Ringmærkning:

Trækket på Odden: In this blog, we often write how different each day is, just based on the weather and bird activity. Today too, I will have to repeat that. Our morning at the tip was marked by swiftly shifting weather and similarly changing bird migration. There was almost nothing happening over the water. Still, somehow, without us noticing, we counted an impressive number of Eurasian Wigeons (Mareca penelope) passing by - 776! This is even more surprising in comparison to all other ducks. They all came in two digit numbers at best. 

Picture
Wigeons made up approximately 75% of all ducks today. They often migrate in mixed flocks with other duck species. Can you find the intruders?

As far as I can tell, today was also the first day with more Common Eiders (Somateria molissima) than Common Scoters (Melanitta nigra). To be fair, both numbers are underwhelmingly small. Still, this gets me excited as it marks another step towards days with thousands of our station's heraldic animal. Speaking of winter birds, we also got our first Red-throated Loon (Gavia stellata) of the season. These birds come to their wintering grounds in the Baltic Sea and other European coasts, so we should see more in the coming weeks. 

The passerine department was dominated by Barn Swallows (Hirundo rustica) again. It makes me both curious and horrified to think that these are just the last waves of the most summer-y of all birds. Together with the Swallows that I love so much came many flocks of a species that I associate with winter like almost no other - Eurasian Siskins (Spinus spinus). To hear their characteristic calls together with the chattering of Swallows is a very surreal experience that can only be made at the border between seasons.

Joining the other late migrants were a handfull of Eurasian Honey-Buzzards (Pernis apivorus). Imagining that these birds may be 6.000 km away in Central Africa in as little as a few weeks is just a crazy thought. But to get there still in time they will need to speed up a bit. The same goes for the Osprey (Pandion haliaetus) that migrated past us observers. It understood the value of speed and made neither breaks nor hesitated it before heading out. 

Pictures
A European Honey-Buzzard on its way from probably Sweden to the wintering grounds in West and Central Africa. This individual hatched about two and a half months ago and is already making its journey to flee from the cold. No one in Europe will see it for a while - they spend their second year fully in Africa!

Fugle registreret i standardtiden: 2.472 . Arter: 46. Tællingen startet 06:17, sluttet klokken 11:17.

Se alle dagens observationer på Gedser Odde i DOFbasen. 

På stationen: Hannah Schmidt, Storm Hauris Borum, Lua Koplin, Ole Friis Larsen, Marek Ebert