sun and birds!

Today was clear and sunny with hardly any wind. It was great! Quite a change from the weather of the past few weeks. Migration is still being a little slow to get going but we did have our best day today with a total of 17 birds caught. These were mostly Blue and Great Tits although a Chaffinch and 2 Greenfinch added a little variety. One of the 3 re-traps was a Great Tit originally ringed in July last year.

March is now over and we can reflect on our time here and look back at what we have caught. Myself and Teresa have been here for almost 3 weeks and in that time we have ringed 46 birds of 7 species! Despite the weather nets were opened on 19 days during the month and in total for the whole of March 2013 exactly 100 birds have been ringed of 11 species. This is well below average for the station and may represent one of the least productive months ever! In 2012, 564 birds were ringed at Gedser during March and the station wasn't even opened until the 16th. Still, we have enjoyed our time here and hope to come back, although we will try and choose a different month next time!

Other sightings today included 2 Whooper Swan, 2 Common Crane, 3 Red Kite and a White-tailed Eagle all flying north. Single White Wagtail and Meadow Pipit were the first ones of each we have seen here and the Long-eared Owl was seen again in the afternoon.

Hennrik arrived this afternoon and he will be taking over from us here at GFU. We wish him luck and hope he has more success with the birds and weather than we have!

Thanks for reading
Matt Slaymaker & Teresa Montras

GFU tur i snevejr - ederfugle

Gedser Fuglestation havde indbudt til den årlige ederfugletur med udgangspunkt fra P-pladsen ved Kroghage.

I alt mødte 10 personer op og alle med en kikkert om halsen og varmt klædt på – det var nødvendigt – der faldt sne under hele arrangementet og sigten var ned til under 2 km mod SV.

Hans Lind bød velkommen og fortalte lidt om vejret og de ”manglende” ederfugle.

Ederfugle i medvind og snevejr (=mange uskarpe fotos)

Da der ikke trak nær det antal, der typisk trækker på denne dato i marts, kiggede vi på de rastende ænder i Kroghage-søerne, hvor der var gråand, troldand, bjergand og taffeland.

Troldænder i let snevejr



Bjergænder overflyvende i let snevejr

På havet kunne vi blandt andet finde havlit og toppet lappedykker – takket være de medbragte teleskoper.

Havlitter flyver omkring - de trækker ikke væk endnu

Toppet lappedykker

Gruppen gik en tur op på Kroghage-plateauet og hele vejen ned mod syd og rundt om pynten og tilbage til p-pladsen. Det var småt med småfugle, men bemærket blev lidt sjaggere, grønirisker, gulspurv og gærdesmutte.

Koldt var det at runde pynten i syd

Efter næsten to timer med kun få ederfugle – foreslog Hans at turen kunne forsætte på Gedser Odde.

Så de gik mod bilerne for at køre til Odden. Her tilbragtes en halv times tid med ederfugletræk ganske tæt på. To havørne trak mod syd hen over hovederne på os som afslutning på en dejlig tur.

 

Louis og Hans

 …………..

Today it snowed...

almost all day!

Today was the calmest we have had for 2 weeks, barely any wind all day. Unfortunately these good conditions were wiped out by light but persistent snow for much of the time. Some nets were opened in the morning during the less snowy times and closed when it became more heavy. We caught 4 Great Tit.

Other sightings included a female Hen Harrier seen several times, an Adult White-tailed Eagle flying low to the north and a Peregrine. Several thousand Eider passed by in the morning with fewer during the afternoon, also a few hundred Long-tailed Duck were in the area. The highlight of the day was a Long-eared Owl which was originally seen early this morning when we went to open nets. It was seen several times throughout the day and was even hunting in the field right in front of the observatory at 3 o'clock in the afternoon!

Long-eared Owl sat on a net pole on a dull, snowy afternoon

Today it snowed...

... all day!

Concise version - 2 Blue Tits, Full Length - please read below...

It was back to business as usual today. Up early, open some nets, check the nets regularly, close some nets one-by-one as the wind picks up during the morning, continue checking regularly until about midday. Today's reward? 2 Blue Tits. Unfortunately this continues to be the worst March for migration for a very long time, not just here at Gedser, but at other stations throughout Scandinavia as well.

Once again there were few other sightings of note, a collection of finches in the morning either pausing briefly in the tree tops or continuing straight overhead. Skylarks are still on the move with even more seen than in previous days. 9 Whooper Swan flew low over heading north and a single Red-throated Diver flew East offshore. There was a noticeable increase today in numbers of ducks passing by, in particular Eider. Regular small groups were flying East throughout the morning although totals recorded were in the hundreds rather than the expected thousands.

No photos today but here is a picture of a young female Brambling from yesterday...

11 Birds!!!!

Yes, 11 birds! A total of 5 Yellowhammers, 2 Great Tits, 1 Brambling and 3 Blue Tits were caught today. Of these birds, 5 were retraps, the most interesting of which was one of the Yellowhammers which was originally ringed in October last year.

During the first few hours of daylight there was a noticeable increase in birds on previous days. Chaffinch and Brambling were in the garden with Greenfinch and Siskin overhead. Woodpigeon and Stock Dove were passing through in small numbers again. A few Eider were passing by offshore and 2 Oystercatcher flew east.

Hopeful signs of spring? We have done few blog posts without the word sn*w being used but judging by the forecast it by be back tomorrow...

A Yellowhammer, and below, a recording of 3 different Yellowhammer as they were released from the ringing lab today

Noget der virker i kulden

Ja det er jo ikke ligefrem imponerende mængder fugle der kan ringmærkes i Gedser i dette kolde forårsvejr. Til gengæld faldt denne kuldeperiode sammen med fuldmåne og forårstræk af måger=gode fangstbetingelser!

Derfor har Kjeld T. Pedersen, Lars Lindgren og jeg været i felten de fleste dage den sidste uges tid og ringmærket og aflæst en hel masse måger. Vi drog også ned til Nykøbing Falster, for at få kigget lidt på mågerne der. Det lykkedes hurtigt at finde et fredeligt sted med masser af måger! Efter et par fine timer havde vi ringmærket 107 måger og 1 råge. Rågen var ny mærkeart for undertegnede, så den vakte stor glæde! I blandt mågerne var der blandt andet en fin stormmåge med finsk ring og en sølvmåge med en gammel svensk ring.

Der var stadig lidt af dagen tilbage, så vi drønede til Fakse Ladeplads og tog endnu en fangst, så dagen endte med 176 måger og 1 råge. I fangsten i Fakse var endnu en finsk stormmåge. Igår startede dagen med aflæsninger ved Damhussøen sammen med Lars Lindgren og Poul Ulrik. 3 hollandske, 1 tysk, 2 finske og meget andet blev aflæst og et par fine kaspiske måger var der også!
Herefter drog vi endnu engang til Fakse for at få aflæst nogle af alle mågerne hernede. Vi kom dog lidt tidligt derned, så der var ikke så mange måger i havnen endnu. Derfor kørte vi til Rødvig, hvor blandt andet en polsk-mærket sølvmåge kom i bogen, mens en sortstrubet lom lå og flød rundt på ganske tæt hold.

Vi kørte tilbage til Fakse og nu var der kommet måger blandt andet 2 fra Estland og 3 fra Finland. Der var også en gråand med svensk ring, men den ville desværre ikke stå ordentligt. Vi sluttede dagen med en fangst af 92 måger, så en god afslutning på dagen.

Af andre spændende ting har vi inden for den sidste uge fanget en stormmåge med russisk ring og ved Damhussøen lykkedes det at få fat i en flot 3k middelhavssølvmåge!

Der er altså masser af spændende ringe at aflæse derude, så tag huen godt ned over ørerne og kom ud i vintervejret!
Jesper Brinkmann

1 Musvit

Another slow day. Despite the mostly clear skies it was still fairly windy and cold again limiting the nets that could be opened. A single Great Tit was caught, it was a retrap originally banded on October 30th last year.

There were few other observations out of the ordinary. A small movement of Skylarks and Woodpigeons overhead during the morning and the usual crowd of tits and Yellowhammers in the garden.

 This young hare has been around the house for the last week allowing very close approach!

More Tits

A slightly higher ringing total today with 6 birds. 1 Great Tit and 5 Blue Tits, two of which were retraps from earlier this month. Once again with variable wind and occasional snow showers nets were opened and closed accordingly until an ominous looking cloud appeared from the east and we stopped just in time before the weather got worse in the afternoon.

There was a little more interest today with other sightings. A few finches were present in the morning, mostly flying over or stopping only briefly, with Brambling, Greenfinch and Siskin all recorded. A peregrine flew through early morning and a couple of small flocks of Brent Geese passed by offshore.Ringed Plover and Golden Plover were again present on the beach with a few each of Rock Pipit and Fieldfare. Highlight of the day however were 2 Woodlark which spent part of the afternoon feeding in the field infront of the observatory.

M & T
(sorry we didn't take any photos today)

Birds! - update

Today the weather was variable. Unfortunately the wind didn't calm quite as much as we had hoped, however, we did manage to open more than half the nets at various times. Contrary to the weather forecast, the 'current observations' and the Radar we did have quite a bit of snow today, at times heavy and prolonged. As a result nets were repeatedly closed and reopened and by early afternoon, as the wind got stronger and the birds had disappeared we left them closed.

Big news of the day -we caught some birds!! The first since the 15th March!! 2 Great Tits and 2 Blue Tits... only 4 in total but it is a start and hopefully a total we can build on this week!

Other sightings were few but included a Ringed Plover and a Golden Plover on the beach and 5 Velvet Scoter offshore.

 

 

Teresa og Matt har adskillige dage - med et par afbrydelser - været sneet inde på Gedser Odde, idet vejen meget let lukker med snedriver ved Frisenfelt. Sneploven plejer at vende om samme sted og lade folk på Odden sejle deres egen sø!
I dag og i går var ingen undtagelse: Driverne lå i en meters højde over vejbanen, og tilmed havde der været jordfygning!

Hans

windy

Today was, once again, windy. A few sheltered nets were opened, closed during a snow shower, then opened again, then closed for more snow before finally being opened again until midday. We didn't catch anything ... again.

There were few birds around with the usual Great Tits and Tree Sparrows in the garden. A Black-throated Diver flew east as did 2 Sanderling. In the afternoon we went on an expedition for groceries which involved a long walk as the road to the observatory is now closed again after windblown snow has covered it up since it was cleared a couple of days ago. In a brief check of the marina area in town we saw a pair of Smew and a Red-necked Grebe close inshore. 

Wind looks to be dropping off overnight so hopefully we will have a more successful day tomorrow!

less snow, more wind

Another relatively uneventful day. We did enjoy several snow-less hours this morning and even opened a couple of nets for a while. The wind had picked up overnight so we were limited to only the most sheltered ones and had to be closed at 0945 when the snow returned. The snow showers continued on-and-off all day. We didn't catch anything.

Sightings included a small flock of Brambling passing overhead and a couple of Greenfinch and Goldfinch. A Rook was feeding with the Hooded Crows today and a Rock Pipit was on the beach briefly.

The north-east wind was bitterly cold today and that looks set to continue tomorrow, and hopefully ... no more snow!

 Blue sky!!!

Just to give an idea of the size of the snow drift that has eaten this net, I am a little over 6 foot tall, about 188cm!! 

can you guess what the weather was?

Last night the weather forecast said there would be no snow this morning. Hopes were high when we got up until we looked out the window and there they were – snowflakes – big snowflakes, and lots of them! On a positive note the wind seemed a little less than on previous days and there were a few more birds around. At least 15 Great Tit were in the garden, the Yellowhammer was singing from the hedge and a couple of Greenfinch and Skylark passed overhead.

By late morning the snow had eased off and we could see the horizon for the first time in days. A Carrion Crow was feeding on the beach among the Hooded Crows as was a single Fieldfare. 36 Barnacle Geese came in from the south, across the sea, and continued along the coast to the west. A white-tailed Eagle was seen, a few Little Gull fed offshore and a single Velvet Scoter was among the usual duck species. 1 Goldfinch was searching for seeds among the few grass heads that were not completely covered by snow and a Red Kite drifted slowly overhead.

By mid-afternoon the snow had started again, and it continues to fall now, but today we have seen more than we have seen over the last couple of days combined. Tomorrow is a new day; we will see what it brings. The forecast says it’s not going to snow…

 The road may have been cleared today but access to the beach is still blocked!

 No signs of spring yet...

hmmmm, maybe even a little bit of sun?!?

Vernal equinox

This morning, in Spain, people woke up on another cloudy and rainy day. Suddenly, rain stopped and clouds went away. Sun got brighter and spring arrived right on time. 12:02h on the day of the spring equinox.

This morning, in GFU, we woke up on another cloudy, windy and snowy day. And it still is! There were not many birds around apart from a Yellowhammer and a couple of Great Tit in the garden plus the habitual Eiders and Scoters – Common and Velvet - on the sea. This morning we went to do some mist-net maintenance (snow and ice removal) around the property and in the 2 hours we were outside we didn’t see or hear a single bird! Over most of the garden the snow is about 20cm deep although on the north side some of the snow drifts between the trees are over a metre deep.

 Snow drift swallowing a net

 Snow drift swallowing Teresa

Snow...

A quiet day today primarily spent hiding in the house from the blizzard outside. Strong winds and snow throughout the day restricted birding and we saw very little. No seawatching today as the visibility was so poor we could not see the sea! Maybe tomorrow...

2 posts in a day, double the fun!

A grey and very windy day with wind gusting to over 20 m/s (75 kmh, 45mph). Like a typical north windy day in Teresa's homeland except for the couple of hours of snow in the afternoon! Obviously, no nets open and almost no birds around the garden. Nevertheless, sea watching through the station's window kept us busy during the morning. Sightings included several Velvet Scoter, over 25 Little Gulls... and 1 Black Guillemot in full breeding plumage, which was the highlight of the day.

We have been asked to write a little about ourselves and as there weren’t a lot of birds to mention today this seems like a good time…

Teresa Montràs Janer. Catalan birder. This ornithologist, from the NE corner of the Iberian Peninsula, has dedicated the last 12 years studying birds and leading nature tours in her homeland. Three years ago she took a plane to Long Point Bird Observatory (Canada). Since then, has been traveling and working in Colombia, Australia and nowadays is at Gedser Fuglestation, hoping spring comes soon. Next stop... Kvismaren in Sweden.

Matt Slaymaker. British born but enthusiastic traveller. A keen birder since childhood, Matt has dedicated much his life watching and studying birds. This passion has lead him all over the world with various work contracts, volunteer placements and travel in the UK, Europe, south-east Asia, Australia, China, Colombia and North and Central America... although still lots of places to visit into the 'to do list'. Currently is making a stopover in Gedser before his 4^th trip to China this spring and a few months in Kvismaren in the summer.

Forecast not looking much better for tomorrow but we will see what happens!

T & M

Dværgmåger og snevejr igen . .

18. marts 2013.
Om et par dage er det forårsjævndøgn, men vinteren viser stadig tænder med en lille snestorm i dag som forløber for en større en af slagsen i morgen!!!

Arkivfoto af ad. dværgmåge fra 2009

 

På vej ud til GFU var der 3-4 dværgmåger, som fouragerede sammen med hættemåger i brændingen ud for Frisenfelt. De er altid skønne at iagttage med deres lette, terneagtige
flugt.
Jan fra Naturstyrelsen Storstrøm havde meldt sin ankomst sammen med et par skovskoleelever: De skulle sætte bomme op ved fårefolden og den nordlige indkørsel, og det blev gjort i det meget barske vejr med strid østenvind og snefog. GFU takker mange gange for indsatsen!

Den nye bom ved vores P-plads.

 

Vejret umuliggjorde endnu en gang al fangst ved stationen, synd for vores udenlandske ringmærkere!

 

Blog: HLI

Cold & Windy, Windy & Cold

Unfortunately we couldn't even try and catch birds today as the wind was too strong for even the sheltered nets. Standing on the cliff top at the very tip of Gedser Odde we were buffeted by the wind so much that standing straight was a challenge and using binoculars was physically impossible.

Once again there was little activity within the garden with just the usual Yellowhammers and Great Tits around with a couple of Fieldfare overhead. During the afternoon, 5 Little Gulls flew east along the base of the cliffs. A single Red Kite appeared overhead and drifted off to the north and 9 Twite paused briefly on the beach before heading the same way.

Around Gedser village there were a further 20 Little Gull picking at the surface of the waves among the other Gull species at the Port. On the west side of the peninsular 3 Smew (including 2 males) were near the marina as were at least 23 Greater Scaup.

M & T

With the wind picking up overnight, only the more sheltered nets were opened this morning. There were few passerines around and we didn’t catch anything.

Offshore there were 6 Velvet Scoter in the morning along with the usual array of ducks including Eider, Common Scoter, Long-tailed Duck and Mergansers. During the afternoon 14 Little Gull joined the Black-headed Gulls feeding offshore and a single Golden Plover was on the beach below the cliffs. 

T & M

5 more...

5 birds were ringed today, 4 Blue Tits and a Yellowhammer. Although there seemed to be a few more passerines around during the morning the others managed to avoid the nets. Clear skies and sun throughout the day although apparently not for much longer. The weather front causing storms across southern Europe at the moment may be holding up the early migrants and the predicted snow storms here early next week won’t help either!

We have received some more information about the flower shown in yesterday’s blog post. It is apparently an Eranthis species, commonly known as Winter Aconite. Thanks to my mum for the identification!

M & T

Springy

Another bright sunny day. Ringing was a bit more successful than yesterday both in numbers and diversity. 6 birds included a Great Tit, 2 Siskin, 2 Greenfinch and a Brambling. The highlight of the day however was a female Black Redstart which fed along the beach just below the observatory for most of the afternoon. The snow continues to melt and has revealed some small yellow flowers around the house. Is spring on the way?

Continuing yesterday’s theme of birds eating other birds, a Hen Harrier in the area today caught one of the local Blackbirds. It hit one of the mist nets but escaped leaving its lunch behind. The unfortunate Blackbird had originally been ringed here in November last year.

M & T

Today...

Today was cold but sunny with a deep layer of snow still covering much of the site. Nets were opened although it was an easy introductory day as we were not overwhelmed with birds. The bird to net-hour ratio was poor as a total of 18 nets were checked regularly for a total of 11 hours to catch a total of 1 Great Tit.

Over 40 Little Gull, moved west during the morning with up to 20 lingering close to the beach throughout the day. This number dropped slightly in the afternoon when one fell prey to a Peregrine which proceeded to scatter feathers everywhere as it sat on the Observatory roof to pluck its victim.

We will be here until the end of the month so hopefully passerine migration will pick up in the meantime. We look forward to seeing what happens…

Matt Slaymaker & Teresa Montras

New Ringers at GFU

Today was been a very sunny day in the ringing station and without wind. However just 7 birds were ringed (siskin, blue and great tits). There is a lot of snow in the garden, so it was an extra difficulty to open all the nets andI guess that will be complicating things a little bit for some days.

In the middle of the afternoon, Matt and Teresa arrive to the station. They will take care of the ringing station in the next two weeks. Today, they took a quick look on the garden and to Gedser.

Tomorrow will be their first full day, and they will see how to do things around. I hope they really enjoy their stay at the GFU, and that they have good luck with all things around here.

LPS

De spiser sne - stære

Stærene er kommet som Hans Lind skrev i titlen til et foto her.

Og de er kommet i stort antal og netop i de dage hvor vi i Gedser har fået masser af sne og kulde, man kunne synes det var en skidt timning.

Vi er mange der fodre fuglene men hvad så med væske? Ingen grund til bekymring! De fleste fugle kan klare sig helt uden et direkte vand indtag eller i længere tid på ganske lidt. Men de får også en del væske ind gennem den føde de indtager og så er der de arter der kan har lært at udnytte vand i en anden form end den flydende tilstand – nogle fugle har lært at spise sne. Så hvad er en mere passende illustration af dette end netop en lille flok stære der spiser sne?

Først var der en stær

Så var der to stære

Plus endnu en

Til sidst sad der fire stære og spiste sne sammen - de virkede glade :-)

Mvh, Gedsser Fuglestation

Wind, cold, snow...

In these last days the common things at the GFU, were the strong wind and the negative temperature, and since yesterday a lot of snow, that have cut the car acess to the station.
So what's going on? not many ...some short walks to bird watching around and almost nothing more.  Tomorrow the wind seems to calm a little, so I will maybe open the nets depending on the conditions.

I really tried to find a king but without success

 One of the birds on the station

Blæsende, også blæsende

Today was a very windy day (and actually still is). The weather  forecast for the next few days is not also the best for a ringer, but may not be so bad for a southern european birdwatcher...
In a small walk around the station, almost nothing was seen, only a very few birds that struggled against the wind. So most of the day was passed inside the station.

 waves in the sea

and fire at the house