We have very stable weather, sunny and wind from the east around 10 m/s. This is not good for getting birds in the garden. We make our steps but it is just walking around. In total 8 birds (6 new and 2 recaptures). The highlight of the day were 3 Rødrygget Tornskader (Red-backed Shrike). The other new ones ringed were a Solsort (Blackbird), a Bogfinke (Chaffinch) and a Tornsanger (Common Whitethroat). The recaptures were a Solsort and a Gærdesanger (Lesser Whitethroat).

Rødrygget Tornskade (Red-backed Shrike)

Today 7 moths all different species. Also catching moths is influenced by the weather. With a lot of wind they just do not like to fly. See table for the results. The highlight was the Brunrød Bladmåler, it is a common species, but the determination of the species is difficult. 

Brunrød Bladmåler

Later in the morning Gert and Hanelie went to Bøtø but as there were not many birds, they decided to look for butterflys at Bøtø Skoven and near the beach. This is the only place here in Denmark, where Sort Ildfugl (Lycaena tityrus) can be seen and despite the wind, they were lucky to see one!

Sort Ildfugl (Lycaena tityrus) upper wing

Sort Ildfugl (Lycaena tityrus) under wing

Furthermore, they found a Rødbæltet birkeglassværmer (Synanthedon culiciformis) which is also not seen often.

Looking for butterflies, they saw a little flock of Red Crossbills "Lille Korsnæb" flying over and three Black terns "Sort Terne" coming from the sea staight toward Bøtø lake. 

In the afternoon, the slow birding mute was broken by Mads, he had heard a bird at Krohage and could not identify the sound. No one could so far, the birders could also get a glimpse of the bird but so far, it is still a bit of a mystery, what it was. But good recordings exist and maybe it will stay at Krohage over night and this mystery can be solved tommorow? 

People: Robert Luttik, Jasper Mosman, Hanelie Sidhu, Gert Jeppesen

Again not many birds today, the weather is just not good. It is sunny so some people will not complain, but we the ringers are not really happy. Only ten birds today (5 new and 5 recaptures). The new birds were two Havesanger (Garden Warblers), one Rødrygget Tornskade (Red-backed Shrike) and 2 Tornirisk (Linnet). The recaptures were one Solsort (Blackbird), one Gærdeanger (Lesser Whitethroat), one Havesanger and 2 Tornisisk.

Red-backed Shrike "Rødrygget Tornskade"

The next 2 weeks we will catch in addition to the birds also moths and we will mention in the blog what the results are. The highlights of today are the Ribsbredcvngemøl (Lampronia capitella) and the Brillespinder (Tethea ocularis). See for further catches the table below.

Both moths mentioned above were new species for me. And the Ribsbredvingemøl had no entries in Naturbasen for Falster. And the Brillespinder is only found in Lang Land, Lolland and Falster.

Ribsbredvingemøl

Brillespinder

Hans came later in the morning, helped us with the closing round and then we drove together to Gert´s place. There was a nestbox for tawny owls and we wanted to check if the chicks were already big enough to be ringed. But unfortunately, it was just eggs in the nestbox, something must have gone wrong with that breed. That was sad, but we continued to the summerhouse of a friend and volunteer of the bird observatory. Already when entering the garden, we saw that it was the garden of a big bird friend, there were many nestboxes and I could observe Starling “Stær” and Great Tit “Musvit” flying in with food in der bills and hear the young starlings in the nestbox. But it was neither Starling “Stær” nor Great Tit “Musvit” that we were coming for, there was also a nestbox for Tawny Owls  “Natugle” and checking with our nestbox camera on a long stick before opening the box, we saw, that there were two chicks which had the perfect size to be ringed. So, Hans climbed up the ladder and took the chicks down in a basket.

They were ringed and are now back safe in their nestbox and we hope the best that they will continue to grow and develop well.

After, Hans and Robert drove back to the station and Gert and I brought the ladder back to his home and went to Kalløgrå after. On the way there, we saw some Common Swifts “Murseijler”, they are arriving here from there wintering grounds in South Africa. This spring is weird, a few individuals of African Migrants as Willow Warblers “Løvsanger” and the first Wood Warbler “Skovsanger” up in Skagen on the 9^th of April! were arriving very early, but on the other hand, numbers of birds in the nets in April and May are very low this year. We are waiting and wondering, when the birds just come… Then it is nice to see a new species for the year (I already saw one a few days ago at the tip, but it is a new year species for Gert) birds are definitely coming, but passerine numbers are a bit low. At Kalløgra, it was a bit windy and the highlights were two Black Terns “Sort Terne” and a Raven “Ravn”. Thanks to Gert for the trip, it is always great to see some different places, even if there is not so much, but if you don´t try, you will never find out…

People: Robert Luttik, Hans Lind, Gert Jeppesen, Jasper Mosman, Hanelie Sidhu 

It was Vagns last day today and a last time this spring season, Vagn, Hans and I opened nets in the morning. Soon it got sunny with blue sky and we had still easterly winds. For getting birds, these are quite bad conditions. Nevertheless, we had an interesting catch, again a Icterine Warbler “Gulbug”, which was first ringed here in 2021, it is nice to see, that these birds are coming back to here. Vagns last bird ringed here at the station was a Linnet “Tornirisk”, but he will be back for sure so there is just to say from us, it was nice to meet you,  maybe see you another time here and good birds for Fanø!

Robert provided us with some more catches, not birds but moth. There were also not really special species but there were some new things to learn for me: Smerinthus ocellatus I had seen already but it is a very beautiful species and Notodonta ziczac was was nice to see and new for me.

Smerinthus ocellatus

Notodonta ziczac

While we were closing, Robert started to set up nets at the pond, which we will open tomorrow, hoping to catch some Yellow Wagtails “Gul Vipstjert”, White Wagtails “Hvid Vipstjert” and Barn Swallows “Landsvale”. I provided some sticks for the Swallows to sit on. Tomorrow it will be Robert and me in the ringing and hopefully the work at the pond will be rewarded and maybe Robert brought some more birds with him? The wind will still be east, so we shouldn´t put our expectations to high… But when I went out to Krohage this afternoon, Icterine Wabler “Gulbug” and Garden Warbler “Havesanger” were the loudest birds and especially in the garden, we hear the Icterine Warblers a lot. It is nice species, and as there are many here, I am also expecting them in our nets.

Hmm, what could tomorrow bring...? The thame hare in our garden.

People: Robert Luttik, Jasper Mosman, Tina and Mads Elley, Hans Lind, Vagn Lind, Hanelie Sidhu

Dette bliver mit sidste blog-indlæg for denne gang, da jeg i morgen vender snuden hjemad til Sønderjylland og Fanø igen.
Det har været en dejlig tur, hvor jeg har mødt mange hyggelige mennesker og har fået luftet mine tysk- og engelskkundskaber. Tak for hyggeligt samvær til alle, ingen nævnt, ingen glemt.

Tirsdag blev en dag som de seneste med det flotteste vejr, men meget få fugle i nettene:

Dog var vi glade for at se en Kernebider i hånden i dag, - en art vi ikke ser hernede så ofte.

Der siges, at Kernebider kan bide med en kraft på 40 kg. Det gik nu mest ud over Hanelie.

Jeg nåede da også lige at snuppe en Rødrygget tornskade hun.

Jeg har efterhånden fundet en teknik, så jeg undgår at blive bidt under mærkningen og i nettet.
Men da kræet skulle fotograferes gik det galt, som man kan se

Mellem netrunderne var der også lejlighed til at se forbiflyvende Steppehøg han og Rød glente.
Der var også forlydender om Biæder, men den fik vi dog ikke set herude.
Tak for denne gang. Vi ses en gang til efteråret

Dagens magre udbytte:

Folk på stationen i til aften:

Hanelie Sidhu, Jasper Mosman, Vagn Lind, Robert Luttik

Hans var igen vendt tilbage efter at have haft en dag off derhjemme i sengen, men alt er vel igen.

Han kunne nu lige så godt være blevet hjemme, for der var da så absolut intet at lave i dag. Vejret var som i den seneste tid smukt, med solskin og svag vind. Fuglene manglede blot totalt i dag. En gang sidste år kom jeg til at skrive : ”Så kan det da vist ikke blive meget værre”, men det gjorde det, så det vil jeg bestemt ikke sige igen.

Vi skiftedes til at tage runderne og holdt ud til standardtiden var ovre.

Hans havde medbragt et lille endoskop-kamera som vi monterede på en lang stang. Det skal bruges til at inspicere redekasser, og vi legede lidt med den medfølgende app , så man kan følge med og optage billeder og video på sin smartphone. Den skal nok blive rar at bruge ved de mange ophængte kasser til diverse arter.

Dagens bedste fangst blev et smukt Stillits-par, som blev gennemfotograferet i hoved og r**:
Vi synes, vi mangler nogle gode macro-billeder af kønskendetegn mm, da Ottenby ikke kan levere nogen.

Et smukt par, hvis nasal-fjer var mere typiske end jeg har set på de fugle jeg har fanget hjemme i Sønderjylland.
Hannen forrest i billedet

Dagens yderst magre udbytte:

Folk på stationen i til aften:

Hanelie Sidhu, Jasper Mosman, Vagn Lind

This morning, we got some birds we had hoped for and a little surprise in the nets: Vagn took out two Red-backed Shrikes “Rødrygget Tornskade” of the nets, one for each of us. Both very pretty males, a nice species to see and to catch (if it is not too many, because I can tell you from experience, many of these are a “blood-test” – these birds can bite quite strong).

Rødrygget Tornskade, male

In exchange to the Shrike bag Vagn handed to me, he got a recapture Icterine Warbler “Gulbug” which I had taken out of the net, the ring looked a bit older and when Vagn entered data later, he found out, that the bird he had controlled was first caught and ringed by him in May 2022. Always great to recapture your own birds after a long time, especially if it is long-distance migrants like this Icterine Warbler “Gulbug”. It already migrated to its wintering grounds in tropical Africa at least three times, as it was not a freshly hatched first year bird when it was first ringed here. These birds can´t be aged more than “second calendar or older" in spring though, as both adults and young birds do a complete moult on their wintering grounds, so they both come back here with all new feathers that they have moulted and grown in Africa. Impressive, which long migration route such a small passerine, this individual with a medium amount of fat wayed just a bit more than 14 grams, take twice a year, just on its wings!

There was another surprise, that Vagn took out of a net in the closing round, a Firecrest “Rødtoppet Fuglekonge”. These usually pass here in Gedser from around mid-March on and are common to be caught until the beginning of April. So this individual was a bit unexpected and late to be caught.

Rødtoppet Fuglekonge

There were also some nice common species in the nets. For example, this beautiful female Linnet “Tornirisk”. It is mostly male birds that we associate with a species, as they usually have more prominent colours, especially in breeding plumage. The females should not be underestimated though. You can´t deny that this female is very beautiful, even if its breast is not shiny red.

Tornirisk female

Gert came to the station later in the morning and also Tina. Tina and Jasper discussed a bit about the data analyses of ringing data of Icterine Warbler “Gulbug”, Lesser Whitethroat “Gærdesanger”, Blackcap “Munk” and Chiffchaff “Gransanger” he is doing.

After, Gert and I left to Borreby Mose, it was a long trip, but we saw some nice species there. As it was a very rainy winter, there is still more water than usual at many places, also at Borreby Mose, so there were not so many Waders as Gert had expected, but we both had new a species for the year, for Gert it was the Black-tailed Godwit “Stor Kobbersneppe”, for me it was the Temminick´s Stint “Temminicksryle”.

Stor Kobbersneppe

We also had some raptors: a White-tailed Eagle “Havørn”, a Red-Kite Rød Glente” and Marsh Harrier “Rørhøg”.

On Borreby Mose, we found a white flower of which we found out it is Ornithogalum umbellatum.

Ornitogalum umbellatum

Vagns whish for tomorrow is a bird with a foreign ring and that would be nice, I agree, and maybe more birds and what about some Flycatchers “Fluesnapper”?

Let´s see, every morning is different.

People: Gert Juul Jeppesen, Tina Elley, Vagn Lind, Jasper Mosman, Hanelie Sidhu

Hans came early this morning to the station to open nets with Vagn and me. First round did not look very promising but the second round was actually quite good. The day brought the fourth Icterine Warbler “Gulbug” for Gedser this season. Also this nice 3k+ male Common Whitethroat “Tornsanger” which you can see on the picture.

The most common species caught today was the Willow Warbler "Løvsanger".

It was the last day for our guests Vitus and Hans, they joined us for the ringing and left home afterwards. It was nice to have you here, hope you enjoyed your time at Gedser!

After closing, Gert came to the station and we both went to Bøtø. The White-tailed Eagle “Havørn” was sitting on its nest but where were all the ducks of the day before yesterday gone? Bøtø seemed quite empty so we left soon to check Kroghage and the Marina. The highlight of this was male adult Red-backed Shrike “Rødrygget Tornskade”, for both of us the first we saw this year in the field. Seeing not many birds, we began dreaming and talking a bit about birds of other countries and continents – there is still so much to discover!

Late afternoon, Gert will come back to the station with his dog Tulle, and before we will have dinner together, I am looking forward to go on a long walk with Tulle!

Let’s hope for more birds in the next days: It is still a bit early, but we are all hoping for the Rosefinch “Karmindompap” to come!

People: Gert Juul Jeppesen, Hans Lind, Vagn Lind, Jasper Mosman, Hanelie Sidhu, our guests Hans and Vitus

Vejret i dag tegnede ok, med vestlige vinde, overskyet og ingen regn. Burde have potentialet til en god dag.
Det skulle dog vise sig at blive temmelig meget anderledes.

Der var tid til at nyde udsigten og bådene, der sejlede forbi

Hans med sønnen Vitus, som fulgte ringmærkningen i går fik pludselig meget travlt med at komme en tur til Nordsjælland allerede før solopgang (hvad vil de dog der, når der er så dejligt i Gedser?) Måske der spøger et mystisk væsen fra syden deroppe??

Hans (min bror) var i dag igen tilstede på stationen og sammen med ham kom et større opløb af familie og deres venner. Iblandt dem var 5 børn som alle nød at få lov til at se og røre og være med til at se lidt ringmærkning.

Morfar med børnebørn + det løse

Vi var ellers lidt bekymrede for, om der overhovedet ville være noget at vise frem, idet vi klokken 7 kun havde fanget 5-7 fugle.

Heldigvis dukkede der dog lidt forskellige op mens de var her, og suppleret med grønne frøer og lille vandsalamander fra vandhullet er jeg overbevist om, at de havde en god oplevelse herude. Og det sætter vi jo stor pris på at kunne levere Fuglestationens gæster, - uanset alder.

Lidt guf fra vandhullet ved H1

Hans tegner og fortæller i Labbet

Som skrevet i indledningen en dag der fuglemæssigt nok ikke vil gå over i historien. Vi håber da virkelig ikke det er sådan en slatten stime vi nu kommer ind i.

Dagens magre udbytte:

Folk på stationen i til aften:

Hanelie Sidhu, Jasper Mosman, Vagn Lind, samt Hans og Vitus, som kommer tilbage, måske med billeder af en svale i bagagen.

Hej allesammen,

Yesterday afternoon, I arrived here in Gedser from a short stay in Midtjytlland. Before, I have been in the very north of Denmark at Skagen Bird Observatory. So you might have read from me either this season in Skagens Blog or you might remember me from last spring, when I was here in Gedser at the beginning of the spring season. If not, my name is Hanelie, I am from southern Germany and have already stayed several times at Danish bird observatories.

But let´s come to the events and birds of the day:

Vagn and I were joined by our guests Hans and Vitus for the first net-round. We were surprised when we met in the garden and both had quite many bags with birds around our necks. It looked like a very promising day with many birds.  The second round was still good but all of a sudden, it had slowed down a lot for in the third round and it was just very very few birds that we found in the nets in the following rounds. This was also okay, as we now had some more time to explain the ringing to Vitus and his father, but of course, we would have hoped for a bit more, but it can still come!

Highlights in the ringing were a Reed Warbler “Rørsanger”, just the second that has been caught at the station this season, so it is nice to know that they are back.

Vitus with a Reed Warbler "Rørsanger" in hand

Closeup of the Reed Warbler "Rørsanger"

I was also happy about the first garden Warbler “Havesanger” I had in hand this year, another African migrant that also just arrived here in Danmark just a little while ago. Another bird, that does not have such a long way behind it but is always nice to see, hear and have in hand was a Goldfinch “Stillits”.

Goldfinch "Stillits", male

After standard time was over, Gert came to the station and proposed to take me on a trip to Bøto. Vagn kept the nets open a bit longer but just caught one more new bird.

At Bøtø, we soon met Hans and Vitus again, it was great weather to enjoy birding. Just when we arrived, we saw a Hen Harrier “Blå Kærhøg”. There are quite some species breeding at Bøtø now, the White-Tailed Eagle “Havørn” was sitting on its nest and also Avocet “Klyde”, Oystercatcher “Strandskade”, Crane “Trane” and Lapwing “Vibe” are breeding, it is worth a trip.  Among the ducks, some Garganeys “Atlingand” were a nice observation. Thanks to Gert for the trip!

At the station, Jasper worked on his data, Vagn did the data entry and before writing the blog, I had a walk to the tip and along the beach, the sea was flat and the only birds that seemed to be busy on migration were one single male Eider “Ederfugl” going noth and four Sandwichterns “Splitterne” southeast – not much happening.

But we are hoping for more to happen in the nets tomorrow morning, the wind is coming from northwest – it could be good!

People: Vagn Lind, Gert Jeppesen, Jasper Mosman, Hanelie Sidhu, our guests Vitus and Hans

Vi blev igen i dag belønnet med det skønneste forårsvejr, høj blå himmel , næsten ingen vind og omkring 11 grader.

Problemet var bare, at vinden kom ind fra en NØ-lig retning og så ved vi jo godt hvordan det bliver her i foråret: INGEN FUGLE !!!

Dagen blev så en dag med besøgende:

Først Ingrid Andersen, direktør i DOF, som var til møde med fuglestationens styregruppe og med en hyggelig fælles frokost med hele stationens personale, som vi sultne ringmærkere satte meget stor pris på.

Dernæst dukkede Hannelie Sidhu op, som skal være ringmærker her et stykke tid sammen med os andre.

Til aften venter vi besøg af en far med sin 11-årige søn, som overnatter og skal se lidt ringmærkning i morgen tidlig og være rundt og kigge på fugle de næste dage

Under ringmærkningen, som jo i dag blev en meget begrænset affære, dukkede en fin Gulbug op, den 2. i år og den blev den eneste fugl, hvoraf jeg fik billeder i dag.

Derfor får I den så i to udgaver:

Her er forklaringen på hvorfor jeg hedder en Gulbug

Gulbug set fra forsiden

Dagens fangster:

Folk på stationen til aften:

Vagn Lind, Jasper Mosman, Hannelie Sidhu, samt en gæst med sin 11-årige søn