The ringing: 

This morning was still a little windy but less than the days before. It also brought us some birds in the nets. Else it was sunny and after the first few rounds got warm, so a nice morning although we are still waiting for more birds to come.

Lesser Whitethroat "Gærdesanger"

The night was not really good for attracting and catching moths. We did catch about 20 moths (9 species). We had 2 more Snerlesvæmer (oonvolvulus Hawkmoth). Hanelie had a new one for her lifelist, it was the Canary-shouldered Thorn (Elle-Tandmåler).

Ennomos alniaria "Elle-Tandmåler"

 Migration counts at Gedser Odde

Lara W

The sun came out for us today and numbers for migration were (thankfully) much higher than yesterday’s rather abysmal total. 669 individuals were spotted passing the point, representing 25 species. Most numerous were the passerines, including 155 Swallow/Landsvale (Hirundo rustica), 114 White wagtail/Hvid Vipstjert (Motacilla alba), 33 House martin/Bysvale (Delichon urbicum), 44 Yellow wagtail/Gul Vipstjert (Motacilla flava), and 20 Sand martin/Digesvale (Riparia riparia) counted.

Several small flocks of ducks also migrated, including Wigeon/Pibeand (Anas Penelope), Pintail/Spidsand (Anas acuta), Common scoter/Sortand (Melanitta nigra), Eider/Ederfugl (Somateria mollissima), Shoveler/Skeand (Anas clypeata), and Gadwall/Knarand (Anas strepera). In terms of raptors, we had a decent number of Sparrowhawk/Spurvehøg (Accipiter nisus), a couple of Kestrel/Tårnfalk (Falco tinnunculus) and a White-tailed eagle/Havørn (Haliaeetus albicilla). Several Honey Buzzard/Hvepsevåge (Pernis apivorus) and Marsh Harrier/Rørhøg (Circus aeruginosus), came close by but were not ready to make the crossing yet, perhaps they will fly tomorrow.

A couple of species deserve mention simply because they have not been spotted crossing over the last week or so – two Brent goose/Knortegås (Branta bernicia) and Linnet/Tornirisk (Linaria cannabina). My thanks to Mads Elley for pointing out identifying features for several of these species, and for bringing cake!

One last note: we have a new staff member joining the team here at Gedser Fuglestation - Larissa Britton, a birder (and moth-enthusiast!) from Ireland who graduated from University College London (UCL) recently with a degree in Ecology. She will be a valuable asset to the team we are sure, particularly as she already has promised to buy cake...

People: Lara Winsloe, Larissa Britton, Robert Luttik, Hanelie Sidhu