Overcast with a blazing force 7-8 south-easterly wind meant that, perhaps for the first time it actually felt like autumn but the conditions severely limited how many nets we could open as we only just managed to carry out a standardised session; the very meagre total of 15 new birds caught did however include another smart first winter Red-breasted Flycatcher.

Today's ringing totals - 3 Wren / Gaerdesmutte;  5 Robin / Roedhals;  1 Blackcap / Munk;  3 Chiffchaff / Gransanger;  2 Goldcrest / Fuglekonge;  1 Red-breasted Flycatcher / Lille Fluesnapper

                Not too much else to mention in difficult conditions (sunny and bright in the afternoon but the strong wind remained) with 3 Rough-legged Buzzards, 3 Red Kites and a smattering of Kestrels and Sparrowhawk across the fields north of Gedser before a walk up the coast just produced 2 Rock Pipits and a Wheatear on the beach.

Rock Pipits

For more Gedser pictures www.wykebirding.blogspot.com

An awesome start to the morning, the kind of morning that makes every autumn worthwhile; very calm and overcast with the garden full of calling Robins and Goldcrests from before dawn while overhead there was the constant calls of Song Thrushes and Redwings – fantastic!   The ringing was predictably very busy with an excellent 487 new birds caught – although it tailed off after mid-morning when the sun came out turning the day once again warm and tropical.

                The total was dominated by 178 Goldcrests, 114 Chiffchaffs and 100 Robins along with 40 Wrens and 17 Song Thrushes while the highlights were another Yellow-browed Warbler and another Red-breasted Flycatcher.

Today's totals - 40 Wren / Gaerdesmutte;  9 Dunnock / Jernspurv;  100 Robin / Roedhals;  3 Redstart / Roedstjert;  17 Song Thrush / Sangdrossel;  2 Lesser Whitethroat / Gaerdesanger;  6 Blackcap / Munk;  1 Yellow-browed Warbler / Hvidbrynet Loevsanger;  114 Chiffchaff / Gransanger;  178 Goldcrest / Fuglekonge;  1 Red-breasted Flycatcher / Lille Fluesnapper;  1 Coal Tit / Sortmejse;  4 Blue Tit / Blamejse;  2 Tree Sparrow / Skovspurv;  7 Chaffinch / Bogfinke;  1 Greenfinch / Groenirisk;  1 Goldfinch / Stillits

Red-breasted Flycatcher

                There wasn’t much time for much else but random birds over the garden included several Grey Wagtails with small numbers of Chaffinches, Bramblings, Siskins, Redpolls, Tree Pipits, Meadow Pipits and Skylarks etc. while raptors included Red Kite and Rough-legged Buzzard with a handful of Sparrowhawks and Kestrels.

Chiffchaff

Warm and tropical still with light winds and some high cloud which thickened by late afternoon; another good total of 111 new birds were caught through the morning with the highlights consisting of 2 Firecrests and a first winter Red-breasted Flycatcher, these came in amongst a good arrival of 63 Chiffchaffs whereas a total of 22 new Robins was relatively low (many of yesterday’s birds were re-trapped).

Today's ringing totals (including this afternoon) - 3 Sparrowhawk / Spurvehoeg;  4 Wren / Gaerdesmutte;  25 Robin / Roedhals;  2 Song Thrush / Sangdrossel;  3 Blackcap / Munk;  68 Chiffchaff / Gransanger;  1 Willow Warbler / Loevsanger;  1 Yellow-browed Warbler / Hvidbrynet Loevsanger;  9 Goldcrest / Fuglekonge;  2 Firecrest / Roedtoppet Fuglekonge;  1 Red-breasted Flycatcher / Lille Fluesnapper;  2 Coal Tit / Sortmejse;  2 Great Tit / Musvit;  4 Chaffinch / Bogfinke;  1 Greenfinch / Groenirisk

Yellow-browed Warbler

2K female and 1K male Sparrowhawk

                Overhead passage was quite light through the first half of the morning but a few raptors started to appear by mid-morning so I had a little watch from the NW corner of the garden (1040-1240) which produced a steady trickle of birds including 12 Rough-legged Buzzards, 6 Honey Buzzards, 23 Sparrowhawks, an adult male Hen Harrier, 4 Red Kites, 7 Common Buzzards, a Merlin and 5 Kestrels; there were also many passerines (and others) heard overhead including Chaffinch (with the typical rush of birds late morning with c550 today), Brambling, Siskin, Skylark (the first day with multiple birds going over), Meadow Pipit, Coal Tit, Yellowhammer, Swallow, White Wagtail, Grey Wagtail (one), Dunlin, Grey Plover and Ringed Plover.

                Re-opened some nets in the afternoon and finally finally caught a Yellow-browed Warbler (it certainly took its time with the hundreds and hundreds in Western Europe at the moment!) along with a few more Chiffchaffs, Robins and Chaffinches while another 3 Rough-legged Buzzards went over the garden.

Rough-legged Buzzard

For more Gedser pictures www.wykebirding.blogspot.com

Vejret i dag var perfekt til åbent hus og de omkring 100 gæster der lagde vejen forbi stationen kunne nyde efterårssolen. På trods af at vejret var så godt og vi havde forventet få fugle kunne vi heldigvis vise flere fugle frem så folk fik hvad de kom efter.

Hans viser en bogfinke frem for to af dagens yngste gæster. Foto: Nina Amland-Labuz

I alt 140 fugle blev i dag sendt af sted med ring på, det var mest Rødhalse og Gransangere. Dagens hit blev en Rødtoppet Fuglekonge, den var desværre stået for tidligt op og kom før alle gæsterne. Det ville ellers have været dejligt at kunne vise den lille fine fugl frem.

Rødtoppet Fuglekone (Regulus ignicapilla). Foto: Simon Davies

Over haven fløj der flokke med Bogfinker og Kvækerfinker det meste af formiddagen. Desuden er det værd at nævne de 5 Misteldrosler, 5 Lille Korsnæb, 1 Hvepsevåge og 3 Fjeldvåger der fløj over haven.

Gærdesmutte / Wren - 4
Rødhals / Robin - 83
Rødstjert / Redstart - 1
Sangdrossel / Song Thrush - 4
Munk / Blackcap - 4
Gransanger / Chiffchaff - 30
Fuglekonge / Goldcrest - 3
Rødtoppet Fuglekonge / Firecrest - 1
Blåmejse / Blue tit - 1
Bogfinke / Chaffinch - 7
Kvækerfinke / Brambling - 1

Another excellent day at Gedser Fuglestation with 139 new birds ringed.

Again the main feature were 47 Robins ringed, but there was an influx of Bramblings late morning with over 100 birds around the garden, 23 found their way into the nets.

Other interesting birds caught were single, Coal Tit, Nuthatch, Treecreeper, Reed Bunting and Marsh Warbler.

Here are todays totals:-

2 Sparrowhawks / Spurvehøg, 13 Wrens / Gærdesmutte, 4 Dunnocks / Jernspurv, 47 Robins / Rødhals, 1 Marsh Warbler / Kærsanger, 1 Lesser Whitethroat / Gærdesanger, 2 Garden Warblers / Havesanger, 9 Blackcaps / Munk, 18 Chiffchaffs / Løvsanger, 7 Goldcrests / Fuglekonge, 1 Coal Tit/ Sortmejse, 2 Blue Tits / Blåmejse, 1 Nuthatch / Spætmejse, 1 Treecreeper / Træløber, 1 House Sparrow / Gråspurv, 1 Chaffinch / Bogfinke, 23 Bramblings / Kvækerfinke, 1 Reed Bunting / Rørspurv.

                                                                       Coal Tit and Treecreeper

A pleasant morning, bright with light southerly winds and varying amounts of cloud coming and going and a warm, sunny afternoon; a decent total of 111 new birds were caught through the morning again dominated by 48 Robins and 36 Chiffchaffs with the usual others thrown in but the overhead passage was almost non-existent with hardly anything seen over the garden with the notable exception of a Hawfinch which circled a few times calling away.

Today's ringing totals - 8 Wren / Gaerdesmutte;  3 Dunnock / Jernspurv;  48 Robin / Roedhals;  1 Song Thrush / Sangdrossel;  2 Lesser Whitethroat / Gaerdesanger;  2 Blackcap / Munk;  36 Chiffchaff / Gransanger;  1 Willow Warbler / Loevsanger;  9 Goldcrest / Fuglekonge;  1 Blue Tit / Blamejse

Adult male Sparrowhawk

                A little look at Bøtø at lunchtime produced the usual array of nice birds including 20+ Cranes, a couple of Rough-legged Buzzards, a Hen Harrier, 3 Merlins (including a lovely adult male which landed in the water for a drink), 4+ White-tailed Eagles, 2 Spotted Redshanks, 3 Ruff and a few Sparrowhawks drifting south before a drive across the fields to the north of Gedser produced a further 8 Rough-legged Buzzards lazily heading vaguely south.  

                A very brief look at the point mid-afternoon then saw 4 more Rough-legged Buzzards and an Osprey heading more determinedly south before a few nets opened in the evening saw a few more Robins and Chiffchaffs caught along with two Sparrowhawks including a cracking adult male.

For more Gedser pictures www.wykebirding.blogspot.com

Efter to dage med et mylder af fugle i haven og derfor travlt med ringmærkningen føltes det som en meget stille dag med 97 ringmærkede fugle. Det er ellers en pæn dag med lige knap 100 fugle efter en stjerneklar nat. Hvis ikke der snart kommer ændringer i vejret kan vi nok godt forvente dage med endnu færre fugle, så vi må håbe at vejret snart slår om.

For tredje dag i træk var Rødhalse den mest dominerende art i nettene og haven vrimler med dem. Hver gang man går rundt om et hjørne flyver en rødhals op. Selvom man godt kan blive lidt træt af at ringmærke Rødhalse er det nu en fin lille fugl som da også er elsket og kendt af mange. Kært barn har mange navne som man siger og det gælder også rødhalsen, som mange kender som Rødkælk. Eller som Dick Passer sagde “en maoistisk vintersportsfugl”.

Rødhals (Erithacus rubecula). Foto: Simon Davies

Det er ikke kun her i haven der ringmærkes mange Rødhalse da det er den hyppigst ringmærkede art i Danmark. Her på fuglestationen er der i år mærket 1475 Rødhalse. Dernæst er de mest hyppigst ringmærkede fugle i Danmark Løvsanger og Fuglekonge. Løvsangere ringmærkes der desværre ikke så mange af længere da den desværre er i tilbagegang. Fuglekonger derimod bliver der mærket en del af her i haven, indtil nu er der mærket 436 her på stedet, de store fuglekonge dage er normalt først i oktober men de er da begyndt at ankomme hen over de sidste par dage. Sidste år blev der mræket 3446 Fuglekonger og 2288 Rødhalse her i haven. Så der er lidt vej endnu hvis de tal skal nås inden der lukkes og slukkes i haven for i år.

På Odden var der ikke gang i trækket som vi havde håbet på. Over vandet var det mest spændende 2 Almindelig Kjove og 35 Dværgmåger, ellers kom der lidt Edderfugle, Sortænder og Pibeænder dryssende. På rovfugle siden var det heller ikke helt hvad vi havde forventet men det blev alligevel til 21 Fjeldvåger, 19 Musvåger, 1 Hvepsevåge, 37 Spurvehøge, 1 Havørn, 3 Røde Glenter og 1 Blå Kærhøg.

Total 97

Gærdesmutte / Wren - 1
Jernspurv / Dunnock - 2
Rødhals / Robin - 43
Sangdrossel / Song Thrush - 7
Gærdesanger / Lesser Whitethtoat - 2
Munk / Blackcap - 4
Gransanger / Chiffchaff - 23
Løvsanger / Willow Warbler - 1
Fuglekonge / Goldcrest - 11
Bogfinke / Chaffinch - 2
Grønirisk / Greenfinch - 1

Today started with good ringing conditions with an easterly wind and light rain overnight. Cloud cover first thng promised a good day. It ended up another excellent day, although not with the numbers of yesterday. A very good 272 birds were ringed including 2 Garden Warblers, 2 Grasshopper Warblers, a Marsh Warbler and a Redstart . Highest numbers were 171 Robins, 33 Chiffchaffs and 28 Goldcrests.

Ringing sites further north have reported an increase in Blue Tit numbers being ringed. We expect an influx in the next few days. Coming from the UK we are used to Blue Tits, but they do take extra time extracting which can be annoying at a busy migration ringing station like Gedser.

Here are todays totals:-

15 Wren / Gærdesmutte, 1 Dunnock / Jernspurv, 171 Robins / Rødhals, 1 Redstart / Rødstjert, 5 Song Thrushes / Sangdrossel, 2 Grasshopper Warblers / Græshoppersanger, 1 Marsh Warbler / Kærsanger, 1 Lesser Whitethroat / Gærdesanger, 1 Whitethroat / Tornsanger, 2 Garden Warblers / Havesanger, 6 Blackcap / Munk, 33 Chiffchaffs / Gransanger, 28 Goldcrests / Fuglekonge, 2 Blue Tits / Blåmejse, 1 Great Tit / Musvit, 1 Brambling / Kvækerfinke, 1 Greenfinch / Grønirisk

Another fantastic ringing day with the light wind moving into the north and cloud cover coming and going throughout but warm and sunny in the afternoon; it was by far the biggest ringing total so far this year with an excellent 665 new birds caught during an all-day effort with the main species comprising 283 Robins, 149 Chiffchaffs and 111 Goldcrests supported by 34 Wrens, 20 Dunnocks and 26 Blackcaps.   The highlights in the day’s catch were a smart first winter Barred Warbler (the second of the autumn), a Marsh Warbler and a Great-spotted Woodpecker along with other little bits including Tree Pipit, 2 Redstarts, 3 Reed Warblers and the first 3 Bramblings of the autumn.

Today's totals in full - 1 Great-spotted Woodpecker / Stor Flagspaette;  1 Tree Pipit / Skovpiber;  34 Wren / Gaerdesmutte;  20 Dunnock / Jernspurv;  283 Robin / Roedhals;  2 Redstart / Roedstjert;  1 Marsh Warbler / Kaersanger;  3 Reed Warbler / Roersanger;  1 Barred Warbler / Hoegesanger;  2 Common Whitethroat / Tornsanger; 2 Garden Warbler / Havesanger; 26 Blackcap / Munk;  149 Chiffchaff / Gransanger;  3 Willow Warbler / Loevsanger;  111 Goldcrest / Fuglekonge;  2 Blue Tit / Blamejse;  1 Great Tit / Musvit;  4 Tree Sparrow / Skovspurv;  3 Chaffinch / Bogfinke;  3 Brambling / Kvaerkefinke;  1 Greenfinch / Groenirisk;  2 Siskin / Groensisken;  4 Lesser Redpoll / Lille Grasisken

Barred Warbler

                Birds overhead and away from the nets were few and far between (mainly because we had no time to look around!) but did include a White-tailed Eagle, a Merlin, a Common Buzzard and a few Sparrowhawks cruising around, a Spotted Flycatcher in the garden and 70+ Golden Plover while overhead passage was limited to a few Chaffinch, Brambling and Siskin flocks along with a few White Wagtails and Tree Pipits.

The garden was alive with Chiffchaffs!

For more Gedser pictures www.wykebirding.blogspot.com

Efter dagen i går med lige knap 200 ringmærkede fugle håbede vi på at vi i dag ville få årets anden dag med +200. Efter at have gået første runde og konstateret der ikke var mange fugle faldt håbet dog lidt. Men da vi kom ud til anden netrunde var der Gransangere alle steder og heldigvis også i nettene. Ud af 218 fugle mærket i dag var 104 Gransangere. Der var ikke nær så mange Fuglekonger som i går men der var stadigvæk en del. Også Gærdesmutterne er begyndt at ankomme nu og vi har i dag mærket 8.

Lige inden Rasmus skulle hjem af med bussen gik årets første Stor Flagspætte i nette, han nåede lige at ringmærke den inden Hans kørte ham af sted til bussen og han kunne glad tage hjem med den som ny mærkeart. Nu når Rasmus er taget hjem er der helt stille i huset og når man går rundt i haven, da man ofte kunne høre hvor han var når han gik rundt og sang, det var meget hygget ligt med en syngende ringmærker, måske det beroliger fuglene.

Årets første Stor flagspætte (Dendrocopos major).

En tur på Odden til eftermiddag gav ikke meget der var kun få ænder i forhold til de sidste par dage, 525 Ederfugle, 69 Pibeænder og lidt Sortænder. Over lang var der en del svaler og ellers kun en enkelt Lærkefalk. Og lige som vi var på vej hjem og stod og var ved at pakke teleskoperne sammen fløj en Sortstrubet lom lige hen over vores hoveder, typisk der altid skal komme noget spændene lige som man har hænderne fulde.

Total 218

Spurvehøg / Sparrowhawk - 4

Stor Flagspætte / Great Spotted Woodpecker - 1

Skovpiber / Tree Pipit - 2

Gærdesmutte / Wren - 8

Jernspurv / Dunnock - 11

Rødhals / Robin - 45

Gærdesanger / Lesser Whitethtoat – 2

Tornsanger / Whitethroat - 2

Munk / Blackcap – 17

Gransanger / Chiffchaff - 104

Løvsanger / Willow Warbler - 3

Fuglekonge / Goldcrest – 16

Grå fluesnapper / Spotted Flycatcher - 1

Bogfinke /Chaffinch - 2