparrowhawks (Spurvehøg).

 Both juvenile females (1k hun) but very different colouration.

Whenever the weather is suitable we have been trying for owls after dark. Here is the adult male Long-eared owl (2k+ han Skovhornugle) that was captured last night.
 

We caught another one, this time an adult female, tonight.

Adult female Long-eared Owl (2k+ hun Skovhornugle)

Totals: 58 (21)

Spurvehøg / Sparrowhawk - 2
Skovhornugle / Long-eared Owl - 1

Gærdesmutte / Wren -3
Rødhals / Robin - 2 (4)
Solsort / Blackbird - 3 (3)
Fuglekonge / Goldcrest - 10 (5)

Rødtoppet Fuglekonge / Firecrest - 1
Halemejse / Long-tailed Tit - 9 (9)
Blåmejse / Blue Tit - 2
Musvit / Great Tit - 2

Grønsisken / Siskin -15
Nordlig Gråsisken / Common Redpoll - 1
Lille Gråsisken / Lesser Redpoll - 7

Gedser Fuglestation - 31 October 2015

So, we have reached the end of October and today the chilly winds of the last few days abated and after some weak sunshine in the afternoon, the sky took on a strange misty quality. Visibility was much lower than usual with mist enveloping the ferry that shuttles between Gedser and Rostock several times a day.

Birds numbers were low again, Goldcrest (Fuglekonge) are still the leading species with Long-tailed Tit (Halemejse) the second most frequent capture, but this is also the first day that we have seen no new Robins (Rødhals). A bird that usually only crops up as singles is the Goldfinch (Stillits) but today a male and female were captured together.

 Male(red extents behind eye) and female first year Goldfinches (Han & hun 1k Stillits)

There was also a recaptured adult Yellowhammer (2k+ Gulspurv)

Age 4 Yellowhammer / 2k+ Gulspurv

The mist above the sea reduced visibility and created an unusual effect as the Sun sank lower in the sky, but did not seem to deter the Eiders (Ederfugl) that continue to migrate towards the west.

During a very calm evening we played for Tengmalm's Owl and caught an adult maleLong-eared Owl.

Totals: 44 (15)

Skovhornugle / Long-eared Owl - 1

Gærdesmutte / Wren - 2
Rødhals / Robin - 0 (2)
Solsort / Blackbird - 2 (1)
Sangdrossel / Songthrush - 1
Vindrossel / Redwing - 1

Fuglekonge / Goldcrest - 18 (10)
Halemejse / Long-tailed Tit - 10
Skovspurv / Tree Sparrow - 2

Musvit / Great Tit - 0 (1)
Grønirisk / Greenfinch - 1
Stillits / Goldfinch - 2
Grønsisken / Siskin - 4
Gulspurv / Yellowhammer - 0 (1)

Gedser Fuglestation - 30 October 2015

A very slow start that failed to improve as the morning drew on. This was not down to problems with rain or wind, just the fact that there weren't many birds - and some of those that we did catch were recaptures from previous days.

 Gærdesmutte / Wren

 The Wren (Gærdesmutte) is a muscular little bird with very short wings. Usually weighing between 8.2 grams to 10 grams, most of the birds that we have measured have had wing lengths of 48 to 51 millimetres. It is hard to believe that their tiny wings can allow then to travel any significant distances, and yet they do so and at night. 

Totals: 31 (22)

Gærdesmutte / Wren - 7 (2)
Rødhals / Robin - 2 (4)
Jernspurv / Dunnock - 0 (1)
Solsort / Blackbird - 2 (2)
Sangdrossel / Songthrush - 2

Fuglekonge / Goldcrest - 9 (12)
Blåmejse / Blue Tit -  0 (1)

Musvit / Great Tit - 2
Bogfinke / Chaffinch - 1
Grønsisken / Siskin - 6 

Gedser Fuglestation - 29 October 2015

A new influx of birds and the Fuglekonger (Goldcrests) are back, thankfully in lower numbers than the big rush that we had earlier. There was no question where the birds had come from as we had no less than 3 control rings! Two on Goldcrests , TL0266 and TL0973 that turned up together in the same net both carried rings issued by the Swedish ringing scheme.

Ring issued by Stockholm ringing scheme

The third control came in the form of a young female Grønsisken CX96622, also ringed in Sweden.

 CX96622 showing retained greater coverts, an ageing criterion for first year birds.

 The weather forecast was for very low wind as the day progressed so we tried for Twite (Bjergirisk) at the tip again in the afternoon, but a stiff on shore breeze saw us packing up after a very short time with nothing to show for our efforts.

A few birds seem to have stayed in the garden so there should be birds to ring tomorrow.

Totals:  139(23)

Spurvehøg / Sparrowhawk - 1 

Gærdesmutte / Wren - 6 (1)
Rødhals / Robin - 4 (8)
Solsort / Blackbird - 7 (4)

Vindrossel / Redwing -1
Gransanger / Chiffchaff - 0 (1)
Fuglekonge / Goldcrest - 85 (7)
Blåmejse / Blue Tit -  0 (1)

Halemejse / Long-tailed Tit - 7
Musvit / Great Tit - 2
Bogfinke / Chaffinch - 1
Kværkerfinke / Brambling - 2
Grønirisk / Greenfinch - 2
Grønsisken / Siskin - 21 (1)

Gedser Fuglestation - 28 October 2015

The chilly wind is tearing so many leaves from the trees and shrubs that we spent much time clearing nets, certainly more time than was spent extracting birds! Autumn is well advanced now and the frequent low numbers of birds in the garden make us feel as though just about everything has already left. We haven't seen any cranes or geese for some days and raptors are less frequent although there was a Rough-legged Buzzard (Fjeldvåge)and some Red Kites (Rød Glente) over the site this morning.

There were 40 new birds today, almost half being Goldcrest (Fuglekonge) with 11 Long-tailed Tits (Halemejse) boosting the numbers well towards the end of the session. They had a mixture of Northern, Southern and intergrade plumage.

 Northern Long-tailed Tit  (Nordlig Halemejse)

Intergrade

Southern Long-tailed Tit (Sydlig Halemejse)

There are very few Robin (Rødhals) at the moment but Redwing (Vindrossel) are being caught in ones or twos most days and today we also got a Reed Bunting (Rørspurv).

 Reed Bunting - Age 3 female (Rørspurv - 1k hun).

Totals: 40 (20)

Gærdesmutte / Wren - 2
Rødhals / Robin - 2 (4)
Solsort / Blackbird - 2 (1)

Vindrossel / Redwing - 3 (1)
Gransanger / Chiffchaff - 1 (1)
Fuglekonge / Goldcrest - 17 (12)
Blåmejse / Blue Tit - 1 (1)

Halemejse / Long-tailed Tit - 11

Rørspurv / Reed Bunting - 1

Gedser Fuglestation - 27 October 2015

It was windier today with little in the way of thrushes or finches passing overhead.
We still managed a new species for our stay at Gedser, a rather smart Black-billed Magpie (Husskade), only the third ringed at the station.

 Black-billed Magpie - first year  (Husskade 1k)

This is the first day, for quite a few days, that Sisken (Grønsisken) have not been captured. We did, however trap our first Bullfinch (Dompap) of subspecies P. p. europaea, much smaller than Northern Bullfinch (Stor Dompap) and a different subspecies to those we usually work with in the British Isles.

Bullfinch female / Dompap han

Totals: 67 (12)

Gærdesmutte / Wren - 16
Jernspurv / Dunnock - 1
Rødhals / Robin - 18 (4)

Solsort / Blackbird- 4 (5)
Sangdrossel / Song Thrush - 1
Vindrossel / Redwing - 1
Gransanger / Chiffchaff - 2
Fuglekonge / Goldcrest - 19 (3)
Blåmejse / Blue Tit - 1
Musvit / Great Tit - 1

Husskade / Black-billed Magpie - 1
Bogfinke / Chaffinch - 1
Dompap / Bullfinch - 1

Gedser Fuglestation - 26 October 2015 - Twite

There were a few more birds around first thing this morning and we had quite a lot of birds after the first two rounds but the garden went quiet quite quickly and the last two rounds gave us fewer than 10 birds.

After standard we decided to make the most of the low wind speed and took a couple of double panel nets to the tip to try for Twite (Bjergirisk). It took some patience but we eventually came away having ringed three. This was a new bird for both myself and Chris.

9AT0418 - Twite age 3 male / Bjergirisk 1k han

9AT0419 - Twite age 3 male / Bjergirisk 1k han

Only four Twite have been ringed at the Fuglestation before.

Totals: 105 (17)

Spurvehøg / Sparrowhawk - 1
Gærdesmutte / Wren - 7
Jernspurv / Dunnock - 1
Rødhals / Robin - 16 (6)
Solsort / Blackbird - 8 (7)
Sangdrossel / Song Thrush - 1
Vindrossel / Redwing - 1 (1)
Rørsanger / Reed Warbler - 1
Munk / Blackcap - 2
Gransanger / Chiffchaff - 2
Fuglekonge / Goldcrest - 3 (3)
Blåmejse / Blue Tit - 3
Musvit / Great Tit - 3
Skovspurv / Tree Sparrow - 1
Bogfinke / Chaffinch - 1
Stillits / Goldfinch - 1
Tornirisk /Linnet - 3
Grønsisken / Siskin - 50

Gedser Odde
Total: 3
Bjergirisk / Twite - 3

Eider (Ederfugl) continue to migrate past in groups, less frequently now, and these later groups have more immature and females than we had been seeing as males tend to migrate ahead of the females.

Good birding!

Denise