The ringing:

After yesterday, it looked like warm summer weather had arrived at Gedser, this morning started very cold and windy.

Light at the tip this early morning

Later in the morning, the wind slowed a bit down and it did not feel so cold any more. But it was not a good day for birds in the nets. That gave Jens, Karsten an me a lot of time to look for the Rose-coloured Starling “Rosenstær”, that had been seen this morning! Unfortunately, we did not have success. After two new birds in the nets and three recaptures as well as a few cut branches, we closed the nets after the five standard hours.

The stars of today, out two new birds: Chaffinch "Bogfinke"...

... and Chiffchaff "Gransanger"

After ringing, we went to Gerts place where some Blue Tit "Blåmejse" nestboxes are occupied and I got some more birds to ring, there were 11 Blue Tit "Blåmejse" chicks in two nestboxes.

The moths:

The windy night and light on just in one of the traps did not give many moths. I will go after finishing the blog to pug in the second trap again.

But it was some nice moth in the trap and unless yesterday, they were not so flighty, which made it way easier to take pictures. My favourite was definitely Macrothylaci rubi “Brombærspinder”. It carries this name, as one of the feeding plants of their caterpillars is the blackberry. This is a female, the male is more reddish and its antennae are bigger.

Macrothylacia rubi "Brombørspinder"

People: Jasper Mosman, Gert Jeppesen, Hans Lind, Hanelie Sidhu, Jens Friis-Walsted and Karsten

The ringing:

The others were expecting it to be good today with birds in the nets, so I was really hoping for that. When I opened the nets, there was already bird song and activity in the garden. The first round was also okay with six birds, we had days where it brought just one or even zero birds. So I was hoping there would be some more birds in the following rounds, but there did not come more.

The “Overshooters” had breakfast at the tip, watching some birds and so the garden was mine and the birds and moth and hares. Soon I noticed, that it was and would stay everything else than wild in the nets with birds, but actually, it was with branches with young leaves which stretched themselves cheeky into the nets. But these I did not appreciate in the nets, so I decided to tame them a bit cutting the branches while I was doing the last zero rounds through the garden. Now the birds can come – hopefully. The most common species today was the Icterine Warbler “Gulbug”, with four new ringed and two recaptures. For the rest, see today´s list:

The moth:

Today I just had light on in one of the traps, but I was satisfied with the outcome. I had 15 different moth species in the trap, plus one photographed and identified at Bøtø. I will put pictures of two in the blog. The first one I want to show to you is Trichophaga tapetzella “Tapetmøl”. Gert was surprised that I caught it, it is quite rare to catch it. So a species to celebrate. If you find it in your wardrobe near some old fur coats, then I am not sure if it is. Because, in that case, it won´t be just a hazard. Because that species lives on dead skin with fur… Eventhoug, it is quite nice to look at.

Trichophaga tapetzella “Tapetmøl”

Another species, that I thought was very nice and is for sure not  pest is Mythimna pallens “Halmugle”, this species feeds on different grasses.

Mythimna pallens “Halmugle”

People: Tina and Mads Elley, Gert Jeppesen, Jens Friis-Walsted, Hanelie Sidhu and the "Overshooter"- birders

The ringing:

This morning was a little improvement to last morning, but just a little. Jens ringed the 9^th Common Rosefinch “Karmindompap” of the season, it was in the net with one of the Common Rosefinches “Karmindompap” we had already some days ago.

Common Rosefinches "Karmindompap"

Also some of the birders who are here for the Overshooter Weekend came to them. As we catch so few of them this spring and we already noticed, that they are not doing so well this year, I will call a new Dunnock “Jernspurv” in the ringing the other highlight of the morning.

Dunnock "Jernspurv"

The moth:

Not many moths and not many species were in the traps this morning. They were also quite flighty already early in the morning, and also later, as it got quite warm today, so I am wondering, if there were some, that escaped before I saw them. A new one in the traps and for me today was Macaria brunneata “Okkergul Blåbærmåle” and it was also very numerous.

Macaria brunneata “Okkergul Blåbærmåle”

Phlogophora meticulosa “Agatugle” is a very common species but can be seen actually the whole year round, it will especially be very common in autumn, so I chose to show it, it is a good species to remember.

Phlogophora meticulosa “Agatugle”

Morning observation:

There were many people out today, that came for the Overshooting weekend. Highlights of the obs were a Serin “Gulirisk”, a Golden Oriol “Pirol” and some Honey Buzzards “Hvepsevåge”.

Observations of the they of observers in the area can be seen here

People: Tina and Mads Elley, Gert Jeppesen, Jens Friis-Walsted, Hanelie Sidhu, Overshooter-birders

The ringing

Today it was mostly recaptures in the ringing and not many birds, just nine in total. The weather forecast looked a bit unstable but the rain of the night had stopped just before net opening time and during the five standard hours, there was just a very short shower that hid the ringing garden so I just walked the round while it rained and it stopped very soon, as I had already seen on the radar. I was not bored this morning though, as I had a very interested visitor who joined me on the rounds today. One the two friends of my mother, who are spending some holiday days at Denmark with her and visiting me, Christian from Munich, wanted to see the ringing. Luckily, there were some birds I could show to him and the rest of the time, I explained about the migration behaviour of long-distance and short distance migrants as well as of birds was the Blackbird “Solsort”, that we can actually see all year round, but they also do migrate shorter distances. The Blackbird, “Solsort”, that you fed in your garden in winter might be a bit further noth now in spring, Maybe just in northern Denmark or also in Sweden or Norway, while some Blackbirds “Solsort” that were wintering in Germany are here. There were also some moths in the traps that kept me busy.

Tornirisk "Linnet"

The moths

There were 17 different moth species in the two light traps I am catching with now. Some of them I recognized but there were also some new. My favourite species of today was Noctua pronuba “Stor Smutugle”. The English name is Large Yellow Underwing. This is a quite good name as what I think is especially pretty on them is their orange (not yellow though, but there might be variation) underwing, that you see when releasing the moth by the time it flies away. It should be a very common species though, so there will probably be more the next days. Another new moth was Phragmataecia castaneae ”Rørborer”, which is called Reed Leopard in English, a quiet funny name. I think for a rainy night as toady this is an okay amount of moth species caught, and at Bøtø, I saw many moths flying and could identify two more species.

Noctua pronuba

Phragmataecia castaneae

Birds in the area

After all the morning work was done, Gert and I showed Bøtø to my mother and her friends. The topic of the trip was mainly chicks, we saw Crane “Trane” with their chicks, Avocets “Klyde” and their chicks and there are also young Oystercatchers “Strandskade” and White-tailed Eagles “Havørn” to admire.

Crane "Trane" with chick

News of the station

Jens arrived this evening, he will be here for ringing for a bit more than a week. There is the Overshooter event this weekend, so we host a few birders over the weekend, who are hoping to see some good birds the nest days. Jasper also got family visit and they will explore Denmark a bit the next days, but he will be back on Monday.

People: Jens Friies-Walsted, Jasper Mosman, Gert Jeppesen, Mads and Tina Elley, Hanelie Sidhu and Karin

The ringing:  

Today there were quite a lot of recaps in the nets, but it was also some from last year or the year before. It is always nice to realize when entering data, that these birds returned to here for breeding. If it is breeding birds, we realize that on their brood patches, we often see on birds we catch at this time of year. Today we had both of the common Acrocephalus Warblers, Marsh Warbler "Kærsanger" and Reed Warbler "Rørsanger", but I think the highlights of today were two couples of Greenfinches "Grønirisk", both Robert and I found one couple of male and female together in the net.

Marsh Warbler "Kærsanger"

The moth:

Last night and early morning were good for catching moths. In total 22 species and 6 new ones. That is what looking for moths makes it interesting, every day something new. I  have chosen to show you the two following moths: the Straw Dot (Lille Å-Ugle) and the Common Yellow Conch (Tidselgulvikler).

This was my last day in Gedser for the spring, but will be back in September. Hanelie will probably go further with the moths, I have been able to get her interested in this intriging group of animals.

Straw Dot (Lille Å-ugle)

 Common Yellow Conch (Tidselgulvikler)

People: Jasper Mosman, Robert Luttik, Hanelie Sidhu and our guest Karin

 About the birds is not much to mention today. Only 8 birds were flying in the nets (see table). At the point Hanelie saw a Corn bunting and a Bee-eater was flying over the garden.

The moths were slightly less abundant, but still we had 17 species and 3 of them were new for the season at this location (bold in the table). Of two of the new ones a picture is presented below: it is the Båndet Tyv (Middle-Barred Minor) and the Benvedmåler (Scorched Carpet).

Båndet Tyv (Middle-Barred Minor)

Benvedmåler (Scorched Carpet)

 People: Jasper Mosman, Robert Luttik, Hanelie Sidhu and Karin

1. Ringmækening:

After checking the radar we found out that it was possible to open the nets before the rain came. First and second round were zero rounds though and the closing round brought one Icterine Warbler “Gulbug”. Later in the morning when the rain stopped, it was possible to open again, but it was not worth it, we did not get a second bird. Even though rainy days are not the most interesting, we are welcoming this weather change, it might bring some birds, when the bad weather front is over.

Todays one and only bird: A Icterine Warbler "Gulbug"

Catching moths was not influenced by the rain. We caught 21 species and again 5 new species for the season at this location. To catch every day new species is not so strange. In my garden I have caught more than 500 species in 3 years time. It is amazing how many species are flying around in the night. Because of the single bird we had today I will show a few more moths than usually. I have selected the following species: Elephant Hawkmoth (Dueurtsværmer), Maidens Blush (Ege-Bæltemåler), Green Oak Tortrix (Egevikler) and the Black-veined Moth (Hvidvingemåler).

Elephant Hawkmoth (Dueurtsværmer)

Maidens Blush (Ege-Bæltemåler)

Green Oak Tortrix (Egevikler)

Black-veined Moth (Hvidvingemåler)

People: Jasper Mosman, Robert Luttik, Hanelie Sidhu and Karin

Ringmærkening:

The weather forecast for this morning was a little unstable but and although we heard it thundering and saw amazing lightening scars on the sky, the rain just hit us very shortly so we could keep the nets open for the whole standard time. The sky was overcasted the during the whole morning and we opened the nets at the pond. They did not catch anything so far, but for today, it was a good decision. Two Skylarks “Sanglærke” went into one of the nets. We are hearing them every day all around, but they usually do not go into our nets. So they were a little highlight of the morning.

Skylark "Sanglærke"

Also the Sparrowhawk-nets were productive today. No, we did not catch Sparrowhawks but a Barn Swallow “Landsvale” and a Hawfinch “Kernebider” went in these nets today.

Barn Swallow "Landsvale"

Hawfinch "Kernebider"

Else, we caught the 8^th Common Rosefinch “Karmindompap” for the season today. In total, we had 17 new birds of 11 species, but some little surprises in the nets so it was a quite nice morning.

The moth: Also the moths were doing well this night, there were quite some in the traps and on the walls. 25 Species and 5 new for the season (bold in the table). In contrast to the more brown or darker moths till now we had a few very colourful ones. One was light green, the Perlemåler, and one was yellow with a few darker patches, the Citronmåler.

 Perlemåler (Light Emerald)

 Citronmåler (Brimstone Moth)

Nyt fra stationen: Ole left us this mornig but he will be back again for a short stay in two weeks. 

In the afternoon, I got visitors from home, my mother arrived with two friends from Munich. She will stay here with us until the 1st of June.

People: Ole Friis Larsen, Jasper Mosman, Robert Luttik, Hanelie Sidhu and our guest Karin.

 The ringing: 

It was rather quiet in the garden when we went to open the nets. This is not the best sign and indeed, there were not many birds in the nets to ring. Nice was the 7th Common Rosefinch "Karmindompap" in one of our nets.  The Common Rosefinch "Karmindompap" is a rare breeding bird in Denmark. It is usually observed in the last week of May to early June, so there is still the possibility for more to come. While the population was stable in the 1980s and 1990s, it declined drastically in the last decades. The good number of Rosefinches "Karmindompap" in our nets might indicate, that the population is recovering. Of course, this could also just be a phenonemon of this spring, but it gives reason for hope. 

Nevertheless, today not a picture of a Rosefinch "Karmindompap" but of a Garden Warbler "Havesanger". The Latin name of the species is Sylvia borin, but it is everything other than boring. This little bird of about 13-14 cm and about 18 gramms came all the way from its wintering grounds in tropical Africa here to Denmark to its breeding grounds as more food ressources are available here to hatch its young. After they are grown and both adults and juveniles moulted some of their feathers, they will fly the long way back to Africa!

Garden Warbler "Havesanger" in its breeding grounds

Moths: We found 22 species in the traps or on the walls behind the traps. Three new species for the season (bold ones in the table). I have chosen to show two of the so called micro moths, they have no Danish name but are common moths: Aethes smeathmanniana and  Aspilapterix tringipennella. Aspilapterix has very long front legs and Aethes has a complete diferent appearence. They are chosen to show the large variability in the world of the moths.

Aethes smeathmanniana

Aspilapterix tringipennella

Trækket ved Odden: En smuk søndag på Odden med smukt vejr, fint selskab af fuglefolk og lidt uventet træk ude over havet. Der var flokke af terner, blandt andet en Rovterne (Hydroprogne caspia) samt en Alk (Alca torda) og en Almindelig Kjove (Stercorarius parasiticus) med de karakteristiske forlængede midterste halefjer for lidt ældre fugle af arten. Desuden var der lidt træk af svømmeænder i vestlige og sydvestlige retninger.

Trækket blev på den måde ganske varieret med flere arter end i de seneste forudgående dage, men tallene var små og udtryk for, at det store forårstræk formentlig sluttede med det store ryk af Mørkbugede Knortegås (Branta bernicla bernicla) torsdag eftermiddag og aften 23. maj.

 I den forløbne uge kom tusindvis af Mørkbugede Knortegæs (Branta bernicla bernicla) ind over det sydlige Danmark i eftermiddags- og aftentimerne efter formiddagens store regnvejr, men det havde ikke nødvendigvis noget med regnfronten at gøre. Tre Mørkbugede Knortegæs med GPS-sendere tyder snarere på, at tiden blot var inde for knortegæssene til at indlede trækket mod ynglepladserne, og det foregik meget intenst.

En Mørkbuget Knortegås med GPS-sender, som havde overvintret ved den hollandske ø Texel var stadig på øen, da der kom et signal fra senderen torsdag 23. maj klokken 5:25, men klokken 6:39 viste et signal fra den hollandske del af Vadehavet, at den havde indledt sit træk, som fortsatte ind over Tyskland. Den passerede sydspidsen af Langeland klokken 18.09 og fortsatte nord om Lolland ind over Sydsjælland, hvor der kom et signal fra senderen ved Feddet klokken 20.09.

En anden Mørkbuget Knortegås med GPS-sender trak også fra en overvintringsplads i Holland kom først 24. maj, dagen efter den rengfyldte torsdag, men fulgte næsten samme rute over Danmark med signaler ud for Sydlangeland klokken 3:45 om morgenen. Den fløj op langs Langeland og var ved nordspidsen klokken 5.45, hvorfra den fortsatte mod Sjælland og trak ud over Feddet klokken 7:01.

En tredje Mørkbuget Knortegås med GPS-sender var stadig i vinterkvarteret nord for Brest i det nordvestligste Frankrig 21. maj klokken 17.16. To timer senere kom der signal fra gåsens sender klokken 19.17 et stykke ude over havet mod nordøst. Den fortsatte gennem den Engelske Kanal og Vadehavet og blev registreret lige nord for Kiel i Tyskland 23. maj klokken 9:36 på vej mod torsdagens regnvejr. Der kom to signaler fra den klokken 14:36 i Femer Bælt syd for Nakskov på Vestlolland, og klokken 18:36 fløj den ganske tæt på kysten lige ud for det sted ved Saksfjed-Hyllekrog, hvor der blev talt et stort træk på det tidspunkt. Den fortsatte tværs over Falster og blev registreret et stykke syd for Møn klokken 19:36.

Alle tre gæs er nu langt inde i Rusland på vej mod Sibirien efter nogle få hektiske døgn, hvor de højst har rastet et par gange i nogle få timer.

Fælles for dem har været, at de Mørkbugede Knortegæs tilsyneladende har lidt forskellige ruter ind over det sydlige Danmark og Sverige, men alle derefter har fulgt samme rute op gennem farvandet mellem det svenske fastland og Öland, videre mod nordspidsen af Gotland, hvorfra de har fulgt sydkysten af Finland mod Rusland – altså en fast rute med de to store svenske øer som faste orienteringspunkter.

På land var morgenens store overraskelse en Skovmår (Martes martes), som vi opdagede helt ude på kanten af kystskrænten, da krager i området pludselig var unormalt ophidsede. Måren kom pilende hen mod os på flugt fra kragerne, men vendte om, da den fik øje på os, og forsvandt tilbage, hvor den kom fra. Skovmåren findes i hele Danmark, men er et sjældent syn.

 Fugle behøver ikke at være sjældne for at være fantastiske oplevelser. Tornirisken (Linaria cannabina) på Gedser Odde er en flot lille finke, som man kan glæde sig over mange steder i Danmark. Foto: Ole Friis Larsen/GFU

Dette er den sidste trækberetning i denne omgang fra Gedser Fuglestation. Ringmærkerne fortsætter, følg dem i bloggen/dagbogen. Tak til alle, der har været med – både i felten og på bloggen/dagbogen. God sommer.

Se alle observationer på Gedser Odde fra lørdag i DOFbasen.

Folk på stationen: Hanelie Sidhu, Robert Luttik, Ole Friis Larsen + Christoffer Hansen.

The ringing: 

This morning, we caught 13 birds, 9 of them were new, in total we had 9 species. The highlight was a new Rosefinch “Karmindompap”! Already the 6^th for the season, that’s three times as much as the Bird observatory caught last year.

 Common Rosefinch "Karmindompap"

But all in all, a slow morning.

Is this spring just exceptionally bad? Also the other Danish bird observatories notice low numbers of birds in the nets. Every day, we are printing out the daily report of birds we ringed that day, but it also shows the number of each species in the season and the total number of birds ringed in the season. That made me curious and I started to compare this spring season to 2023´s spring season. I was surprised finding out, that actually, this season, we ringed 322 more birds than last year. The reason for that was an exceptionally good March. While on the 31 of March 2023, 737 birds were ringed at Gedser Fuglestation, it was 1423 this year! In fact, the abundance of especially Goldcrests “Fuglekonge” as well as Great Tits “Musvit” and Blue Tits “Blåmejse”, but also Firecrest “Rødtoppet Fuglekonge” and Blackbird “Solsort” was  very good this March. 213 Goldcrests “Fuglekonge” in 2024 compared to 66 in 2023. 342 Great Tits “Musvit” this March compared to 65 in 2023. 183 Blue Tits “Blåmejse” in March 2024, it was 26 in 2023.

Great Tit "Musvit"

Just one species seemed to be a bit behind in March 2024, which is the Wren “Gærdesmutte”, 133 Wrens were winged in March 2023 while it was just 75 this year.

But April and May 2024 indeed had less birds than in 2023: 872 birds were ringed in April 2023 while it was just 591 this year, 524 birds were ringed on the 25^th of May 2023, this May, it is just 451 birds.

So I was expecting it to be the long-distance migrants, that are missing in abundances. But I was wrong with that. Comparing the data of April 2023 to April 2024, I noticed, that many birds had arrived quite early this year. Especially Willow Warbler “Løvsanger” and Lesser Whitethroat “Gærdesanger”, to Africa-migrants, arrived quite early this year. While in 2023, just 6 Willow Warblers were caught in the nets by the end of April, it was double the number in 2024: Twelve individuals already caught in the nets. 2023, the station just caught just 11 Lesser Whitethroats “Gærdesanger” by the end of April, this year it was 41. Also birds, that are migrating shorter distances, as Chiffchaff “Gransanger” and Blackcap “Munk” were not doing bad this spring, compared to last years` spring. So which birds were missing this April? It was the Dunnock “Jernspurv” that I noticed was caught in bigger abundances last year: 222 birds in 2023 while it was just 89 in 2024. And again, the Wren “Gærdesmutte” was low in April, just 42 birds this April while it was 93 Wrens in April 2023.

Looking at May, it was also not really the long-distance migrants that are missing. The only species that looks quite low this May is the Common Whitethroat “Tornsanger”, we nearly had double the amount by that time last year: 63 Common Whitethroats “Tornsanger” in May 2023 and just 33 this year. But the abundance of Dunnocks “Jernspurv” is very low this May (And this whole spring). Just 20 Dunnocks “Jernspurv” were ringed this year while it was 141 in May 2023.

So it seems that it is actually these little brown and inconspicuous birds as Wren “Gærdesmutte” and Dunnock “Jernspurv” that we are missing and it is not our long-distance migrants, that are stuck somewhere in more southern parts of Europe or did not even return from their wintering grounds.

It might just be the cold spring weather and the constant winds from easterly direction, without big weather changes, that make this spring appear so slow, as the missing weather changes do not bring waves with new birds. They just all drip in slowly… And maybe Wren “Gærdesmutte” and Dunnock “Jernspurv” have had bad breeding success last year?

Lets see how it develops. There are still some weeks to go until the end of the spring season. Still birds on the way. And all in all, we are not low in numbers of birds in the nets. A slow April after a exceptional good March and not the best May. And some species are doing quite well, look at the Rosefinch “Karmindompap”!

Moths: Today 19 moth species of which 6 were new for the season (bold in the table below). The Ege-månemåler was the absolute highlight. In Naturbase there are only three entries of before 2014. The species is rarely seen and is sometimes attracted to light late in the night (site of the Vlinderstichting). It is according to the books mostly found in Lolland, Falster and Møn, but only single observations. It was also for me a new species.

Ege-månemåler (Lunar Thorn) -  Foto: Robert Luttik/GFU

Trækket på Odden: Lidt mere vind fra nordøst og skyer gav en koldere morgen end forventet, og tallene var så små, at det var svært at afgøre med sikkerhed, hvilke bevægelser der var reelt træk eller bare lokale flytninger, selv om der var en del åbenlyse trækfugle i området. I krattet på Odden sang en Kærsanger (Acrocephalus palustris) en Havesanger (Sylvia borin) og en Karmindompap (Carpodacus erythrinus), som egentlig ikke hører til på lige netop den biotop. Det var ganske givet trækfugle, som bare holdt pause der.

En Bjergvipstjert (Motacilla cinerea) og en Grå Fluesnapper (Muscicapa striata) hørte naturligt til på Odden, men brugte den blot som rasteplads.

Der er stadig fugle på reelt træk mod ynglepladser, men en del af de fugle, vi ser nu, er unge fugle fra sidste år, som ikke er ynglemodne endnu, som denne Røde Glente (Milvus milvus) ved Gedser Odde lørdag morgen - bemærk ungfuglens røde kropsfjer med lyse spidser, som de voksne/adulte ikke har. Den slags fugle strejfer nu omkring. Glenten fandt i øvrigt noget at æde på marken til stor fortrydelse for en lokal Gråkrage (Corvus cornix), som gerne ville have haft den luns for sig selv. Foto: Ole Friis Larsen/GFU

På vandet svømmede en Havlit (Clangula hyemalis) alene langs stranden. Den burde være væk nu på vej mod nord, men var måske ikke helbredsmæssigt på toppen til den anstrengende tur. Den lange hale burde stritte opad, men hang bogstaveligt talt i vandskorpen.

Havlitten ved stranden var formentlig ikke klar til trækket og kom ikke med, da alle de andre tog af sted. Foto: Ole Friis Larsen/GFU

Da vi lukkede for tælleriet og gik hver til sit, hørte og så Louis A. Hansen på vej ind mod Gedser en Biæder (Merops apiaster) i et træ ved vejen. Flere andre nåede at opleve fuglen, før den sidst blev hørt kalde på vej ud mod Odden. Da vi spiste ude fredag aften i fuglestationens have mente nogle af os også, at vi hørte en Biæder, men vi slog det hen som formentlig en efterligning i sangen hos en Guldbug (Hippolais icterina) i haven – måske var det alligevel en Biæder allerede da, og med lidt held får vi den måske at se på Odden søndag morgen.

Mens vi ledte efter Biæderen, så vi to fine hanner af sommerfuglearten Aurora (Anthocharis cardamines). Der er altid noget at opleve i naturen. Foto: Ole Friis Larsen/GFU

Se alle observationer på Gedser Odde fra lørdag i DOFbasen.

Folk på stationen: Hanelie Sidhu, Robert Luttik, Ole Friis Larsen + Christoffer Hansen.