Although we are in Denmark, the ringing station is now populated with one person from the Netherlands, one from Germany and one of Australia.

Birds ringed today

Today was a busy day for us ringers, with 133 birds of 14 species caught.

The weather this morning was lovely – the wind was still and there were clear skies, letting the sun warm us up a little after a cold morning (for an Australian). The first net-check round was the busiest, and by the time we made it to the ringing station, it was time for another check. Hanelie and Robert stayed and processed birds for the first couple of hours while I extracted, before it calmed down a little and we were able to do rounds in turn.

There were many, many European Robins or Rødhals (Erithacus rubecula) caught – you could often hear us say “ …and another one” while ringing. We also caught a Blue Tit or Blåmejse (Cyanistes caeruleus). While this bird is very common in Denmark, it was the first one I have ever seen, so that was very nice. Although it was not nice extracting it from the net, with a very sharp little beak! It was forgiven, just because it looked so sweet.

We still had high numbers of Blackcaps or Munk (Sylvia atricapilla) and we also had a few Icterine Warblers or Gulbug (Hippolais icterina), which are very beautiful birds.

Moths caught during the night.

We had 18 different species (see table).

Two have a special story. The Buksbomhalvmøl is an invasive species from Japan, because we tought as human beings it is intersting to import Boxwood (Buksbom). The Vandrerenghalvmøl is migratory moth from the south but can be found all over Denmark, sometimes in large numbers.

I have chosen the Jordbær Blad-måler (Common Marbled Carpet) as the moth of the day.

Trækket på Gedser Odde:
Dagen begyndte med manèr, da de første fugle vi noterede var to Rovterner (Hydroprogne caspia). En adult og en årsunge kom sammen forbi i det første morgenlys – dagens observation var i gang.
Vi kunne hurtigt se, at det gamle ordsprog ”Ingen vind, ingen fugle” kom til at passe på dagens obs. Vel kom der ænder og terner forbi, og der var også såvel rovfugle som småfugle, der trak ud, men vi kom ikke op på gårsdagens antal. En af de eneste undtagelser var Sortand (Melanitta nigra), som vi noterede næsten 7 gange så mange af som i går. Selv om SØ-vinden var svag, fik den alligevel skubbet Sortænderne en smule nærmere kysten, så vi kunne se dem.
Småfuglene derimod, især pibere og vipstjerter kom i væsentligt større antal, idet 190 Skovpibere (Anthus trivialis) trak ud sammen med 73 Gul Vipstjert (Motacilla flava) og 40 Hvid Vipstjert (Motacilla alba).
De mange vipstjerter fouragerer ofte på marken ved obs-posten, inden de fortsætter ud over vandet. I dag fangede en af de unge Gul Vipstjert vores opmærksomhed, fordi den var nærmest rent hvid på hele undersiden, bortset fra et "buff" anstrøg øverst på brystet og en gul toning på undergumpen. Ryggen var brun. Det var jo nok en helt almindelig Gul Vipstjert, der bare var helt ualmindeligt lys, men den skilte sig tydeligt ud fra de andre i flokken.
Det er altid hyggeligt i weekenderne når vi er flere på posten, og igen i dag var vi hele 6 personer. Morten og Benjamin havde den gode hjemmelavede æblekage med, tak for den!
Ud på eftermiddagen er vinden frisket lidt op, og der er kommet flere Trane-flokke forbi. Det ser ud til at vinden bliver tilsvarende i morgen, så mon ikke der kommer endnu en god dag på Gedser Odde.

Dagens afvigende 1k Gul Vipstjert 

På stationen i dag: Hanelie Sidhu, Grace Isabel Marsh, Robert Luttik og Mads Elley.