Ørnevåge dag

There's a saying in English that 'lightening never strikes twice', today however such prophesies were swept aside when a call from exasperated birders on the tip announced the presence of a second Long-legged Buzzard (Ørnevåge). The bird was much darker than it's counterpart, which migrated midweek. Staff at the obs missed the bird as it turned and returned North before anybody could get onto it, if you're in Gedser or the surrounding area in the next few days, be aware that this bird will probably attempt to migrate again and hopefully it will be picked up along the way.

Ørnevåge, Buteo rufinus 2K+ © Gert Jeppesen

Ørnevåge, Buteo rufinus 2K+ © Gert Jeppesen

Ørnevåge, Buteo rufinus 2K+ © Gert Jeppesen

Ørnevåge, Buteo rufinus 2K+ © Gert Jeppesen

Ørnevåge, Buteo rufinus 2K+ © Gert Jeppesen

Other than the flurry of excitement mid-afternoon, ringing was fairly standard for an August morning with a notable catch of Lesser whitethroat and Willow warbler. Totals for the morning were as follows:

Thrush Nightingale (Nattergal) - 1
Redstart (Rødstjert) - 1
Marsh Warbler (Kærsanger) - 1
Lesser Whitethroat (Gærdesanger) - 28
Whitethroat (Tornsanger) - 8
Garden Warbler (Havesanger) - 4
Willow Warbler (Løvsanger) - 19
Great Tit (Musvit) - 1
Short-toed Treecreeper (Korttået Træløber) - 1
Red-backed Shrike (Rødrygget Tornskad) - 1
Tree Sparrow (Skovspurv) - 2
Linnet (Tornirisk) 1

Total of 68 new birds.

On the tip there was little in the way of passage migrants. 85 Common Tern (Fjordterne) and 63 Arctic Tern (Havterne) were the highest counts of the afternoon with lesser numbers of Black Tern (Sortterne) 10 and Little Gull (Dværgemåge) 4. 7 Marsh Harrier, 7 Kestrel, 2 Sparrowhawks, 2 Buzzards, a Honey Buzzard and 3 White-tailed eagles rested around the area today and were reluctant to migrate. An Arctic Skua was a sign of things to come as their passage will take place over the coming weeks. Also worth looking out for is the Long-tailed Skuas which will also pass Gedser in the coming weeks.

In the evening Jon Kennedy arrived from Copenhagen to help with the ringing in the coming days.

Lille Flue Two

With a continued Northwesterly airflow over night, many of yesterday's birds seemed to have left the garden! At first light the garden seemed quieter than yesterday,though diurnal migrants were certainly evident. We recorded many hirundines early on, along with 28 Crossbill, 50+ Tree pipits and 40+ Yellow Wagtails.

The first rounds were slower than yesterday, though we kept busy throughout the morning and finished ringing with a very respectable 95 birds.

Willow Warbler 23
Lesser Whitethroat 18
Whitethroat 12
Tree Sparrow 11
Blackcap 10
Linnet 5
Garden Warbler 3
Tree Pipit 3
Redstart 3
Marsh Warbler 2
Icterine Warbler 2
Robin 1
Pied Flycatcher 1
RED-BREASTED FLYCATCHER 1

Yes, that's two Red-breasted Flycatcher (Lille Fluesnapper) in 2 days. After yesterday's juvenile bird, this adult female was a smart specimen.

Red-breasted Flycatcher (Ad female) - Craig Brookes

Red-breasted Flycatcher (Adult female) - Craig Brookes

Birding highlights of the day - Honey Buzzard (Dark adult) migrating mid-morning. A sea-watch from 14:45 - 17:45 produced the following migrants.

Arctic Skua 3
LONG-TAILED SKUA 1
Wigeon 4
Dunlin 44
Whimbrel 1
Bar-tailed Godwit 1
Yellow Wagtail 17 (Migrated)
Red-necked Grebe 2
Common Tern 5
Sandwich Tern 25

Around though, there were more Sandwich Terns, A Marsh Harrier (ad male), Merlin (1cy), Sparrowhawk 6, Meadow Pipit 2, 4 Common Gull, 5 Greater Black Backed Gulls; also mammals, 1 Harbour porpoise and 1 old looking Grey Seal!

Photo and blog: Craig Brookes

LATE UPDATE - AUGUST AT IT'S BEST

With a persistent Easterly wind buffeting the coast here in Gedser, grounded migrants are fairly thin on the ground, therefore ringing totals are down on numbers expected.

This morning (Sunday 25th) was no exception. In 5 hours of standardised ringing (20 nets) I caught only 24 new birds.

Tree Pipit 3
Redstart 2
Marsh Warbler 2
Reed Warbler 1
Icterine Warbler 2
Lesser Whitethroat 2
Whitethroat 2
Blackcap 1
Willow Warbler 4
Pied Flycatcher 1
Linnet 3
Greenfinch 1

So why the title 'August at it's best'? Well, this is due to the birdwatching day which was had today around the peninsular.

Henrik, John and Anders (3 weekend guests) kicked up an ORTOLAN BUNTING somewhere between the Odde and the station and managed to Re-locate it very close to the station. A stunning adult male which fed on the short grass paths behind the station before flying over the lighthouse garden and presumably into the crop fields on the otherside. A great find at Gedser.

Whilst this was going on Louis and a few others continued to count the migration at the tip, a fine job they did too. Below are a fraction of Louis' totals from total.

"Gedser Point 05:15 - 19:00 - Arctic Skua 86, Long-tailed Skua 5, Little Gull 470, Kittiwake 6, Black Tern 24, Gannet 1, Crane 15, Teal 1030, Scaup 1" Also Garganey (Ad male), Shoveler 82+, Wigeon 254+ and Pintail 55+

An amazing amount of birds for late August. The aforementioned Scaup was actually the first record for August, in Gedser.

Also around today, Montagu's Harrier, Hen Harrier and Marsh Harrier.

It was great to see so many people migration counting and birding here and at the tip today. The data produced by more coverage of the site and migration records is truly spectacular. I hope to see as many people out at the tip next weekend as there were this, after some amazing birdwatching today. Below are a few pictures taken by Louis Hansen at from the tip today.

Arctic Skua - Louis Hansen

Cranes, 8 adults 1 Juvenile (Marked by red arrow)

Montagu's Harrier adult Male - Louis Hansen

Blog: Craig Brookes
Photos: Louis Hansen

Skua day. Sat 24th August

Saturday morning the wind blew briskly from the East 10m/s as a result ringing was rather quiet compared with recent days. Only 30 or so birds ringed. Garden Warbler, Lesser Whitethroat, Willow Warbler and Whitethroat the main species ringed today. Also 3 young Goldfinches.

As the begins to change from summer to autumn, we can notice a shift in the ages of birds being caught along their migration routes, the beginning of autumn normally shows the arrival of juveniles en masse, this is because: 1, there are more juvenile birds present at this time of year than at any other, compared with ratio to adults. 2, Juveniles disperse from their nesting grounds earlier and undertake shorter hops (a slower migration) than the adults which arrive later on as they surge for their wintering grounds.

Saturday morning however, I noticed a shift amongst Garden Warblers, Lesser Whitethroats and the Whitethroats with regards to their ages; after weeks of only catching juvenile birds today we caught the 2nd,3rd and 4th Adult Lesser Whitethroats of the autumn, the same trend was shown by the other species.

Garden Warbler-2cy+ note the worn (and 1 replaced) Tertials. Craig Brookes

As ringing was slow and the wind picked up, after standardised ringing was finished, I packed up the nets, intent on grabbing some lunch and heading out to the point; that didn't happen. I fell asleep almost instantly once I had sat down, which is a shame as Louis' totals below show he had a rather nice day out on the point.

Louis Hansen: "05:15 - 17:25 : Teal 800, Arctic Skua 60, Long-tailed Skua 5-7, Little Gull 265, Black Tern 15, Osprey 4, Shoveler 310, Red-Throated Pipit 1" also a Juv Mediterranean Gull was seen.


Photo and Blog : Craig Brookes

The Autumn arrives.

Firstly, sorry for not blogging yesterday evening,tasks mounted up and once we had sorted them all, I fell asleep; poor excuse, I know. So I hope to bring you up to date here.

19th August

Quite a busy morning, more so than previous days. I can only post ringing totals as migration wasn't counted yesterday.

Tree Pipit 3
Thrush Nightingale 3
Black Redstart 1
Redstart 7
Sedge Warbler 2
Marsh Warbler 12
Reed Warbler 2
Icterine Warbler 3
Lesser Whitethroat 13
Whitethroat 27
Garden Warbler 17
Blackcap 4
Willow Warbler 23
Spotted Flycatcher 2
Pied Flycatcher 1
Red-backed Shrike 1
Linnet 7

Total 128.

Bird highlight, 3(+) TAWNY OWLS calling in the garden overnight.

A Canary-shouldered Thorn (Moth) was found whilst clearing some trees, my first in Denmark.

20th August 

Today was Thorkild's last morning at the station, we opened nets as usual prior to dawn in near still conditions. Shortly after opening a breeze developed and if I'm honest, I wasn't too hopeful for a good day. I was wrong. By the time Thorkild left around mid morning we had ringed 150 or so birds. By the end of the day, we had ringed 350.

An exceptional day, with the first 'proper' arrival of the Autumn.

Ringing totals then

Willow Warbler - 195
Marsh Warbler - 29
Whitethroat - 25
Lesser Whitethroat - 19
Garden Warbler - 18
Pied Flycatcher - 15
Reed Warbler - 9
Blackcap - 6
Redstart - 5
Icterine Warbler - 5
Spotted Flycatcher - 5
Tree Pipit - 4
Thrush Nightingale - 4
WRYNECK - 2
Greenfinch - 2
Linnet - 2
Yellow Wagtail - 1
Black Redstart - 1
Grasshopper Warbler - 1
Sedge Warbler - 1
Red-backed Shrike - 1

Total 350!

Wryneck - 1cy. Craig Brookes

Gert continued to work on the ringing house today and did a great job with the windows, all that's left to do now is to paint the insides. Hans appeared mid-morning and got stuck in helping with the birds. I am very grateful for all the help we've recieved. Who knows what tomorrow will bring?

Photo and blog: Craig Brookes

Late start

With rain threatening on every forecast, this morning we didn't open the nets until 09:30.

When we did, it wasn't really surprising to catch only 13 new birds.

Willow Warbler 1
Redstart 2
Lesser Whitethroat 1
Icterine Warbler 3
Whitehtroat 3
Garden Warbler 2
Linnet 1

Linnet 2k female - Craig Brookes

The highlight bird of the day was a Honey Buzzard. There were also a few Crossbills moving through again and Swifts graced us for one of the last days this autumn?

The windows arrived to put the finishing touches to the ringing house. Which will be great, once installed.

Photo and Blog, Craig Brookes

Another nice day in Gedser.

This morning (Friday 2nd August) conditions were near perfect for ringing. All nets were opened and standardised ringing was completed, we closed the nets for a few hours in the midday sun and then opened again in the afternoon for a short while. Overall, 60 new birds were caught today.

Icterine warbler (Gulbug)- 20
Marsh Warbler (Kærsanger) - 7
Willow Warbler (Løvsanger) - 6
Blackbird (Solsort) - 5
Lesser Whitethroat (Gærdesanger) - 5
Whitethroat (Tornsanger) - 4
Greenfinch (Grønirisk)- 2
Redstart (Rødstjert) - 2

Singles of Thrush Nightingale (Nattergal), Blackcap (Munk), Chiffchaff (Gransanger), FIRECREST  (Rødtoppet Fuglekonge), Pied Flycatcher(Broget Fluesnapper) and Linnet (Tornirisk)

We also recaptured the River Warbler  (Flodsanger) first ringed a few days ago.

Below are pictures of Heidi, happy after ringing her first Firecrest and also, the River Warbler.

Heidi med Rødtoppet Fuglekonge - Foto Craig Brookes

Flodsanger, River Warbler - Foto Craig Brookes

Migration was evident over the garden today and we counted 30+ Crossbills (though many more were too high to count), 4 Yellow Wagtails, 3 Siskin, 2 Tree Pipit and 1 Honey Buzzard.

Anders' father Brian and friend Terkel were here for a second day, we enjoyed a barbeque and a 'sundown' in the cool evening sun. Another fine day to be working here at Gedser.


*In case you are a ringer reading this, Gedser Fuglestation still has an available spot for a Ringer-in-charge this Autumn. It's a paid position and having spent 2 autumns down here myself I can certainly recommend it. If you are interested please contact Rune Tjørnløv.

Photos and Blog: Craig Brookes

Hoping for better weather

With the weather of recent days putting an end to any ringing activities, today, again I took a little time for some bird watching.

With gloomy grey skies and light rain most of the day migration was very quiet. Only 30 Chaffinch/Brambling were seen to head out to sea. Seawatching was normal, Long-tailed Ducks, Eiders, Common Scoters and the other regulars. On the beach however I did find a Purple Sandpiper nestled in amongst some rocks. This bird will have travelled to Gedser from further North, maybe Svalbard or Norway and may spend the winter months here if conditions are fit; though it may continue South later in the season. Below is a picture of a Purple Sandpiper taken here at Gedser by Louis A. Hansen.
 

Purple Sandpiper -

Sortgrå Ryle - Calidris maritima Photo Louis A. Hansen

Again a Waxwing or 2 were heard in the garden though not seen.

Photo: Louis A. Hansen
Blog: Craig Brookes