26/10/2013 Spurvehøg Day!

With the wind returning with a vengeance we only managed to open a couple of nets before sunrise which was not promising start to Pernille's first ever full ringing session with Hans arriving to supervise.  During our 1st net round shortly after daybreak it was clear that  it was going to be a good day for sparrowhawk migration with them charging overhead almost immediately.

An adult male Sparrowhawk, one of the many seen today (Hugh Hanmer)

With so few nets open and Hans present looking after Pernille, Hugh, Jack and Rael disappeared off to the tip to observe visible migration until around midday.  As expected there were masses of Sparrowhawks around, both hunting through the fields and migrating straight off the Tip along with a few Rough-legged Buzzards and two juvenile Peregrine Falcons; giving excellent close views!  There was also some finch migration occurring and 2 Serins were picked out within a flock of Greenfinches.

A migrating Rough-legged Buzzard low over the fields with Gedser Bird Observatory in background (Hugh Hanmer)

A distant shot of one of the Peregrine Falcons (Hugh Hanmer)

When we returned to the garden for lunch we found that Hans and Pernille efforts had only resulted in 2 birds, a new Wren and a re-trap Robin.

In the afternoon Hugh along with Pernille and Gert returned to the Tip for an hour or so and added a few more Rough-legs and brought the day total of Sparrowhawks to 261 individuals before migration seem to fizzle out for the day.

A shot of a stunning adult male Rough-legged Buzzard (Hugh Hanmer)

In the late afternoon Rael and Pernille partially opened the more sheltered high net with a Redpoll tape playing and managed to catch a Song Thrush to add to Pernille's ringing and handling experience.

Thanks for reading Hugh, Jack and Rael