Ringmærkningen: First round today already seemed very calm, but with an amazing surprise in the last net for me! A Nightingale (Sydlig Nattergal), that I’ve never even seen before, so I had to tell the others: “I have a new species, slightly bigger than a Robin, completely reddish-brown back and pale front”, and they said: “Sounds like a Nightingale!”, which I agreed was definitely possible! Even though it didn’t look like a Thrush Nightingale (Nattergal), we examined the differences in the lab to make sure it couldn’t be confused, and I aged it to be an adult by the appearance and quality of the whole moult. It’s only the 10^th ringed by the station, and the first one since 2021! Also happens to be my 200th species ever seen in Denmark!

The Nightingale, with the uniform reddish-brown feathers on the back, and the pale front, with no spots on the chest (not visible here). An adult due to the broad, rounded and uniform feathers on both the wing and the tail. Pictures by Mathilde Sif Eiby / GFU.

Just a few rounds later, another surprise was bestowed upon me! The first Pied Flycatcher (Broget Fluesnapper) of the year, that I quickly recognized, and had to take a deep breath before extracting from the net – two new species that early got my heart pounding! This one we had to ensure wasn’t confused with the Collared Flycatcher (Hvidhalset Fluesnapper), and I ended up aging it as a young male.

These ones can be more tricky with both young and adult moulting, but the combination of all the signs still led me to a young male. 

After closing down the standard, we kept the pond open for a bit longer, since there was a rather high activity of Linnets (Tornirisk) and Barn Swallows (Landsvaler) - and there was also word of a Hoopoe (Hærfugl) on the loose! It wasn’t until the closing round though, that Vagn and Hans caught yet another Yellow Wagtail (Gul Vipstjert) – we still need one for both Olga and me though!

Today's numbers:

Trækket på Odden : For the second day in the row, the full moon was absolutely stunning when I walked out to the tip this morning. There was much more wind than the previous days, and it seemed that the birds were here for it. We counted 1283 individuals of 33 species, half of it being Black-headed Gulls (Hættemåge). We once again had several different gulls species, with mixed flock containing both black-headed and Common Culls (Stormmåge); a few flocks of Little Gulls (Dværgmåge), and on my behalf I was really happy to see my firsts Lesser Black-backed Gulls (Sildemåge) of the year, even though I know some have already been seen here at Gedser Odde.

The local birds were also a real treat today. Two avocets (Klyde) flew just above the tip, flashy black and white spots in the blue sky, taking a similar path than a Little Tern (Dværgterne) who came quite close over our heads. The only raptor of the day , a male Marh Harrier (Rørhøg), wasn’t migrating, but he was able to show off his beautiful plumage in the sunlight. But none of them could outcompete the unexpected sighting of the Hoopoe (Hærfugl), which sent Danish birders into raptures. They were running everywhere (I swear), taking a thousand pictures (at least), as they should ! Because it is indeed a wonderful bird, and quite a rare observation to make at the tip.

A lovely surprise today at the tip ! Picture by Morten Lisse.

Se alle dagens observationer ved Gedser Odde i DOFbasen.

The rest of the day: In this weather we had to go to the beach. There we were puzzled by a mysterious ocean bloop sound (thing sp.), I (Mathilde) stepped on a flatfish, we inspected jellyfish, and lastly we heard the first Cuckoo (Gøg) of the year while swimming! Back home Vagn had prepared build-a-pizza for dinner - what a day!

PIZZA! Picture by Mathilde Sif Eiby / GFU

Folk på stationen: Cyann Ménard, Mathilde Sif Eiby, Olga Fernandez Enriquez, Louis A Hansen, Mads Elley, Hans Lind, Vagn Lind