Gorgeous weather again today for those people spending their time at Gedser Odde on holiday, but not so good for the poor English ringer.  I've said that, but it is always good to ring in a different area and with good company.

Today has again been sunny with clear skies, but with the wind still coming  from the east and freshening in the afternoon.

When bird numbers are low it does give us time to look at the birds more closer. An example is the Song Thrushes / Sangdrossel caught over the last few days. In the UK our resident Song Thrushes are from a separate subspecies, Turdus philomelos clarkei. The nominate T. philomelos philomelos occurs in Northern Europe and Scandinavia. There are subtle differences in plumage with the clarkei  birds having a warmer brown tone to the upperparts with warmer buff flanks. In central England we tend to start catching greyer Song Thrushes from November onwards, when the Redwings arrive. It is nice to see the philomelos birds and confirm my thoughts about the origin of our winter visitors.

Here are the totals from Gedser today:

1 Sparrowhawk / Spurvehøg, 20 Robins / Rødhals, 1 Redstart / Rødstjert, 1 Song Thrush / Sangdrossel, 4 Lesser Whiethroats / Gærdesanger, 1 Whitethroat / Tornsanger, 1 Garden Warbler / Havesanger, 8 Blackcaps / Munk, 11 Chiffchaffs / Gransanger, 2 Willow Warblers / Gransanger, 2 Goldcrests / Fuglekonge, 1 Chaffinch / Bogfinke, 2 Greenfinches / Grønirisk