Sparrowhawks!

Wow, what a day. Off to a good start this morning with nearly 40 birds caught in the first net round. Lots of Willow Warblers (Løvsanger), Redstarts (Rødstjert) and Blackcaps (Munk).

At around 07:00 we caught another Tree Pipit (Skovpiber) - the third for the year - and a bird that we'd never even seen before. Back at the banding shed Lucy identified it as a Whinchat, a bird not often caught at GFU and a first for this year.

We continued to catch a good number of birds each net round throughout the morning. We were just finishing up a round at 09:30 when we heard the rustle of wings in the high net near to the house. We ran around the corner to find a Sparrowhawk (Spurvehøg) in the net! We've had 2 or 3 in the nets in the past month since we've been here but this was the first one that we managed to grab before it could get out (it also grabbed me! - Joe).

Wanting to make sure we'd identified it correctly we took some field guides and sat down at one of the benches in front of the house. As we were sitting there with the Sparrowhawk, another flew into the bottom panel of the net right next to us! Both birds were 2k females and were the first two ringed this year. While it's common to catch this species at GFU in autumn, they're rarely caught in spring and we weren't expecting to catch one - never-mind two!

After the excitement we continued netting through the day, the total new birds ringed got up to 95 (our best yet) but despite having the nets up until nearly 17:00 we just couldn't make it to 100, still an outstanding day.

Joe & Lucy

First Whinchat for the year - Lucy Dadour

Not one but two Sparrowhawks! - Hans Lind

Sparrowhawk - Joe Krawiec

First Tornsanger for the year

Another windy morning at Gedser Fuglestation. We were able to open enough nets to catch a few more birds for the new ringers, 19 new birds in total including another first for the year - a Common Whitethroat (Tornsanger). There were quite a few migrants in the mix this morning including four more Lesser Whitethroats (Gærdesanger), a Redstart (Rødstjert) and a pair of Linnets (Tornirisk).

Thanks to everyone who joined the new ringers course for a lively weekend. Good luck in your future ringing activities!

Joe & Lucy

First Common Whitethroat for the year - Joe Krawiec

Kursus for nye ringmærkere

With heavy rain forecast we were worried that the new ringers wouldn't get many birds. But we were in luck, the rain held off until 08:00 by which time we had caught 37 birds. Participants in the course had a chance to extract Willow Warblers (Løvsanger), Lesser Whitethroat (Gærdesanger), a Blackcap (Munk), a Redstart (Rødstjert) as well as the usual array of resident species. A flock of Reed Bunting (Rørspurv) also turned up in the net, a new species for us.

While it rained through mid morning there were educational presentations of ringing techniques and data collection. 


After lunch we tried our luck with the nets again and its just as well that we did! On the first net round Hans managed to catch a Ring Ouzel (Ring Drossel) that was just about to escape from one of the high nets. This was just the 12th bird of this species to be ringed at GFU and the first since October 2008. More Willow Warblers, Blackcaps, another Lesser Whitethroat and another Redstart took today´s total new birds to 51.

The day ended with explanations of moult strategies, feather notation and fat and muscle scoring. 

 Fairly strong winds forecast for tomorrow but the direction is good so we should be able to find quite a few nets out of the wind so the new ringers can have more practice.

Joe & Lucy

Rune demonstrating how to extract a bird from a mist net - Joe Krawiec

The new ringing lab in action - Lucy Dadour

Happy to have some birds - Lucy Dadour

Not caught at GFU since October 2008, a Ring Ouzel (Ring Drossel) - Joe Krawiec

Litauisk Rødhals

Strong southerly winds prevented us from opening any nets before 9:30 when the wind changed direction slightly allowing us to open a few nets. Netting until 16:00 only resulted in 11 birds (only 2 new!). The last bird however was exciting, a robin from Lithuania! Possibly the first Robin from this country caught at Gedser.

We're going to be very busy here over the weekend as people arrive tonight for the ringing course. Rain forecast for tomorrow morning, the new ringers may have to bring there own birds with them!

Joe & Lucy

Lithuanian ring on a Robin - Joe Krawiec

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Wind, rain, Redstart

As predicted the weather was pretty awful this morning. We found a few nets out of the wind but only managed to catch 10 birds (7 new) before it started raining around 09:00 and we had to close up. However among the catch were the second Lesser Whitethroat (Gærdsanger) and second Redstart (Rødstjert) for the year, a female this time.

Joe & Lucy

Redstart, a second year female - Joe Krawiec

One better than yesterday

Another slow morning today with just 15 new birds ringed. However we did ring the first Lesser Whitethroat (Gærdesanger) for the year after the two controls caught yesterday. We also caught another Tree Pipit (Skovpiber), a species which we were not expecting to see again.

If we identified the call correctly there were Reed Buntings (Rørspurv) in the garden today. We tried luring them into the net with the callers after standard time but were unsuccessful. There was also a female Mallard (Gråand) wandering around under one of the nets early this morning.

Weather forecast for tomorrow is awful! Lets hope Gedser Odde is a law unto itself as usual and we can open some nets.

Joe & Lucy

The second Tree Pipit for the year, not a common catch in Spring - Lucy Dadour

Lucy ringing a Blackbird - Joe Krawiec

Gærdesangeren er ankommet

Another slow day today with only 14 new birds ringed. However among the controls were two Lesser Whitethroats (Gærdesanger) which were ringed last year! 

The house is strangely quite now as Rune, Heidi, Louise and Pernille leave the station this afternoon, it was nice to have a busy house for a few days. We wish the girls good luck with their research.

We're looking forward to potential new species coming to the garden as the weather warms up - the forecast's good for tomorrow so lets hope there are some birds for us.

Joe & Lucy

A recaptured Lesser Whitethroat ringed at GFU last year - Louise Nordbjerg Bach

Sørgekåbe i Bøtø

Slow morning today with just 11 new birds ringed; 5 Robins (Rødhals), 2 Dunnocks (Jernspurv), 2 Song Thrush (Sang Drossel), a Blackcap (Munk) and a Goldcrest (Fuglekonge). We did have a Corn Bunting (Bomlærke) in the garden for most of the morning but it started to rain before we could put on the call at the end of standard netting.

This afternoon the six of us went to Bøtø to do some birdwatching. We saw White-tailed Eagle (Havørn), Cranes (Trane), Marsh Harrier (Rørhøg) and Ruff (Brushane) as well as a Mourning Cloak butterfly (Sørgekåbe).

Mourning Cloak at Bøtø - Joe Krawiec

Full house!

We have a full house here at Gedser at the moment with the arrival of Rune and Pernille last night. Pernille is here to gain experience working with birds for her masters project working with White-browed Sparrow Weavers (Plocepasser mahali) in the Serengeti.

Thirty-eight new birds ringed and the species diversity is defiantly increasing as the new migrants arrive in the garden. Three Linnets (Tornirisk), two Blackcaps (Munk), two Willow Warblers (Løvsanger) and a Yellowhammer (Gulspurv) - alongside the usual Robins (Rødhals), Wrens (Gærdesmutte) and Dunnocks (Jernspurv) - 13 species all up.

There was plenty of room in the new ringing shed despite having to accommodate six people and with the new second work bench installed today thanks to Frants there will be even more room tomorrow!

Left to Right - Pernille, Rune, Heidi, Louise. Despite having six people working in the new ringing shed this morning there was still plenty of room! - Joe Krawiec

Redpoll & Starling

Today we were joined by Heidi and Loise who are here to gain experience using mist nets in preparation for working with Orange-fronted Parakeets (Aratinga canicularis) in Costa Rica. They chose a good day to come to Gedser as we caught a good selection of species today despite the foggy conditions.

Two new species for us today. The first was a female Starling (Stær) with a brood patch, probably one of those that we've seen collecting nest material for the nest boxes in the garden during the past week. The second was a Common Redpoll (Gråsisken).

Thirty-nine new birds ringed in total today - species including two more Linnets (Tornirisk) a Firecrest (Rødtoppet fuglekonge), a Greenfinch (Grønirisk) and another Willow Warbler (Løvsanger).

Fairly strong south winds forecast for tomorrow morning, hopefully we can find some nets out of the wind.

Joe and Lucy

Common Redpoll - Joe Krawiec

Female Starling - Lucy Dadour

Too windy again

No birds today, too windy to put up the nets. Instead Gert took us on a trip to Lolland to do some birdwatching, thanks Gert!

Weather looks good for tomorrow so hopefully we'll be able to catch something - I want another Willow Warbler (Joe)

Joe and Lucy

First Løvsanger for the year

Another windy day today but we managed to find a few nets to put up and got some interesting results.

Alongside two Chiffchaffs (Gransanger) we ringed the first Willow Warbler (Løvsanger) of the year. Also the Linnets (Tornirisk) have well and truly arrived and we ringed two males and two females this morning. Another Firecrest (Rødtoppet Fuglekonge), two Chaffinch (Bogfinke), three Robins (Rødhals) and five Dunnocks (Jernspurv) brought todays total to 18 new birds and a handful of control Robins.

We've also been using Gert's new ring dispenser today which works amazingly and has made finding the right ring while holding onto a bird much easier.

Chiffchaff (Left) and Willow Warble (Right) - Joe Krawiec

Gert's ring dispensing device! - Joe Krawiec

Joe and Lucy

Windy... with some results

 It was too windy to net yesterday and early this morning. Luckily the wind dropped by around 10:30 and we were able to have the nets open for a few hours. We didn't do too well in terms of number but we did get a few interesting birds.

Two new species for us, a Goldfinch (Stilits) and a Black Redstart (Husrødstjert) - both the fourth individual for each species ringed for the year. We also caught another Firecrest (Rødtoppet Fuglekonge) the sixth for the year which had some interesting facial appendages.

Just 14 new birds ringed in all - 3 Wrens, 8 Robins, and those mentioned - and 13 controls including a Dunnock ringed in Belgium!

Joe and Lucy

Goldfinch - Joe Krawiec

Firecrest with horns! - Joe Krawiec

Belgian control - Joe Krawiec

Female Black Redstart 2K - Joe Krawiec

Pattedyr i Gedser – en opfølgning

Dette er en opfølgning på på denne blog (klik her).

Med bidrag fra Jens Friss-Walsted, Palle Nygaard og Birger Juul kan vi nu berette at antallet af pattedyr set ved Odden inkl. Gedser Fuglestation er oppe på 31 og at den for hele Gedser som én enhed er oppe på 38 arter.

Den 16. marts (blogklik) beretter Jens Friss-Walsted at han og Palle Nygaard har fundet husmus på GFU grunden. Ligeledes beretter Jens at han har fundet en dværgmus spiddet af en tornskade (formentlig også fra Odden).

Der foreligger nu med hjælp fra Hans Lind og Birger Juul dokumentation for dels husmus og almindelig markmus.

(Husmus fra Gedser by)

(Ung markmus fra Gedser Fuglestation)

The number of mammal species recorded at Gedser (inkl. human and the domestic pets and species breed for consumption) has reached 31! Here we present three new findings – whith photo documentation of two (House mouse and Field mole).

Tekst og fotos Hans og Louis

Quite one today

Not much to report today, only 22 new birds ringed: 6 Robins (Rødhals), 6 Dunnocks (Jernsurv), 4 Wrens (Gærdesmutte), 2 Song Thrush (Sangdrossel), 2 Chiffchaff (Gransanger), a Greenfinch (Grønirisk) and a Blackcap (Munk). Just managed to keep the nets open for the standard time as the wind started to pick up at around 10:30.

Wind and rain forecast for tomorrow, let's hope we can open some nets.

Joe & Lucy

Sumpmejse og Spætmejse

Today was our busiest day so since we arrived in Gedser with 65 new birds ringed and an interesting array of species. Not surprisingly the Robins were out in full force again (42 new!). A fair few Wrens in the net, along with Goldcrests, Chiffchaffs, Dunnocks and a Firecrest.

Things had just started to slow down at around 11:00 when Louis and Gert spotted a Marsh Tit (Sumpmejse). We put on the call and within ten minutes we had it in the net! This is the 8th March Tit to be ringed at the Fuglestation (and the third this year!).

Happy to end the day on a new species we were about to close the nets when Louis did it again! He'd seen a Nuthatch (Spætmejse) over by the house. Once again the call was only on for 15 minutes or so before we'd caught it! A first for the year and the 12th bird of this species ringed at the Fuglestation (according to the database).

Joe & Lucy

Marsh Tit - Joe Krawiec

Eurasian Nuthatch - Joe Krawiec

More Robins!

Another good day today, just one bird shy of 50. Similar to yesterday, Robins (Rødhals) made up the bulk of the new birds (and 100% of the recaptures). The usual bag of species with a few extra Song Thrush  (Sangdrossel) and Chiffchaffs (Gransanger). Again we were lucky with the rain, as it started to come down right about 20 minutes afters standard time had finished.


Joe & Lucy

Just the usual today

A steady day today with 33 new birds ringed, mostly robins again. After a misty morning the rain came in at around 11 so we finished up just after standard time.
No new arrivals today; 23 Robins, 4 Dunnocks, 3 Chaffinch, 2 Blue Tits and a Blackbird.

Weather looks good for tomorrow so hopefully we'll pick up a few new species.

A female Chaffinch that thinks it's a Crossbill (Korsnæb)! - Joe Krawiec

More new species

Another great day today with 63 new birds ringed by 12:00.

Robins absolutely everywhere today - we ringed 41 of them!  We also ringed two new species for the year; a Common Redstart (Rødstjert) and a Tree Pipit (Skovpiber) which took a while to identify!

The Greenfinches (Grønirisk) also made their first appearance since we've been at Gedser.

Totals for today are 41 Robins, 9 Dunnocks, 3 Chiffchaff, 2 Greenfinch, 2 Song Thrush, 2 Wren, a Linnet, a Blackbird and the Tree Pipit, and Redstart.

Tree Pipit - Joe Krawiec

Common Redstart - Lucy Dadour

Had to close the nets due to rain...

...but still managed to ring 56 new birds!

Had a great morning/afternoon despite having to close the nets between 9:00 and 10:00. Two new species for us today, a Blackcap (Munk) and three Firecrests (Rødtoppet Fuglekonge).

We also had a Sparrowhawk (Spurvehøg) in the net early this morning, but it escaped before we could get close.

Totals for today's new birds are:
33 Robins (Rødhals), 12 Dunnocks (Jernsurv), 4 Chiffchaffs (Gransanger), 3 Firecrests (Rødtoppet Fuglekonge), 2 Goldcrests (Fuglekonge), a Wren (Gærdesmutte), a Blackcap (Munk), a Blackbird (Solsort), a Redwing (Vindrossel), and a Songthrush (Sangdrossel)

We recaptured 8 Robins and 2 Dunnocks.

Joe & Lucy

Blackcap (Munk) - Joe Krawiec

Firecrest (Rødtoppet Fuglekonge) - Joe Krawiec

More bad weather

We were rained off again this morning, which was frustrating as there was a lot flying around in the garden including our Musvåge from Sunday.

More rain forcast for tomorrow :(

Joe & Lucy

Musvåge in the garden - Joe Krawiec

No birds today...

In anticipation of bad weather this morning, we put the nets up for part of the night in the hope of catching any nocturnal birds that might be hanging around but we were unsuccessful.

As expected constant southerly winds prevented us from netting today and tomorrow doesn't look like it's going to be much better.

The only sightings today were a few cormorants (Skarv) flying fairly low over the garden this afternoon.

Let's hope the forecast for tomorrow is wrong!

Joe

Buteo buteo

Firstly apologies for not posting yesterday, you didn't miss much! Nets were open for about an hour before it started to rain and we had to close the nets. Once the rain stopped it was too windy and when the wind died down it started to snow! However in our one hour of netting we did catch the second Redwing (Vindrossel) of the year.

Today was far better...

On the first net round we pulled a Common Buzzard (Musvåge) out of a passerine net. It seemed suitably shocked... so were we. However like most large raptors it was quite placid while the ring went on and stayed around for some photos.

Off to a good start the morning progressed steadily and we caught a further 24 birds of 10 species by 15:00, not a huge amount but a definate improvement on the past few days! Other species of interest caught today include a Linnet (Tornirisk), the second for the year, a Eurasian Tree Sparrow (Skovspurv) and a couple of Song Thrushes (Sangdrossel).

Adult Common Buzzard (Musvåge) - Lucy Dadour

Getting better

A few new species for us today, a pair of Blackbirds, a pair of Chiffchaffs and a Siskin ringed.
Also the new Robins seem to have arrived with seven new birds ringed this morning. A Chaffinch and a Goldcrest brought the mornings total to 15 new birds. Still not a lot but things seem to be improving.

By 11:00 the wind started to pick up so we had to shut things down. Not many observations today but we did see a Sparrowhawk down by the beach this afternoon.

There's a chance of a little bit of rain tomorrow morning, hopefully it won't disrupt things too much.

Joe

Male Siskin ringed this morning - Joe Krawiec

Not much today...

Perfect weather for it today, but unfortunatly the birds just weren't around.

In the end we ringed 2 Dunnocks (Jernsperv), 2 Chaffinch (Bogfinke) and 2 Goldcrests (Fuglekonge).

Recaptures were a Robin (Rødhals), a Chaffinch and a Yellowhammer (Gulsperv) which we lured into the net after 11:00 with the caller.

Sighting include some Starlings (Stær) a White Wag-tail (Hvid Vipstjert) a Linnet (Tornirisk) and some Great-tits (Musvit).

Hans very kindly took us on a tour around the local area this afternoon - saw around 20 new species, including Goosander, White-tailed Eagle and a couple of Cranes. Thanks Hans!

Joe

Too windy!

Too windy for nets this morning, we unfurled a few nets that looked out of the wind but had to shut it down after a couple of net rounds as the wind persisted.

However some exciting news from yesterday. Hans noticed a Chaffinch with an unusual ring number while looking at the data book. Unfortunately I didn't notice this at the time as I am still unfamiliar with Danish ring numbers. It appears that this bird has come from Belgium! The first Chaffinch from another country to be caught at Gedser. So with the Dunnock from Sweden that makes two foreign birds in one day.

Looks like the wind will be dropping overnight so hopefully we will have a good morning tomorrow

Joe

Time for Gedser!

Hello!

We are Joe and Lucy from Perth, Western Australia. We will be staying at the fuglestation for the next month (maybe two). We're very excited to finally be here after two days of travelling!

We had a nice easy start with Rune yesterday, only eight new birds were ringed but it gave us chance to get to know the station and become familiar with some of the common species. We caught a Chaffinch (Bogfinke) four Dunnocks (Jernspurv) and three Blue-tits (Blåmejse). We also caught six Robins (Rødhals) already with rings.

Today was much the same but a little better as there was no wind. We ringed nine Dunnocks, a Great-tit (Musvit), a Chaffinch and a stunning Goldcrest (Fuglekonge) which we were very excited to see. We also caught nine Robins already ringed - are there any Robins in Gedser without rings?? - and a Blackbird (Solsort) and a Wren (Gærdesmutte) both with rings.

The highlight of the day was a Dunnock with a Swedish ring!

We are also enjoying working in the new ringing shed (pictured) which has allowed us to keep warm as we're not quite used to the cold yet :)

Tak for denne gang

Da nettene blev sat åbnet var der heldigvis ikke meget vind, så de første par timer gav lidt fugle.
Igen igen var der en del med ring fra de forgående dage.
Vinden øgede op af formiddagen så nettene blev lukket klokken 12.
Gert og Benny kom kort forbi stationen.
Min periode slutter for denne gang i dag og det har været en fornøjelse at være her så jeg kommer helt sikkert tilbage.
I aften kommer Rune med 2 Australier som skal overtage ringmærkningen fra i morgen tidlig og dem ønsker jeg held og lykke og jeg er sikker på at de lige som mig vil blive glade for at være her.
Til slut vil jeg sige tak til flere GFU for deres varme modtagelse.
Dagens ringmærkning endte med 18 mærkede.
Ringmærkning: jernspurv 12, blåmejse 2, bogfinke 2, grønirisk 1, stillits 1.

For de Svenske ringmærkere: jäspa 12, blmes 2, bofin 2, grfin 1, stegl 1.

Regn, hagl og torden(31.marts)

Morgenen startede med at sætte net op, men da vinden på nogle net blev de ikke åbnet.
Allerede lidt over 9 begyndte det først at hagle og derefter også regn og torden så alt blev lukket igen men jeg nåede da at mærke en sangdrossel og aflæse en rødhals.
Om aftenen kom 2 personer som skal være her et par dage og obse.
Om aftenen var jeg ude og spise en god middag hos Hans og vi fik en hyggelig aften.
Ringmærket: sangdrossel 1.

For de svenske ringmærkere: tatra 1.