Crystal clear overnight with light winds meant there was a bit of a clear out of yesterday’s birds but a very decent total of 209 new birds were caught through the day most of which came during a hectic first hour after which it tailed off fairly rapidly in the fine conditions; the highlight was the first Short-toed Treecreeper of the autumn along with evidence of where our birds come from with a Swedish ringed Blackcap and better still, a Finnish ringed Robin.   The main numbers consisted of 95 Robins, 30 Chiffchaffs and 27 Goldcrests along with a few Chaffinches, Bramblings, Siskins and Song Thrushes.

Today's totals - 20 Wren / Gaerdesmutte;  3 Dunnock / Jernspurv;  95 Robin / Roedhals;  4 Song Thrush / Sangdrossel;  6 Blackcap / Munk;  30 Chiffchaff / Gransanger;  27 Goldcrest / Fuglekonge;  1 Blue Tit / Blamejse;  4 Great Tit / Musvit;  1 Short-toed Treecreeper / Korttaet Traelober;  9 Chaffinch / Bogfinke;  4 Brambling / Kvaekerfinke;  5 Siskin / Groensisken

Short-toed Treecreeper

Finnish ringed Robin

               At least 400 Cranes passed overhead in the fine weather with the skies through the middle of the day full of their magnificent bugling calls, seemingly coming from all directions at some stages; other birds over the garden included a Red-throated Pipit calling mid-afternoon, a few Tree Pipits, Swallows, Mistle Thrushes, Grey Wagtails and Fieldfares with good numbers of Finches, a fairly constant stream of small Blue Tit flocks which fortunately never came down to net height, a few Brent and Barnacle Geese flocks, small numbers of waders including Grey Plover and Curlew and good numbers of Common Buzzards and Sparrowhawks floating around with several Rough-legged Buzzards mixed in.

                The ringing abruptly ended around 16:00 as within five minutes the weather went from fine, sunny and warm to cloudy and spitting with rain with a blustery force 7 NE wind; this rapid change in the weather caught out a few birds trying to head south as 320+ Cranes were circling high over the town in the evening unsure what to do now that the fine migration conditions had disappeared almost instantly.   A few Goose flocks were doing the same and 6 Rough-legged Buzzards were over the fields to the north of Gedser in the early evening.

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Rain overnight followed by light south-easterlies throughout the day with varying amounts of cloud cover and a few more spots of rain here and there produced another monstrous day of ringing with an excellent total of 806 new birds caught; the bulk of the birds were made up of 392 Robins, 101 Chiffchaffs and 209 Goldcrests along with 19 Song Thrushes, 17 Blackcaps and 29 Chaffinches while other bits and highlights included the third Yellow-browed Warbler of the autumn, 8 Redstarts, 2 Reed Warblers, a Garden Warbler, 2 Willow Warblers, 3 Siskins and 5 Lesser Redpolls.

Today's monster totals -  11 Wren / Gaerdesmutte;  2 Dunnock / Jernspurv;  392 Robin / Roedhals;  8 Redstart / Roedstjert;  19 Song Thrush / Sangdrossel;  2 Reed Warbler / Roersanger;  1 Garden Warbler / Havesanger;  17 Blackcap / Munk;  1 Yellow-browed Warbler / Hvidbrynet Loevsanger;  101 Chiffchaff / Gransanger;  2 Willow Warbler / Loevsanger;  209 Goldcrest / Fuglekonge;  3 Blue Tit / Blamejse;  29 Chaffinch / Bogfinke;  1 Brambling / Kvaekerfinke;  3 Siskin / Groensisken;  5 Lesser Redpoll / Lille Grasisken 

                There was little time to look around to see what was elsewhere but the occasional glance overhead produced a good mix of birds including a Woodlark, a nice flock of 22 Mistle Thrush, 4 Cranes, a couple of Honey Buzzards, a few Common Buzzards and Sparrowhawks and several flocks of Barnacle Geese and ducks with small numbers of Grey Wagtails, Tree Pipits, Swallows and Skylarks with the usual passage of Finches, White Wagtails and Meadow Pipits.   Also picked out in the garden were a second, unringed Yellow-browed Warbler and a Firecrest.

                With the huge number of birds, limited number of people and a cautious approach to the weather we didn’t open a few nets and closed some halfway through so the number of birds caught would have been a relatively small percentage of the actual number of birds passing through the garden – an awesome day!

More Gedser pictures www.wykebirding.blogspot.com

Still breezy first thing but the wind died down to manageable levels pretty quickly after dawn; this produced a very good day of ringing for the first day of the month with a total of 173 new birds caught highlighted by a very impressive first winter Common Buzzard which bundled into a net at the exact right time for me to jump on it and a lovely Firecrest.   The total was largely made up of 62 Goldcrests, 33 Chiffchaffs, 29 Chaffinches and 18 Robins along with 3 Sparrowhawks, 2 Coal Tits, 4 Siskins and a Yellowhammer.

Today's totals -  3 Sparrowhawk / Spurvehoeg;  1 Buzzard / Musvage;  9 Wren / Gaerdesmutte;  3 Dunnock / Jernspurv;  18 Robin / Roedhals;  2 Blackcap / Munk;  33 Chiffchaff / Gransanger;  62 Goldcrest / Fuglekonge;  1 Firecrest / Roedtoppet Fuglekonge;  2 Coal Tit / Sortmejse;  3 Blue Tit / Blamejse;  1 Tree Sparrow / Skovspurv;  29 Chaffinch / Bogfinke;  1 Brambling / Kvaerkefinke;  4 Siskin / Groensisken;  1 Yellowhammer / Gulspurv

                A lazy day really as I never left the garden but overhead there were 20+ Crossbills, a Mistle Thrush, several Grey Wagtails and a latish Yellow Wagtail along with a steady passage of Chaffinches, Bramblings and Siskins heading SE in decent sized flocks as well as quite a few flocks of Blue Tits and Coal Tits which never came down low enough to be caught.

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Same same again with strong winds and clouds coming and going but with occasional heavy showers scudding through in the afternoon; the ringing was even quieter with only 8 new birds caught including a young male Sparrowhawk.   There was more activity overhead though with several each of Tree Pipit and Grey Wagtail with decent flocks of Chaffinch, Brambling, Siskin, White Wagtails and Meadow Pipits passing over the garden.

Today's less than meagre totals - 1 Sparrowhawk / Spurvehoeg;  3 Wren / Gaerdesmutte;  1 Robin / Roedhals;  1 Song Thrush / Sangdrossel;  1 Goldcrest / Fuglekonge;  1 Chaffinch / Bogfinke

                I headed off mid-morning for a walk up the coast but I failed to find any eastern vagrants but there were good flocks of Chiffchaffs and Goldcrests in the forest which contained pretty much nothing else; there was more passing south along the coast though with big flocks of Siskins the main feature (3,000 were counted at the point through the day) along with a few Crossbill flocks amongst smaller numbers of other Finches and Pipits.   An Osprey and 4 Honey Buzzards also went south while there were several Rough-legged Buzzards and Red Kites across the fields just drifting about.

                Little else through the afternoon with 3 Black Redstarts in the harbour and another couple of each of Honey Buzzard and Rough-legged Buzzard during a drive along the lanes criss-crossing the fields to the north of Gedser.

Honey Buzzard

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This morning started with a continuation of yesterday's storms. With strong winds at first light (05:30hrs). We did , however, manage to get enough nets open to enable us to  complete the standardised net excercise.

The wind swept morning produced only 16 new birds together with 13 recaptures. The highlight was a 1st year Kestrel.

Here are the list of birds for todays:- lets hope tomorrow's better.

1 Kestrel / Tårnfalk, 1 Dunnock / Jernspurv, 7 Robins / Rødhals, 1 Song Thrush / Sangdrossel, 1 Chiffchaff / Gransanger, 1 Goldcrest / Fuglekonge.

Kestrel

The big gull flock feeding in the fields just in front of the garden produced the highlights as it contained a classic 1K Caspian Gull and a 2K Mediterranean Gull while a single Red Kite overhead was the only other bird of note.

                There was little different at Bøtø at lunchtime with 3 Hen Harriers, a Marsh Harrier, 2 White-tailed Eagles, c80 Cranes and 2 Spotted Redshanks with the usual large numbers of birds while the following drive around the fields just produced 39 Barnacle Geese at Kroghage of note.

More pictures from around Gedser see www.wykebirding.blogspot.com

Overcast with a blazing force 7-8 south-easterly wind meant that, perhaps for the first time it actually felt like autumn but the conditions severely limited how many nets we could open as we only just managed to carry out a standardised session; the very meagre total of 15 new birds caught did however include another smart first winter Red-breasted Flycatcher.

Today's ringing totals - 3 Wren / Gaerdesmutte;  5 Robin / Roedhals;  1 Blackcap / Munk;  3 Chiffchaff / Gransanger;  2 Goldcrest / Fuglekonge;  1 Red-breasted Flycatcher / Lille Fluesnapper

                Not too much else to mention in difficult conditions (sunny and bright in the afternoon but the strong wind remained) with 3 Rough-legged Buzzards, 3 Red Kites and a smattering of Kestrels and Sparrowhawk across the fields north of Gedser before a walk up the coast just produced 2 Rock Pipits and a Wheatear on the beach.

Rock Pipits

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An awesome start to the morning, the kind of morning that makes every autumn worthwhile; very calm and overcast with the garden full of calling Robins and Goldcrests from before dawn while overhead there was the constant calls of Song Thrushes and Redwings – fantastic!   The ringing was predictably very busy with an excellent 487 new birds caught – although it tailed off after mid-morning when the sun came out turning the day once again warm and tropical.

                The total was dominated by 178 Goldcrests, 114 Chiffchaffs and 100 Robins along with 40 Wrens and 17 Song Thrushes while the highlights were another Yellow-browed Warbler and another Red-breasted Flycatcher.

Today's totals - 40 Wren / Gaerdesmutte;  9 Dunnock / Jernspurv;  100 Robin / Roedhals;  3 Redstart / Roedstjert;  17 Song Thrush / Sangdrossel;  2 Lesser Whitethroat / Gaerdesanger;  6 Blackcap / Munk;  1 Yellow-browed Warbler / Hvidbrynet Loevsanger;  114 Chiffchaff / Gransanger;  178 Goldcrest / Fuglekonge;  1 Red-breasted Flycatcher / Lille Fluesnapper;  1 Coal Tit / Sortmejse;  4 Blue Tit / Blamejse;  2 Tree Sparrow / Skovspurv;  7 Chaffinch / Bogfinke;  1 Greenfinch / Groenirisk;  1 Goldfinch / Stillits

Red-breasted Flycatcher

                There wasn’t much time for much else but random birds over the garden included several Grey Wagtails with small numbers of Chaffinches, Bramblings, Siskins, Redpolls, Tree Pipits, Meadow Pipits and Skylarks etc. while raptors included Red Kite and Rough-legged Buzzard with a handful of Sparrowhawks and Kestrels.

Chiffchaff

Warm and tropical still with light winds and some high cloud which thickened by late afternoon; another good total of 111 new birds were caught through the morning with the highlights consisting of 2 Firecrests and a first winter Red-breasted Flycatcher, these came in amongst a good arrival of 63 Chiffchaffs whereas a total of 22 new Robins was relatively low (many of yesterday’s birds were re-trapped).

Today's ringing totals (including this afternoon) - 3 Sparrowhawk / Spurvehoeg;  4 Wren / Gaerdesmutte;  25 Robin / Roedhals;  2 Song Thrush / Sangdrossel;  3 Blackcap / Munk;  68 Chiffchaff / Gransanger;  1 Willow Warbler / Loevsanger;  1 Yellow-browed Warbler / Hvidbrynet Loevsanger;  9 Goldcrest / Fuglekonge;  2 Firecrest / Roedtoppet Fuglekonge;  1 Red-breasted Flycatcher / Lille Fluesnapper;  2 Coal Tit / Sortmejse;  2 Great Tit / Musvit;  4 Chaffinch / Bogfinke;  1 Greenfinch / Groenirisk

Yellow-browed Warbler

2K female and 1K male Sparrowhawk

                Overhead passage was quite light through the first half of the morning but a few raptors started to appear by mid-morning so I had a little watch from the NW corner of the garden (1040-1240) which produced a steady trickle of birds including 12 Rough-legged Buzzards, 6 Honey Buzzards, 23 Sparrowhawks, an adult male Hen Harrier, 4 Red Kites, 7 Common Buzzards, a Merlin and 5 Kestrels; there were also many passerines (and others) heard overhead including Chaffinch (with the typical rush of birds late morning with c550 today), Brambling, Siskin, Skylark (the first day with multiple birds going over), Meadow Pipit, Coal Tit, Yellowhammer, Swallow, White Wagtail, Grey Wagtail (one), Dunlin, Grey Plover and Ringed Plover.

                Re-opened some nets in the afternoon and finally finally caught a Yellow-browed Warbler (it certainly took its time with the hundreds and hundreds in Western Europe at the moment!) along with a few more Chiffchaffs, Robins and Chaffinches while another 3 Rough-legged Buzzards went over the garden.

Rough-legged Buzzard

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Vejret i dag var perfekt til åbent hus og de omkring 100 gæster der lagde vejen forbi stationen kunne nyde efterårssolen. På trods af at vejret var så godt og vi havde forventet få fugle kunne vi heldigvis vise flere fugle frem så folk fik hvad de kom efter.

Hans viser en bogfinke frem for to af dagens yngste gæster. Foto: Nina Amland-Labuz

I alt 140 fugle blev i dag sendt af sted med ring på, det var mest Rødhalse og Gransangere. Dagens hit blev en Rødtoppet Fuglekonge, den var desværre stået for tidligt op og kom før alle gæsterne. Det ville ellers have været dejligt at kunne vise den lille fine fugl frem.

Rødtoppet Fuglekone (Regulus ignicapilla). Foto: Simon Davies

Over haven fløj der flokke med Bogfinker og Kvækerfinker det meste af formiddagen. Desuden er det værd at nævne de 5 Misteldrosler, 5 Lille Korsnæb, 1 Hvepsevåge og 3 Fjeldvåger der fløj over haven.

Gærdesmutte / Wren - 4
Rødhals / Robin - 83
Rødstjert / Redstart - 1
Sangdrossel / Song Thrush - 4
Munk / Blackcap - 4
Gransanger / Chiffchaff - 30
Fuglekonge / Goldcrest - 3
Rødtoppet Fuglekonge / Firecrest - 1
Blåmejse / Blue tit - 1
Bogfinke / Chaffinch - 7
Kvækerfinke / Brambling - 1

Another excellent day at Gedser Fuglestation with 139 new birds ringed.

Again the main feature were 47 Robins ringed, but there was an influx of Bramblings late morning with over 100 birds around the garden, 23 found their way into the nets.

Other interesting birds caught were single, Coal Tit, Nuthatch, Treecreeper, Reed Bunting and Marsh Warbler.

Here are todays totals:-

2 Sparrowhawks / Spurvehøg, 13 Wrens / Gærdesmutte, 4 Dunnocks / Jernspurv, 47 Robins / Rødhals, 1 Marsh Warbler / Kærsanger, 1 Lesser Whitethroat / Gærdesanger, 2 Garden Warblers / Havesanger, 9 Blackcaps / Munk, 18 Chiffchaffs / Løvsanger, 7 Goldcrests / Fuglekonge, 1 Coal Tit/ Sortmejse, 2 Blue Tits / Blåmejse, 1 Nuthatch / Spætmejse, 1 Treecreeper / Træløber, 1 House Sparrow / Gråspurv, 1 Chaffinch / Bogfinke, 23 Bramblings / Kvækerfinke, 1 Reed Bunting / Rørspurv.

                                                                       Coal Tit and Treecreeper