Some red-throated divers migration

Observations : 

Weather at 5.45: NW4, 7°C, 1/8, 30km visibility

This morning, we observed some nice migration movements from red-throated loon [rødstrubet lom] and common tern/arctic tern [fjordterne/havterne].
This is the largest number of red-throated loon we’ve seen so far this season! We counted 400 migrating north with flocks up to 20 divers high in the horizon.
We also counted 360 common/ arctic terns [fjordterne/havterne] going north, with flock up to 200 individuals. That was nice !  
The little terns [dværgterne] are definitely at Blavand, and we can watch them feeding near the shore every day, which is always a wonderful sight.


Highlights of the day : 
Red-throated loon [rødstrubet lom]- 400
Black-throated loon [sortstrubet lom] - 1
Sandwich tern [splitterne] - 49 
Common tern/Arctic tern [fjordterne/havterne]- 360
Little tern [dværgterne] - 61
Velvet scoter [fløjlsand] - 40

Todays observations can be seen here.


In the afternoon, I went for my daily walk around Blavand! What a lovely surprise to discover that two little terns and two ringed plovers were inside the fences. On top of that, one of the terns was behaving as if it were preparing a nesting site. Furthermore, there were at least 18 little terns flying over the fences and around the area. This bodes well for this year’s breeding season!



Little terns [dværgterne] making a space to breed in the fences, picture by Clara

I also took some time out in the sunshine to paint a bluethroat with my watercolours!


Drawing of a bluethroat under the sun, picture by Clara


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Ringing:Skovspurv. Picture by Hanelie

Finally, the wind was low again, so the nets could all be opened again! Robert had arrived at the station yesterday. Over the fast few years, we have been ringing and looking at moths together in spring and autumn, so I was happy to share the gardens with him. After three days without ringing we had hoped for some more birds, we got 23, 15 of them new ones. It was many Willow Warblers “Løvsanger”, other long-distance migrants did not show up today.

Moths of the day

This night we caught 10 different moth species, one was new for this season: the Sallow Button (Foranderlig Vikler, bold in the table) and one that was a new species for me: the Horse Chestnut Moth (Mørk Hedemåler, green in the table and see the picture). And we found a caterpillar of the Oak Eggar (Egespinder). So, my start at the station was not bad, there was less wind in the last part of the night, which resulted in a few more moths than the days before.

Who is me? I am Robert Luttik originally from the Netherlands but now living in Gjerrild (Djursland) and will help Hanelie with catching and ringing birds the next 2 weeks. Birds and Moths are my two big hobbies.

Horse Chestnut Moth (Mørk Hedemåler)

At the station: Henrik & Henrik, Thomas Kristensen, David Manstrup, Clara Delahaye, Jorn de Jong, Robert Luttik & Hanelie Sidhu