Ringing:  As we opened the nets this morning there was lots of bird song and activity in the trees around the garden, which was promising. In our first round, we caught over 20 birds, making for a busy start to the day. As the sun rose and the skies cleared the nets became more visible, and our capture rate declined to only a few birds per net-check round.

A special capture of the day was a Red-breasted Flycatcher or Lille Fluesnapper ( Ficedula parva ), which is not commonly caught at Gedser. It is distinguishable from the Pied Flycatcher or Broget Fluesnapper ( Ficedula hypoleuca ) by the two large white patches on the outer tail feathers. We also caught many Robins (Rødhals; Erithacus rubecula ) and Blackcaps (Munk; Sylvia atricapilla ), which although common are very sweet!

Both Henrik and Chris leave Gedser this afternoon, so despite many swallows passing overhead, no extra nets were set up. Henrik will return to Gedser in November; however, Chris is migrating south to Germany for the winter (home for him). Safe travels to both!

The migration on Gedser Odde:
With a light wind from the NW, the expectation was that the migration over the water would go quite far. It turned out to be true, but we still recorded the highest number of dabbling ducks of the autumn so far with 1579 individuals representing 6 species. The swallows also came in good numbers, but the migration went high and scattered, so we quickly gave up on keeping the species apart, which is why today's 1845 swallows were recorded together. However, we could clearly see that the vast majority were Barn Swallows (Hirundo rustica), with a small proportion of House Martins (Delichon urbicum) and a few Sand Martins (Riparia riparia).
The migration of Sparrowhawks (Accipiter nisus) and Marsh Harriers (Circus aeruginosus) was already underway from around sunrise, and these were followed during the morning by some Honey Buzzards (Pernis apivorus) and a single Osprey (Pandion heliaetus).
There were several people who had sensed today's opportunities, so during much of the observation time we were 7 observers at Gedser Odde. Nice to have pleasant and competent company!
Tomorrow DMI promises weak winds from the SE, which could be good for the gliders, who will be carried up by a slight headwind.

At the station today: Grace Marsh, Henrik Jørgensen, Chris Sharp, Mads Elley.
In addition, the next two weeks' ringers Hanelie Sidhu and Robert Lüttik arrived this afternoon.

One of today's 68 Sparrowhawks