Ringmærkningen: First round today already seemed very calm, but with an amazing surprise in the last net for me! A Nightingale (Sydlig Nattergal), that I’ve never even seen before, so I had to tell the others: “I have a new species, slightly bigger than a Robin, completely reddish-brown back and pale front”, and they said: “Sounds like a Nightingale!”, which I agreed was definitely possible! Even though it didn’t look like a Thrush Nightingale (Nattergal), we examined the differences in the lab to make sure it couldn’t be confused, and I aged it to be an adult by the appearance and quality of the whole moult. It’s only the 10^th ringed by the station, and the first one since 2021! Also happens to be my 200th species ever seen in Denmark!

The Nightingale, with the uniform reddish-brown feathers on the back, and the pale front, with no spots on the chest (not visible here). An adult due to the broad, rounded and uniform feathers on both the wing and the tail. Pictures by Mathilde Sif Eiby / GFU.

Just a few rounds later, another surprise was bestowed upon me! The first Pied Flycatcher (Broget Fluesnapper) of the year, that I quickly recognized, and had to take a deep breath before extracting from the net – two new species that early got my heart pounding! This one we had to ensure wasn’t confused with the Collared Flycatcher (Hvidhalset Fluesnapper), and I ended up aging it as a young male.

These ones can be more tricky with both young and adult moulting, but the combination of all the signs still led me to a young male. 

After closing down the standard, we kept the pond open for a bit longer, since there was a rather high activity of Linnets (Tornirisk) and Barn Swallows (Landsvaler) - and there was also word of a Hoopoe (Hærfugl) on the loose! It wasn’t until the closing round though, that Vagn and Hans caught yet another Yellow Wagtail (Gul Vipstjert) – we still need one for both Olga and me though!

Today's numbers:

Trækket på Odden : For the second day in the row, the full moon was absolutely stunning when I walked out to the tip this morning. There was much more wind than the previous days, and it seemed that the birds were here for it. We counted 1283 individuals of 33 species, half of it being Black-headed Gulls (Hættemåge). We once again had several different gulls species, with mixed flock containing both black-headed and Common Culls (Stormmåge); a few flocks of Little Gulls (Dværgmåge), and on my behalf I was really happy to see my firsts Lesser Black-backed Gulls (Sildemåge) of the year, even though I know some have already been seen here at Gedser Odde.

The local birds were also a real treat today. Two avocets (Klyde) flew just above the tip, flashy black and white spots in the blue sky, taking a similar path than a Little Tern (Dværgterne) who came quite close over our heads. The only raptor of the day , a male Marh Harrier (Rørhøg), wasn’t migrating, but he was able to show off his beautiful plumage in the sunlight. But none of them could outcompete the unexpected sighting of the Hoopoe (Hærfugl), which sent Danish birders into raptures. They were running everywhere (I swear), taking a thousand pictures (at least), as they should ! Because it is indeed a wonderful bird, and quite a rare observation to make at the tip.

A lovely surprise today at the tip ! Picture by Morten Lisse.

Se alle dagens observationer ved Gedser Odde i DOFbasen.

The rest of the day: In this weather we had to go to the beach. There we were puzzled by a mysterious ocean bloop sound (thing sp.), I (Mathilde) stepped on a flatfish, we inspected jellyfish, and lastly we heard the first Cuckoo (Gøg) of the year while swimming! Back home Vagn had prepared build-a-pizza for dinner - what a day!

PIZZA! Picture by Mathilde Sif Eiby / GFU

Folk på stationen: Cyann Ménard, Mathilde Sif Eiby, Olga Fernandez Enriquez, Louis A Hansen, Mads Elley, Hans Lind, Vagn Lind

 Ringmærkningen:

I øjeblikket er vejret over Gedser fuglestation meget konstant. De meget rolige vindforhold og den bragende sol påvirker naturligvis vores muligheder for at fange og ringmærke fuglene. Rolig vind giver rolige net, som er godt for fangsten, hvorimod solskinnet gør nettene mere synlige i forhold til overskyet vejr.
Det flotte vejr kunne også godt påvirke fuglenes incitament til at aflægge vores have et besøg efter turen over Østersøen. Også sådan, at de evt. bare flyver videre på trækket og ikke gør rast her efter en "let" tur over havet.

I disse dage fanger vi faktisk pænt med fugle når disse parametre tages under overvejelse og det er bestemt positivt.

Jeg har kigget lidt ekstra i muligheden for at lave statistik på vores database og er nået frem til, at marts og april 2026 (kun standardtid) har givet det højeste antal ringmærkninger i de år vi har registreret, -- kun overgået af 2019, som havde 15 fugle mere. Nu skal man ikke lægge for meget i dette, da det kun er disse to måneder og tallene skal suppleres med maj og juni for at udgøre en hel træksæson og meget kan ændre sig endnu.
Men som udgangspunkt ser det rigtig godt ud.

Gærdesangeren er nu ved at overhale Munken i det daglige antal mærkninger.

Dagens fangst-tal:

Trækket på Odden: I am eventually back at the tip in the early morning, and I have to say that I definitely missed it ! The weather was nice, as well as the company, and we counted more than a thousand individuals, so nothing to complain about. If I really need to point out something, the only off aspect would be that most groups of ducks were flying quite far away, and therefore were impossible to identify properly because of the heat haze…

Gulls and terns made a particularly strong impression today, with a total of 119 Black Headed Gulls (Hættemåge), two groups of Little Gulls (Dværgmåge), and several other species passing by. We also had an unusual sight of one Redshank (Rødben) seemingly accompanied by three Ruffs (Brushane), which got us discussing a lot because of how unexpected this sighting was out at the tip. I was also really pleased by the raptors we saw : two Hobbies (Lærkefalk), one of each seemingly hunting the migrating passerines, and a highly pedagogical female-type Marsh Harrier (Rørhøg) who eventually didn’t leave the land.

Se alle dagens observationer ved Gedser Odde i DOFbasen.

Folk på stationen: Cyann Ménard, Mathilde Sif Eiby, Olga Fernandez Enriquez, Hans Lind, Vagn Lind

Ringmærkningen:

Vejret på Gedser odde har igen i dag vist sig fra sin solrige side, endda med fine forårstemperaturer fra morgenstunden. Vinden var svag, men skiftede over i en mere vestlig retning i modsætning til de seneste dages NØ-vind.
Det resulterede i lidt flere fugle i nettene, hvor Løvsanger og Gærdesanger er ved at overhale Munkene i antal.

En Tornsanger mærket i foråret 2025 lagde vejen forbi og viste os hvordan en adult hale kan se ud:
(Vi bruger bl.a. halens udseende til at aldersbestemme denne art)

Vi fangede blandt andet 2 gærdesangere med "pollenhorn", og hvad er så det for noget? Når visse sangfugle, især gærdesangere, ankommer til Gedser om foråret, er der nogle af dem, der har nogle sjove udvækster i panden, som vi kalder pollenhorn. Vores teori er, at gærdesangerne besøger blomster, måske pilerakler, for at fange insekter, der sidder på raklerne. Derved får de nektar og blomsterstøv på fjerene i panden, og det danner disse faste horn. Måske går fuglene også efter at spise selve pollenmassen, men vi ved det ikke. Måske kommer disse pollen fra blomstrende planter fra Sydøsteuropa, som gærdesangerne har besøgt under forårstrækket fra Afrika til Skandinavien? Det kunne være interessant at få undersøgt, hvilke pollen det drejer sig om. Dygtige botanikere kan analysere prøver fra fuglene og sætte navn på, hvilke planter de har besøgt. 

Dagens fangster:

Oversigt over de senere års forårsmærkninger:

2023:     2648 nymærkninger af 65 arter

2024:     2518 nymærkninger af 63 arter

2025:     2298 nymærkninger af 54 arter

-  -  -  -  og i de første 4 måneder af 2026 har vi haft 2076 nymærkninger af 49 arter, så mon ikke vi kommer op på et hæderligt antal i år? 

Trækket på Odden: For one last day this week (before coming back this weekend), Louis did the counting at the tip. Not much to say about it, except that it was the warmest day at the tip in a long time. Gedser surprises with a daily continuous flow of birds to the south, both passerines and nonpasserines. Among the non passerines, Louis remember how attached I am to raptors so I got the news for a pretty female Hen Harrier (Blå Kærhøg), and a wise Black Kite (Sort glente), flying each in opposite directions.

Two of the beautiful birds seen today at the tip, the Black Kite going south and the Hen Harrier going north.

Se alle dagens observationer ved Gedser Odde i DOFbasen.

Folk på stationen: Cyann Ménard, Mathilde Sif Eiby, Olga Fernandez Enriquez, Louis A. Hansen, Hans Lind, Vagn Lind samt praktikanten Agnes.

Ringmærkningen: The ringing day has been calmer than the previous days, with a total of 32 rung birds. The most common species in the nets is the black cap (munk) without any doubt. It is followed by the lesser white throat (Gæardesmutte), the chiffchaff (gransanger), the willow warbler (løvsanger), the goldcrest (fuglekonge) and the common redstart (rødstjert). We also caught a yellowhammer (gulspurv) that was a recapture from two years ago. As we were not too busy on the rounds, we decided to open the nets by the pond expecting to catch some new species. And we succeeded! First, it was a beautiful female starling (stær) that got trapped on the net, then a linnet (tornirisk), and finally a yellow wagtail (gul vipstjert)! That made me very happy because wagtails are my favorite birds and this is the first time that I have had the chance to see a yellow wagtail that close and hold it on my hands. This starling and yellow wagtail are the first ones of their species for the season.

Today's numbers:

Starling (Stær). We can notice it is a female because of the pinkish colour of the beak and the golden eyes. Picture: Mathilde Sif Eiby/GFU.

Beautiful yellow wagtail (gul vipstjert). Picture: Mathilde Sif Eiby/GFU.

Trækket på Odden: No migration count for me today, since I really wanted to focus on my master’s thesis and spend the day working on it; so I’m very grateful that Louis has been able to take over for me lately. Since the sun was already shining early this morning, I decided to sit outside and enjoy the fresh air, even without doing any active fieldwork. I can now say that was a brilliant idea because, as I was settling in, I looked up and spotted my first Osprey (Fiskeørn) of the season, flying low right over the station!! First to stunned and amazed to process the information, I then obviously had to run to the edge of the garden to try to follow it, but that got me nothing but a bit of cardio and shortness of breath… It seems raptors have that kind of effect on me. Louis also told me about a female type Merlin (Dværgfalk) which seemed to come hunting in the garden, but it has been avoiding the nets all morning long.

Apart from these few movements close to the station, I didn’t get much news from the tip as it was once again a slow day. Such days are great to reflect on what we see, to think deeper on the behaviours we can observe, and wander about the reasons behind them. For example, why does many raptors seem to have a certain flyway while smaller birds like passerines follows another? We still have so much to understand… According to Louis, the oddest observation for today was of Barn Swallow (Landsvale) in juvenile plumage with short or almost not any long outer rectrices. The colours of the throat and frame were also very weakly set for this bird, seen flying with other individuals of its kind.

Se alle dagens observationer ved Gedser Odde i DOFbasen.

Folk på stationen: Cyann Ménard, Mathilde Sif Eiby, Sjoerd van Baal, Olga Fernandez Enriquez, Louis A Hansen, Hans Lind, Vagn Lind

Ringmærkningen:

Igen en fantastisk flot og solrig dag på Danmarks sydligste punkt, Gedser fuglestation.

Jeg ankom her for to dage siden og blev modtaget af både kendte og endnu ukendte folk på stationen. Det er herligt at vende tilbage til haven hernede efter et halvt års fravær, men jeg skal da love for, at den har forandret sig siden efteråret. Barberet ned til ca. 3 meters højde næsten overalt ser alting lidt bart ud, men når varmen og sommeren kommer skal det snart ændre sig.

Vi har haft et hyggeligt samvær de seneste dage med en masse snak på engelsk, da gruppen bestod af 2 franskmænd, 2 danskere, 1 hollænder og en spanier. Det giver altså noget at møde noget nyt og ukendt, - om det så er madvaner, fuglenørderi eller bare det at være sammen.

I dag tog Theo så videre til Ottenby fuglestation på Øland og Hans og jeg var alene med Mathilde og Olga om ringmærkningen. Der var noget koldt fra morgenstunden med rim i græsset, men dagen sluttede da med fælles aftensmad siddende udenfor ved husmuren.

Vi fik en godkendt dag med 42 nye fugle, og Olga fik sin første Stillits, som vakte mange smil og beundring. Ellers var det igen Munkene der dominerede dagen.

Dagens fangster:

Trækket på Odden: Louis has taken the lead of the migration counting for yet an other day, which allows me to rest (just a bit) and work seriously on my master's thesis. I still like to start my day being out, enjoying the sunrise and the fresh air, so I can also enjoy Louis's company before going back to my computer and my datasets... Even though the birds are not coming in big numbers lately, so the mornings at the tip can be sometimes really really calm.

After a quiet hour migration-wise, Theo also joined us one last time before leaving Gedser. During this short period, we got lucky enough to admire some falcons : one Peregrine (Vandrefalk), two Merlins (Dværgfalk) as well as two Hobbies (Lærkefalk), all going straight north. We also got the visit of a Little Ringed Plover (Lille præstekrave), so Theo could give me some last pieces of ornithologist wisdom of his. A bit of talking, plenty of sunshine, some really nice company, and suddenly it was already time for us to head back to the station.

Se alle dagens observationer ved Gedser Odde i DOFbasen.

Folk på stationen: Cyann Ménard, Mathilde Sif Eiby, Sjoerd van Baal, Olga Fernandez Enriquez, Louis A Hansen, Hans Lind, Vagn Lind

Ringmærkningen: Imagine it’s your last day at Gedser and you don’t know whether to help with the ringing or the counting. There is a really nice team on both sides. What should you do?

It was impossible for me to miss the first rounds of ringing, and rightly so: we realised that it might be a good day for Willow warblers (Løvsange) and Common redstarts (Rødstjert), and the day numbers for these species were the best this season. I hope it will continue like this. While I was doing the second round with Olga, I saw a warbler getting into the net that looked strange. Indeed, the first Common whitethroat (Tornsanger) of the season ! After ringing it and taking a few pictures, we released the bird and saw another one in the bushes. I asked Cyann to confirm that it was a different bird, and it was !

First adult male Common redstarts (Rødstjert) Foto Théophile Fontaine

First Common whitethroat (Tornsanger) of the season Foto : Théophile Fontaine

They ended up ringing 69 birds and recapturing 15, which is a very good number. I hope it continues like this for them !

Today's numbers :

Trækket på Odden: I met Louis at the tip at 9 am, when the air was getting warmer. I was hoping to see some raptors or the first common swift, even though the beginning of the day had been really calm. As I crossed the field next to the pond, I heard a Common whitethroat singing at the top of a bush. It was unringed, so it might have been the same one that Cyann and I saw earlier. The last hour was rather calm, with just a few Barn Swallows (Landsvale and House Martins (Bysvale) and Sand Martins (Digesvale) moving around. But the birds of the day were definitely the raptors! Looking east, I waited for a raptor to fly over the sea and saw a pale grey raptor with some black on the primaries. At first glance, I thought it was a Black-winged kite (Blå glente) returning, but no no no no, it was clearly the first Pallid harrier (Steppehøg) of the season: a beautiful adult male ! Louis remained really calm, but it was obvious that I was very happy to see this bird ! But the surprises didn't stop there. Ten minutes later, I spotted a female type Harrier arriving from the sea, pallid ! It took a while, but Louis finally expressed his joy. Seeing two Pallid Harriers in ten minutes is not that common here.

Now it's time for me to get a good night's sleep before travelling to Ottenby tomorrow for a new ringing adventure. I will leave with the same feeling I had in November — I will come back ! I am grateful to the people I met here over the past two weeks for making my stay so enjoyable with good food (very important!), lots of laughter, and some really interesting discussions about ringing. As a ringer, I found it very interesting and rewarding to teach ringing to trainees. I will finish with these words: always remember, whether you are a ringer or a ringer assistant, that learning is an ongoing process and that every bird is an opportunity to learn more !

Tak for alt, og på gensyn

Theo

Folk på stationen: Cyann Ménard, Mathilde Sif Eiby, Sjoerd van Baal, Théophile Fontaine, Olga Fernandez Enriquez, Louis A Hansen, Hans Lind, Vagn Lind

Just the weather we ordered! Foto: Cyann Ménard / GFU

Ringmærkningen: Today the wind had settled down again, so we could open all the nets, and form two teacher/trainee teams consisting of Søren + me (Mathilde) on one side, and Théo + Olga on the other. On one of the first rounds Théo saw another Wryneck (Vendehals) in the garden, but it didn't end up in a net - he saw it again late this afternoon though, so maybe tomorrow! However one of my favourite birds, the Yellowhammer (Gulspurv), was singing in the garden this morning, and I was exstatic, when I found it in the net!

One of my favourites - an adult male Yellowhammer (Gulspurv). Foto: Mathilde Sif Eiby / GFU

With 55 birds in total, Olga and I ringed most, and once the guests for the Open House started coming, we luckily also had some birds to show, that Théo ringed in front of the crowd. Even though it was late in the morning, we were able to show a Lesser Whitethroat (Gærdesanger), a Blackcap (Munk). a Dunnock (Jernspurv), and of course some Robins (Rødhals).

Théo showing and explaining the ringing. Foto: Cyann Ménard / GFU

Today's numbers:

Trækket på Odden: Louis was in charge again today, and as he said: "Barnacles (Bramgæs) stole the picture for a few hours, but the Short-eared Owl (Mosehornugle) stole our hearts."

The Short-eared Owl (Mosehornugle) spotted at the tip today. Picture by Louis A Hansen.

Se alle dagens observationer ved Gedser Odde i DOFbasen.

The rest of the day: We had a lovely lunch with all the other volunteers on the sunny terrace, before everyone helped packing down the Open House. Just after everyone left, I suddenly spotted a Striped Field Mouse (Brandmus) right were the lunch tables had been, that was probably looking for leftovers.

The Striped Field Mouse (Brandmus) made an adorable appearance today. Foto: Mathilde Sif EIby / GFU

We also had the pleasure of welcoming Vagn, who brought wine for dinner, and a car, that I borrowed to drive Cyann and Olga for their first Baltic Sea swim (before the wine)! 

Folk på stationen: Cyann Ménard, Mathilde Sif Eiby, Sjoerd van Baal, Théophile Fontaine, Olga Fernandez Enriquez, Louis A Hansen, Søren Mygind, Vagn Lind + all the other amazing volunteers helping out with the Open House

Ringmærkningen: No ringing today... :(

Trækket på Odden: With the strong winds blowing in Gedser all day long, it wasn’t possible to ring. Usually, there are people to talk to at 5 am, but this morning I (Théophile) was alone, eating breakfast in a sleeping house. I joined Louis, who was in charge of the count, just after he saw the first two Caspian terns of the season (nice one!), just before 6 am. It was a calm morning with not many birds, except for a good migration of Barnacle geese, with over 600 birds seen during the five hours. I must say that the company was really nice, with first Anne-Marie and then Oliver.

Tomorrow is the Open house, so we are expecting many people, and hopefully many birds too !

Se alle dagens observationer ved Gedser Odde i DOFbasen.

The rest of the day: As we suddenly had a morning off, most of us chose to sleep a few extra hours, and made pancakes for breakfast. Later some people came over to prepare for the Open House tomorrow, with a lot of nice things for sale to examine. After a long day of talking, we (Cyann and Mathilde) had hyped eachother up enough for fresh haircuts. While I cooked dinner, Cyann even got to work on Théos hair. We also tried to convince Sjoerd and Olga to join the club, but no to avail. Gedser No Birds Hair Salon made 3/5 stars today.

Burned pancake heart - luckily we're better at ringing and counting birds, than we are at making pancakes. Foto: Cyann Ménard

Folk på stationen: Cyann Ménard, Mathilde Sif Eiby, Sjoerd van Baal, Théophile Fontaine, Olga Fernandez Enriquez, Mads Elley, Tina Elley, Louis A Hansen, Anne-Marie Reith, Oliver Jensen, Søren Mygind

Ringmærkningen: The Common redstart (Rødstjert) had already started singing when we began opening the nets this morning, and the first bird we caught was a female of this species. Perhaps she was flying to see who was singing like that? The first round was rather calm with seven birds of seven different species, which was pretty good ! Regarding what was singing in the garden, it was full of promise! A Common grasshopper warbler (Græshoppesanger) was singing loudly just close to a net. It's not a rare bird, but it's not that common in the garden here in Gedser. We also heard several Lesser whitethroats (Gærdesanger) and one Wood warbler (Skovsanger). The next rounds were rather calm. At 7:20am, we were waiting for the next one in front of the house, watching what was happening around the high net. Suddenly, Mathilde saw a small bird caught high in the net: white belly, yellow throat and yellow eyebrows, a green back, the first Wood warbler of the season, finally ! What a wonderful bird, my friends ! There was also the third Black redstart (Husrødstjert) of the season in the same net, so Mathilde and Olga learned how to identify the Common and Black redstarts by looking at the primaries.

My favourite Phylloscopus ! Skovsanger. Foto : Théophile Fontaine

We ended up with 42 birds from 15 species, which is a good number and the first time this has been reached this year. This number should increase in the coming weeks — I'm looking forward to finding out when ! Not tomorrow, but maybe on Sunday ?

A view of the nice species we had this morning. Foto : Théophile Fontaine

Trækket på Odden: Another beautiful and sunny morning at the tip today, but once again the birds didn’t really turn up. Our team of four (or five ?) people eventually spotted 586 individuals of 33 different species, so we can say it was a slow morning. But with such weather, even a quiet morning can’t bring the mood down, only the warm layers !

Ont he other hand, the mosquitos were as ready as yesterday to fill up the air, much to the delight of the passerines who now can spend their day moucheronning (our own English translation of the word “moucheronner” which, in French, refers to the behavior of some passerines when they do really short flights to catch some insects before going back to their perching spot). Every day we hear a new species in the bushes, coming to enjoy the feast.

One of today's adventurer, aiming for Germany ! Or almost... Black kite (Sort Glente), Picture by Louis A Hansen.

For the people who left the spot to see the Wood Warbler at the station, the highlight of the day might be the two Black Kites (Sort glente) who came really close to the spot and seemed to aim for Germany, before coming back 15 minutes later… Hopefully they will eventually find their route ! But while almost everybody was at the station, a Hobby (Lærkefalk) tried to sneak out and migrate North without anyone knowing. Little did he know that Louis was ready, and wouldn’t miss that kind of movement, especially on such a quiet day!

Se alle dagens observationer ved Gedser Odde i DOFbasen.

Afternoon : In French, we use to say that when the warm days are coming, we have to do the 'Grand ménage de printemps', which literally means 'big spring cleaning'. That's what happened this afternoon — we cleaned and polished the house in preparation for the open house on Sunday ! Pictures as proof !

Folk på stationen: Cyann Ménard, Mathilde Sif Eiby, Sjoerd van Baal, Théophile Fontaine, Olga Fernandez Enriquez, Mads Elley, Louis A Hansen

Ringmærkningen: A windier day than we would like for ringing, so not a big surprise when the first round didn't bring a lot. The first bird I extracted was a recapture of a Great Tit (Musvit) though, that Théo later exitedly told us, was one he ringed himself October 13th, first time he was here this past autumn. On top of that I also got my Lesser Whitethroat (Gærdesanger), as promised, and then the most adorable Goldcrest (Fuglekonge) couple, that were ready to make it official and put a ring on it.

Bird (Fugle). Foto: Théophile Fontaine

With the slower day, there was time to practice and optimize my handling, and with Théo continuing to be a great teacher, I've now unlocked a safer and more effective way of the whole process, that I'm actually super excited about.

The singing birds around the house have been dominated by Chiffchaffs (Gransanger), Dunnocks (Jernspurv) and Skylarks (Sanglærke) for a while, but now the Blackcaps (Munk) are really making themselves heard, while also being our most caught species today. However with all the different calls and variations, I'm still nagging Théo the whole day like: "Is this *insert bird name*?" and "Who's making that sound?". I'm definitely improving, even though he still REALLY doesn't like my imitations.

 Today's numbers:

Trækket på Odden: The day started cloudy, but it became brighter and brighter as the time went on. The first hours were pretty actives for migration, as we could see big flocks of Barnacle Geese (Bramgås), as well as Eiders (Ederfugl) and Pigeons (Ringdue). Other species that we could see flying over the sea were some Divers (Lom), Mergansers (Toppet Skallesluger), Terns (Dværgterne & Fjordterne), Shelducks (Gravand), Common Scoter (Sortand), Gadwall (Knarand), Grey Herons (Fiskehejre), Cormorants (Skarv) and Gulls. We could also hear and then see a pair of Curlews (Storspove) flying over the seashore.

On the other hand, today the bushes on the cape were full of activity. Blue tits (Blåmejse), Goldcrest (Fuglekongen), Skylarks (Sanglærke), a Lesser whitethroat (Gærdesanger) and a Black cap (Munk) tried to find some food on the big amount of mosquitoes that woke up at the same time, filling the air and surfaces like a cloud. A Kestrel (Tårnfalk) spent some time over the bushes, searching for an interesting prey. The mosquitoes are not the only insects that are appearing on the grass: beetles from the family Meloidae, bumblebees and a butterfly (Aglais io) were easy to see.

After spending some time in the garden, the Lesser whitethroat finally came to say hi at the tip! Picture by Cyann Ménard/GFU

Despite this activity, the last hours we spent at Gedser Odde were very slow for migration, the birds seemed have chosen other migration ways or were less ready to move under the shining sun.

Se alle dagens observationer ved Gedser Odde i DOFbasen.

The rest of the day: We've had some surprisingly warm afternoons in our garden these past days, since we're pretty sheltered from the wind. After today's sunny lunches and naps, the french (Cyann and Théo) and I (Mathilde, now sunburned) were hanging out on the terrace, when Mads sent Théo a message about a Black-Winged Kite (Blå Glente) approaching us, and shortly after we spotted it, as it flew close over the station! It was a first for me, and Théo hasn't seen one since he was a little kid back in 2016!

Now it's also the third day in a row we have dinner outside, so let's see how long we can keep that streak going!

Folk på stationen: Cyann Ménard, Mathilde Sif Eiby, Sjoerd van Baal, Théophile Fontaine, Olga Fernandez Enriquez