Welcome to Gedser!

Another fantastic, calm morning and a brilliant arrival of birds welcomed Marie Chevalier to her first morning's ringing here; we managed a very good 140 new birds (very rare for such a big day in March!), top of the billing were Robins with 80 caught, then came another 15 Dunnocks, 13 Chiffchaffs, 9 Goldcrests and smaller numbers of Chaffinches, Bramblings, Greenfinches and Siskins while a Fieldfare caught at dawn was the first of the year.

With today's big total we cruised past 1000 birds ringed for the year - spring hasn't even started yet!

Fieldfare and Brambling

Most of the birds were caught in the first couple of hours of the morning so while Marie and myself ringed I had to call Hans to come out and assist as we were swamped at the start but it all worked out in the end!

   Not much else was seen really as we were far to busy to look at things and by the time we had a few moments to stand and look around thick fog had rolled in putting an end to any birding action although two awesome young White-tailed Eagles appeared out of the murk to circle the station mid-morning before melting away again into the fog!

Louis also attempted another migration watch from the tip in the morning notching up 9,200 Eiders before the fog rolled in, abruptly ending matters!

Here are two happy - and very busy - ringers: Simon and Marie in the lab.



Grunting at sea

Another glorious sunny, calm day produced a good arrival of birds with 72 new birds caught; this was dominated by 30+ Robins in the garden (25 ringed) including one trapped with a Belgian ring, Dunnocks unsurprisingly also figured in the totals with another 16 ringed - over 120 for the year now.   Other bits included a nice White Wagtail and a few more Goldcrests while the Treecreeper was again re-trapped but the ringed Firecrest has learnt how to avoid the nets even though it remains in the garden!

One of the many Robins

 



Other birds seen through the morning included a Black Redstart, a noisy group of 8 Cranes over the garden, 10+ Bramblings and three Buzzards.   Later tonight we are expecting another arrival, that of visiting French ringer Marie Chevalier who is staying for around ten days, I shall have to turn my music down, put some clothes on and make myself decent - although after two weeks living here on my own it might be tricky!!

After a poor showing yesterday an excellent total of 33,100 Eiders were recorded passing the tip through the day with Louis and Torben putting in a long shift; although I couldn't see most of them while ringing this morning it was so calm in the garden that I could hear the flocks grunting to each other as they flew over the sea!
   A good mix of other birds were recorded from the tip including 75 Red-breasted Mergansers, 5 Black-throated Divers, 213 Wigeon, 4 Grey Herons, 36 Teal, 8 Pintail, 17 Curlew, 36 Sanderling, 236 White-fronted Geese and 135 Common Cranes.   A few land birds were also on the move with a Marsh Harrier, a Merlin, 60 Starlings, 51 Chaffinches, 39 Skylarks and 96 Linnets.

Fun in the sun

After the early morning cloud had melted away it left a stunning, bright sunny day with only a hint of the cold easterly wind remaining; 39 new birds were caught through the morning with the highlight being a smart Black Redstart along with another influx of 20+ Dunnocks (17 trapped) and a few more Goldcrests.   The Treecreeper managed to get re-trapped only once and a re-trap White Wagtail didn't enjoy his time in the net as the now resident pair of Wagtails saw fit to repeatedly attack it in the net until I managed to run over!

Black Redstart

White Wagtail - this bird had originally been ringed in August 2013 as a juvenile

 



There was a trickle of other things seen through the morning including two Serins with one streaky bird going straight over but a nice, bright male stopped off to give a few bursts of song before carrying on, a Woodlark, a Coal Tit which appeared at lunchtime and 6 Sandwich Terns offshore. 
   A walk north up the coast in the afternoon produced three more Black Redstarts, a Red Kite which powered south with purpose, a few singing Chiffchaffs and a big female Sparrowhawk who I flushed off a freshly killed Woodcock!

Hans arrived late morning leading a guided tour in perfect time to re-trap the Black Redstart which had not been seen since I released it just after dawn; Hans talked about the bird in Danish as I just stood there holding it trying to look pretty!

Louis, along with Kisbye and Torben Lund had a long watch from the tip in the morning producing 10 Red-throated Divers along with 1,410 Eiders and a few raptors heading south including a Hen Harrier, 8 Common Buzzards and a Sparrowhawk.

Small Tortoiseshell

A fine autumn day.

It was a real autumnal feeling spring morning if that makes sense; it was in fact the type of weather birders pray for in September or October with a moderate easterly wind and a hint of drizzle in the air however, its March!   I did manage to catch 37 new birds through the morning with again Dunnocks and Goldcrests prominent in the catch with three Chiffchaffs and a few new Robins and Greenfinches thrown in while yesterday's Treecreeper made a fine effort to get caught in every single net in the garden!

Blackbird

 

There wasn't much else to mention really with the Firecrest still lingering in the garden, a pair of Grey Partridges in the front field and two Black-throated Divers offshore.

Just to remind me that it is spring!

Shrike

The cold easterly wind remained but fortunately it slowly abated through the morning leaving good ringing conditions for the majority of the day; the morning produced 41 new birds including an influx of 20+ Goldcrests (16 trapped), a few new Robins, a couple of Reed Buntings and a Treecreeper.

Treecreeper

 

The day's birding highlight was definitely a cracking Great Grey Shrike which appeared briefly along the fences around the front field (translation - it flew off never to be seen again when I tried to walk it towards the nets!).   Other birds included 190 Golden Plovers overhead, the ringed Firecrest still (originally ringed on the 22nd) a handful of Bramblings and several Common Crossbill flocks while offshore there was a Red-throated Diver and a Sandwich Tern of note.

Captions on a postcard please!

Easterlies! shame its not September....

Another staggered and delayed start to the ringing, this time due to the overnight rain taking its time to clear away, it left a very pleasant day albeit with a very cold, brisk easterly wind which sprang up from nowhere.   The overnight rains left us very little in the way of action with a disappointing seven new birds ringed including another Chiffchaff.

Song Thrush

 

Locally, the day's highlight was an adult Gannet which spent a few minutes cruising around in front of the station mid-morning - very scarce on this side of Denmark.   Other birds seen through the day included a total of 31 Common Crossbills over, one of the ringed Firecrests still lingering in the garden, a female Peregrine and a Kestrel although my highlight of the day was when Hans popped in with a bag full of pastries!

 

Of course the Gannet was nice as well!

Jernspurvs again

A staggered start to the day with many of the nets frozen closed; it soon warmed up though and a profitable morning produced a good 65 new birds with 11 Chiffchaffs a nice influx (they had all moved through and disappeared after two hours).   26 more Dunnocks was a good spring total while Brambling and Goldfinch were the first to be ringed this year.

Chiffchaff, Goldfinch and Brambling from today

 

Away from the morning's ringing I'm struggling with much else to report really; a ringed Firecrest was still in the garden and a Curlew flew over.   In the afternoon I went for a walk round Kroghage nature reserve between the ferry port and the marina where the highlights were 17 Scaup on the pools with Tufted Ducks, my first Danish Butterfly - a Red Admiral and Canada Goose and Redshank were added to my new Danish list (its on 112 if anyone is vaguely interested!)

Scaup and Tufted Duck on the Kroghage pools showing why I never take pictures of birds in the field with my very small camera!

Dunnocks!

After a flat calm, cloudless night there was a decent frost covering the ground first thing but this led to perfect mist-netting conditions in the morning especially as high cloud moved in early on; ringing improved once again with 50 new birds caught including two more Firecrests in amongst 7 Goldcrests, two Chiffchaffs and an influx of 20+ Dunnocks (16 trapped).  
   Dunnocks are another species that many UK birders see as a common resident 'garden bird' and don't get to see them in full migration mode!   I'm kind of used to them after spending several years in Shetland and Orkney where they generally only occur as Scandinavian bound passage migrants but enjoyed immensely the sight of a group of six birds hopping to the top of a high bush, calling loudly to each other then launching themselves off high to the north - a fascinating view of a different aspect of their lifestyle that we don't often seen back in Britain!

Linnet and Siskin from today

 

Other observations through the day were limited but there were two Woodcocks in the garden at dawn, two Sandwich Terns which flew along the shore, a trickle of Bramblings, Goldfinches and Siskins going north, a Mistle Thrush passing while 11 White-fronted and 60 Barnacle Geese were the only wildfowl of note.

Goldcrest and Firecrest - which is better?!

Great Tits indeed!

Another lovely, bright, sunny day - a bit breezy but we won't mention that as it turned out to be a very productive Sunday; an improvement in ringing numbers with 36 new birds caught including one of the female Stonechats, another Firecrest, a Chiffchaff and a mini-influx of Great Tits and Dunnocks.   When I'm back ringing in the UK and come across a net full of Great Tits I usually swear, curse and mutter to myself as I'm extracting them, its a bit different here as they are proper migrants, doing interesting things and not just hanging round a feeder!   Its brilliant to see them flying high overhead giving a unique little call that I haven't heard back home which I assume is a contact / migration call?

Stonechat and Redwing from today

A nice selection of birds were seen round the station through the morning including a Hawfinch over, a Woodlark, a few Siskins, a Red Kite low overhead, three Herons high to the north, c40 Jackdaws and 10 Rooks heading north.

Worth a separate mention is what is maybe turning into a record influx of Stonechats to the area with the two females still around the station, two separate males seen by me just up the coast and a pair near town seen by Louis - I wasn't sure I believed that they were actually scarce birds here!   There have been many reports today from other sites in Denmark and in Sweden so a good influx is indeed underway.

Louis put in a long shift out on the tip today (joined by Michael and Anders for a time) and was definitely rewarded with a cracking adult drake King Eider in amongst a total of 13,400 Eiders which passed by; other birds recorded included the first Serin of the year, two Marsh Harriers, a White-tailed Eagle, two Sparrowhawks, 6 Cranes, 119 Red-breasted Mergansers, 48 Wigeon, 75 Pintail and a 1st winter Kittiwake - well worth the effort!

Snap shot of the King of Eiders by Louis A. Hansen



After the rain

Good conditions through the morning with light winds but the birds didn't seem to agree leading to a quiet ringing session although another Firecrest in what is turning out to be an excellent early spring for them was very welcome.

Firecrest and Yellowhammer from today

 



There were fewer birds seen as well with 12 Common Crossbills, a few Bramblings, Siskins and Goldfinches overhead, a single Fieldfare with a handful of Redwings and the female Sparrowhawk was still around as was the two female Stonechats although they kept to the front field despite me trying to persuade them in the afternoon that the area with all the nets was much more attractive!   Around 1,700 Eiders were counted along with 57 White-fronted Geese, two Pintail, 14 Wigeon and 20 Teal while more noteworthy was an early Common Tern which flew NE along the shore.

Gert came in the afternoon and gave me a guided tour of a smart nature reserve just to the north of Gedser where there was still a wintery feel to the site with 2,500+ Barnacle Geese still in the fields while the pools were covered in Wigeon, Shoveler, Gadwall and Teal.   The local pair of Common Cranes were definitely getting in the mood though - calling loudly, throwing their heads back, even dancing a little bit and looking very put out that four more Cranes came and landed next to them!

Perfect timing

I was cautious about opening the nets first thing as the forecast suggested that it was going rain pretty much all day but in the end it couldn't have worked out better with the rain holding off until mid-morning allowing a full standardized netting session to be carried out - after that, it did rain all day!   In the end though it proved to be a quiet session with the exception of a stunning adult male Black Redstart which appeared at dawn by the front door and found its way into a net shortly afterwards.

Black Redstart

 

There were plenty of other birds to see during the first few hours of the morning including two female Stonechats following the cliff-top fenceline, c80 Redwings in the surrounding fields, a Firecrest and a female Sparrowhawk causing trouble; overhead there were a few Finches including 17 Common Crossbills, 5 Bramblings and 8 Goldfinches, two White Wagtails, 120 Golden Plover and 140+ Woodpigeons with a few Stock Doves thrown in.

Wren

 

An adult Kittiwake rested on the water just offshore in the morning - an unusual spring record where single Black-throated Diver and Scaup also passed by.   The afternoon was pretty wet but 4 Garganey passed the tip with a group of Teal and there were two Firecrests and a Chiffchaff with a Tit flock just up the coast near Birkemosse.

 

Hans visited in the afternoon bringing a welcome influx of new coffee and allowed me to show off my newly learnt Danish bird names - Sangdrossel, Bogfinke and Jernspurv were only a few of the species which tripped off my tongue! 

Bright and breezy

A gorgeous, bright, sunny day today and if it wasn't for the cold, brisk wind it would have been glorious!   With the nets that could be opened waving around in the wind it was no surprise that the birds which were caught were all in the first hour of daylight before the sun hit them and made them very visible; they did however include a stunning male Firecrest (the fifth of the year to be ringed) and another Yellowhammer.

Firecrest and Yellowhammer

 

There was only a small trickle of birds passing over the station through the morning which included 16 Common Crossbills with a few other Finches, two White Wagtails, c40 Jackdaws and a Dunnock which flew over very high up giving me a few seconds of 'what on earth is that?' when I picked it up (or words to that effect!).    The Eiders kicked off a bit today with c3,000 heading NW through the day - although this is an underestimate; they couldn't persuade much else to join them with the exception of two Pintail, two Wigeon, three Barnacle Geese and three Mute Swans.

 

A Woodlark was around the station in the afternoon while a group of five Common Cranes flew south out at sea and a lonely random Snipe was in the middle of a lonely random ploughed field!

This female Common Scoter preferred the company of these handsome drake Eiders while a drake Common Scoter looked on with envy from the water!

 

 

Zilpzalp

A very pleasant start to the day with light winds and the sun appearing every so often led to 18 new birds caught in the first few hours of the morning including the overdue first Chiffchaff of the spring and the first Common Redpoll of the year to be trapped - it did only last a few hours though as by mid-morning it had clouded over, the wind had picked up and light rain had moved in!

Chiffchaff, Chaffinch and Robin from this morning

 

Before the weather closed in there was a good flow of north-bound migrants passing overhead including 50+ Chaffinches, a Brambling, 10 Common Redpolls, 25 Greenfinches, 20 Siskins, 7 White Wagtails, a handful of Jackdaws and Rooks out at sea and a few Linnets and Reed Buntings; grounded migrants were less plentiful with a couple of Song Thrushes, a second Chiffchaff and a handful of Blue Tits and Great Tits (the Tits trapped had very high fat scores so were definitely on the move!).  A smart young male Merlin also bombed overhead taking a swipe at some careless Blue Tits, only just missing!

 

The sea was pretty quiet although 360 Barnacle Geese (in two flocks), 33 Mute Swans, two Oystercatchers and a Ringed Plover accompanied the few Eider flocks that were heading off to the NW.   The afternoons birds comprised 52 Long-tailed Ducks and a Red-throated Diver off the tip and a single Purple Sandpiper on the rocks just north of the tip.

 

My afternoons highlight was checking out the supermarket in town for the first time - it kept me entertained for at least 10 minutes!    In case you were wondering absolutely nothing paid the slightest bit of attention to the road-kill bait in the front field, not even a Hoodie!

Things are getting better!

Much nicer conditions this morning with the wind easing off and the predicted rain never really materialising; more nets were opened and as a result I managed to catch a few new birds including a couple each of Song Thrush, Chaffinch and Blackbird and the first Reed Bunting of the year to be trapped.

Reed Bunting and re-trap Tree Sparrow

 

The visibility at sea was much reduced today so birds were seemingly reluctant to move around with the only new birds of note being a pair of Gadwall, 12 Mute Swans and two White-fronted Geese which were tagged on to an Eider flock.   The land was more profitable through the morning with the highlights today being a Woodlark and a total of 29 Common Crossbills; other birds overhead included 7 Lapwings, 8 Jackdaws, a White Wagtail, another Mistle Thrush, a few Chaffinch flocks first thing and a trickle of Siskins, Greenfinches and Linnets.

 

I spent a couple of hours during the very pleasant and sunny early afternoon out on the tip where birds seen included a Sparrowhawk in off the sea, a Grey Heron drifting north out at sea, another 4 White Wagtails and a steady trickle of Chaffinches, Siskins, Linnets, Greenfinches and Meadow Pipits moving along the coast.

 

Hans popped in late afternoon announcing that he had a gift for me; I was all excited until I found out it was road-kill bait for the gull trap but when it catches a Rough-legged Buzzard tomorrow....I think I may get excited all over again! 

Still windy!

A very similar day to yesterday with strong winds only just allowing a morning standardized netting session and also like yesterday the only bird caught was another new Dunnock!   The sea provided more interest during the first few hours of the day with 1,500+ Eiders being most obvious but unlike yesterday c1,100 seemed to be heading in the 'right' direction - high off to the north-west with flocks often high over the station itself as they 'cut-the-corner'.

There were fewer Red-breasted Mergansers and Long-tailed Ducks than yesterday but this was made up by some good variety including 35 Red-necked Grebes, two Slavonian Grebes, a single Great-crested Grebe, 60 Brent Geese, a Shelduck, 4 Pintail, 12 Teal, three Tufted Ducks, 20 Goldeneye and a Sandwich Tern.

There was also more happening over the land through the day with a smart group of 15 Waxwings which landed briefly before continuing north and presumably the same Hawfinch lingering in the garden the highlights.   Other birds included 40 Siskins, 25 Greenfinches, a Goldfinch, a Mistle Thrush, a few Chaffinches, 20 Linnets, 6 Reed Buntings and c25 Skylarks including birds out over the sea.

very spring like (you just can't see the blazing, cold north-west wind!)

 

The afternoon was fairly quiet with the highlight coming during a watch from the point when a lovely Short-eared Owl appeared as if by magic flying over the sea - I'm not entirely sure where it came from!

Still windy but we caught a bird!

The morning was still extremely windy; however we did manage to open a few nets - enough for a morning of standardized ringing but it didn't prove to be very successful with just a single new Dunnock trapped - my first bird in the hand in Denmark though!

The aforementioned Dunnock!

 

Between net rounds there was a nice, steady stream of birds passing at sea to keep us entertained with hundreds of Ducks passing the station (although they still appeared unsure which direction to go as large numbers were moving in both directions!) the main numbers consisted of 800+ Eiders, 300+ Red-breasted Mergansers and 200+ Long-tailed Ducks.   In amongst them was a good selection of other stuff including two Great-northern Divers, single Red-throated and Black-throated Divers, 12 Red-necked Grebes, a single Great-crested Grebe, two Scaup, 100+ Common Scoter and a few Goldeneye.

  The land was quieter although a flock of 26 Common Crossbills flew north along with a handful of Siskins and Redpolls; a walk into town in the afternoon was quiet birdwise but gave me the lie-of -the-land and as I got back to the station there was an adult Yellow-legged Gull feeding in a ploughed field and a cracking male Hawfinch was feeding in the garden but disappeared as soon as I tried to open a nearby net!

 

After kindly picking me up from the airport and giving me the guided tour of the station Rune left to go back north this afternoon leaving me here by myself but with regular visits from Hans and Gert (they provided the invaluable service of finding the phone charger today!) its always a lively place!



As soon as I arrive the weather changes!

On my arrival in Denmark yesterday it was glorious conditions - the sun was shining, there were light winds and it was nice and warm (relatively warm any way!) but during my very pleasant first night at Gedser ringing station the wind increased dramatically with overnight rain which had moved through by dawn but the blazing force 7 North-westerly wind remained which unfortunately meant that we couldn't open any nets; a real contrast to the nice, spring-like days Gedser has been enjoying of late!

   A look out at the tip instead produced good numbers of Ducks with hundreds of Eider, Red-breasted Mergansers and Long-tailed Ducks milling around, seemingly unsure whether to continue migrating in the rough conditions or not - flying north, then south, then resting on the sea; all very confused but creating a great spectacle!   In amongst them were smaller numbers of other species including Shoveler, Teal, Common Scoter, Brent Goose and a single Velvet Scoter while a Sandwich Tern was also of note; a brave few passerines were also seen coming in from the south, battling against the strong wind including three White Wagtails, a couple of Meadow Pipits and a few Starlings.

   Other birds through the day included a few Finches heading north including Siskin, Redpoll and Greenfinch and a big female Peregrine caused excitement in the afternoon.   So, a busy first day here at the station - even with no ringing, with a few jobs completed including mending one of the canopy nets, spreading wood-chips around some of the wetter pathways and various other little maintenance tasks all of which led to a productive time!

Simon Davies - ringing here at Gedser until mid-June

To ugers mærkning er forbi (Not a single money changer!)

To ugers ferie og ringmærkning sammen med Hans Lind er forbi. Høsten blev 382 ny-mærkninger hvor musvitterne vandt stort med 189 ny-mærkninger. Glædeligt var også antallet af gulspurve som pt. står på 14 for marts hvilket er mange fortæller Hans Lind – og det trods at der kun er gået to uger af marts.

Hun gulspurv den 14. på lige mange dage i marts.
Yellowhammer no 14 in two weeks

Andre højdepunkter var de tre tidligste rødtoppede fuglekonger der nogensinde er blevet ringmærket på GFU. Overraskelsen over dem alle må være da lille korsnæb blev ringmærket på første dagen.

Blandt overraskelser hører bestemt også at der blev genfanget to musvitter fra Polen – den sidst fandt vi i dag bland de sidste tre musvitter på sidste netrunde der var fløjet i nettene – ingen dårlig afslutning – mindst lige så god som første dagen med korsnæb.

Den anden Polske musvit på to uger.
Another great tit  from Poland (keep up the good work in Poland :-) )

Dear English readers

Not a single “money changer!”

A very pleasant two weeks holiday is now over - it was spent ring birds at Gedser Observatory and Ringing Station with Hans Lind. During that period, we managed to ring 382 birds. Among the highlights were yellowhammer 14 (the highest number for Marts), three very early firecrest, good numbers of great tits (189) with additional some 10-20 recaptures and among these two from Poland!

Rather strange or unusual is that we did not see, hear or ring any “money changer” [collybita from Greek “kollubistes”, a money changer] – very strange as stations “around” us have already ringed a few.

Coal tit on migration in the spring - not common at Gedser

Lovely spring signs are here - here a coltsfoot

Thanks for following us – and now over to Simon Davies – fresh young blood “importet” from England.

M.v.h. Hans&Louis

Der blev gået til stålet i dag!!!

Torsdag den 13. marts var vejrmæssigt ikke forskellig fra de seneste dages højtryksvejr med næsten vindstille (sjældent i Gedser), høj sol og rimfrost i græs og i nettene.

Morgenstemning i rimtågen

Denne fuglekonge ser (kun) lidt sur ud

  Louis havde været tidligt på mærkerne og fået de fleste af nettene sat til fangst (frost prægede igen nettene i GFUs have - de fleste var frosset så meget at de ikke kunne åbnes uden at ødelægge dem - akkurart som dagen før!), inden den ledende A-mærker dukkede op med søvnige øjne.
Som i går udeblev mejserne, men dagen krydredes af sæsonens tredie rødtoppede fuglekonge - denne gang en fin hun - og hannen fra i går blev genfanget med med en del mere fedt på kroppen end ved mærkningen. Den er snart klar til at trække videre.

Eddikesur! Genfangst fra i går, nu en fed lille sag på 5,6 gram og fedt score 4

  Som nævnt ovenfor blev der gået til stålet i dag, på mere end én måde: For det første fik vi fanget og mærket to "stålhjelme", i normal tale bogfinke-hanner med den stågrå kalot. For det andet fik Gert og Hans arbejdet kraftigt videre på renoveringen af den ramponerede anhænger, som vi bruger i det daglig arbejde med at passe stationshaven: Ny træbund isat, buler rettet ud, gamle nitter og skruer fjernet med vinkelsliber og påskruet  forstærkende vinkler i hjørnerne. Nu mangler blot de nye skærme og bagklappen, hvilket vi håber at kunne klare i morgen. Endelig for det tredje gik Louis næsten total amok indenfor med varmt vand, støvsuger, gulvklud og stålbørste for at komme til bunds i nullermænd, fastgroet snavs og kalk samt spindelvæv, dyner mv blev også luftet, og det lykkedes til fulde! Tusind tak til både Louis og Gert for knokleriet i dag.

Den tredje i år! Denne en hun

  Dagen dont var først overstået kl. 16.30, 13 nymærkede fugle blev det til i dag af otte arter: Gærdesmutte, jernspurv, solsort, rødtoppet fuglekonge, gulspurv, bogfinke, grønirisk og rødhals med sidstnævnte som topscorer (4). Ederfuglene havde travlt med at komme til den svenske og finske skærgård, og både tornirisk og hvid vipstjert blev set - og nydt!

Stort træk af ederfugle i dag - men umuligt at dække, medens vi ringmærkede

Gulspurv (gammel) han nu i næsten fuld sommerdragt. Den var mærket som 2k han af Luis Silva for et år siden

Dear English readers

Another quite ringing day (no wind = no birds to ring and few if any passerines will migrate) however, the stations had a good old fashion "scrub down” and the work on the old trailer continued throughout the day.

The fun birds today was the goldcrest and a recapture of yesterday’s male firecrest – he had gained a lot of fat – so he is probable on the move this night) – later much to Louis’ prediction or claim a second firecrest was ringed (this a female) – two birds had been heard – but there were doubt if he was right.

Many eiders was seen from the garden today – from the tip, Orla Jackobsen counted +7500 in just three hours – not bad at all.

Gert, Louis og Hans

PS. Vi glæder os til at byde Simon Davies velkommen til Skandinaviens sydligste fuglestation. Han ankommer i morgen sammen med Rune, og han skal stå for mærkningen resten af foråret, i perioder med hjælp fra ringmærkere tilknyttet fuglestationen.