Hård sydvestlig vind satte i den grad en stopper for småfugletrækket, så tallene for ringmærkede fugle blev så lavt som 4 (fire!) og 11 aflæsninger. Et lyspunkt var dog, at vi fik besøg af det tyske ægtepar Katrin Kunkel og hendes mand, og de var med på netrunderne et par timer. Katrin interesserer sig meget for insekter, og hun havde forleden dag held til at finde et eksemplar af den sjældne Stor Humlesvirreflue (Volucella zonaria), som er ganske harmløs, men i udseende efterligner Stor Gedehams (Vespa crabro). På den måde er der ikke mange fugle, der tør fange og spise den!

 En stor sag, som man godt kan blive lidt bange for! Hornissenschwebfliege, Volucella zonaria, Stor Humlesvirreflue

Men tilbage til fuglene: Ingen nulrunder, men kun fra 1-4 stk i poserne pr. tur.

Today's ringing:

Rødhals/Robin 1 + 6 aflæsninger

Gærdesanger/Lesser Whitethroat 2

Tornsanger/Common Whitethroat 1 + 1 aflæsning

Munk/Blackcap 0 + 3 aflæsninger

Havesanger/Garden Warbler 0 + 1 aflæsning.

Rainer var tæt på at snuppe sin første spurvehøg (Sparrowhawk), men den smuttede ud af nettet mindre end en meter fra ham!

På Odden var der ikke meget gang i ænderne, men ok med rovfuglene: 38 tårnfalke, 18 lærkefalke, 7 dværgfalke, 3 fiskeørne, 47 spurvehøge og 2 rørhøge. Desuden en rastende tejst.

Rainer har lavet en lille oversigt over fordelingen af nymærkninger kontra aflæsninger i de første 8 dage af september:

I have been ringing at Gedser a week, and during this time, Lars and I observed a relationship between newly banded and recaptured birds at the station. The accompanying chart (September 1-8, Bird Captures at Gedser) provides a picture of what was happening on a daily basis since 1 September. The abbreviations, NB= newly banded birds, R= recaptures, and AR/day= average recaptures versus total birds captured and banded per day.

One can see the chart lines (numbers) that 2 September was an exceptional day, but from that point on, the numbers that we were capturing started a negative trend. The second minor peak occurred on the 5 September.  Of course, what we see from the chart is that weather (low pressure systems and northerly winds) on both days played an important role for the movement of birds. This also occurs in North America.

So what was attractive for both of us was the relatively high percentage of residing retrapped birds. It could be that the residing recaptures require weight gain (fat, muscle mass) before moving southwards for a relatively short distance. This may represent a regional breeding population. It also suggests, that the Gedser area is an important site for migrants to refuel before continuing south. Hence, there is an “out-of-country population visiting Gedser. These may be the long distant migrants. Separating these two groups of population is difficult but it may be do-able by determining their length of stay, weight gain and if possible subspecies.  Just some thoughts for consideration and discussion on a windy day.