A batty goodbye.

A solemn day here in Gedser, at dawn a dense fog hung over the station and there was hope for many grounded birds. Robins and dunnocks ticking certainly brought a September feel!

Slow ringing eventually with only 30 new birds captured.

Skovpiber 1
Rødhals 1
Rødstjert 1
Gulbug 2
Gærdesanger 6
Tornsanger 7
Havesanger 2
Munk 2
Sydlige gransanger 1
Løvsanger 4
Gulspurv 1

2 Spurvehøg were also caught though not in the standardised ringing.

The strangest catch of the day however, came mid-morning when I was forced to adorn some thick gloves and head for the high-net, a bat had become entangled! After a very delicate extraction, the bat was released unscathed and flew to a nearby roosting spot.

A couple of hours and some light later I returned to the bat and took a few pictures to identify the species.

Vespertilio murinus, Gedser 01/09/2015. Craig Brookes ©

Vespertilio murinus, Gedser 01/09/2015. Craig Brookes © 

Vespertilio murinus, Gedser 01/09/2015. Craig Brookes ©

The species was identified as Skimmelflagermus (Parti-coloured Bat), it appears that this is the first record of the bat in the Gedser area, but we are happy to be corrected if not. Whether this bat was a migrant or a local is unclear, what I do know, is that it's very rare to catch bats in mist nets whilst catching birds. A quick google search suggests that this species normally forages between 10 and 40 metres, I'm not sure why I caught it less than 4 metres up.

Other notable sightings were a juvenile Hvepsevåge (Honey Buzzard) sat in the garden and an increasingly late Mursejler (Swift).

It was sad to see the station empty this afternoon, with the departure of Lydia, Roberto and Helen. It's been a great few days with Roberto and Helen and a fab month with Lydia.

Personally, and on behalf of the station I would like to thank Lydia for the hard work over the last few months and through the tiredness, disagreements and cookie times, we certainly gelled well as a team and learnt a lot from each other. I would like to wish you the best of luck in the future, wherever your travels should take you and hope that one day, post PhD, we will meet again at an observatory.

Migration is certainly hotting up now and I'll hopefully be reporting more from the tip after a few leisurely days of tourism!

Craig