With ideal weather conditions of a gentle north-westerly breeze and cloudy skies for standardised ringing today, we had our hopes up for good numbers of birds, and we were not disappointed. With a busy first few nets rounds we had Hans lending a hand, and thanks to birds continuing to move through the garden for most of the day we closed the nets in the evening with 209 birds ringed. Whitethroats and Willow Warblers made up the bulk of birds (45 and 44 respectively) with Garden Warblers close behind on 39. 12 Pied Flycatchers and a whopping 20 Redstarts were caught too - always a pleasure to ring. The high numbers of birds meant we had our fingers crossed for something rarer to appear too but it never transpired - tomorrow perhaps. The Barred Warbler was retrapped later in the day however, and found to have put on an impressive 6.5g since it was first caught.

Today's totals were as follows:

Tree Pipit/Skovpiber - 5, Dunnock/Jernspurv - 2, Redstart/Rødsjert - 20, Marsh Warbler/Kærsanger - 3, Reed Warbler/Rørsanger - 1, Icterine Warbler/Gulbug - 6, Lesser Whitethroat/Gærdesanger - 19, Whitethroat/Tornsanger - 45, Garden Warbler/Havesanger - 39, Blackcap/Munk - 4, Chiffchaff/Gransanger - 2, Willow Warbler/Løvsanger - 44, Spotted Flycatcher/Grå Fluesnapper - 1, Pied Flycatcher/Broget Fluesnapper - 12, Starling/Stær - 1, Tree Sparrow/Skovspurv - 2, Goldfinch/Stillits - 3.

One of today's good number of Pied Flycatchers

Bright and breezy throughout the day with the wind strong enough to be annoying but not strong enough to prevent 62 new birds in the nets with the highlights including a Thrush Nightingale, the first Nuthatch of year to be ringed, 7 Icterine Warblers and a Marsh Warbler in amongst small numbers of common migrants with 13 Whitethroats the most numerous; all three of the recently caught Common Rosefinches were re-trapped through the morning.   The male Red-backed Shrike was still in the garden where a female Sparrowhawk was hunting for a while; overhead a few Tree Pipits, a couple of Greenshank and a Golden Plover were seen.

This morning's totals - 1 White Wagtail / Hvid Vipstjert;  1 Thrush Nightingale / Nattergal;  5 Redstart / Roedstjert;  1 Marsh Warbler / Kaersanger;  1 Reed Warbler / Roersanger;  7 Icterine Warbler / Gulbug;  6 Lesser Whitethroat / Gaerdesanger;  13 Whitethroat / Tornsanger;  7 Garden Warbler / Havesanger;  9 Willow Warbler / Loevsanger;  1 Spotted Flycatcher / Gra Fluesnapper;  3 Pied Flycatcher / Broget Fluesnapper;  1 Nuthatch / Spaetmejse;  1 Starling / Staer;  1 House Sparrow / Graspurv;  3 Tree Sparrow / Skovspurv;  1 Linnet / Tornirisk

Nuthatch

Swallow over the fields to the north of the station

                A walk north of the station in the afternoon didn’t produce anything unusual but the whole area seemed to be full of birds with at least 8 Marsh Harriers and a Buzzard were floating around, every garden had a few Spotted Flycatchers, Pied Flycatchers, Redstarts, Willow Warblers, Whitethroats etc. and every cut field had a few Yellow Wagtails and hundreds of Swallows and Sand Martins feeding low over the open areas.

More pictures from Gedser at www.wykebirding.blogspot.com

It was a slow day for ringing today, with just 28 new birds ringed in over 8 hours. However the nets did produce one star bird - a brilliant Wryneck! The bulk of the rest was made up by Whitethroats, just making it into double figures. Redstarts are still numerous in the garden with 5 new birds caught, and a Yellowhammer was the first caught for a while also. 

Totals consisted of:

Wryneck/Vendehals - 1, Redstart/Rødstjert - 5, Marsh Warbler/Kærsanger - 1, Reed Warbler/Rørsanger - 2, Lesser Whitethroat/Gærdesanger - 1, Whitethroat/Tornsanger - 10, Garden Warbler/Havesanger - 7, Yellowhammer/Gulspurv - 1. 

Overcast conditions and a significant easing in the wind led to an excellent arrival of migrants with the weather also allowing us to keep the nets open through until drizzle moved in at around 16:00; it was the first very busy ringing day of the autumn with 185 new birds caught with the highlights being a cracking RIVER WARBLER (actually the first bird of the day!), 2 Thrush Nightingales (plus a re-trap from 5th August), 2 adult male Red-backed Shrikes, another juvenile Common Rosefinch (plus a re-trap from two days ago), 13 Icterine Warblers and 11 Marsh Warblers.

                These came in amongst good numbers of common migrants most significantly 56 Garden Warblers (most of them with extremely high fat scores, weighing up to 25g!), 19 Reed Warblers (a dramatic shift in the proportions of Reed versus Marsh Warbler numbers), 16 Whitethroats, 6 Tree Pipits, 9 Pied Flycatchers, 11 Redstarts and 25 Willow Warblers but only 8 Lesser Whitethroats – again, a dramatic shift in the percentage of the catch as these had been by far the commonest Warbler species.   Also of note was an adult Reed Warbler bearing a Swedish ring.

Today's excellent totals comprised - 6 Tree Pipits / Skovpiber;  2 Thrush Nightingale / Nattergal;  12 Redstart / Roedstjert;  1 River Warbler / Flodsanger;  1 Sedge Warbler / Sivsanger;  11 Marsh Warbler / Kaersanger;  19 Reed Warbler / Roersanger;  13 Icterine Warbler / Gulbug;  8 Lesser Whitethroat / Gaerdesanger;  18 Whitethroat / Tornsanger;  56 Garden Warbler / Havesanger;  25 Willow Warbler / Loevsanger;  1 Spotted Flycatcher / Gra Fluesnapper;  9 Pied Flycatcher / Broget Fluesnapper;  2 Red-backed Shrike / Roedrygget Tornskad;  1 Common Rosefinch / Karmindompap

River Warbler

Tree Pipit

                There wasn’t much time for anything else through the morning but overhead 2 Green Sandpipers, a Wood Sandpiper, a Snipe and numerous Tree Pipits were heard.   A token look from the point (1500-1545) before the weather closed in produced 18 Arctic Terns, 11 Common Terns, 17 Sandwich Terns, 2 juvenile Shelduck, a flock of 6 Herons which came in off the sea, 61 Eider, 5 Common Scoter, 2 Dunlin and a Whimbrel.

More pictures from around Gedser at www.wykebirding.blogspot.com

After a very slow day of ringing yesterday it was nice to be kept busier today with an increase in migrants using the garden. We ended the day with 63 new birds ringed, the best of which was a Wood Warbler, a new species to ring for me, and 4 Tree Pipits, the first of the autumn. We also managed double figures of Redstart, Whitethroat, Lesser Whitethroat and Willow Warbler.

Totals for the day were as follows:

Tree Pipit/Skovpiber - 4, Redstart/Rødstjert - 11, Reed Warbler/Rørsanger - 1, Icterine Warbler/Gulbug - 2, Lesser Whitethroat/Gærdesanger - 10, Whitethroat/Tornsanger - 13, Garden Warbler/Havesanger - 2, Wood Warbler/Skovsanger - 1, Willow Warbler/Løvsanger - 12, Red-backed Shrike/Rødrygget Tornskad - 1, Starling/Stær - 3, Tree Sparrow/Skovspurv - 2, Goldfinch/Skillits - 1.

In the afternoon Simon and I paid a visit to Bøtø. There were good numbers of waders present with Dunlin, Curlew Sandpiper, Wood Sandpiper, Green Sandpiper, Common Sandpiper, Spotted Redshank, Greenshank, Ruff, Little Stint, Ringed Plover, Little Ringed Plover, Knot and Lapwing all present. A male Bluethroat (white-spotted) was also present and showing well albeit distantly.

Today's star bird - Wood Warbler

 An excellent day for Redstarts

Still very windy so a pretty similar day to yesterday all in all with just 19 new birds in the nets but these did include 2 Common Rosefinches, 2 Icterine Warblers and a Marsh Warbler.  

Ringing today comprised - 2 White Wagtail / Hvid Vipstjert;  3 Redstart / Roedstjert;  1 Marsh Warbler / Kaersanger;  3 Whitethroat / Tornsanger;  1 Garden Warbler / Havesanger;  1 Willow Warbler / Loevsanger;  1 Starling / Staer;  1 Goldfinch / Stillits;  2 Common Rosefinch / Karmindompap

A look out on the point in the afternoon (1400-1530) produced a few bits with an Arctic Skua, a Red-necked Grebe, 3 Knot, 2 Grey Plover, 23 Arctic Terns, 54 Common Terns, 33 Sandwich Terns, a Marsh Harrier, 2 Kestrels and 3 Swifts heading south while the juvenile Black Guillemot was again just offshore.

Another windy day at Gedser with a westerly breeze gathering strength throughout the morning. This limited the nets we could open and reduced our catch to just 16 new birds, but a case of quality over quantity with the first Barred Warbler of the autumn caught in the second check of the nets. Good numbers of Redstart were using the garden too with 5 ringed and unringed birds seen through the day. Simon opened a few nets later in the day, the best of which yielded a couple more Redstarts and 2 new Icterine Warblers. The low numbers made for a relaxed start to my stay here, allowing me plenty of time to learn the layout of the garden and get used to a new ringing setup! I’ll be joining Simon for just over a month as migrant numbers hopefully begin to build. 

The totals for the day ended up as:

Redstart/Rødstjert - 5, Marsh Warbler/Kærsanger - 1, Barred Warbler/Høgesanger - 1, Lesser Whitethroat/Gærdesanger - 5, Whitethroat/Tornsanger - 3, Garden Warbler/Havesanger - 1, Willoq Warbler/Løvsanger - 2, Tree Sparrow/Skovspurv - 2.

Both Simon and I walked around the point and surrounding area at various points, though no formal counts were made. Notable passage consisted of an Osprey, a Green Sandpiper, several Common Sandpipers, 4 Grey Plover, 4 Golden Plover, 5 Dunlin and 27 Common Scoter.  

A strong SW wind through the morning limited how many nets I could open so the conditions only yielded 19 new birds including 3 Icterine Warblers (young, unmoulted, local juveniles, not migrants), 3 Redstarts and 6 Lesser Whitethroats.   A Turnstone and some Crossbills were heard going over the garden somewhere in the wind.

                A couple of hours out on the point (1300-1500) in the now even stronger winds produced a few bits, highlighted by an Osprey heading south low over the sea while other birds included 2 Wood Sandpipers, a Dunlin, 5 Whimbrel, 29 Common Terns, 6 Arctic Terns, 62 Sandwich Terns, a Velvet Scoter, 31 Tufted Ducks, 32 Teal, 7 Common Scoter, a Great-crested Grebe, a juvenile Marsh Harrier and 10 Swifts; the most unusual sighting though was a Red Squirrel gambolling around right out on the tip, seemingly with out a care in the world!

Today's meagre totals comprised - 3 Redstart / Roedstjert;  1 Blackbird / Solsort;  3 Icterine Warbler / Gulbug;  6 Lesser Whitethroat / Gaerdesanger;  1 Whitethroat / Tornsanger;  3 Willow Warbler / Loevsanger;  1 Great Tit / Musvit;  1 Linnet / Tornirisk

     I then walked north a little bit to see if there were any more raptors heading south and managed another Osprey, a Sparrowhawk and 5+ Kestrels (although these weren’t migrating) along with a few Terns offshore and 3 Common Sandpipers while the Goosander flock had risen to 41.

Still breezy first thing but nowhere as windy as yesterday afternoon / evening but the nets were still on the quiet side with 28 new birds including a single Marsh Warbler, a Spotted Flycatcher and a Redstart (the first day since I arrived with no new Icterine Warblers!).   Single Wood Sandpiper, Green Sandpiper, Golden Plover and Tree Pipit flew over the garden through the morning.

Ringing totals today - 1 Redstart / Roedstjert;  1 Marsh Warbler / Kaersanger;  2 Reed Warbler / Roersanger;  10 Lesser Whitethroat / Gaerdesanger;  3 Whitethroat / Tornsanger; 2 Garden Warbler / Havesanger;  1 Blackcap / Munk;  1 Willow Warbler / Loevsanger;  1 Spotted Flycatcher / Gra Fluesnapper;  2 Tree Sparrow / Skovspurv;  2 Goldfinch / Stillits;  2 Lesser Redpoll / Lille Grasisken

Lesser Redpoll

                The wind was slowly picking up so I nipped over to Bøtø late morning just before a small shower where there were plenty of birds to keep me going with the highlights being a cracking adult male White-spotted Bluethroat foraging along the base of the reeds and a good spread of waders with 21 Wood Sandpipers and 4 Spotted Redshanks the pick along with 6 Greenshank, 16 Dunlin, a juvenile Knot, 2 juvenile Ruff and 4 Common Sandpipers.   Other birds comprised 2 Great White Egrets, 4 Garganey, 97 Teal (a big increase on the last time I was there), a few Gadwall and Shoveler, a sub-adult White-tailed Eagle, a juvenile Water Rail, 13 Herons and some pinging Bearded Tits in the reeds.

See www.wykebirding.blogspot.com for more pictures from around Gedser

Good conditions through the morning with lightish NW winds and some cloud cover so perhaps I was expecting a bit more in the nets but we still managed 40 birds including 4 Marsh Warblers, 5 Icterine Warblers, a juvenile Red-backed Shrike, 2 Pied Flycatchers and yesterday’s Thrush Nightingale re-trapped but perhaps more noteworthy was a French ringed Reed Warbler.   A Marsh Harrier and the first Siskin of the autumn flew over the garden.

                A spell of rain arrived at lunchtime heralding a very windy afternoon during which I got a couple of nets open which was certainly made worthwhile by a corking adult male Red-backed Shrike – the bird of the autumn so far!

Totals - 1 White Wagtail / Hvid Vipstjert;  3 Redstart / Roestjert;  1 Blackbird / Solsort;  4 Marsh Warbler / Kaersanger;  2 Reed Warbler / Roersanger;  5 Icterine Warbler / Gulbug;  11 Lesser Whitethroat / Gaerdesanger;  3 Whitethroat / Tornsanger;  1 Garden Warbler / Havesanger;  1 Blackcap / Munk;  1 Chiffchaff / Gransanger;  5 Willow Warbler / Loevsanger;  2 Pied Flycatcher / Broget Fluesnapper;  2 Red-backed Shrike / Roedrygget Tornskad