Sparrowhawks in the air & in the nets

In the morning, it was was a bit foggy in Blåvand...

The ringing:

There was hardly any wind today, good conditions for ringing but it could have been more birds. But still a nice morning with highlights: In the lighthouse garden, we caught two Sparrowhawks, first Menno got a female and the round after, I had a male in the last net. Both were first-calendar-year birds.

Huge female Sparrowhawk/ Spurvehøg hun...

...and tiny male Sparrowhawk/ Spurvehøg han

We kept both gardens open a few hours more than standard, but then we decided to close because Lærke proposed to make a trip to Nyeng together.

It was a good idea, not as many Waders as there could have been, but besides the usual Curlews “Storspove” Oystercatchers “Strandskade”, we also had some Grey Plovers “Strandhjeile”, some Great White Egrets ”Sølvhejre” Goldeneyes “Hvinand” and a Peregrine Falcon “Vandrefalk” as well as a Hen Harrier “Blå Kærhøg”. There were also some Flocks of Passerines, a big flock of Siskins “Grønsisken” and a small flock of Twites “Bjergirisk” were nice, that passed by quite close to us.

Foto: Twites/Bjergirisk by Louis

The moths:

There was nearly no wind that night, which is very rare at this place. This made for good conditions for moths. I went out two times in the evening to check both traps. I did not get as many months as I had hoped and wished for, but seven species—that is okay—and a pretty new one for me, Pachycnemia hippocastanaria “Mørk hedemåler”, which was a nice surprise.

Pachycnemia hippocastanaria “Mørk hedemåler”

While we were out in the field, the bird first day of the birdobservatory meeting took place in the room of the nature school next door.

Now, a nice autumn day is ending in front of a cosy chimney fire.

Observations:

En lidt svær dag at komme efter i går, og det var da også lidt stille i perioder derude i dag.. men en okay diversitet, bare ikke i de helt store antal.

Der var det meste af morgenen meget dårlig sigtbarhed, hvilket jo heller ikke ligefrem hjalp på det.

Vi startede med at få en Lapværling lige i hovedet, hvilket jo er en ret fin start.

Stærene kom der stadig lidt af, men noget mindre end i går, små 4000 kunne det blive til i dag, hvilket jo heller ikke er dårligt ligefrem..

I forhold til hukket standarder, blev det en fin nok rovfugle dag, især pga. Spurvehøgene, hele 15 stks. kom forbi i løbet af dagen. Derudover 1 mega kæmpe gigantisk Vandrefalk og 2 Blå Kærhøge.

Kæmpe Vandrefalk / Foto: Louis

Det blev også en ret fin dag for Bjerglærker, hele 36 stks. fik vi, det fleste kom hoppende helt lavt over havet ude i revet.

At the station: Louis, Hanelie, Chung-Chi, Lærke, Menno, Henrik and the birdobservatory meeting.