Another rare and unexpected day:  None of us would have guesses that Blackbirds could be the main start of the day with 21 new individuals ringed (plus many more flying too high for our nets). The weather conditions, cloudy and not windy at all, were perfects for a busy ringing day; but unfortunately it got quite earlier than expected as birds suddenly vanished, leading a total of 50 new individuals ringed and 13 different species. If, anyone knows where they have gone, just please tells us; because it's still being a mystery ;)).

Today highlights have been the Mistle Thrush as it always surprises me how large and bulky are on the hand comparing to others thrushes;  the Yellowhammer which doesn't sound exotic for you but I'm from Spain where  the Cirl Bunting are the common one ;),  and the Northern Bullfinches as there are never enough to get tiring of them.

Hopefully, we'll have a busier day tomorrow and looking forward to see what tomorrow will bring us.

Totals: Wren  3  /  Dunnock  2  /  Blackbird  21  /  Song Thrush  21  /  Redwing  1  /  Mistle Thrush  1  /  Goldcrest  4  /  Blue  Tit  3  /  Greenfinch 1  /  Goldfinch  1  /  Siskin  6  /  Northern Bullfinch  3  /  Yellowhammer  1

Dagen startede fint med tørvejr og svag vind fra vest, men det store træk udeblev. Ganske få spurvehøge og Musvåger passerede haven i forskellige retninger og småflokke af diverse finkefugle og drosler lod sig både se og høre ovenfra. Højdepunktet trækmæssigt var ca 25 Pibesvaner ude over havet. Dagen stod ellers i mejsernes tegn. Halemejser, Musvitter og Blåmejser udgjorde knap halvdelen af de 114 fugle vi fik ringmærket.

Jeg vil takke af for denne gang efter 14 dejlige dage med meget varieret vejr og mange fine fugle i nettene. Spændende med alle de fuglekonger, men også spændende for mig nye arter som Fuglekongesanger og Hvidbrynet Løvsanger. Det har været lærerigt at deltage her på Gedser Fuglestation og hvis der er brug for det til næste oktober kommer jeg gerne igen.

Dagens total blev:

Blåmejse/Blue tit 31 - Halemejse/Long-tailed tit 16 - Grønsisken/Siskin 14

Jernspurv/Dunnock 11 - Rødhals/Robin 9 - Fuglekonge/Goldcrest 9

Gærdesmutte/Wren 8 - Musvit/Great tit 4 - Solsort/Blackbird 3

Dompap/Bullfinch 3 - Træløber/Treecreeper 2 - Sangdrossel/Songtrush 1

Bogfinke/Chaffinch 1 - Kvækerfinke/Brambling 1 Grønirisk/Greenfinch 1

Due to the strong winds, we have enjoyed another slowly day with just 21 new birds ringed. Surprisingly, Long-Tailed Tits (mainly aerupeaus spp.)  have been the most abundant species with 10 individuals!!! and of course they have been the main start of the day, along with the Firecrest.

Despite of these low figures, during the early morning there have been more activity around our garden than the last two days with at least 10 Sparrowhawks, 1 Kestrel and 3 common Buzzards, and smalls flocks of Siskins, Bramblings/ Chaffinches, Greenfinches and Bullfinches. Any bird was flying too high, so unfortunately most of them haven´t found their way into the nets.

Hopefully tomorrow  weather will be better and there will be more birds moving around the garden but closer to the land!!! And why not some interesting/cute/special bird can end up in our nets like Waxwings ;).

Totals: Robins   3  / Blackbird  2  /  Goldcrest  3  /  Firecrest  1  /  Long- Tailed tit  10  /  Blue Tit  1  /  Chaffinch  1 

Fra morgenstunden var der blæst, regn og gråt og vi måtte udskyde at åbne nettene til klokken 8 hvor det lykkes os at finde 8 net der var i ly for blæsten. Der var dog ikke mange fugle i nettene og allerede på anden runde begyndte det at regne igen og vi måtte lukke. Et par timer blev brugt indendørs på at skrive data ind, spise popcorn, analyser data og strikke i mens vi ventede på at regnen ville stoppe. Først efter middag kunne jeg åbne nettene igen, mens Laila bagte pandekager og gik en tur.

Der var stadigvæk nærmest ingen fugle og mest genfangster, men da der blev meldt en lille fluesnapper ud fra Frisenfelt håbede jeg på at der også kunne sidde noget godt et sted i haven så jeg besluttede at forsætte. Det skulle vise sig at give gevinst i form af en svensk mærket rødhals.

Da jeg efter et par nulrunder valgte at lukke nettene klokken 16.30 sad der pludselig 6 gråsiskener og 1 rødhals i de sidste net jeg lukkede. Det var lige godt pokkers at godt halvdelen af dagens ringmærkede fugle skulle sidder der når nu alle net var lukket. Jeg overvejede at åbne igen og forsætte til det blev mørkt, men jeg valgte i stedte bruge god tid på at kikke på gråsiskenerne da der både var store og små. Jeg har nemlig kun set få lille gråsisken i hånden og aldrig stor gråsisken så det var en god mulighed for at se nærmere på dem og sammenligne dem. Nogen er nemme at bestemme mens andre er mere svære at bestemme til enten lille eller stor. Der var den fineste 2k+ han stor gråsisken i mellem og jeg tror den løber af sted som en af de flotteste fugle jeg har set i år.

Stor gråsisken (Carduelis flammea ssp. flammea). Foto: Johanne Aagaard

Inden det blev mørkt nåede jeg lige en tur på Odden og op langs stranden hvor jeg så en vandrefalk komme flyvende og gå til rest på klinten hvor jeg kunne beundre den på kort afstand inden den lettede og fløj lige hen over hovedet på mig flere gange inden den gik til rast igen. Det var en fantastisk oplevelse at se en vandrefalk så tæt på.

Total 15

Rødhals / Robin - 4

Sjagger / Fieldfare - 1

Grønsisken / Siskin - 1

Stor gråsisken / Common redpoll – 4

Lille gråsisken / Lesser redpoll - 5

Sorry for the delay. Yesterday we had a few issues with the Internet and I didn´t manage to upload the blog. Anyway, better late than never ;).

As we expected the day was not very  fruitful (too windy!!!!) in numbers with just 64 new individuals ringed, being the Robins the main star without any doubts (45 banded). However, we had four amazing surprise along the day, starting with the first Long-eared Owl for the year during the first round. In fact, I was still a bit half-asleep when we made the owl to fly away, so it took me a few seconds to realize which bird could be, and the most important, that we could have one owl on the nes¡ts.  After this,  I run and checked all the nets close by until I found it on one of them!!!! :)

Arkivfoto fra 8. november 2008, v/Gert Jeppesen

One hour later, Simon came really happy with the second surprise: a nice Lesser Whitethroat with a "funny" looking, which made Simon to think that it can be from the Eastern population. In fact, it looked totally different from any other Lesser Whitethroat seen before. Although it needs to be confirmed, we´re quite optimistic about it and it looks quite promissing ;). What do you think???

The third one was a Ring Ouzel juvenile, totally unexpected as noone had heard it around the garden for the last days.  In fact, Lars and me were just talking about which species he would like to ring and the Ring Ouzel was a lifer for him!!! No anymore!!!

The last but not the least, it happened when we decided to close because it got really slowly and we´re just having Robin controls. So, no more exciting when suddenly I found an amazing Sparrowhawk female trapped and of course I had to run again before it could scape it!!! And I asked for helped because it was also the first time to handle an Sparrowhak and to ring it!!!

In other words, we had a great ringing day despite of the low numbers!!!!!

Totals: Sparrowhawk  1  /  Long-eared Owl  1  /  Wrens  4  /  Robins  45  /  Ring Ouzel  1  /  Blackbird  4  /  Song Thrush  1  /  Lesser Whitethroat  1  /  Chiffchaff  3  /  Goldcrest  1  /  Blue Tit  2 

We have enjoyed another  sunny and "dominguero" day with a total of 345 individuals ringed and 16 different species. Unlike previous days, Robins have been the main start for today with 173 new individuals ringed, which makes us to think the Goldcrest peak migration is over and it would be a shift to Robins/Dunnocks.

As yesterday, there have been no many birds migrating properly to South instead  small flocks of siskins, bullfinches, redpolls, fieldfares  and redwings were moving around the area waiting for the right wind conditions to cross the sea, and lucky us, some of them ended up in our nets ;).

The most exciting observation was made by Simon: the first Waxwing for the autumn flying over. We did put the playback but unfortunately we have not managed to trap it today, maybe tomorrow is the day. I am really looking forward as I have never seen one at all. It is a real "bimbo" ( or also called lifer) in any sense for me and I would love to see it well or even better to handle it!!

Totals: Wrens  12  /  Dunnock  3  /  Robins  173  /  Blackbird  7  /  Song Thrush  6  /  Redwing  6  /  Chiffchaff  18  /  Goldcrest  48  /  Firecrest  1  /  Great Tit 1  /  Chaffinch  1  /  Greenfinch  3  /  Siskin  26  /  Common Redpoll  18  / Lesser Redpoll  14  / Bullfinch  7

Today we have waked up with a thick fog for the first two hours, making the start really slowly. However, once it's cleared out, we have enjoyed a beautiful spring day with a total of 154 individuals banded and 20 different species. Although the weather conditions have been perfect for ringing, there were almost no birds migrating ( if we compare of course with previous days). It seems that birds prefer to migrate in cloudy/raining and windy days; making our day-to-day ringing more challengeable and unpredictable.

Despite of this, there have been small flocks of Siskins, Goldfinches, Bramblings/ Chaffinches and Blue Tits/Great Tits moving around our garden and keeping us entertained but not too busy ;). We have had also two nice surprises: 1 male Great Woodpecker and 1 stunning male adult Sparrowhawk cheering up our day!!!

In addition, we have also observed 15 Common Buzzards, 1 Rough-Legged Buzzard, 2 Red Kites and few Sparrowhawks flying over our heads, but not really migrating. 

Totals: Great Woodpecker  1  /  Sparrowhawk  1  /  Wren  8  /  Dunnock  1  /  Robin  29  /  Blackbird  1  /  Chiffchaff  2  /  Goldcrest  49  /  Blue Tit  14  /  Great Tit  3  /  Trecreeper  1  /  House Sparrow  1  /  Tree Sparrow  7  /  Chaffinch  1  /  Brambling  1  /  Greenfinch  1  /  Goldfinch  1  /  Siskin  26  /  North Bullfinch  2      

A perfect ringing day – calm, partly cloudy with some sunshine in the afternoon but the totals were reduced from the previous week as we seem to have broken the back of the crazy Goldcrest migrations; the total of 351 new birds through the day was still very decent but it was nowhere near as hectic as it has been.   There was still a trickle of 192 Goldcrests caught (mainly in the morning) along with 64 Robins and 27 Wrens while the highlights included a Firecrest, 3 Treecreepers and a female Northern Bullfinch.

Todays totals - 27 Wren \ Gaerdesmutte;   3 Dunnock \ Jernspurv;   64 Robin \ Roedhals;   2 Blackbird \ Solsort;   1 Song Thrush \ Sangdrossel;   2 Blackcap \ Munk;   5 Chiffchaff \ Gransanger;   192 Goldcrest \ Fuglekonge;   1 Firecrest \ Roedtoppet Fuglekonge;   2 Coal Tit \ Sortmejse;   24 Blue Tit \ Blamejse;   8 Great Tit \ Musvit;   3 Treecreeper \ Traelober;   1 Chaffinch \ Bogfinke;   2 Brambling \ Kvaekerfinke;   1 Greenfinch \ Groenirisk;   5 Goldfinch \ Stillits;   6 Siskin \ Groensisken;   1 Lesser Redpoll \ Lille Grasisken;   1 Northern Bullfinch \ Stor Dompap

     Overhead passage was also much reduced despite the fine weather with just a few small flocks of Finches, Woodpigeons, Rooks and Jackdaws moving through; a flock of 120 Cranes also went over while a few raptors included at least 9 Rough-legged Buzzards, 2 Red Kites, 15 Common Buzzards and quite a few Sparrowhawks.   Other little bits around included my first Long-eared Owl of the autumn in the trees by the house, 2 Hawfinches over, a flock of 20 Pintail heading south, the first Great-spotted Woodpecker for a while and in the much quieter afternoon a great flock of 16 Red Kites which flapped lazily over the garden late afternoon and 2 Red-throated Divers calling as they flew east.

Long-eared Owl in the garden

More pictures from around Gedser today www.wykebirding.blogspt.com

As it was predicted, the weather has been perfect for ringing with a total of 778 new individuals ringed and 16 different species; being  the Goldcrests the most abundant with 468 ringed.

However no one has expected to beat the record of Wrens ringed in one day with a total of 189 ( yes, you have read perfectly well: 189 with just 6 nets). What amazing training on how to take out Wrens as quickly as possible ;). In fact, yesterday night we were discussing which species would be the main start: maybe Goldcrests as previous days or maybe there would be a swap to Dunnocks/Robins or Blue Tits, but of course  there was no mention about Wrens.  Who will guess it!!! 

In addition, we have also had a good numbers of Chiffchaffs and Northern Bullfinches ringed (24 and 19 respectively) and another unexpected surprise: one Yellow Wagtail as it is quite late for them.

Totals:  Yellow Wagtail  1  /  Wrens  189  /  Robins  45  / Blackbirds  2  /            Song Thrush  1  /  Blackcap  2  /  Chiffchaffs  24  /  Goldcrests  468  /     Firescrests  1  /  Blue Tit  6  /  Great Tit  3  /  Treecreper  4  /  Chaffinch  1   /  Greenfinch  7  /  Siskin  5  /  Northen Bullfinch  19 

Pretty much rained all day and while never really heavy it prevented any ringing through the morning; it was however a very impressive morning as thousands and thousands of birds continued to pour low over the garden with big flocks of Chaffinch, Brambling and Siskin moving through along with Redpolls, Greenfinches, Reed Buntings etc.   Thrushes were also obvious with thousands of Mistle Thrushes heading through while perhaps more impressive were huge flocks of 2-3,000 Woodpigeons wheeling around high overhead gradually plucking up courage to head south out across the sea – there was no way or time to get any counts but it was enough simply to sit back and enjoy the amazing spectacle that has been a feature of this remarkable autumn so far.

                The garden was also heaving with birds with many Chiffchaffs mixed in with more thousands of Goldcrests filling bushes and grass but again it was not just a dump of birds they were all actively and obviously migrating through and were largely gone by the afternoon.   There was also a big arrival of Dunnocks in the garden with the whole place (and often the sky as well) full of their calls but again they were largely all gone by the afternoon.

                A walk round Kroghage late morning produced more of the same with Goldcrests and Chiffchaffs moving north up the coast whizzing just past your head as they carried on regardless; there was little else there really with 2 Hawfinches and 3 Black Redstarts of note.

                Managed to open a couple of nets in the afternoon by standing next to them and extracting birds as they flew in and in just a couple of hours caught 113 new birds including 72 Robins.   Other bits seen through the day around the garden included the Great Grey Shrike still in the front hedge, a big beast of a female Peregrine chasing Mistle Thrushes around, a couple of Hawfinches and a Short-eared Owl.

A couple of nets in the afternoon produced -   8 Wren \ Gaerdesmutte;   2 Dunnock \ Jernspurv;   72 Robin \ Roedhals;   2 Blackbird \ Solsort;   4 Song Thrush \ Sangdrossel;   2 Blackcap \ Munk;   3 Chiffchaff \ Gransanger;   18 Goldcrest \ Fuglekonge;   1 Blue Tit \ Blamejse;   1 Greenfinch \ Groenirisk;   1 Siskin \ Groensisken

This young male Peregrine has been hanging around the point for a few days and shows some characteristics of Arctic Peregrine, ssp calidus (with the exception of the very rufous scalloping on the mantle)

More pictures www.wykebirding.blogspot.com