After being caught out by half an hour of heavy rain just after opening the nets it turned into another warm and sunny day; the first net round after the rain promised much with a good mix of Warblers caught but it very soon fizzled out and we ended up with 6 Icterine Warblers and 3 Marsh Warblers amongst 22 new birds.   The Serin was still flying around and the Grey Partridge family was still in the front field.

Birds ringed this morning; Marsh Warbler - 3, Reed Warbler - 1, Icterine Warbler - 6, Lesser Whietthroat - 3, Whitethroat - 2, Garden Warbler - 3, Willow Warbler - 2, Linnet - 1, Yellowhammer - 1 (plus 6 Great Tit pullus)

Linnet

               After closing the nets late morning we had a look over at Bøtø where there were a good selection of things including a White Stork flying around, a Great White Egret, the pair of Cranes, an immature White-tailed Eagle, 2 Garganey and a selection of waders with 4 Wood Sandpipers, 4 Greenshank, a Little Stint and a fine adult male Ruff of note.

                We then drove over to a couple of sites in the north of the neighbouring island of Lolland where the main species seen were waders with 6+ Curlew Sandpipers (Majbølle) and 4 Grey Plover (Rommes Nakke) both being Danish ticks for me along with good numbers of Dunlin, Ruff, Wood Sandpipers, a couple of Black-tailed Godwits, Greenshank (100+ at Rommes Nakke), Redshank, Golden Plover etc.   Other birds included another Garganey at Majbølle, some Bearded Tits and plenty of Red-necked Grebes.

Hot and sunny again with a light easterly breeze; numbers of birds in the nets were down again from the last few days with 3 Marsh Warblers, 2 Icterine Warblers, 6 Lesser Whitethroats, a Redstart and the first Spotted Flycatcher of the autumn – a juvenile, in amongst 19 new birds.   The/a Serin was heard calling a couple of times through the morning and a juvenile Marsh Harrier drifted over the garden.

Todays totals were; Redstart - 1, Blackbird - 1, Marsh Warbler - 3, Reed Warbler - 1, Icterine Warbler - 2, Lesser Whitethroat - 6, Chiffchaff - 1, Spotted Flycatcher - 1, Blue Tit - 1, Tree Sparrow - 1, Yellowhammer - 1

                An hour out on the point in the evening just before it started to rain produced 2 Whimbrel, a Bar-tailed Godwit, 150+ Common Scoter, a few Arctic and Common Terns, 21 Goosander and a decent flock of Black-headed and Common Gulls loafing around on the sea.   On the walk back from the point there was a Grey Partridge in the front field with 4 half grown, half flying chicks.

Perfect ringing conditions through the morning – pretty much flat calm with cloud cover keeping the sun off the nets; it was a bit quieter than I had hoped but it is still only July although birds caught did include a first summer male Serin – only the 9^th to be ringed at the station with the last one being in 2011 in amongst 11 Marsh Warblers (including the first juvenile), 3 Reed Warblers, 7 Icterine Warblers and the first fully moulted, bright yellow juvenile Willow Warbler.

Totals today comprised; Marsh Warbler - 11, Reed Warbler - 3, Icterine Warbler - 7, Lesser Whitethroat - 5, Whitethroat - 2, Willow Warbler - 1, Serin - 1

Serin

                The afternoon was hot and the morning’s vis mig at the point had all but stopped by the time I got out there with the only birds seen being a few Common/Arctic Terns and one flock of Common Scoter while 22 Goosanders, a Goldeneye and 5 Common Sandpipers were loafing around.   Also of note were 3 Clouded Yellows out on the point, they’ve been there a couple of days but with a light but steady increase in other migratory insects – Migrant Hawkers, Painted Ladies, Silver Y’s etc. around the place it maybe bodes well for the next weeks birds?

Lovely and warm again but a bit of high cloud through the morning kept the temperature down a bit; there was more life in the garden than yesterday with the first few first year Warblers caught which had pretty much finished their post-juvenile moult looking all shiny and new – two Lesser Whitethroats, a Garden Warbler and a Reed Warbler.   The highlights included 8 Marsh Warblers, 7 Icterine Warblers and a smart adult male Redstart still growing his outer primaries and outer tail feathers.

Today's ringing consisted of; Redstart - 1, Blackbird - 4, Marsh Warbler - 8, Reed Warbler - 1, Icterine Warbler - 7, Lesser Whitethroat - 5, Whitethroat - 3, Garden Warbler - 2, Blackcap - 2, Chiffchaff - 2, Great Tit - 1, Starling - 1, Tree Sparrow - 1

This Kestrel was caught last night

Redstart

                A Serin which flew west over the garden calling loudly was the highlight through the morning along with an immature White-tailed Eagle, a couple of Kestrels seemingly heading south, single Whimbrel and Greenshank over and a Grey Wagtail.   A little walk in the afternoon to the harbour and back just produced 14 Common Sandpipers and a Little Tern.

Fra opstart d. 20 og frem til d. 29 hjælper jeg, Rasmus Momme, Simon med at ringmærke fugle her på GFU!
I dag har jeg så fået lov til at skrive blog, så i dag får i den på dansk.
Egentlig bør bloggen vel mest handle om dagens fangst, så jeg er måske egentlig ikke den rette til at skrive i dag. Jeg har nemlig stort set ikke rørt en fugl i dag... for der skete nemlig noget vildt!!!
Dagen startede som den plejede, med at sætte net op kl. 4. Der var ikke så mange fugle i haven, og første runde var helt tom. På anden runde piller Simon en enkelt fugl ud, og jeg går så videre til de næste net, som er tomme. Pludselig spørger han: 
"Rasmus, have you ever seen black shouldered kite?" Jeg kan se at han står med stationsmobilen fremme. 
"Yeah... i've seen one in South Africa once, why?" spørger jeg så, mens min puls stiger en anelse!
"Because Louis have just seen one!"
WHAT! Jeg går en lille smule i panik indeni! Jeg ringer til Louis, og får at vide at den er gået ned, formentlig til rast, nord for stationshaven. Vi skynder os ud på vejen, og Simon spotter ret hurtigt noget lyst i toppen af et levende hegn. DET ER DEN!!! Louis kommer hurtigt, og Simon fortsætter med mærkningen, mens vi dokumenterer!

Danmakrs (tror jeg) 9. blå glente bliver således siddende i den samme busk de næste 2½ timer, hvor der kommer flere og flere birdere til. Den flyver derefter lidt længere væk mod birkemosen, og Gert, jeg og nogle andre kører rundt om hen til den. Vi ser den nogle minutter, hvorefter den letter, og ryger nordvest! HOLY SH*T en oplevelse!

Simon klarer resten af mærkningen om formiddagen, og jeg går lidt ud på odden til Gert og Gedsers ukronede Fuglekonge Louis, hvor der ikke sker de store, bortset fra en fed gul høsommerfugl, som var ny art for mig!

Dagens mærkning:
Tårnfalk - 1, Hvid vipstjert - 1, Husrødstjert - 1, Rødstjert - 2, Kærsanger - 3, Gulbug - 7, Gærdesanger - 1, Tornsanger - 1, Gransanger - 2, Skovspurv -1

Jeg satte lidt net op igen om eftermiddagen, uden den store fangst, bortset fra, at den unge tårnfalk, som i løbet af de dage jeg har været her, har formådet at sidde på næsten hver eneste netpæl i haven uden at gå i et net, endelig ryger i! Og den var Simon flink at give mig lov til at sætte ring på, så jeg fik da mærket én.
Men den kommer der først billeder af i morgen.

A quieter day but still sunny with a brisk easterly breeze; the nets produced 2 Marsh Warblers, 5 Icterine Warblers (for the 3rd day in a row!), another juvenile Black Redstart and 2 Redstarts amongst 34 birds caught.   A party of 6 Crossbills flew through and a couple of Whimbrel went over.

Todays totals were; Dunnock - 1, Black Redstart - 1, Redstart - 1, Blackbird - 3, Marsh Warbler - 2, Icterine Warbler - 5, Lesser Whitethroat - 4, Whitethroat - 5, Chiffchaff - 3, Willow Warbler - 1, Great Tit - 1, Starling - 1, Tree Sparrow - 2, Greenfinch - 1, Linnet - 2

Redstart

Black Redstart

Very small baby Whitethroat!

                The Point was very quiet in the afternoon so a little drive up to Bøtø produced a Wood Sandpiper, a Green Sandpiper, 3 Ruff, the pair of Cranes, a few Marsh Harriers and some Red-necked Grebes.

A glorious, hot, sunny day for the first session of autumn standardised ringing brought a very similar array and quantity of birds as yesterday to the nets including another 7 Marsh Warblers and 5 Icterine Warblers (plus a re-trap from 2012) along with juvenile Redstart and Black Redstart (there were two others in the garden as well).

Todays totals were; Robin - 1, Black Redstart - 1, Redstart - 1, Song Thrush - 1, Marsh Warbler - 7, Icterine Warbler - 5, Lesser Whitethroat - 4, Whitethroat - 2, Garden Warbler - 1, Blackcap - 1, Chiffchaff - 5, Starling - 11, Tree Sparrow - 1

                A Grey Wagtail was in the garden mid-afternoon before a look from the point for a couple of hours (1530-1730) produced 342 Eiders, 5 Teal, 5 Common Scoter, 24 Whimbrel and 40+ Arctic Terns fishing offshore while there were 22 Dunlin and 6 Common Sandpiper on the beach.

Dunlin on the point

A good comparison of juvenile Common Redstart and Black Redstart

A similar looking day produced a few different little bits in the nets indicating some early passage including 7 Marsh Warblers (all adults and some had high fat scores showing them to be proper migrants on the way back south), 5 Icterine Warblers, a Wood Warbler, a Treecreeper and another juvenile Common Rosefinch while 2 Whimbrel and 2 Dunlin went over to the SE.

Ringing totals this morning comprised; Song Thrush - 1, Marsh Warbler - 7, Icterine Warbler - 5, Lesser Whitethroat - 1, Whitethroat - 1, Blackcap - 1, Wood Warbler - 1, Chiffchaff - 6, Blue Tit - 2, Treecreeper - 1, Tree Sparrow - 2, Linnet - 3, Common Rosefinch - 1

                We (Gert and myself) then had a very successful little jaunt across to Lolland where we had eventual good views of the GRIFFON VULTURE which has been present at the Naturepark just south of Maribo for the past few days – a real Danish rarity as prior to this record breaking year there had only been six other sightings!   It was also an incredible spot for other raptors with a brilliant 13+ White-tailed Eagles seen together around the main lake (8 sat in one tree!!); the most amazing thing though was seeing the Vulture soaring together with an Eagle and making the Eagle look distinctly average!

                Other birds seen around the lakes included two female Red-crested Pochards (a Danish tick!) and a slightly unusual inland Caspian Tern roosting with Black-headed and Common Gulls.

 Wood Warbler

VULTURE!

A bit more cloud through the day but the westerly breeze stayed lightish allowing all the nets to be opened; more of the same was caught including another 10 Icterine Warblers, 2 Marsh Warblers and 3 Common Rosefinches – the first time I’ve seen really fresh juveniles along with a Redstart and a few Whitethroats and Lesser Whitethroats.

Totals today were; Dunnock - 1, Redstart - 1, Marsh Warbler - 2, Icterine Warbler - 10, Lesser Whitethroat - 1, Whitethroat - 3, Chiffchaff - 5, Willow Warbler - 1, Blue Tit - 1, Great Tit - 1, Tree Sparrow - 2, Goldfinch - 1, Common Rosefinch - 3

                A couple of sessions seawatching from the point in the afternoon (13:00-14:30 and 15:45-17:00) produced a few things heading S or SE including a smart summer plumaged Black-throated Diver, a Red-necked Grebe, 140 Eiders, 13 Common Scoter, a Velvet Scoter, a Heron, 34 Oystercatchers, 4 Dunlin, a Ringed Plover, 143 Arctic Terns, 7 Common Terns, a Little Tern and a Cuckoo which flew south along the coast, reached the point and did a huge U-turn out over the sea to head back north.   Also lingering around the tip were 33 Goosanders, a Red-breasted Merganser, 2 Goldeneye and 8 Common Sandpipers.

 Common Rosefinch     Redstart

Although the season doesn't officially start until the 20th, I wasted no time in getting started and had a very productive morning with the nets catching 55 new birds including 11 Icterine Warblers (mostly adults, indicating perhaps that some movenment is already underway) and a Marsh Warbler.

The rest of the catch was, as expected, mainly juvenile birds of various stages of independance, the totals appear below;

Wren - 1, Dunnock - 1, Robin - 1, Blackbird - 5, Sedge Warbler - 1, Marsh Warbler - 1, Icterine Warbler - 11, Garden Warbler - 4, Lesser Whitethroat - 6, Blackcap - 2, Chiffchaff - 10, Tree Sparrow - 5, Linnet - 5, Yellowhammer - 2

 Icterine Warbler     Marsh Warbler

 Very small Lesser Whitethroat!