The ringing:

After opening nets together this morning, I took poles with a net on and ringing equipment and went to the tip to catch Swallows. I set up the net there, but the light was a bit diffuse while we were opening nets because there was so much moisture in the air, the sun was going up now and I was worried, the net would be too visible for the Swallows. But after a while, I had success, one of the House Martins “Bysvale” which has a nest with chicks there, went into the net.

House Martin "Bysvale"

But after, Barn Swallows “Landsvale” flew very close and turned just before going into the net. I closed before most of the tourists would wake up and went back to the garden. It was just time for a round when I came. In my round after that, I got a little surprise, in the last net, just before going to the lab were four birds! This is quite unusual for this time (and this spring in general). When I came closer, I saw that it was very young Common Whitethroats “Tornsanger”, probably on the first trip out of the nest. It nearly felt like ringing chicks from the nestbox, all four got into one bag and after they got a ring on, they were released close to the net, the parents could find them and they could continue their adventure.

One of the four Common Whitethroat "Tornsanger" siblings

It was an okay day for ringing but in the last rounds it slowed down a lot and it got very warm, one of the first real summer days in Gedser.

The moths:

I found twenty moth species in the trap today. That was not too bad and there some new species. There were two species, that looked very much alike, Idaea dimidiata “Sortplettet løvmåler” and Anania perlucidalis “Kåltidselhalvmøl”, at first I thought it was just a variation of the same species. Look at the pictures, it is mostly the point, where the black spot on the wings is placed, which helps to differentiate them.

People: Jasper Mosman, Gert Jeppesen, Henrik Jørgensen, Hanelie Sidhu