Dagen startede med stille vejr, men med høj luftfugtighed. Der så på radaren ud til at være et par småbyger på vej over Østersøen, men ikke mere end det nok var hurtigt overstået. Troede vi !!!

Desværre blev bygerne nærmest bygget op og intensiveret på vejen over vandet, så kl. 8:15 gav vi endelig op og rullede nettene. Derfor blev der så tid til lidt indendørs sysler: reparation af net ! Vi har nemlig både harer og rådyr i haven (bukkejagten er startet) og det kan desværre ses på et par af nettene, som vi så prøver at redde med nål og tråd. 
Ikke det mest spændende arbejde, men med de priser der er på nye net er det en nødvendighed.

Dagens pæneste: Stillits han

Dagens fangster:

Folk på stationen: Vagn Lind

Så er Brødrene Lind tjekket ind på Gedser Fuglestation, - nå, ja, sådan set kun mig, da Hans sover hjemme på Vinkelvej. Men hvor var det dejligt endelig at tage turen herover fra Sønderjylland. De næste 14 dage tager vi os af fangsten på stationen og vi lagde ud med en stille og rolig dag til at komme i gang på.

 16 forskellige arter fik vi håndteret i dag: både af de bidske, af de farverige, de sangglade og de knap så almindelige. I får lige en lille kavalkade af dagens fangster. Vi blev tilsmilet af det dejligste fangstvejr, stille og tørt.

Rødrygget Tornskade, han

Rødstjert, han

Gærdesanger med pollenhorn

Græshoppesanger, en fåtallig art i nettene i Gedser (2-4-pr. år)

Efter standardtiden var vi lige et smut i Bøtø og se de to Stylteløbere, - vi så dem da, selvom det var på nogen afstand.

Dagens fangst:

På stationen : Vagn Lind

Da vi i mørket begyndte netopsætningen kl. 04.00 blev vi akkompagneret af den skønneste nattergal lige uden for huset. Ikke nogen skidt måde at komme i gang på. Morgenen bød på lidt småregn, så vi måtte på et tidspunkt gå kontinuerlige runder, men heldigvis kom opklaringen hurtigt. Det myldrede i dag ind med havesangere, som ellers har været en mangelvare i dette forår.
Også årets første gøg kukkede lystigt fra morgenstunden. 
På en af runderne hørte jeg en nattergal, som var en rigtig god aspirant til sydlig nattergal. Heldigvis gik den kort efter i nettet og vi kunne nyde og fotografere den ikke helt almindelige fugl. Foruden de mange havesangere mm gik også en broget fluesnapper og en gammel gulbug i nettet. Gulbugen var oprindeligt mærket af Hans Lind den 20. juli 2018 som en 2K+, og den . er derfor nu en 5K+. Dejligt gensyn! 

Også i dag var Niels Krabbe i gang med at tage blodprøver af langdistance-trækkerne for at påvise evt. West-Nile-virus. Kl. 07.00 meldte han dog, at nu ville han ikke have flere. Hans 'kvote' på 120 fugle var nået.

Da solen kom blev haven igen en symfoni af syngende fugle. Flere nattergale, gulbug,havesanger, munk, tornsanger, gærdesanger, bogfinke, tornirisk og jernspurv m. fl. Såsan skal foråret lyde på GFU. 

Mens vi håndterede den sydlige nattergal meldte Louis fra Odden om en pirol, der trak ind over stationen, men den så vi desværre ikke. 

I dag er det også skiftedag på stationen. Robert er taget hjem igen, og om nogle timer kommer Vagn Lind, som sammen med Hans forestår ringmærkningen de kommende uger. Noget tyder på, at de forhåbentlig får travl, hvis der nu endelig er ved at gå rigtigt 'hul på foråret'. 

Dagens mærkninger (aflæsninger i parentes)

Jernspurv (2)
Rødhals 2
Nattergal 1
Sydlig nattergal 1
Rødstjert 2 (1)
Gulbug 1 (1)
Gærdesanger 5 (3)
Tornsanger 5
Havesanger 10
Munk 3 (2)
Gransanger (1)
Løvsanger 2 (1)
Fuglekonge 1
Broget Fluesnapper 1
Tornirisk 2

I alt 36 mærkninger og 11 aflæsninger. 

This morning we opened the nets at the right time but decided to close them again because some rain was expected. But it was less than the radar was telling us. But it is better to be safe than saying I am sorry.

I do not have much inspiration today for writing in the blog. Tomorrow will be my last day at the station. I will get my second vaccination on Monday and will be able again to see my daughters (not seen for half a year), because they live in the Netherlands. Really looking forward.

Today 10 species and in total 42 birds (28 new and 14 recaptures). One new species for this season. The first Reed Warbler (Rørsanger), see picture.

I probably will be back in the autumn and then you will see new blogs of me.

Was nice being here. Had hoped for better weather, but that is live.

With kind regards

Robert

Perfect weather for bird catching, almost no wind and cloudy. Nets open at 4.30 and in first round a Icterine Warbler (Gulbug). The first of the year. It is funny how for this species the names in Europe are different and still a bit the same. In Danish it is the yellow belly. In English it is the yellow singer. In Durch it is the bird that imittes and in Germany it is the yellow bird that imitates. I think the German name is the best.

In total 84 birds (68 new ones and 16 recaptures. Again a high diversity: 16 species. 

Yesterday we caught a Great Tit (Musvit) with a Danish ring not from this place. It was ringed as a 2k in february 2014 in Ulbølle. So the bird is almost eight year old.

Two pictures today one of the yellow belly and one of a male Red-backed Shrike (Rødrygget Tornskade).

Tomorrow looks promising

Ciao Robert

Today I woke up with the idea that I could go back into the bed after checking the weather. But the meteorologists had it completely wrong the day before. They had forecasted 15mm of rain in the morning. No way, no rain at all. I assume that the weather of the last few days is difficult to predict and not that they have no idea of what they are doing (smiley).

There was a slight change that there would fall some rain around 7.30 so I opened not all the nets. First few rounds brought only a little bit more than 10 birds, but the first Pied Flycatcher (Broget Fluesnapper) of the season. And all of a sudden, the birds were there. I caught in total 76 birds (68 new ones and 8 recaptures). A second Tree Pipit (Skovpiber), two more Spotted Flycatchers (Grå Fluesnapper) and another Barn Swallow (Landsvale). It was a good and interesting day with a high diversity (17 species).

Today two close ups, one from the BarnSwallow and one of a Pied Flycatcher.

Hope tomorrow will be the same or even a bit better.

Till tomorrow

Robert

The rain and thunder had just past the fuglestation and I could open the nets at the standard time for the year (today they had to be opened before 04.45). Luckily, no new rain was arriving and I could catch for five hours. In the end some very light drizzle. But birds were not flying anymore. It was a day with many Sylvidae (Munk, Tornsanger and Gærdesanger). Those three species were more than half of the total number caught today. In total 54 birds (39 new ones and 15 recaptures. One of the recaptures was a male Munk (Blackcap) ringed in Belgium.

There were two new species for the year. I found a Skovpiber (Tree Pipit) in the second round and later saw Bo a Rødrygget Tornskade (Red-backed shrike) hanging. They are always difficult to get out of the net (see sharp beak of the bird in the picture). The claws are not really a problem, but I could get it out of the net without being bitten.

The weather forecast for tomorrow is really lousy. I am afraid that I probably only can open the nets at the end of the morning.

But that I will tell you tomorrow.

Robert

When I came out off the bed it was still raining and I could open the nets around 6 o’clock. But it was not for nothing that I had to wait. It was the day of the Whitethroats (24 lesser and 7 common whitethroats (Gransanger and Tornsanger). And two nice surprises the second Wryneck (Vendehals) of the year and the first Rosefinch (Karmindompap) of the year. AT the end of the session I found a Barn Swallow (Landsvale) in one of the garden nets which also was a little surprise.

In total I caught 68 birds (60 new and 8 recaptures). It looks the spring migration is now starting.

A few days ago, I was writing about a recapture from Germany with a Helgoland ring. The Robin was caught on Helgoland in September 2018.

I have made a few close ups of four birds caught today: (Vendehals (Wryneck), Barn Swallow (Landsvale), Rosefich (Karmindompap) and a beautiful male redpoll (Gråsiskin).

With kind regards and hopefully tomorrow as surprising as today.

Robert

When opening the nets in the darkness I already heard a Nightingale (Nattergal). First time this year. And I was lucky it was hanging in the net when I made my first round. And it was also the first one for this season. And to my surprise there was another new one for the season a spotted Flycatcher (Grå Fluesnapper). It looks like that they are now finding the way to garden, In total 55 birds (46 new ones and 9 recaptures) and some variation in species, 15 different ones.

Some birds are going to the hair dresser before they are flying in the net (see picture of Lesser Whitethroat (Gærdesanger). It is not a disease but a site effect of the stuff they eat. Something in the flowers is glueing the feathers together and does not harm the birds, I think.

The Nightingale had a tick and after taking the picture I removed the tick.

And last but not least a close up of the Spotted Flycatcher

With kind regards and till tomorrow

Robert

We opened all nets (Clausjanic and me) and were ready opening at 4.45. The wind was still strong (10 m/s) and it had rained in the night. Numbers of birds in the garden are still relatively low for the time of the year. But we had our first Whitthroat (Tornsanger), so there is some progress. In total we caught 44 birds (37 new and 7 recaptures).

We caught a relative large willow warbler (wing length 72 mm) and th bird appeared to be lees green as normal Willow Warblers (løvsanger). Also the underside of the bird and the throat were not as yellow as the normal one. It could have been the Nordic Willow Warbler a different subspecies as the normal one. I have added a picture, not a good one. The bird refused to calm down and then it is difficult to make a good picture. And in addition I do not like to make pictures under those circumstances too.

In the last edition of the Dutch Birding you can find an article about the difficulties between recognising the different (sub)species of the Chiffchaff (Gransanger). There was a research project on this complex of (sub)species: collybita, abietinus and tristis. The result of the project (DNA analysis) was that Dutch ringers are able to recognise in most cases tristis but were in most cases not able to pinpoint abietinus. They say in the article that it is impossible to differentiate between those two subspecies based on plumage and on size.

Maybe to differentiate between de Nordic Willow warbler and the normal Willow Warbles is also not really possible. There is a huge overlap in size and the plumage is also vary variable.

The weather in the afternoon was pretty nice so I decided to eat outside. But I had to go inside again because there were too many, I believe in English, picnic beetles (could not find the Danish name), but maybe somebody can help me. See picture.

Tomorrow on my own again and I am possitive for the day to come, maybe Hans has to help me.

Ciao Robert