A simply classic autumn ringer’s day, the ones you dream about!   The wind dropped off to hardly anything but it stayed cloudy allowing us to put in a full day of ringing ending up with a monster 981 new birds; by far the star of the show were 854 Goldcrests caught (a tiny percentage of the actual number of birds which passed through today!).   The meagre totals of other species caught included a Yellow-browed Warbler, a Firecrest, 2 Treecreepers, 7 confusing Redpolls (probably Lessers) and 72 Robins.

Todays monstrous totals    10 Wren \ Gaerdesmutte:   3 Dunnock \ Jernspurv;   72 Robin \ Roedhals;   2 Blackbird \ Solsort;   2 Sangdrossel;   2 Blackcap \ Munk;   1 Yellow browed Warbler \ Hvidbrynet Loevsanger;   5 Chiffchaff \ Gransanger;   854 Goldcrest \ Fuglekonge;   1 Firecrest \ Roedtoppet Fuglekonge;   4 Blue Tit \ Blamejse;   1 Great Tit \ Musvit;   2 Treecreeper \ Traelober;   2 Chaffinch \ Bogfinke;   13 Siskin \ Groensisken;   7 Redpoll sp. \ Grasisken

Slightly confusing Redpolls

                The factor that made the Goldcrest numbers even more special was that it wasn’t just a dump of migrants brought down by the weather conditions it was that they were all actively and obviously migrating with flocks pouring over the garden even before it got light in the morning – a whopping 13,000+ were counted passing the point through the day with countless birds hitting the buildings on the tip and getting eaten by Gulls, Sparrowhawks, cats and anything else that fancied a bite size Goldcrest!

                I had literally no time to look up to see what was passing over the garden through the extremely busy morning but it was clear that tens of thousands of birds were piling overhead; as in previous days Chaffinches and Bramblings dominated with 35,000 counted on the point as well as 8,000 Siskins and a Gedser record breaking 5,900 Mistle Thrushes.   I didn’t see much else from the garden but there did seem to be good numbers of Crossbills heading over with 100+ seen and heard through my infrequent looks in the sky.

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Despite of the strong and cold wind, this morning we have managed to open a few nests around the garden and kept going until 14h when it started to rain-just on time. We haven't got wet at all!!!. 91 new birds and 12 different species were ringed, not so bad numbers for such an unfavorable weather conditions. 

As previous days, Goldcrests and Robins kept us entertained, being the species most abundant with 49 and 23 new individuals ringed (respectively), plua " a few· more retraps from the last 4 days. The most exciting moment happens when Simon found the first Ring Ouzel ( a nice juvenile male) for the autumn in one of the nets. Such an amazing surprise specially for me as it has been the first one on the hand!!!. In fact, I have not only had the opportunity to see it but also to ring it. Muchas gracias!!! Thanks so much!! Tak!!! This has been absolutely great!!! More likely, this individual is the same one as the one has been heard and seen around the garde for the last two days, but maybe no!! An we¡ll have another one within a few days ;).

In addition, we have had also one new Coal Tit and two new Eurasian Treecreepers ringed, one of them with a long beak which made us to thinkt that it could be a Short-Toed Treecreeper, but unfortunately no!!! :(

Looking forward for tomorrow as the forecast looks much better- maybe we'll have even a better surprise: one od this rarities going aorund will end up in one of our nests!!! Who knows!!! Crossing Fingers and Touch Wood at the same time for double luck :)))

Totals:

Wrens   5  / Robins  23  / Ring Ouzel  1  / Blackbird  1  / Blakcap  1  /

Goldcrest  49  / Firecrest  1  / Coal Tit  1  / Blue Tit  1 /  Great Tit  3  /

Eurasian Treecreeper  2  /  Siskin  3

Dry again but again the easterly wind built up through the day to become very strong by the afternoon, the nets were productive though with a good 278 new birds caught, largely made up of 177 Goldcrests and 60 Robins while other little bits included a late Swallow, 6 Chiffchaffs, a Blackcap, 2 Coal Tits and a Goldfinch.

 Today's totals - 1 Swallow \ Landsvale;  12 Wren \ Gærdesmutte;  60 Robin \ Rødhals;  1 Blackbird \ Solsort;  1 Blackcap \ Munk;  6 Chiffchaff \ Gransanger;  177 Goldcrest \ Fuglekonge;  2 Coal Tit \ Sortmejse;  2 Blue Tit \ Blåmejse;  2 Great Tit \ Musvit;  2 Chaffinch \ Bogfinke;  4 Greenfinch \ Grønirisk;  1 Goldfinch \ Stillits;  6 Siskin \ Grønsisken;  1 Reed Bunting \ Rørspurv

 It was an excellent day of visible migration with thousands of Finches and Thrushes heading east over the garden, it was most impressive looking across the front field where for long periods of time wave after wave of Chaffinches, Bramblings and Siskins streamed eastwards at head height.   The flocks also contained good numbers of Linnets and Goldfinches while Mistle Thrushes and Fieldfares also moved through in decent flocks and a few Skylarks and Meadow Pipits were also obvious – 6,000+ mixed finches were counted from the point.   Late Swallows were also more obvious today with c20 seen through the day.

 There were a few interesting bits around the garden through the day (but again there was limited time to go birding) with an excellent flock of 27 Hawfinches high overhead (probably a Gedser record count!), a Ring Ouzel which spent all day feeding on Rowan berries around the nets but never getting caught, a Great Grey Shrike in the front hedge and the female Northern Bullfinch from a couple of days ago re-trapped while the garden was again full of frantically feeding Goldcrests and Robins.

A drive across the field late afternoon produced several Little Gulls, a Merlin and a Rough-legged Buzzard.

More Gedser pictures www.wykebirding.blogspot.com

The first completely dry day for a good while with the easterly wind increasing from a moderate breeze in the morning to howling strong by late afternoon; it was a fantastic day of ringing with at least some nets open all day as we managed an excellent 443 new birds caught highlighted by a second Great Grey Shrike, 4 awesome white headed Northern Long-tailed Tits and the first 2 Mistle Thrushes of the year.

                The numbers were dominated by 314 Goldcrests – mainly caught during a very hectic first few hours along with 30 Blue Tits, 53 Robins and 14 Blackbirds plus bits and bobs of other things including 2 Coal Tits, 4 Chiffchaffs, a Blackcap and a Redwing.

Today's ringing totals - 3 Wren / Gaerdesmutte;  3 Dunnock / Jernspurv;  53 Robin / Roedhals;  14 Blackbird / Solsort;  4 Song Thrush / Sangdrossel;  1 Redwing / Vindrossel;  2 Mistle Thrush / Mistledrossel;  1 Blackcap / Munk;  4 Chiffchaff / Gransanger;  314 Goldcrest / Fuglekonge;  4 Northern Long-tailed Tit / Nordlig Halemejse;  2 Coal Tit / Sortmejse;  30 Blue Tit / Blamejse;  2 Great Tit / Musvit;  1 Great Grey Shrike / Stor Tornskade;  1 Chaffinch / Bogfinke;  2 Greenfinch / Groenirisk;  2 Siskin / Groensisken

Northern Long-tailed Tit

                There was not much else seen really (not that there was any time to look up during the morning!) with 4 Swallows still, a Rough-legged Buzzard, a few Chaffinches and Bramblings heading east and a few White-fronted Goose flocks heading south.

Goldcrests were again hopping around your feet

More Gedser pictures at www.wykebirding.blogspot.com

Still windy, still overcast and still damp so an attempt at ringing first thing was doomed to be short lived but did include another beefy female Northern Bullfinch; we closed just in time to avoid the very heavy rain which lingered through the latter half of the morning.   It brightened up considerably by midday so the nets were reopened but closed again after an hour for more rain had moved in, this only lasted a short time though and by 14:00 the nets were once again catching birds but this time we lasted right through the pleasant, if still a bit breezy afternoon.

Today's ringing totals (short morning session and longer in the afternoon) - 2 Wren / Gaerdesmutte;  1 Dunnock / Jernspurv;  91 Robin / Roedhals;  18 Blackbird / Solsort;  3 Song Thrush / Sangdrossel;  1 Redwing / Vindrossel;  53 Goldcrest / Fuglekonge;  1 Blue Tit / Blamejse;  1 Great Grey Shrike / Stor Tornskade;  1 Brambling / Kvaerkerfinke;  1 Siskin / Groensisken;  1 Northern Bullfinch / Stor Dompap

                This afternoon session produced a decent 123 new birds highlighted by a cracking first winter Great Grey Shrike and was largely made up of 67 Robins and 32 Goldcrests.   There were some good birds around through the afternoon including a single male PARROT CROSSBILL which circled the garden calling several times, a Serin which did likewise later on, 3 Hawfinches overhead and a few waders including 28 Grey Plover, 50 Golden Plover and a Curlew although these were probably feeding in nearby fields and not migrating.

Great Grey Shrike

                Visible migration was a bit slow today with a few Finches flocks heading east along with a few Thrushes including a couple of decent flocks of Mistle Thrushes and Fieldfares while small flocks of White-fronted Geese continued to head south.

More Gedser pictures www.wykebirding.blogspot.com

A very windy, very overcast and slightly damp classic autumn day; we attempted some ringing first thing with just four nets opened and it proved to be pretty productive with 115 new birds caught in just a couple of hours before the weather forced us to close including a brute of a female Northern Bullfinch, 52 Robins and 57 Goldcrests.  

Today's ringing totals (two sessions with very limited nets open)   -   5 Wren / Gaerdesmutte;  2 Dunnock / Jernspurv;  180 Robin / Roedhals;  6 Blackbird / Solsort;  1 Fieldfare / Sjagger;  8 Song Thrush / Sangdrossel;  2 Blackcap / Munk;  1 Chiffchaff / Gransanger;  83 Goldcrest / Fuglekonge;  1 Blue Tit / Blamejse;  1 Great Tit / Musvit;  2 Chaffinch / Bogfinke;  1 Northern Bullfinch / Stor Dompap

Northern Bullfinch

                I then went out birding between the garden and town where it was an incredible few hours; there were literally Goldcrests everywhere, hopping around on the grass around your feet only moving when you were about to tread on them, flying in over the sea, on the beaches, in every bush and tree and along every fenceline – there must have been thousands and thousands in the relatively small area that I walked, absolutely fantastic!   There were also hundreds of Robins dotted around plus a few Chiffchaffs (several pale, eastern-type birds were seen) and loads of Song Thrushes and Blackbirds with Mistle Thrushes, Fieldfares and Redwings whizzing around but very little else at all, I tried in vain to find something in-amongst the masses but failed miserably!

                There were also huge Brambling, Chaffinch and Siskin flocks passing low overhead to the east into the wind with 300+ feeding on the ground on the outskirts of town; the other feature was big flocks of White-fronted Geese heading south throughout the day (4,000 were counted from the point) while 5,000+ Barnacle Geese were again in the fields and the Slavonian Grebe was still just offshore.

                I then re-opened my four nets in the afternoon and during the next four hours until dusk I managed 178 new birds (walking constantly between the nets) including 128 Robins and a Fieldfare but most of the Goldcrests had left the garden by that time – fortunately!   An awesome day!

Goldcrests Goldcrests Goldcrests

More Gedser [Goldcrest] pictures at www.wykebirding.blogspot.com

Despite the forecast promising more or less blanket cloud and continuous, heavy rain throughout the day it wasn’t quite that bad and there were a couple of half decent weather windows in the morning where we managed to get some nets open for two, hour long sessions which produced a half decent 66 new birds with a Firecrest the highlight in amongst 35 Goldcrests and a flock of 11 Siskins plus a few Robins, Wrens, Chiffchaffs etc.    A few Finch flocks passed overhead while the Slavonian Grebe was again offshore and the big Barnacle Goose flock was still in the fields over towards town.

Today's totals from a very stop, start morning -   7 Wren / Gaerdesmutte;  5 Robin / Roedhals;  1 Blackbird / Solsort;  1 Blackcap / Munk;  4 Chiffchaff / Gransanger;  35 Goldcrest / Fuglekonge;  1 Firecrest / Roedtoppet Fuglekonge;  1 Blue Tit / Blamesje;  11 Siskin / Groensisken

                A walk around Kroghage at lunchtime in the increasingly heavy rain was hard work in the unpleasant conditions but did produce an adult male Redstart which had a decent pale wing panel but I don’t think it was enough for an eastern samamisicus bird, a first winter Little Gull and 4 Stonechats along with a few Robins, Chiffchaffs, Goldcrests etc.

Red-breasted Merganser

Rain first thing led to a delayed start but we just managed to get five hours of ringing in through the morning and managed a decent 115 new birds before it started raining again at lunchtime; the total mainly comprised 49 Siskins with several flocks hitting the nets all together, the rest were the usual 12 Robins, 12 Chiffchaffs and 15 Blue Tits.

Today's totals - 1 Sparrowhawk / Spurvehoeg;  5 Wren / Gaerdesmutte;  2 Dunnock / Jernspurv;  12 Robin / Roedhals;  2 Blackbird / Solsort;  2 Song Thrush / Sangdrossel;  12 Chiffchaff / Gransanger;  7 Goldcrest / Fuglekonge;  15 Blue Tit / Blamejse;  2 Tree Sparrow / Skovspurv;  2 Greenfinch / Groenirisk;  49 Siskin / Groensisken;  4 Reed Bunting / Roerspurv

                There was little else to mention through the whole rain interrupted day with a few small flocks of Chaffinches, Bramblings, Siskins and Blue Tits over the garden during the dryish morning with the Barnacle Goose flock spitting up on occasion and noisily passing overhead several times and a Slavonian Grebe close inshore just off the front field late morning.

Grey Plover

Fairly bright and very breezy; the nets were pretty productive as we managed a respectable 177 new birds through the morning, again with no real highlights though, the bulk of the birds made up of another influx of 55 Blue Tits including a Swedish ringed bird (most likely from Falsterbo as tens of thousands have been passing through there in the last week) while the rest largely consisted of 19 Wrens, 14 Dunnocks, 22 Robins, 23 Chiffchaffs and 18 Goldcrests.

Today's totals - 2 Sparrowhawk / Spurvhoeg;  19 Wren / Gaerdesmutte;  14 Dunnock / Jernspurv;  22 Robin / Roedhals;  4 Blackbird / Solsort;  7 Song Thrush / Sangdrossel;  1 Blackcap / Munk;  23 Chiffchaff / Gransanger;  18 Goldcrest / Fuglekonge;  55 Blue Tit / Blamejse;  5 Chaffinch / Bogfinke;  2 Brambling / Kvaerkerfinke;  1 Greenfinch / Groenirisk;  2 Siskin / Groensisken;  2 Reed Bunting / Roerspurv

The Swedish Blue Tit

                Overhead migration was much reduced (Blue Tit flocks not withstanding) with small numbers of Finches and Thrushes passing over but the morning’s highlight was definitely good views of a very smart adult RED-BREASTED GOOSEwhich was picked out from the point coming in to land with the huge flock of 3,000+ Barnacle Geese in stubble fields on the edge of town, we drove down the road for a brief look mid-morning and had excellent scope views.

                I then walked a big loop through town and across the fields in the afternoon for little reward with my first Short-eared Owl of the autumn along the cliff top and a flock of 13 Woodlarks at Birkemose the highlight along with 3 lingering Swallows and a Merlin of note.

The Red-breasted Goose is in there somewhere!

More Gedser pictures at www.wykebirding.blogspot.com

Woke for a 06.00 start to find the strong winds still with us, but today accompanied by persistent rain. Frequent weather checks meant that a wind and rain restricted ringing session didn't start until 09.30 and finished at 14.00. The conditions meant a reduced catch with Robins, Dunnocks and Goldcrests making up the majority of the 69 birds caught.

Here are the totals:-

1 Tree Pipit / Skovpiber, 3 Wren / Gærdesmutte, 12 Dunnock / Jernspurv, 18 Robins / Rødhals, 4 Blackbirds / Solsort, 6 Song Thrushes / Sangdrossel, 1 Blaclcap / Munk, 2 Chiffchaffs / Gransanger, 16 Goldcrest / Fuglekonge, 2 Chaffinches / Bogfinke, 5 Siskin / Grøsisken, 1 Reed Bunting / Rørspurv.