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!