So it continues...

This morning, in perfect (ringing) conditions, all nets were opened before first light. Wind-still and overcast, a Thrush Nightingale crackled from some dense vegetation.

The first round came and it was to be as the rest of the morning, steady. 2 or 3 birds in each net, a nice array of species and ages and a stress-free situation, nice! After 6 hours of the nets being opened, I closed as the rounds had 'dried up' to a stand still, I'd ringed 112 birds of 15 Species.

Willow Warbler 42
Tree Sparrow 14
Garden Warbler 11
Redstart 10
Whitethroat 8
Blackcap 7
Dunnock 6
Robin 4
Lesser Whitethroat 2
Pied Flycatcher 2
Spotted Flycatcher 2
Tree Pipit 1
Reed Warbler 1
Chiffchaff 1
House Sparrow 1

Dunnock - Craig Brookes

There starts to be a shift in birds caught in the garden along with in which nets, as the fruit bearing bushes and trees die back, other come into bloom; the wind directions are also affecting which area of the garden the birds are in. As August drew to a close, Lesser Whitethroat, Whitethroat and Acrocephalus warblers made the bulk of the catch. Now however there will be a sudden shift towards more typical autumn species as Finches, Thrushes, Robins, Dunnocks and wrens begin to appear; maybe it will be a little later than my stay, but there will be coverage right throughout the season here and although mostly in English, I'm sure you will all continue to read about Gedser and hopefully visit and support the station and it's work.

I had hoped to join Louis at the tip for some migration counting today but I was just too tired, I opted to sleep instead. Louis reported that migration was 1/5 of yesterday's but he still recorded a Red-throated Pipit migrating amongst the expected early autumn migrants. Also 2200 Common Scoter, which isn't a bad count by any standards.

Over the garden I noted at least 300 Siskin today, also 6 Crossbill, 2 Great Spotted woodpeckers, 36 Golden Plover, Oystercatcher, Marsh Harrier (juv), 2 Sparrowhawks and a Kestrel. None of which were seen to migrate. I did however record 1 Whimbrel and 2 Ringed Plover which seemed to be high heading South.

Tomorrow looks set to be another top day here in Gedser, if you are in the area, definitely give us a visit.

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

Record Breaking Tit

With intermittent rain showers throughout the morning only a couple of hours of ringing were taken. It seemed as rain showers came and went many diurnal migrants had turned back and headed Northwest. Counts of 40 Redpoll, 30 Goldfinch, 20 Siskin, 50 Chaffinch/Brambling and a handful of Yellowhammers returning early on; 42 Waxwings grounded in the garden!

The ringing was OK today with 20 new birds before the rain stopped play entirely. 1 Goldcrest, 1 Coal tit and 18 Blue Tit. Talking of Blue Tits, today we received 2 recoveries of birds ringed this Autumn, the first ringed by Gert on 24th September had traveled 424Km in 44 days to the Netherlands where it was caught by a ringer. (see map below.)

Blue Tit movement, 424km in 44days

The second was actually a record breaker as it was (according to the Danish Migration Atlas) the furthest Southwesterly recovery of a Blue Tit ever. I ringed this bird on 3rd October 2012; a day when over 140 Blue Tit were ringed. The recovery came from an astonishing 548km away in just 19 days when the bird was captured by a ringer and released.

The record breaker, 548km in 19days

 Below is a map of both Blue Tit recoveries on 1 page. 

Both the above Blue Tit recoveries shown on one page.

The above maps show the incredible data we can collect from bird ringing efforts and with over 3900 Blue Tits ringed this year we can expect some more information soon. We've ringed a little over 15'000 birds this year at Gedser so hopefully some more great recoveries will appear soon.

I spent 2 hours Sea-watching today (11:00 - 13:00) I counted the following birds migrating.

Eider 453, Red-throated Diver 19, Black-throated Diver 1, Long-tailed Duck 13, Common Scoter 14, Red-breasted Merganser 31, Mallard 3, Goldeneye 1, Velvet Scoter 3, Whooper Swan 3, Little Gull 2, Purple Sandpiper 1, Snow Buntings which came in off the sea from the Northwest 5! Scaup 6, Great Crested Grebe 1. Finch migration slow with Goldfinch 40, Greenfinch 38, Siskin 28, Linnet 7, Twite 6 also 42 Twite were resting. 13 Rooks and 2 Sparrowhawks also migrated.

Grounded migrants, Curlew, Golden Plover, Waxwing 28 (plus the above mentioned 42), Coal Tit 2, Goldcrest 6, Blackbird 3.

Blog and Maps: Craig Brookes

More of the same.

This morning was a little windier than yesterday but I still managed to get a few nets open. Before dawn it was obvious there were a few grounded Thrushes as Blackbirds, Redwing and Mistle Thrush were all heard! When the light came many of these birds left the garden, there wasn't a massive fall but reasonable numbers for November with 30 Blackbirds, 20 Redwing, 10 Song Thrush and 6 Mistle Thrush. Anyway, more on that later.

Ringing was a little quieter than yesterday though still enjoyable. Only 14 new birds today.

Blackbird 7
Robin 2
Dunnock 1
Song Thrush 1
Redwing 1
WAXWING 1
FIRECREST 1

Fiecrest 1cy Female

Amazingly another Firecrest makes it 3 for the Autumn. Not bad! If I had only heard this bird I would have presumed it was the same bird as yesterday.

Migrants - 3 Rough-legged Buzzards, 3 Sparrowhawk, 2 Golden Plover, 5 Yellowhammer, Chaffinch/Brambling 50,

Grounded Migrants today then (excluding the Thrushes mentioned earlier). Waxwing 37, Fieldfare 580 roaming around mid-afternoon, 1 Mute Swan on top fields, Buzzard, Goldcrest 5, Blue Tit 5, Wren 2, Great tit 5, Tree Sparrow 18, Bullfinch 2, Robin 5, Dunnock 2, Greenfinch 3, Goldfinch 2, Chaffinch/Brambling 15.

Waxwing 2cy+ Female

Photos and Blog: Craig Brookes