Ringmærkningen :

Trækket på Odden : Despite the forecast being quite pessimistic about today's weather, the sky was clear and bright this morning. Seeing the sun always enlighten my mood, which is good when there is almost no birds to see.

some picture maybe?

I finished the count in good company, as Anne-Marie joined me at the tip. We were talking about the 100 Honey Buzzards (Hvepsevåge) seen yesterday at Bøtø, when she pointed out a bird over our heads. A quick look, and just like that : the first Honey Buzzard of the season !

Se alle dagens observationer ved Gedser Odde i DOFbasen.

Folk på stationen: Cyann Ménard, Sjoerd van Baal, Joakim Dybbroe, Kate Dybbroe, Anne-Marie Reith

Ringmærkningen : Dagens ringmærkning var stærkt influeret af regn og blæst. Det var kun muligt at åbne ca. halvdelen af nettene i de første 2 timer. Fra 6.45 kunne alle nettene være åbne. Ikke mange fugle: ialt 9 mærkede og 1 genfanget.

Trækket på Odden : At first protected from the wind and the sparse rain, I ended up completely wet due to unpredictable changes in the wind direction. Monitoring bird migration really teaches you to never take anything for granted : each individual can be of a different species than the others, flocks can appear at any moment, and a day teeming with birds can always be followed by an extremely quiet one...

Se alle dagens observationer ved Gedser Odde i DOFbasen.

Folk på stationen: Cyann Ménard, Sjoerd van Baal, Joakim Dybbroe, Kate Dybbroe

Ringmærkningen : Dagen startede med regn, så nettene blev først åbnet 35 minutter senere end normalt. På trods af det blæsende og fugtige vejr var der en del fugle i nettene. Gærdesanger(Lesser whitetroat) var den langt talrigste, med en trediedel af dagens fugle. Mange af fuglene i dag var også genfangster fra de senneste dage, der raster i krattet.

Trækket på Odden : The migration dynamic was really good this morning, which was ideal to to keep me awake ! Indeed, the Barnacle geese (Bramgås) came in hundreds all morning long, sometimes in mixed flocks with other geese (Grå gås sp.). The Eiders (Ederfugl) also did their comeback, with a total of 118 individuals, which really surprised me considering the fact I've barely seen any migrating lately.

I first thought those two Whimbrels (Lillespove) on the beach would migrate, but they ended up keeping me company almost all morning long. Picture by Cyann Ménard/GFU

In the stormy ambiance, I was once again completely surrounded by Swallows and Martins (Svale) hunting the mosquitos over the building. One Hobby (Lærkefalk) also kept coming quite close, surely aware that it could hunt some of the passerines hanging out at the tip. For its first appearance, suddenly rising from the cliff, it honestly looked kind of surprised to see me there !

Se alle dagens observationer ved Gedser Odde i DOFbasen.

Folk på stationen: Cyann Ménard, Sjoerd van Baal, Joakim Dybbroe, Kate Dybbroe

Ringmærkningen : Det truede med regn hele morgenen lige fra nettene blev åbnet en halv time før solopgang. Jeg kunne se at det ville starte ved 7 tiden, så jeg håbede at få noget ud af de 2 timer det var muligt at ringmærke. Og jeg blev ikke skuffet. Der sad en fin Natravn(European Nightjar) i nettet denne morgen. En art jeg aldrig tidligere har haft i nettet på Gedser fuglestation eller nogen andre steder. Absolut en god start på dagen.

Selv om det blev en kort dag, nådede vi op på 18 fugle. Ganske pænt.

Natravn(European Nightjar)

Trækket på Odden : After two days of resting as much as I can, and therefore missing all of the great sightings of birds at the point this weekend, I woke up this morning (still tired) to a cloudy and soon rainy morning. The weather surely didn't put the birds into a migration mindset today, so it was once again a really quiet moment.

The Shelducks (Gravand) gathered on the field this morning, both males and females, spending their time chasing each others, showing off or napping under the rain. Picture by Cyann Ménard/GFU.

Luckily enough, I got at least one nice surprise : two Black-throated Divers (Sortstrubet Lom) decided to have a little stop-over near the point. I was thrilled to have the opportunity to admire their behaviour not only in flight but also on the water.

Se alle dagens observationer ved Gedser Odde i DOFbasen.

Folk på stationen: Cyann Ménard, Sjoerd van Baal, Joakim Dybbroe

Ringmærkningen : Vi fik vejrskiftet: overskyet og teperatur hele døgnet, med ca 10 grader. Der kom lidt gang i trækket. Specielt Gærdesanager(lesser Whitetroat) og TornsangerCommen Whithetroat).

Trækket på Odden : Due to some informatical issues, we were missing some information from the tip for yesterday. Here they are :

It will probably not be a day we remember forever, but it was still good to get out after a week of work. The Common Whitethroat (Tornsanger), made famous by previous blog posts here, had a friend visiting today — and that individual carried a brand-new shiny leg ring. Another visitor at the tip today was also ringed, although this was a rather old — or perhaps just dirty — ring. The bird carrying it was a male Yellow Wagtail (Gul vipstjert) of the subspecies flava. We only managed to read part of the ring number: ...84... Tomorrow will be better in every way.

And now, about today :

Another very quiet day at the tip. A day we had anticipated to be a more enjoyable in terms of numbers. But a single bird at 05:36AM lifted the spirit for the rest of the count – a European Bee-eater (Biæder) decided that its visit in Denmark was over and headed southwards.

The Common Whitethroat (Tornsanger) kept the observer at his toes the rest of the days with incorporating the call from the Bee-eater thought out the count period. Never a dull day at the tip.

The Common Whitethroat caught red-handed imitating the Bee-eater. Picture by Louis A. Hansen.

Se alle dagens observationer ved Gedser Odde i DOFbasen.

Folk på stationen: Cyann Ménard, Sjoerd van Baal, Joakim Dybbroe, Louis A Hansen

Ringmærkningen : Dagens ringmærkning kan bedst beskrives som meget beskeden. Tallene og arterne ligner gårsdagens og der er ikke meget bevægelse i krattet....... Vi venter stadig på at der sker noget.

Trækket på Odden : As I got more and more tired lately, Louis kindly offered to take over the count once again this weekend (and I am really grateful for that). To the question "Was it quiet or super quiet today?" he answered without a doubt "Super quiet". You can see that by looking at today's number, which are only slightly higher than the past few days. But despite today's migration's slow rythm, I can't help but notice that it is also the first record of Black Terns (Sortterne) for this year ! As usual, as some friends of mine like to say "When there isn't much to see, there's always something to look at!". Am I excited because I've never seen this species yet? Maybe. Or maybe it just my optimism trying its best to keep this slow period as interesting as possible, who knows...

Se alle dagens observationer ved Gedser Odde i DOFbasen.

Folk på stationen: Cyann Ménard, Sjoerd van Baal, Joakim Dybbroe, Louis A. Hansen 

Ringmærkningen : Vi havde  en klar morgen og formiddag med skyfri himmel og næsten ingen vind. Men desværre ikke mange fugle. Vi har brug for et vejr skifte for at få gang i det sidste småfugletræk. Så kun 14 fugle mærket og aflæst denne morgen, denne morgen. 

Trækket på Odden : The migration past Gedser Odde was roughly the same today as yesterday, with around 300 birds, and surprisingly a third of it was Eiders (Ederfugl) ! I am now surprised whenever I see a group of Eiders as they become quite rare. Mathilde went to join the migration count one last time before leaving, but we ended up spending more time admiring the local female kestrel (Tårnfalk) and two Roe deers (Rådyr) than seeing migrating birds.

Se alle dagens observationer ved Gedser Odde i DOFbasen.

Folk på stationen: Cyann Ménard, Mathilde Sif Eiby, Sjoerd van Baal, Joakim Dybbroe

Ringmærkningen: Another beautiful sky this morning, just with a less beautiful number of birds. However I started the ringing with a nice Song Thrush (Sangdrossel), and ended it with a very shiny Starling (Stær) - our first male Starling of the season, with a blue bill base instead of pink! I forgot to take a picture, but here's one of a lovely male Blackcap (Munk) from today:

In spring, all the male Blackcaps have a black cap, and the females reddish-brown. Picture by Mathilde Sif Eiby / GFU

Today's numbers:

Trækket på Odden : Same amount of birds as yesterday (so really quiet), but with more sunshine and some nice company !

Se alle dagens observationer ved Gedser Odde i DOFbasen.

Other stuff and appreciation: Bo came by today for his last human vs AI sound detection of the spring, Mads is still working hard, testing out where the new lawnmower will go, aaaand where it will get stuck, while Sjoerd is stumbling upon Grey Seals (Gråsæler) on the beach. 

Also a lot of people are coming and going these days. Sjoerd came back Tuesday, Vagn left yesterday, Joachim arrived yesterday, Olga left today, Hans also had his last day for now today, and I (Mathilde) am leaving tomorrow - so this is sadly my last blog :( 

I've learned so much in my almost two months here, and I'll definitely be back. I've had the chance to learn from 6 very different head-ringers, and ring with other awesome trainees too. I even got a week at migration-counting, that offered me a different and super useful perspective, and I thouroughly enjoyed (or maybe it was the company)! So a huge thank you to all the people I've met here, and hope to see you again somewhere - even just on a blog :)

Grey Seal and Dutch ship. Picture by Mathilde Sif Eiby / GFU

Folk på stationen: Cyann Ménard, Mathilde Sif Eiby, Sjoerd van Baal, Olga Fernandez Enriquez, Hans Lind, Joachim Dybbroe. Praktikanten Agnes, Mads Elley, Bo Kayser

Ringmærkningen: Even though the sunrise was beautiful this morning, it didn't bring us a lot of activity in the garden, so there was time for coffee, storytelling, and datacheck.

With only one bird for most rounds, we weren't expecting much, but at 9 o'clock, I (Mathilde) suddenly saw a new bird in the net, pretty dull in color. My first thought was Garden Warbler (Havesanger), which we've been waiting for, but I waited to examine it further, before I met up with Vagn and Olga in the lab.

True enough - first Garden Warbler of the season! Clear with the grey collar and the rest of it shades of pale brown. Kind of funny that we still get new species with so few birds.

Our first Garden Warbler (Havesanger) this season! Picture by Mathilde Sif Eiby / GFU

The round after we then suddenly caught three Goldfinches (Stillits), and a Great Tit (Musvit) as well, which got us up to a total of 11 new and 6 recaptures - including everyone's favourite old Dunnock (Jernspurv), clearly spending the season here, its sixth year in a row, with its first recapture of this year exactly two months ago.

On another note please remember if you come by, that the gravel road, terrace/benches and field is public, but the garden is reserved for ringing. If you're interested in ringing, you can send us an email, or take your chances in the morning and wait at the terrace, until the ringers come by, and they'll let you know if they have time to talk or even show parts of the ringing. Please don't enter the garden or go near any open nets on your own, despite your former experience with birds.

Today's numbers:

Trækket på Odden : With only 332 birds of 29 species today, I realize that each passing day gives me around a hundred bird less than the previous one. Let’s hope this trend won’t last too long…

As usual, a slow day doesn’t mean there is nothing to see : I am still enjoying the Swallows’ (Svale) ballet, the presence of the Common Whitethroat (Tornsanger) who has started building its nest, the sudden appearance of magnificent Red Kites (Rød Glente) over my head, the beautiful flights of local and migrating terns (Terne), or the nice surprise of Little Gulls (Dværgmåge) hiding among the Black-Headed ones (Hættemåge). Enjoying the little things really helps staying focus !

Se alle dagens observationer ved Gedser Odde i DOFbasen.

Folk på stationen: Cyann Ménard, Mathilde Sif Eiby, Sjoerd van Baal, Olga Fernandez Enriquez, Hans Lind, Vagn Lind

Ringmærkningen : The weather has improved from yesterday to today and we have noticed that in the nets. 54 new ringed birds, mainly lesser whitethroats (gærdesanger) and black caps (munk). One of the lesser whitethroats was very special since it looked different from its conspecifics, it showed a yellowish pattern on the chest, as you can see on the picture.

Hvordan denne Gærdesanger er lykkedes med at få den gule farve på brystet er os en gåde. Det så ikke ud til at være noget der kunne smitte af, men tanken om en spændende ny art for landet skød vi nu hurtigt til hjørne. Det VAR en Curruca curruca, men med en fejl i printerpatronens farver. Foto: Vagn Lind / GFU

Other colorful birds we had today was a recaptured blue tit (blåmejse) - it had been a while since I (Olga) last saw one in the nets, I almost forget how much they like to bite your fingers, when you work with them. Also two goldfinches (stillits), a reed bunting (rørspurv), three common redstarts (rødstjert) and one robin (rødhals).

In one of the first rounds, I was checking the nets, and I saw a dark bird trapped in one of them. I instantly thought it was a blackbird, but when I came closer, I realized that I was wrong, it was a starling (stær)! It is the second one we ring this season, and it is again a female, as the one we caught some days ago.

When we finished with the standard protocol and closed the nets, we decided to open the pond nets, hoping to find something interesting. On the first rounds, the nets were empty and no birds could be seen around. It did not look like a nice day for those nets. Sometimes even when we don´t catch anything on them, we can see birds flying around the pond, mainly wagtails and swallows flying up and down the nets without getting caught, or sitting on the poles, as if they are laughing at us.

Barn Swallows (Landsvaler) laughing at us from on top of the nets instead of in them. Picture by Mathilde Sif Eiby / GFU

However today the place was too calm, so I wasn´t expecting to find anything when I went to check them at 12:30, but there was a beautiful surprise waiting for me in one of the lower pockets of one of the nets. A barn swallow (landsvale) was laying there, waiting to be released. We couldn´t help but smile - our perseverance had a prize.

Olga's Barn Swallow (Landsvale) from today - first of the season! Picture by Mathilde Sif Eiby / GFU

In the afternoon Hans brought us with him for something special. We drove to a very nice house in Lolland with a nest box high on one wall - used by Tawny Owls (Natugler)! Together we managed to put up (and later down) a tall ladder without harming any windows, before Hans, with great courage, climbed up and brought down two young owls!

Two half-asleep juvenile Tawny Owls - one for Olga and one for me! Picture by Mathilde Sif Eiby / GFU

They had just woken up, and were very sleepy for the most part, but started softly clicking their beaks, before we put them back in their nest box. They looked so adorable, it was very special to hold them with your own hands. 

This is the biggest ring I (Mathilde) have put yet, because of those cute chubby owl legs. Picture by Cyann Ménard / GFU

Today has ended up being a very special day of ringing - full of surprises!

 Today's number:

Trækket på Odden : For those who love to see many many birds, today was definitely not the day to come at the point. I genuinely couldn’t help but laugh out loud when I saw that the total number of birds I recorded after the two first hours was still under a hundred. Good thing I was once again by myself then ! Not completely alone, as I am still in good company with the Common Whitethroats (Tornsanger) singing in the bushes; and the Swallows (Svale) having fun over the building. I kept an eye on them all morning, and I am really happy I did as one bird among them suddenly caught my eyes : my first Common Swift (Mursejler) of the season !

 My best friend at the point for the past few days, the Common Whitethroat ! I can't have enough of them, and you can't deny they are really good models. Picture by Cyann Ménard/GFU.

In addition to these beautiful birds, I got really puzzled early in the morning by a big bird flying far over the sea. Because I wasn’t really able to evaluate the distance, I first thought it could be a Gannet (Sule). However, as soon as I got it through my scope, I had to admit that it definitely looked more like "the biggest tern I had ever seen" than anything else. After collecting all the clues I needed, and texting a few people to make sure I wouldn’t go in a unlikely direction, I was absolutely sure that this was my very first sighting of a Caspian Tern (Rovterne) ! The bird actually came back closer a few hours later, which definitively dispelled my last doubts (if I had any left).

Se alle dagens observationer ved Gedser Odde i DOFbasen.

Folk på stationen: Cyann Ménard, Mathilde Sif Eiby, Olga Fernandez Enriquez, Hans Lind, Vagn Lind. Desuden Mads og Tina Elley med gæster fra København samt besøg af Agnes.