Trækket på Odden: 

There was too much wind for ringing this morning, so Benoit and I joined Anna for the migration count at the tip instead. Just a few minutes after we started, we saw four Spurvhøg (sparrowhawks) migrating, sign of a good day for this species. Despite these birds, the first hour was slow for the eiders and the other ducks, but the finch migration started early, with large flocks of Stillits (goldfinches),Kvækerfinke (bramblings) and Bogfinke (chaffinches) flying together. 

We enjoyed a beautiful sunset, which was much appreciated after the rainy days, but it rhymes with a terrible light was foor the birds flying over the sea... Nevertheless, it's a great way to identify the birds by their shape. 

In terms of the local birds, we saw a Havørn (white-tailed eagle) being attacked by crows in the early morning. On the subject of crows, a Ravn (raven) spent an hour over the field near the tip, my first one here in Gedser. It seems that the young Havterne (Arctic tern) is still around here; we saw it several times this morning, and Anna saw it again this afternoon. The small group of Bjergirisk (twites) around the tip is still here and is sometimes very obliging !

A very friendly Bjergirisk (twite). Foto : Théophile Fontaine

Seven rus cachinnans (Caspian gulls) passed close to the coast, mostly first-winter birds, but a third-winter bird passed close enough to allow us to take some pictures and check all the criteria to age the bird back home. The third winter bird looks pretty much like an adult, but has darker primary coverts, secondaries and rectrices. They also have smaller white mirrors in p9-10. The other six were first-winter birds.

The third calendar year Rus cachinnans (Caspian gull). Foto : Théophile Fontaine

In a way, it was a curious day, with late Landsvale (barn swallows) and two species announcing the arrival of winter! Waxwings and snow buntings! At around 10:30, I heard this typical sound 'sirrrrrr sirrrrrr', 22 Silkehale (waxwings) migrated over the tip. Fifteen minutes later, flying nearby, I saw a flock of chaffinches and three females/first-year Snespurv (snow buntings) flying over the field. It was the first time we had seen all those three species on the same day.

The eiders and ducks arrived a bit later, but in large numbers: 5,800 Ederfugl (eiders) in total, as well as many other species, including 44 Spidsand (pine-tailed ducks), 70 Pibeand (wigeons) and many others. As for the raptors, except for the 52 Spurvhøg (sparrowhawks) (which is very nice !), we only saw a Fjeldvåge (rough-legged buzzard), a first calendar year bird, and two Rød glente (red kites), probably adults, or second calendar year birds.

One of the Rød glente (red kites), maybe too much black on the bill for an adult. Foto : Théophile Fontaine

Finally, the daily report is really nice — I hope Ole will be proud of us! We saw 9,004 birds from 63 species, including two new ones for the season! It will be really hard to match that tomorrow in the rain...

.Ringmærkningen:

Der er desværre ikke ringmærkning i dag. Der er for stærk vind til at vi kan foretage sikker håndtering af fuglene. I stedet vil fokus ligge på at observere trækfugle på Odden og lave nogle mere praktiske opgaver på stationen.

Folk på stationen: Anna Beluga Gade-Jørgensen, Signe Agermose, Théophile, Benoît og Noémie Fontaine