Longeared Owl and Woodcock!

Standardized Season may be over, but the birds are not! So of course, Joseph, Henrik, David and I did our duty and went perfectly on time outside to do the Morning Observation. It was cold, but the sun was rising and we had a really nice morning. The most exciting bird was probably the Barn Swallow (Landsvale), which is pretty late to be flying around here now. Apart from that, we had very nice view of two White-tailed Eagles (Havørn), flying around and resting on the beach. With over 800 individuals, Common Scoter (Sortand) was the most observed bird today. You can see a list of all observations here.

After that, Henrik and I opened all the nets in both gardens, not having any expectations apart from Blackbirds (Solsort) and Goldcrests (Fuglekonge). Well, it turns out, we got not only one, but two big surprises! The first one was especially a highlight, even though we had both birds before this season. A beautiful Longeared Owl (Skovhornugle) flew into the Helgolandtrap and now can proudly wear a ring. As none of us expected something exciting happening today, all four of us were really amazed. Looking into those intense orange eyes really is an experience.

But it was not over yet. Just when we were about to close the nets, a second bird was flying into the direction of the Helgolandtrap. We already had opened the door, as we were about to leave, but as we walked into the trap to have a better look, a Woodcock (Skovsneppe) flew up and gladly did not escape through the open door. So we also ringed a Woodcock today, and the Helgolandtrap really did a great job today.

Apart from that, ringing numbers were rather low: We ringed 1 Goldcrest (Fuglekonge) and 6 Blackbirds (Solsort), and recaptured 1 Dunnock (Jernspurv), 1 Goldcrest, 1 Great Tit (Musvit), Blackbirds and 1 Robin (Rødhals).

People at the Station: Antonia Greil, Joseph Stephan, Henrik Böhmer, David Manstrup