For once fog did me a favour

As I set out to open the nets just before dawn, it was calm and clear with a very bright moon but before I had finished a bank of fog had rolled in obscuring the moon and sky, "aahhaa" I said "this will drop some birds in".   I was right as well, the changing weather produced an excellent and varied arrival of birds through the morning as 93 new birds were caught; a smart Red-breasted Flycatcher and the first Red-backed Shrike of the year being the highlights.
   Numbers were made up of 2 Tree Pipits, a White Wagtail, the first new Robin for a while, 12 Redstarts, the first Reed Warbler to be ringed, 4 Lesser Whitethroats, 8 Whitethroats, 7 Garden Warblers, a Blackcap, a Wood Warbler, 2 Chiffchaffs, 39 Willow Warblers, 4 Spotted Flycatchers (there were 15+ around the garden), 2 Pied Flycatchers and a late Brambling.

Red-breasted Flycatcher

Scruffy Pied Flycatcher

Completing the hat-trick, Spotted Flycatcher

An angry Red-backed Shrike

 

Other birds seen through the morning included a Golden Oriole which dropped in briefly and gave a little song, 3 Whinchats, 4 singing Icterine Warblers and a good flock of Swallows, Sand Martins, House Martins and Swifts brought low by the fog.   A group of 6 Cranes flew east and an Osprey circled the station mid-morning.

 

A singing Marsh Warbler and 3 singing Reed Warblers were at Kroghage in the afternoon but there were few other migrants present although it was impossible to tell who was a migrant and who was setting up territories as there were singing warblers all over the place!

Calming down

Still pretty windy first thing but as predicted, it began to calm down from 07:00 leaving very good ringing conditions - quite calm and overcast; it was quiet however with 22 new birds ringed with an Icterine Warbler (plus another returning bird from July last year), a Spotted Flycatcher, 2 Garden Warblers, a Redstart, 3 Lesser Whitethroats and 10 Willow Warblers the highlights.

At least someone's been busy in the ringing lab!

 

A Serin flew over the garden while yesterday's Icterine Warbler was still belting out Sandwich Tern impressions from the middle of bushes!

Why did the Newt cross the road?

 

I cycled north up the coast to Bøtø in the afternoon; birds seen on the way up included a good flock of 32 Black-throated Divers fishing close inshore, 2 Little Terns, 12 Common Crossbills (the first ones I've seen since the start of April) and locally much more significant, a pair of Stonechats feeding fledglings.  

 Bøtø itself was quieter with the breeding birds dominating including my first singing Reed Warblers of the spring, several squealing Water Rails, a few Lapwing chicks scuttling around trying to hide from the crows, plenty of ducklings and goslings waddling around and 4 Garganey.

 



Why's there a Sandwich Tern in that tree?

Still breezy but nowhere as bad as yesterday so I managed to open most of the nets in the morning and after the previous day's blip we were back to normal!   37 new birds were caught which included the usual spread of migrants with 19 Willow Warblers, 2 Redstarts, 5 Whitethroats, a smart Wood Warbler, a Lesser Whitethroat, 2 Garden Warblers and a new Yellowhammer the highlights.

The first Icterine Warbler of the spring was also trapped which proved to be a re-trap from late May last year and he sang his head off all morning!  He seemed particularly fond of imitating a Sandwich Tern as part of the song!

Wood Warbler

 

A walk north up the coast produced a few bits and pieces including the first Marsh Warbler of the spring singing away in a small patch of bushes on the cliff top, 4 Common Sandpipers at the tip, a few Pied Flycatchers and Redstarts dotted around, a singing Firecrest in the Gedesby Woods and at least 3 Marsh Harriers floating around while every bush seemed to be full of singing Whitethroats and Lesser Whitethroats - brilliant!

Must be some kind of record

An even stronger westerly wind lashed the station today but against all odds I managed to get a full standardised ringing session in; there was however, one problem, I failed to catch a single bird, no re-traps, no nothing!   Its been pointed out that this could be a record - a completely blank session in the middle of May, I'm so proud!

With all the spare time this gave me I had a good look at the sea from the station and while birds weren't exactly streaming past there was enough to keep me entertained including an adult Gannet which flew west - always scarce in the Baltic, 2 distant Pomarine Skuas east, a very close Arctic Skua almost along the shore, 3 Garganey west, a Red-necked Grebe, 3 Swifts west and a few Swallows.

As there were some birds passing I put some effort in at the point after the nets were closed; it was however pretty quiet with a Serin south, a Marsh Harrier in off the sea and a dribble of Swallows and House Martins heading south down the coast.

More people than birds

Overcast and very windy again but this time there was quite a bit of rain thrown in keeping me scurrying around getting wet several times!   There were however very few birds for me to worry about with 8 new birds trapped which comprised a Redstart, a Garden Warbler, 2 Whitethroats, a Lesser Whitethroat, 2 Willow Warblers and a Spotted Flycatcher.

Spotted Flycatcher

 

The poor weather definitely affected the number of birds caught but it also affected the number of people who came to visit the station for our open house this morning; there was however a steady turnover of folks from mid-morning who I think enjoyed themselves and learnt a bit more about what we do here at the station.   Most people got to see at least one bird in the hand, a Whitethroat on the very final round was a bit of a lifesaver!

 

There were more quality birds from Louis sheltering out on the tip with the highlight being a cracking summer plumaged White-billed Diver which flew west early in the morning (which despite sprinting across the garden, I missed by seconds!).   Other birds included a bold Golden Oriole which flew south taking battling into the wind, 300 Swallows south, 13 Swifts north and 6 south, 780 Barnacle Geese, a Crane, a single Honey Buzzard north over the station and a Kittiwake.

Mystery bird tail - no its not a Bee-eater or an Arctic Skua despite it trying its best!

See you tomorrow!

A windy, cold, heavily overcast morning led to a very quiet ringing session with only 6 new birds caught which comprised 2 Whitethroats, 2 Willow Warblers, a Garden Warbler and a White Wagtail.

White Wagtail

 

Although Gedser is more famous for its autumn raptor migration, today was a fantastic visible migration day with the total counts from the tip including 93 Honey Buzzards north, 2 Black Kites south, a Red Kite south, 5 Marsh Harriers and a Hen Harrier south with 2 White-tailed Eagles and a Merlin kicking around as well - most of it not visible from the station, dammit!

   Other birds seen by Louis at the tip included 17, 000 Barnacle Geese, a Great-northern Diver, a Mediterranean Gull, an Arctic Skua, a Crane, a Serin and a steady stream of overshooting Swallows heading back south.

 

Just a reminder as well that tomorrow, as well as being the final day of the Premier League (what price a West Ham win?) it is the open-house day here at the station where everyone is welcome to come and visit; the weather forecast is variable to say the least but that won't stop us!   Should be a good day!

Some of our nestboxes are coming on nicely, this one is full of Great Tits