Ringmærkningen: Louis had offered to handle the migration today, so Theo and Alba invited me (Mathilde) to join them for a potentially wet morning of ringing. We postponed the opening a little bit, to get a feeling of the weather in the early hours, but as we've experienced before, the ominous forecast didn't actualize itself in anything else than drizzles, so with some shorter rounds now and then, we were able to carry out a full standard ringing.

And oh boy! We we're so happy we did, because after only a few rounds we caught a young female Bluethroat (Blåhals)! While Alba starting handling the other birds caught that round, we let our close Gedser contacts know, that they were welcome to come by and see it. Hans was the first on sight, arriving the exact moment Alba put a ring on it, and after the measurements, a little flock had gathered to see. There hasn't been caught many Bluethroats here, and this was even the earliest one of them all!

A young female Bluethroat (Blåhals), without the male's characteristic blue throat. Foto: Théophile Fontaine / GFU

Theo has already been super productive in his few days here, both fixing and changing several of the nets, cutting away obnoxious branches, and even cleaning the lab. Maybe that was some of the inspiration for Cyann and I, to finally check and sort all the common food in the fridge and cupboards, left by who knows who, and we have no idea, how long has been there for. With all the expired stuff out of the way, we among other things, had ingredients left to make an apple crumble today. Looking forward to eating it later!

Just after coming back from the migration count yesterday, Mathilde and Cyann got a big cleaning fever and sorted out everything in the common shelves. Picture by Cyann Ménard/GFU

In other news Gus Brendan (read yesterday's blog) hasn't been seen all day, so maybe he read the blog yesterday, and decided it was time to leave? Keep an eye out for him: The cutest limping Brent Goose (Knortegås) you'll ever see. 

Lastly Anne also arrived this afternoon, to the sweet smell of apple crumble, and is staying for a few days - I doubt there's ever been six young people running this station before ;-)

Our lovely team of young, motivated, and really happy to be here people! Picture by Sjoerd van Baal (but it was a collective effort, we all put a lot of energy in this selfie, while the crumble was heating up)

Trækket på Odden: As promised, today's text will be short. Louis did the counting this morning, so we must thank him, especially as it was a really slow morning. The number of eiders was very low! But you always have to go outside with an open mind, and sometimes you're surprised. This morning, for example, he saw an adult Mediterranean gull (Sorthovedet måge), which is not so common here. Also, while I (Théo) was doing a round, I heard two characteristic calls of the pied avocet (Klyde), so I ran to an open area to try and find them and see how many there were. Two birds flew right to Louis, but unfortunately he only heard them. It was my first for the season! Tomorrow, Cyann and Mathilde will be back at the tip. Hopefully they will see lots of species!

Se alle dagens observationer ved Gedser Odde i DOFbasen.

Today's dessert, an apple crumble, which was absolutely delicious (and it is not because I (Cyann), with Mathilde's help, made it, that I say that). Picture by Cyann Ménard

Folk på stationen: Cyann Ménard, Mathilde Sif Eiby, Sjoerd van Baal, Théophile Fontaine, Alba Maria Holmberg, Anne Ramskov Hermanns, Louis A. Hansen