Skiftedag her i weekenden, hvor både Nigel fra England og canadiske Rainer afsluttede deres arbejde på stationen med ringmærkning i henholdsvis 4 uger og godt 14 dage. TUSIND TAK for en fin-fin indsats, selvom vejret ikke altid var så godt - - men hvad, sommeren er jo forbi nu og det mere ustadige efterårsvejr har indfundet sig. Jeg håber vi ses en anden gang igen i Gedser!

   Vejret lørdag blev - som forudsagt - fint ringmærkningsvejr - med kølig og klar luft samt svage vinde fra nordvest (det er specielt godt i Gedser om efteråret efter en periode med regn og rusk).

   Det blev en rigtig fin dag med masser af fugle i garnene. 142 nymærkninger blev det til, hvoraf halvdelen var rødhalse/Robins. Gransangerne/Chiffchaff) begyndte at røre rigtig på sig med 16 stk. Vi havde set frem til en af de mere sjældne sibirske sangere som f.eks. hvidbrynet løvsanger/Yellowbrowed Warbler eller brun løvsanger/Dusky Warbler, som er begyndt at dukke op her i landet, men nej, ikke nogen af dem - endnu. Der er dog chancer for dem i oktober og november, så mon ikke vi er heldige på et tidspunkt? :-)

   Igen kom der lidt mejser i haven, og vær sikker på, at der kommer flere det næste stykke tid: Falsterbo Fuglestation og fangstpladser i Baltikum melder om rigtig mange mejser. Der har ikke været større invasion af mejser siden efteråret 2012, men NU kommer de!

 Arkivfoto fra efteråret 2008 af blåmejse/Blue Tit

   Søndag den 30. september havde vi hidkaldt en masse hjæpere til efterårets største formidling på fuglestationen: Åbent Hus. Vi var klar med ringmærkere ved nettene og i labbet, kaffe og te var brygget, hjemmebagte kager var stillet frem til fri selvbetjening, pandekage-bager Anni-Rose sad klar i læ i pavillionen ved siden af kassemesteren Ole, og formidlerne Benny og undertegnede fik leveret lidt fugle til fremvisning for publikum. 

    Alt var i sin sødeste orden med undtagelse af vejret: Det eneste positive var, at det holdt tørvejr hele dagen, men der stod en strid vind direkte fra Østesøen, og det satte sit præg på fuglenes lyst til at komme helt her ud på Gedser Odde: Det var meget småt med småfugle, og der var heller ikke den store artsvariation. Alligevel havde vi ca. 100 forventningsfuld gæster på stationen, og jeg tror de allerfleste fik set mindst én fugl blive håndteret (taget ud af net, ringmærket, kontrolleret i hoved og r . . , målt og vejet), og der var mange, der gav udtryk for stor tilfredshed med arrangementet - mange mange tak for det, og også tak for jeres fine støtte!

 Benny fortæller om en af de netop ringmærkede fugle

Weekendens mærkninger/Ringing in the weekend

Hans

Starting with calm conditions and a light breeze from the north west. We knew that the wind was due to change over night and thought that  any increase in catches would be slight.

The first visits to the nets at about 7.00am brought in good numbers of Robins, with a few retraps from yesterday. The day carried on peacefully with some good birds to examine. Like this first year female Siskin showing unmoulted greater coverts and juvenile tertials.

Siskin (Spinus spinus). Gedser 28th September 2018

Another species of which we have been having regular numbers is the Blackcap. Juveniles have brown caps and during the post juvenile moult this is replaced by a black cap in the males or a slightly different shade of brown for the females. Some juvenile males do not change to black completely and the cap is admixed with juvenile brown feathers as shown in the image below.

Blackcap (Sylvia atricapilla) Gedser 28th September 2018

We were aware that there was a large migration of 5000  Blue Tits at Falsterbo during the previous days. It usually takes a few days for them to arrive at Gedser, so we thought the weekend would about the time they would visit us. The next net round and the reconnaissance party had arrived. Small groups of birds clearly looking for a weakness in our defenses. Obviously I have no images of blue tits as my family would be in danger from gangs of marauding tits if  any were found.

While we were processing the catch of Blue Tits, I able to walk another net round. To my surprise we had caught a Nutcracker in the bottom shelf of a net in the north garden. Below is an image that I took holding the bird in my left hand and the camera in my right hand,

Thick-billed Nutcracker, (Nucifraga caryoctactes) Gedser 28th September 2018

If you want to see better images (and you should) look at the GFU Facebook page where Bo has uploaded some excellent photos.

On migration at Gedser Odde the day brought a nice number of Common Eiders (Ederfugle). Of the around 10.000, nearly all were males, the females to mix in later. A handful of Parasitic Jaegers (Almindelige Kjover) were nice to see over the sea too. Some 40 Red Kites (Røde Glenter) headed for Germany, accompanied by at least two Black Kites (Sorte Glenter) and some Common Buzzards (Musvåger). A single Common Swift (Mursejler) was hunting insects in the air so close to our observations post, that it was quite easy to identify as a first year juvenile. They are interesting with plumage details reminding of Pallid Swift (Gråsejler) – pale forehead and lores, big white throat patch and a scaly look with white-edged wing-coverts.

Here are todays results:-

Hilsen.

N

As the nights creep in and we walk ever onward to Christmas, our happy ringers are occasionally allowed an extra 15 minutes in bed.

Today was one of those special days. Out the door at 06:00 and nets open by 06:30. The wind has changed round to the west and about 11m/s. We cannot see the stars.

No movement around the networks. The first round brings a few new birds and some retraps. Mainly robins, chiffchaffs and blackcaps. We have regularly retrapped the same 2k+ redstart since it's first capture by LUR on 21st September. At 10:00 there was half an hour of that mixture of drizzle and mist, what they call dreek in Scotland.

1k male Rørspurv, Gedser fuglestation 27th September 2018

The morning went on and at the last round of the day we caught a nice 1k make Reed Bunting. A new bird for Rainer to see. Nets were closed at about 12:00 and I drove down to the village for provisions.

As you can see I have now mastered the adding of images to the blog. Thanks to Bo's excellent instructions that I only just found on the notice board next to my bed. Sorry Bo!

These images were taken yesterday at the height of the storm.

The Rostock ferry leaving Gedser 14:30 26th September 2018

One of the furled nets in east garden. The guys and poles are not out of focus - they were moving.

28th September 2018

Here are the results for today:-

Hilsen,

N

Up before dawn as usual. Opened the door and checked the weather. Blowing a gale from the south west. We decided to have a think about which nets we could open. The nets around the house would be too windy, as would most of the east garden. The always reliable nets in the north garden would be acceptable along with a couple of sheltered nets by the road to the point. We wouldn't use the high nets.

The standardised netting session requires 300 net metre hours. So 5 hours with 60 metres of net. The length of all the nets is 285 metres, so we can usually find 60 plus metres. We added up the viable nets and the total was 99 metres.

Opening the nets before first light and a few robins and song thrushes were out and about. The first net round and the nets were full. Of leaves, rather than birds. It's best to clear out the leaves on each round as it will only get worse.

We incresed the frequency of net rounds and made a respectable 27 birds, with only one retrap.

Nets were closed for 11:30. However, several checks were made during the day to make sure that they stayed tightly furled.

Hilsen

N

Opened my eyes at 5:00am this morning. Dark, apart from the silent flash from the lighthouse, all is quiet, where's my watch! No sound outside, No wind?

Light breeze from the north west. Here we go, could be busy. Weetabix, fruit and fat free yoghurt. Nice cup of Yorkshire tea from home. Set up for the first couple of hours.

5:45am and still dark, headlamps on, I take the north garden and Rainer the east garden and meet near the gate. A few robins "ticking" in the bushes. That's a good sign. Nets up by 6:15 and back at the house. Another cuppa sitting outside watching activity as it grew gradually lighter. Out at sea the lights of the early ferry Rostock. A few small passerines flitting between the bushes.

6:45am I leave for first round, just light. Plenty of bird bags, just in case. Five or six birds in each net, more in the high net. Get part way round and take what I have back to the lab, getting heavy round my neck. Hans arrives and much needed help. The song thrushes and dunnocks from yesterday have been replaced in numbers by that staple Gedser autumn fayre of robins, chiffchaffs and a few others.

Unable to break the chains that tie us to the desks in the lab, Hans kindly bought out  flask of fresh coffee. Gert arrived along with Anders to help with extracting the birds from the nets, while Rainer and myself were kept busy processing the birds. 

Bespoke boxes were used to keep multiple birds of the same species. 

10.00am, party visiting from the local bird club. Very interested in what we were doing and the value to science. They all, individually, saw the ringing process. I do a lot of ringing demonstrations at home and apart from the language differences, they are just the same. Showing birds to the public at close range  is such a privilege. They also provided some excellent and much welcome cake.  

Then came the blue tits! Several flocks of up to 50 birds were seen flying over the garden and 88 managed to find the way into the nets. Danish blue tits are augmented by migratory birds with the Swedish population moving south in to Germany. In the UK I have been a trainer for over 20 years and we love blue tits (and great tits) because they form the staple diet of trainees during the winter months. Ringing blue tits provides excellent training to new ringers. They are a challenge to extract from mist nets, but are an easy introduction to the moult process and ageing techniques,

12:30pm, end of the standardised ringing session. My stomach is rumbling, Rainer has decided to go back to the house. I decide to carry on, don't want to sit inside when there are birds to study. Quick sandwich on the go. Some nice birds coming through now, a few bramblings, chiffchaffs, a late garden warbler. A nice surprise was a short-toed treecreeper. Very different with the common treecreeper with a greyer hue, but only reliably identified by biometric measurement. Bill and hind claw. 

Short-toed Treecreeper/korttået træløber with long bill and short hind claw

Please note the white "diamant-spots" on the tips of the primaries

4:30pm, Starting to go quiet, so decide to call it a day. Closing the nets and processing the remaining birds, ignoring a few retraps from earlier in the day. Back to the house, somethng to eat.

16:30pm, Start entering the data onto the Fuglestation database, then entering on to DOFBasen and Trektellen. Filing the full data sheets. Rainer makes supper. Then write the blog. Trying to get my camera to link up to the office computer. Sorry it won't work, so no pictures tonight, unless Hans manages to upload an image remotely.

Now 20:10pm. Soon be morning, wind turned west, so should be a few stragglers left in the garden, maybe some newbies. Can't wait.

Hilsen

Gedser Fuglestation 2018 September 24.

Ok! What just happen? Today, at 0700 hours and throughout the day we were buffeted by the infamous nor’westerly winds.  The same winds we desperately wanted to break the boredom we experienced during the past week arrived last night as a harbringer. These winds were the slingshot for the thousands of migrating birds from the northern hinterlands. Simply put, we got wacked. On the first round Song Thrushes (48), hung in the nets. These were quickly replaced with Dunnocks on the second round and subsequent rounds. By 1000 hours many nets hung empty but by 1430 hours we managed to squeeze 229 birds through the weigh scale. 

Birds of the day: Song Thrush/sangdrossel and Dunnock/jernspurv

That was our nets. But the many hundreds of passerines and hunting or moving raptors overhead flying into the westerly winds was beyond description. I was simply awe struck and humble.  Don’t you love Gedser?

Today started with less wind and high cloud. Birds calling from the bushes as it got light. We had more variety today with a Reed Warbler, Garden Warbler and 13 Dunnocks. A sign of an increase in migration were the 13 Dunnocks that we caught.

There was a strong movement of raptors throughout the day and we caught 5 Sparrowhawks in the raptor nets. Follow the migration watch at Gedser Odde on the Træk pages from the home page.

Here are todays slightly better results.

Spurvehøg         5

Jernspurv            13

Sangdrossel        1

Rørsanger            1

Havesanger          1

Munk                      2

Gransanger           5

Løvsanger             2

Bogfinke                1

Tomorrow the wind is forecast to move round to the North West. Much better for migration. But the wind speed may be too high to erect all of the nets. I think we will have to consider what to do in the morning.

Hilsen

Today was a very sad day, we had to say a fond goodbye to our resident Dane.

But, the very windy weather kept any birds low in the bushes, we could only manage 102 net metres, with nets in the more secluded rides. Several rain storms passed over after we had finished the standard netting.

Here are todays totals:-

Rødhals/Robin              1/1

Gransanger/Chiffchaff   2/0

Blackbird                         0/1

Great Tit                           0/1

Cups of Coffee                10+ (some of the subspecies med mælk)

Jimmy, our new resident Dane, had an excellent day at the tip with, as well as others:-

1900+ Swallows

220 Kestrels

550 Eiders.

Many thanks to Jimmy and his company over evening meal (and Dr Nielsen's)

Here is today's little joke for you, especially for our departed Dane:-

How many therapists does it take to change a light bulb?

One, but the light bulb must want to change.

Hilsen, Ta-ta etc.

Today we woke with great hopes and the knowledge that it is the first day of the rest of our lives.

But it was like groundhog day.

The wind was stronger than yesterday.

Here are todays totals:-

Spurvehøg               1

Rødhals                    1

Rødstjert                    3

Munk                          1/1

Gransanger               3

Grå Flueshapper      1

Broget Fluesnapper 1

Blåmejse                     0/1

Of the observations at the point were 640 Scoter, 142 Wigeon and 94 Eider. Overhead were 120 Swallows.  The observers do a magnificent job out at the point, they are there in all weathers. Today well over 1000 individual birds have been counted of over 30 species. We ringers are comparative softies, being able to shelter inside and have a fresh cup of coffee whenever we want. I'd like to salute our trækers. 

The weather is forecast to change on Sunday evening to a northerly wind. The winds from the south-west have been stopping the migration. Somewhere there are birds waiting to come to Gedser next week. Or was that a dream I have just had?

The poet is too depressed today for his ditty and the photographer is fast asleep in bed, so there are no images. Our colonial colleague is "discussing" a point with a friend of GFU on the interweb thing. A point I fear will run and run. Knowing both parties I am backing the Danish team.

Here is a poor English joke.

What do you call a deer with no eyes?

No idea.

Hilsen