I dag var det min tur til at tage tørnen som ringmærker på Danmarks sydligste fuglestation, og det er normalt ikk' så ring' endda! Vækkeren ringede kl. 02:55, så jeg kunne nå at vågne, få lidt i skrutten,give havens fugle (mest stære og alliker pt.) den daglige portion havregryn blandet op i smeltet margarine samt køre de tre km. ud til fuglestationen og åbne ca 25 net inden standardtidens begyndelse kl. 04:15. Det tager en lille halv time for én person at åbne alle nettene, så det nåede jeg fint.

   Vejret var helt klart med en jævn vind fra stik øst - - - normalt ikke det bedste her om foråret. I løbet af morgenen og formiddagen begyndte det at skye mere til, men det hjalp ikke synderligt på antallet af fugle i nettene. De første 3-4 netrunder (taget hver halve time), gav fra 0 til én fugl pr. tur, så det var ikke opløftende. Hen ad 8-tiden var der dog lidt mere travlt med hele 5 poser i gang!

   Midt under det hele stak Anders Prehn hovedet indenfor i labbet, og han var med på en enkelt runde. Godt, at han var med, for han opdagede en overflyvende gulirisk på kaldet -  -  -  dem har jeg efterhånden svært ved at høre! Senere kom også den tyske ringmærker Dr. Jürgen Kaatz på besøg, han har ikke kunnet komme til sit hus i Gedser siden midt i februar, så han var glad for at være her igen.

   Der var en pæn diversitet med de få fugle, som det gav i dag - se skemaet nedenfor. Den ene hvid vipstjert var en nyudfløjen unge, der blev passet op af en af forældrene, og de to stillitser var tydeligvis et par, der blev fanget samtidig i samme net.

   Den mest specielle fugl var rørsangeren, hvis hale var forsynet med hvidlige fjer, det har jeg ikke set hos denne art før.

   I morgen starter Operation Overshooter, som har base til og med søndag på fuglestationen. Der kommer nok en del fuglefolk for at finde sjældne fugle her på Sydhavsøerne, men vi skal gøre vores bedste for at give dem kam til håret: Sidste år var det fuglestationen, der "løb" med sejren for den Lille Rørsanger, der blev ringmærket. Vi må se, hvad der sker de næste par dage.

De bedste hilsner,

Hans

     

Rune have sidste dag i dag, da han skulle hjem og passe sine bier med efterfølgende slyngning af honning.

10 nymærkninger blev det til i dag, man kan godt mærke, at forårssæsonen synger på allersidste vers. Dagens highlights i dag blev endnu en spætmejse, som vi bestemt ikke er fiorvænt med her ude på Gedser Odde - gennem de sidste 25 års aktivitet ved fuglestationen er det blevet til 60 mærkede spætmejser.

Det andet gode fund blev årets første Lille Fluesnapper.

mvh, Hans

Allerede da jeg åbnede døren i morges kunne jeg mærke det: Det ville blive en meget flot sommerdag. Det var allerede rimelig varmt kl. 03:30 og der var næsten ikke en vind, der rørte sig. Jeg havde på fornemmelsen, at der godt kunne komme en spændende fugl.. enten i nettene eller trækkende over haven.
Der var mest aktivitet i de tidligste morgentimer, hvor bl.a. en rødrygget tornskade han, en rørsanger og en rødstjert blev ringmærket. Ellers fik jeg ringmærket nogle flere tornirisker, en gulbug, en løvsanger og til allersidst på lukke-runden en spætmejse! En enkelt trane og en rød glente fløj over haven, men ellers skete der ikke det store. Igen i dag kiggede min ven Simon Berg forbi og gik med på et par runder om morgenen. Hans Lind kom også ud og hilste på os og gik med på en net-runde og Anders Prehn kiggede også ind til os i haven. Efter lukningen af net tog vi dynerne frem og tog en lur i skyggen af den store sommerfugle-busk i forhaven. Om eftermiddagen kom mine gode venner fra Røsnæs, som havde overnattet på Lolland til i dag og vi kunne fejre hans 57 års fødselsdag i stations-haven med mjød og saftevand inden de kørte hjemover. Jeg nåede lige at reparere 2 bund-strenge som haren havde sprunget inden Henrik fra fyr-boligen kiggede forbi. Om aftenen spiste Neringa og jeg udenfor i det dejlige sommer-vejr. Det har været en helt utrolig flot og lækker sommerdag på Danmarks sydligste fuglestation og nu er vi snart klar til at gå til køjs. Flere fugle og flere oplevelser venter i morgen

I går eftermiddags ankom Neringa og jeg til Gedser Fuglestation i strid og kølig østenvind. Vi gik en tur i haven og gik ellers tidligt i seng for nettene skal jo være oppe senest kl. lidt over 4... pyhh.
Jeg vil ikke sige, at jeg sprang ud af høkassen, men det gik efter omstændighederne ok da vækkeuret bimlede kl. 03:30! Jeg fik sat nettene hurtigt op og lavet kaffe. Det var herligt igen at gå en net-runde på fuglestationen og det var i sandhed en flot og lun morgen med kun let vind fra øst.
Jeg kunne hurtigt fornemme, at der ikke var kommet det store tiltræk over natten, men jeg fik da ringmærket en flot rød karmin-dompap han imens en anden han sang fra haven. Desuden ringmærkede jeg et par løvsangere, en havesanger og nogle tornirisker. Jeg lukkede nettene ved 12tiden til synet af 4 overflyvende traner og fik en tiltrængt lur. Om eftermiddagen kom min ven Simon Berg på besøg og vi gik alle 3 en dejlig tur ud til sydstenen og så digesvalerne fouragere langs skrænter, imens Neringa spejdede ud over Østersøen imod sit hjemland Litauen. Bagefter gik vi hjem og lavede aftensmad, skrubber og rødspætter fra Røsnæs med nye kartofler og asparges fra Illerup Sand. Vi sad selvfølgelig udenfor i det dejlige vejr og kunne notere flere hundrede knortegæs, der trak syd i aftenlyset.

Vind og vejr ser lovende ud for i morgen, så jeg må hellere hoppe til køjs, så jeg kan være klar før solen står op.

Blog v/ Rune Skjold Tjørnløv

It was my last day for this period at the Gedserfuglestation. I had a good time, a little more birds would have been fine, but that is how it is. You never know and each day is different.

This morning I was up early and the nets were open at 4 o'clock. First round brought only two birds but both interesting ones. The first bird I got out of the net was a male Red-backed Shrike (Rødrygget Tornskade) and the second one a Sedge Warbler (Sivsanger), the one with the two stripes on the head. This was the first catch of this year. It was a female because I saw a breeding patch. So, it must be a local bird. Later in the morning I caught a second male Red-backed Shrike. This brings my personal total for the two weeks at 13. This is by far a record for me.

There were only 14 birds today, 7 species, 12 new and 2 recaptures.

I closed the nets after 9 am and put all the data in the computer. Cleaned the house, packed my stuff and drove home. I will come back the first 2 weeks of September and hopefully corona will allow us to be with more people at the station.

I have two pictures for you today, one of the Tornskade and one of the Sivsanger

 

Till later this year and with kind regards

Robert

Again not many new birds in the garden. The day started with a round of zero and then one with one bird. So, I decided to open the nets near the pond again. This time I had 3 different swallow/martin species: 2 Barn Swallows (Landsvale), 2 Sand Martins (Digesvale) and 4 House Martins (Bysvale). One of the Barn Swallows was ringed in 2017 here at this location. Later in the morning I had 4 Starlings (Stær) in one of the pond nets and later also two in the garden. Five were birds born this year, so the first young are flying around while some other species only now start to breed.

In total today 31 birds (12 species, 24 new ones and 7 recaptures). See Table below.

Was the month May of this year not such a good month as the years before? I do not think that that is the case. I have only three year 22018, 2019 and 2020. In the first year in total 667 new birds were caught, in 2019 916 and this year till now 738. So maybe 2019 was very good, but this year is slightly better than 2018. So nothing special.

Tomorrow is my last day. Nets at the pond are not there anymore. Lets hope the garden will bring something special on the last day.

I have two pictures for you today: one of a young starling and one of an older female starling.

 

With kind regards

Robert

 

A day with not so many birds. No wind which is good for catching birds. Very sunny which is not so good for catching birds. But also, the nets in the shadow did not bring birds. There were just barely any new birds and the local breeding birds know the nets are and do not fly often into the nets.

The day started with four birds in the first round including two Red-backed Shrikes (Rødrygget Tornskade). The second round again 4 birds including two Marsh Warblers.

After this start I decided to open some nets at the pond, which resulted in 2 Barn Swallows (Landsvale), 2 Sand Martins (Digesvale) and 1 Linnet (Tornirisk).

This is the story of the day. I closed the nets at 13.00 hours.

A total of 12 species were caught, 26 birds (22 new ones and 4 recaptures). See Table below.

Tomorrow I will try to find out whether May 2020 is better or worse than the recent past years. Today I have made a small exercise regarding the Icterine Warbler (Gulbug). I used the data as recorded in Trektellen.nl and have printed below the graph made by this program. For the Gulbug the outcome is that 2020 is better than 2019 and 2018. The graph includes recaptures but because we try to catch birds in a standard way, I think that doesn't matter much.

In the picture gallery today a picture of one of the Tornskader and one of the Landsvaler and a picture of the tail of this bird. Nicely long streamers but they can be even longer.

 

With kind regards

Robert

The first round today at 4.45 was a good round with 12 birds. Many birds in the first round is often an indication that there will be a lot of birds in the rounds to come. I was already thinking I should call Hans to help me, but the second round was rather disappointing. Only a few birds. So Hans was allowed to stay in bed. For the first time, there were a good number of birds from the Acrocephalus species group: Marsh and Reed Warblers (Kærsanger and Rørsanger).

But one particular Icterine Warbler (Gulbug) was the bird of the day. It was caught for the first time in the garden on the 29th of June 2012 as a 2k + (two years older). Which means it is at least 9 years old and soon even 10 years of more.

Other highlights of the day were a female Common Rosefinch (Karmindompap) and a female Pied Flycatcher (Broget Fluesnapper). There was also a singing male Karmindompap in the garden, but it did not fly into the nets. Maybe tomorrow.

Nets were closed early today (12 o'clock) because it was the day for maintenance in the garden: mowing of the grass and trimming of the bushes around the nets.

In total I caught 39 birds (16 species, 29 new and 10 recaptures). See table below.

Only one picture today is one of the Reed Warblers.

With kind regards

Robert

Today I caught a normal Chiffchaff (Gransanger) and I took a picture of his wing formula. It will allow you to compare with the one of yesterday.

Note that P6 is shorter than P3, P4 and P5 and that P2 is as long as P7. I think this is a typical Chiffchaff (Gransanger) wing formula. So let's wait what the DNA analysis will bring, either a nice species or we have to adjust the ringers bible :) .

Today there were not many birds in the garden and I decided to open a few nets at the pond. Which was a lucky decision. I caught 2 House Martins (Bysvale) and 2 Sand Martins (Digesvale) and a Barn Swallow (Landsvale). But the last one was in one of the standard nets. Later I caught at the pond also a White Wagtail and a beautifull Yellow Wagtail. Most of the species you can find in the picture gallery below.

 

 

I caugth today 24 birds, 13 species 18 newly ringed and 6 recaptures. Again a Red-backed Shrike (Rødrygget Tornskade). I have to do it with a copy of trektellen.nl because I could not get the right one out the house computer here. 

With kind regards

Robert

This morning I found a bird in one of the nets of which I thought it needed some attention. I found it browner than the Chiffchaffs (Gransanger) that I normally have in my hands. It was also a bit larger than the average Chiffchaff. I always check if it is Chiffchaff or not (primary 6 (P6) should be emarginated). At that moment I noticed that P6 was as long as P3, P4 and P5. Which I found a bit strange. Than I looked up the species in the "Identification Guide to Birds in the Hand", a kind of ringers bible.

And this is what I found:

 

And in the next picture you find what I had in hand. You can also see that P2 is much smaller than P7 which is also different from the wing formula of the normal Chiffchaff.

If you can think I was rather excited about this. The wing formula is the same as the species with the name Phylloscopus sindianus lorenzii. Nowadays they are considered to be two species. It could be a Bjerggransanger. An extremely rare species in Western Europe.

So I called Hans and we made a description and took some pictures (see below). 

When you look up the Bjerggransanger (Phylloscopus lorenzii) than you will notice that the colors are not the same and therefore we have our doubts. Are colors disive / deciding or are structural features like the wing formula driving. I have no idea. On the other hand, the Mountain Chiffchaff or Eastern Chiffchaff (Phylloscopus sindianus) has a more yellow supercilium.

For me it is still a question, for the time being we put it as a normal Chiffchaff in the database, but we have taken a feather sample and will ask to perform a DNA analysis. So in about half a year we will know the definitive answer.

In total I caught 13 species today (36 birds, 33 new ones and 3 recaptures).

 

With kind regards and till tomorrow

Robert