Ringing and moth:

Not so many birds today, but many visitors. Lise joined me again for the first round and Amanda came with a group of DOF ung birders for the second round. Unfortunately not so many birds after first round, but a nice Bullfinch “Dompap”, Robin “Rødhals” and Blackcap “Munk”. At 10.00 Jonas from the Nature school took over the ringing until 12, as he had a ringing tour. So I had a long break and then did the closing round together with Lise, she left Blåvand today but maybe we will see her at the station another time!

Brambling "Kvækerfinke", male in the closing round, foto by Lise 

I just caught one moth today, Autographa gamma “Gammaugle”, a very common moth, that you can also observe flying during the day, but its flight period is ending soon and I did not get it in the trap here in Blåvand jet.

Autographa gamma “Gammaugle”

At the station: Louis, David, Hanelie and 5 guests

Observations:

Endnu en blæsende, og regnende dag på hukket..

Det var lige før at der var flere mennesker end fugle på hukket, da det i dag var starten på uge 42 - felttræf, på et tidspunkt var vi 60 personer på hukket!

Det var ikke de helt store antal af fugle der kom, men det endte da alligevel med at blive en stabil nok dag ..selvom de ellers forventede havfugle igen udeblev lidt…

Over havet kom en del lommer, lidt specielt var det i dag at antallet af lommer tiltog i løbet af morgenen, og ikke aftog som vi ellers normalt ser.. Det var også en lom som skulle gå hen og blive dagens fugl på hukket ..en fed Islom som kom på en meget overkommelig afstand..

Islom / Foto: Louis Poulsen

Der kom også pænt med Sortænder, over 4000, og også lidt Pibeænder med 261 stks. ..ellers kom der også bla. en sjov Mosehornugle forbi ude over havet.

I småfugle afdelingen var der generelt ret stille, men der kom en god sjat Hedelærker og lidt Bjerglærker, som altid er super dejlige at høre og se..

Nogle af os blev siddende på hukket da vinden ifølge vejrguderne skulle tage til i løbet af eftermiddagen, hvilket kunne være fint til havfugle.. det var lidt stille, på trods af en enkelt kjove, og en ubestemt skråpe/havfugl, det var generelt meget dårlige obs-forhold på hukket sidst på middagen, og det var svært at holde teleskoperne stille.. Vores redning blev at militæret åbnede området tidlige end planlagt, og da det faldt sammen med at vinden for alvor tog til, skyndte vi os op i bunkeren i håb om at den kraftige vind ville smide noget af sig.. Lidt Stormmåger kom over stranden, 2 flotte gamle Dværgmåger, og 2 kjover, ellers var det lige til den stille side…

The ringing:

This morning, the weather was better than expected for a change. I did not get many birds, one good round, else it was slow. It did not feel like that though, because in the first rounds, I had company of Lise, who came to Blåvand for birdwatching with her father for a few days. If there are not so many birds, there is time to explain, which is also nice. But we also got a good round together, in with some Bullfinches “Dompap” in the nets.

Male and female Bullfinch "Dopmap", foto by Lise

Later in the morning, I walked through an empty station garden. There was a dark Thrush in a net, that was the only bird. It was a first calendar year male Ringouzel “Ringdrossel”. When I went up to the lighthouse garden, there were also just 2 birds, so there was enough time to show the bird.

Ringouzel "Ringdrossel", foto: Mads Elley

The moths:

I just got two moths today, but one was new for me: Ypsolopha ustella “Sideliniet møl”. There are not so many entries of that species in Arter and Naturbasn, but that is probably because it is a quite small and inconspicuous moth. I was happy about the new species though.

Ypsolopha ustella “Sideliniet møl”

In the afternoon, Karen and I made a trip to Tipmosen. It was nice, on the first part of our walk, we saw many Redwings “Vindrossel”, there were also quite many Robins “Rodhals” in the area and we saw a Hen Harrier “Blå Kærhøg” but my highlight was a Mistlethrush “Misteldrossel”. A very nice Thrush, would not mind to get that in the net as well. We also looked at the waders, the weather had already turned quite bad but many Curlews “Storspove”, Oystercatchers “Strandskade” and Dunlins “Almindelig Ryle” were nice.

Mistlethrush "Misteldrossel", foto: Karen Koefoed

Folk på stationen: Louis, Hanelie, David, +mange

Observations:

Blæsten fortsatte til morgen, men var dog gået i en meget sydlig retning hvilket ikke er optimalt for ihvertfald havfugle, og det blev det heller ikke rigtigt til, lige udover en Islom som kom flyvende mod nord fra sydhukket af, hvor den også blev set, og én enkelt Almindelig Kjove. …ellers var det meget stille over havet..

Der kom til gengæld, på trods af den ret kraftige vind, lidt småfugle hoppende mellem klitterne. Flest Engpibere med 637, og også en god sjat Bjergvipstjerter med 13 stks..

Efter obsen sagde vi farvel til Lorin, som har været har i 3 ugers tid, og har været en stor hjælp på obsen, vi har set en masse fede fugle, bla. forsøgt os med NocMig, og generelt haft en super sjov periode, så det var lidt vemodigt ..men forhåbenligt det blot er på gensyn…

Eftermiddag og aften tilbragte jeg på blåvandgård, hvor DOFUng har indfundet sig, og holder til i uge 42.

The ringing:

A new thing this morning was more new Blackbirds “Solsort” in the nets than the days before. There were many Thrushes in the air, but else, apart from one Songthrush “Sangdrossel”, they did not go down and into the nets. The weather was not perfect, light rain showers on and off, but it was possible to keep the nets open by walking constantly. Later, in the morning, the sun came out, but it started to get windy, and I needed to close the lighthouse garden. Down at the station I could keep most nets open, as they were more sheltered.

A Chaffinch "Bogfinke", that was nearly as agressive as the Bluetit "Blåmejse", that I took out of its bag after.

The moth:

Just three species today which I already had here before. It is less moth flying at that time of year an the wind does not help, but there are still some winter species to come, that will be new for me, so the lights will be kept on in the nights!

Pennithera firmata "Rød fyrremåler"

The Red Deer "Krondyr", after it left the parking of the bird observatory! But it came back later in the evening.

At the station: Louis, Lorin, Hanelie, David and 5 guests.

Observations:

Endnu en ret blæsende dag på hukket, og igen med øvelser i militær området det meste af dagen, sådan at vi ikke kunne gå i Sabinebunkeren.. ..så det blev en dag i "hullet" hvor der næsten var læ..

Der var fra start af ikke rigtigt så mange fugle, men der gik ikke længe før den første Sodfarvede Skråpe kom forbi mod nord, og i løbet af den næste time, kom 4 forbi på ret fornuftig afstand.

Senere på morgenen kom der i perioder også lidt småfugle, ikke særlig mange, men bla. 10 Hedelærker og én flok på 7 Bjerglærker.

Derudover var militæret igang med deres øvelser og der var kæmpe helikoptere overalt, og de landede ligefrem på mammut bunkeren på et tidspunkt.

Da vinden desværre aftog lidt midt på dagen, gik vi tilbage til stationen for at spise og luske lidt, da der næsten ikke skete noget over havet længere.. Vi fik også sagt farvel til Jonas som tog hjem i dag.

Men da vinden tog til igen og militær området og dermed også sabine bunkeren åbnede ved 15. tiden, tog vi op til denne og sad her indtil en god sjat efter solnedgang i håb om en stormsvale eller noget andet sjovt..

Det var ikke det helt vilde der skete generelt ..men de fugle som kom, kom tilgengæld virkelig godt..

Fløjlsand, som kom usædvanligt tæt på, i strandkanten / Foto: Louis Poulsen

Et par fede Dværgmåger kom også lige i strandkanten, og der kom et par små flokke af Stormmåger som blev tjekket godt igennem i håb om en Sabinemåge.

Dværgmåge, her en 1K fugl fra i år, med mørke tegninger på overvingen / Foto: Louis Poulsen

Sabinemåge blev det ikke til, men en anden overraskelse fik vi i form af en fed, fed Søkonge som kom drønende inde over stranden.

Søkonge / Foto: Louis Poulsen

Ringing and moth:

When my alarm woke me up, I heard heavy wind outside, so the nets needed to stay closed. Later in the morning, I went to check the moth traps and just found two moths: Xestia c-nigrum/ Det sorte c and Rhizedra lutosa/ Large Wainscot. Both species that I have had the nights before. But I noticed that the wind had dropped. Lorin called and confirmed that and told me that they saw many passerines at the sea watching spot. So I opened most nets in the stations garden and a few in the lighthouse garden. When I went out to do the first round, I met two ladies, with binoculars, who were looking for the best spot to watch birds. As they were also interested in the ringing, I invited them to follow me in the gardens first and we saw, that it had been a good idea to open, first I just found many Great Tits/ Musvit in the net, but when we continued, we saw many Brambings/ Kvækerfinke, that went down and had landed in the net. So my visitors got some birds in hand to see but unfortunately for me, the wind started to pick up again so I needed to close just after the second round. It looks like tomorrow, the wind will be a bit slighter, so I am hoping, I can keep the nets open for longer, as there are many passerines in the area.

Brambing/ Kvækerfinke

At the station: Louis, Lorin, Jonas, David, Hanelie and four guests.

Observations:

En meget blæsende morgen på hukket, vinden var i NNV det meste af morgenen/middagen, hvilket er lidt for meget N, det skal helst være mellem SV-NV for at være rigtigt godt til havfugle, og ydermere havde militæret træning i dag, og det var derfor ikke muligt at gå i sabinebunkeren. Så vi satte os i læ, eller vi prøvede ihvertfald at få læ, på vest siden af bunkeren på obs-klitten, det virkede nogenlunde…

Vi håbede selvfølgelig på lidt havfugle, selvom vinden ikke var helt perfekt, men de kom aldrig rigtigt udover 1 Almindelig Kjove, og en kjove sp. laangt ude.

Det blev til gengæld en fin dag for Rødstrubede lommer, med 105 stks. alene i første periode, og 431 i alt.

En ung Havørn kom tidligt forbi over stranden på meget nært hold, og fik alle mågerne på vingerne.

Aftenobs på hukket;)

Lorin og jeg tog en lille aften obs da vinden skulle gå en smule mere mod NV, men det blev ikke til det helt store, en del Stormmåger kom forbi, men ikke nogen deciderede havfugle i denne omgang..

Vi forsøgte os med at få et glimt af nordlys om aftenen, men skyerne besværliggjorde det en smule, men vi fandt en død Sortand og havde vældig meget sjov i den 15 m/s kraftige vind på stranden;)

Ringing:

When I opened the nets, I could already hear flight calls of Thrushes, Redwing “Vindrossel” and Songthrush “Sangdrossel” and Robins “Rødhals” calling in the bushes. That sounded like a promising day if the weather would have cooperated. It did not, which meant, that the second round was closing round because it started raining and the wind picked up a lot.  Nevertheless, it was not too bad considering the weather, I ringed 19 birds, 12 of them Robins “Rodhals”. The mayor of Varde commune visited today, and it was good timing because he could still see the last three birds being ringed: A Chaffinch “Bogfinke”, a Blackcap “Munk” and a Robin “Rødhals”.

Blackcap/ Munk

Moths:

It was the best day for catching moths since long. I got 12 species today. There were no new ones for me today, but I will show some pretty ones.

Palpita vitrealis/ Hvidt halvmøl

Rhizedra lutosa/ Stor sivugle

Folk på stationen: Louis, Lorin, Hanelie, David, Jonas, Bent, Henrik

Observations:

Igen en lidt våd morgen på hukket, men der var heldigvis mange fugle at kigge på i dag, specielt hvis man er til svømmeænder!

Allerede fra start af kom der pæne flokke, som blev ved med at komme lidt i bølger gennem hele dagen. Suverænt flest Pibeænder med 2001 stks., næst flest Spidsand, med 427, godt nok blot 37 Krikand, og lidt sølle 17 Skeænder.

Småfuglene var ret udeblivende generelt, men i bølger kom lidt Engpibere og overraskende mange Rørspurve.

Pibeænder, Spidsand og en Ederfugl i det meget af dagen ret mørke vejr / Foto: Louis Poulsen

Selvom det regnede, var det lidt hårdt at forlade obsen, da der stadig kom ande flokke, men ved halv ét tiden gjorde vi det, da vi skulle tilbage og lave hoved oprydning på stationen, da vi får særligt besøg i morgen.

Efter oprydning og pizza dejs lavning, var der lige tid til en times aften obs. på hukket for Lorin, David og jeg, det var ikke mange ænder der var tilbage, men et par små flokke kom der da, og en hel del Stormmåger trak langt ude.

The ringing:

The first two rounds were quite enjoyable, as I found quite some Redwings/Vindrossel in the nets. This beautiful Thrush with the dominant eye stripe and the beautiful dark red underwing was the most often ringed species today. In the rounds after, there was not so much more coming. I also needed to shut the nets down for a bit less than an hour but could also keep them open for one more hour, so today, I could keep the standard time. Again, I got many recapture Goldcrests/ Fuglekonge.

Goldcrest/ Fuglekonge

The highlight of the ringing today was a first calendar year Dunnock/ Jernspurv with fat 7!

Dunnock/ Jernspurv

After I opend the nets again after the rain, some amphibians came out. I saw Epidalea calmita/ Natterjack toad, Lissotrion vulgaris/ Smooth newt and this adorable big Bufo bufo/ Common toad.

Bufo bufo/ Common toad

Lissotrion vulgaris/ Smooth newt

The moths:

I was hoping for more, as the wind was quite low and conditions similar as yesterday, but just got 4 species today. I have caught all of them before, but Nomophilla noctuella/ Vandrehalvmøl and Consistra vaccinii/ Blåbærugle I did not have before here in Blåvand.

Consistra vaccinii/ Blåbærugle

Nomophilla noctuella/ Vandrehalvmøl

At the station: Louis, Lorin, Jonas, David, Hanelie.

Endnu en dag hvor vejrguderne havde regn på menuen, det blev en ret våd morgen med mange spredte byger i løbet af morgenen.. til gengæld kom der næsten ingen fugle… ..lige udover en faktisk ret god portion Suler som kom lidt i bølger, oftest mens regnen var mest intens af en eller anden grund, næsten 200 blev det til, hvilket faktisk er meget godt.

Tog højdepunkter i regnen var 1+1 Almindelig Kjove som kom forbi på fin afstand i revet, og løftede stemningen på hukket betydeligt.

Igen var der lidt gang i Pibeænderne, også tæt på 200, som var meget fint, men vi vil gerne have mange flere, hvis det stod til mig, det er som om de aldrig rigtigt er kommet i gang.

The ringing:

The wind strength was good for ringing today; the maximum was 7.7 meters per second. Before opening, I did not see rain on the radar for the next hours, but on the forecast, it looked like I would need to close between nine and ten. But there was a bit of rain already before, and I was worried, I would need to close even earlier, but it was mostly just a few drops then paused and then began again but just very little. So I walked more often and could keep the nets open until 10.15 then I needed to close to not get into the heavy rain. Not many birds went into the nets within the 3.15 hours, I ringed, the highlight was a Redwing/ Vindrossel, one of my favourite common autumn species in the nets.

Redwing/ Vindrossel

The moths:

Today, there was one more moth than bird species, I had 8 moth species in the traps, and just 7 bird species in the nets. Earlier in the year, it is completely normal to get more moth species than birds, there are way more different moths flying than birds. But it is getting late in the year and many nights were quite windy, which does not make many moth fly. But this night was a good night and I got two new species: Leptologia macilenta/ Mager jordfarveugle and Schrankia  costaestrigalis/ Streng-snudeugle.

Leptologia macilenta/ Mager jordfarveugle

Schrankia costaestrigalis/ Streg-snudeugle

Folk på stationen: Louis, Lorin, Hanelie, David, Jonas

En kraftig vind på omkring 11 m/s blæste fra SSØ og ydermere forsynede vejrguderne os med vand fra oven, dog ikke så længe ad gangen og det blev klaret med paraply og højt humør.

Der kom en hel del Sortænder, over 5000 i alt, men til gengæld skete der så ikke rigtig andet… nogle Pibeænder kom, specielt lige da den kraftigste regnbyge kom, men ikke nok i forhold til hvad jeg ville ønske mig..

4 Bjergvipstjerter var højdepunktet på den ellers ikke eksisterende småfugle front.

Hanna og Janosch tog hjem tidligt i morges, men til gengæld kom Jonas som skal være i praktik på stationen i en uge, og fik lige slutningen af morgen obsen med.

Hjemme på stationen blev der lavet pandekager pga. Blæsevejret, og senere en tur i området som der ikke er så meget at sige om.. Henrik fandt en Grå Fluesnapper ud af vinduet på stationen som nok er dagens fugl ..da det efterhånden er ret sent..

Der var også styregruppe møde i Blåvands gruppen på stationen i dag.

Ringing and moths:

In the morning, the wind was 9 to 10 meters per second and gust even higher and we had rain on and off. I got up to have a cub of tea and say goodbye to Hanna and Janosch, who left to Copenhagen today. We hope to see them at the bird observatory once again! Then I checked the moth traps in both gardens but there was not much: Two species, Xestia c-nigrum/ Det sorte c and Phlogophora meticulosa/ Agatugle.

Xestia c-nigrum/ Det sorte c

After, it was nice to go to bed again. Around noon, Louis and David had made pancakes again which we all, Lorin, David, Louis me and Jonas, our intern who arrived today and will stay for a week, enjoyed a lot.

In the afternoon, it cleared up and the wind went down, so I opened the nets in both gardens. It was nearly as many recaps of Goldcrests “Fuglekonge” as new birds, but nice to ring, as the weather for tomorrow also does not look so good. But let´s see…

Songthrush/ Sangdrossel

While I was on the rounds, the yard filled with cars, as there was a meeting of the board of the birdobservatory.

Folk på stationen: Louis, Lorin, Hanelie, David, Henrik, Jonas

On our second day in Blåvand, we were lucky enough to join Hanelie again for ringing in the station garden and at the lighthouse. While the south south-western winds with 6.7 - 8.7 m/s brought many new migrating sea birds to the shore, it was not ideal for bird banding passerines: On the one hand, smaller birds fly less in stark winds – on the other, the mist nets used for ringing are constantly moving and thus, more visible. Consequently, birds are not as easily tricked to fly into the nets. Nonetheless, we were able to observe many migrating passerines, such as Siskins in the trees all around the gardens and greater flocks of Chaffinches in the whole area between station and lighthouse. 

All in all, it was a rather quiet but very beautiful day for ringing with sunny weather and many typical garden species, such as Song Thrush and Great Tit.

Great Tit/ Musvit

But the most prominent species with more than 20 birds was, just like yesterday, the Goldcrest – especially, as it turned out, a first calendar year female with the ring number U23600 that was ringed two days prior. It showed up in the nets several times at the lighthouse garden yesterday and today. When birds are recaptured several times the same day, they are usually set free right away. That is not to cause extra stress for them. We also recaptured a Tree Sparrow with the ring number CX11684 that was ringed on 31 May 2022 at the station garden by Morten: Back then, Morten identified it as at least in its second calendar year – which means that it now is at least three years old.

Tree Sparrow/ Skovspurv

Since most of the later rounds were quite slow, Hanelie gave us the opportunity to ring some of the birds: Janosch got to work on his measuring technique and Hanna got to ring her first two birds: a female and a male Black Cap, both in their first calendar year.  

In the afternoon, an hour before sunset, we went to the beach to look for waders: On a sand bank close to the lighthouse, we watched Dunlins, Sanderlings, Bar-Tailed Godwits, Oystercatchers and Grey Plovers in the setting sun. We really enjoyed our time at Blåvand and are excited to come back to ring more birds!

The moths:

It was four moths species, that I caught today in the traps. I will show Agrochola lota “Pile jordfarveugle”. It is a common but nice species that flies from September to November.

Agrochola lota/ Pile-jordfarveugle

Observations:

Vinden var fin med omkring 8 m/s og fra en ssø’tlig retning, hvilket lige var ét for meget s til at det var helt godt, men det blev en helt og aldeles godkendt dag på hukket.

Til at starte med skete der ikke det helt store, ..hvad der skulle ende med at blive en rigtig god Stormmåge dag var allerede ved at tage til, der kom en god sjat Bjergvipstjerter drøssende, og en fin Almindelig Kjove.

Der kom senere lidt finker, men der kom aldrig rigtig gang i noget seriøst træk af småfuglene.. …troede man, indtil halv 10 tiden og en time frem, hvor der efter en ellers meget nedadgående småfugle trend, pludselig kom finke flokke væltende og på en time havde vi 2400 finker, lidt siskner, og en del Rørspurve også, det døde dog hurtigt ud igen, og i timen efter havde vi 105 finker…

Lidt over 10, sammen med småfugle rykket flyver en sjov piber kaldende med to kald henover obs-posten, den er endnu ikke bestemt 100%, men vi mistænkte den for en Tajgapiber, og har heldigvis en optagelse som forhåbentlig kan fortælle os det...

At the station: David, Louis, Lorin, Hanna, Janosch, Hanelie, Henrik.

The ringing:

Today, I was joined in the gardens by Hanna and Janosch from Germany. It was their first time ringing in Denmark. For the EuroBirdwatch Day, Henrik and Bent arrived with a group of interested birdwatchers later in the morning. They had been at the Morning Obs and at the beach before and now came to see the ringing. When we entered the stations garden with the group, the first nets were empty, not so good to show a group. Then Henrik spotted a Sparrowhawk “Spurvehøg”. When I arrived at the next net, I saw, that the Sparrowhawk “Spurvehøg” had been in the garden for a reason: It had predated a Song Thrush “Sangdrossel” in the net. Bad luck, that the group needed to see that. But it is unavoidable, that we, very few times, find dead birds in the nets, because of predation or bad overall condition of the bird. It is less than 0,2% of birds, that die in the ringing. We are keeping track of that happening, dead and injured birds and the reason of it are noted and sent to the ringing admistration at the end of the season. By noting it down, we can also learn from it to avoid possible difficult situations in the future. Luckily, The Sparrowhawk “Spurvehøg” did not come back to the nets and we had some healthy Great Tits “Musvit”, Chiffchaffs “Gransanger” and Goldcrests “Fuglekonge” in the nets in the lighthouse garden, that we could show to our visitors. In total, we had 49 new birds today, about half of them were Goldcrests “Fuglekonge”.

The moths:

Not many, but also some moth in the traps, I was especially happy about Chesias legatella “Stor gyvelmåler”, which has its flight time in September but mainly in October. It was a new species for me.

Chesias legatella "Stor gyvelmåler"

Another nice species of today was Pennithera fermata “Rød fyrremåler”.

Pennithera firmata "Rød fyrremåler"

Our guests Hanna and Janosch explored the area this afternoon and found this egg case of a Thorny skate “Tærpe”/ Amblyraja radiata on the beach and brought it to the station.

Amblyraja radiata "Tærbe"

Observations:

Endnu en dag med ret svag vind, og ret få fugle..

Men ikke ligefrem kedeligt, og en morgen med godt selskab og højt humør!

Der var lidt gang i Ederfuglene i dag, som jo altid er fedt, 160 stks. blev det til.

Ellers var der blandt de, i dag ellers næsten ikke eksisterende småfugle, 7 Bjergvipstjerter som også altid er fedt, men ellers var det til den langsomme side generelt.

Da det var EuroBirdwatch dag, talte vi idag alle arter vi så på hukket, også selvom de ikke nødvendigvis trak... ..68 forskellige arter blev set på hukket, hvilket er stabilt nok vil jeg mene..

Dagens højdepunkt for, ihvertfald jeg og Lorin var, da vi gennemgik resten af NocMig optagelserne fra d. 02. - 03., hvor vi tidligt om morgenen d. 03. havde en Dværgværling på optagelsen! Første ..men forhåbentlig ikke sidste for sæsonen, i Blåvand.

Dværgværling på sonogram

At the station: Louis, Lorin, Henrik, David, Bent, Hanelie, Hanna and Janosch.