A good day for birds and a bad day for moths

Observations : 

Weather at 5.45: NE6, 2°C, 1/8, 2km visibility

It was very cold this morning; it felt as though we were back at the start of March! The difference in temperature between the sea and the air created strong heat waves on the horizon, which disrupted observations for much of the morning. We struggled to identify the birds flying beyond the reef. They were vague, barely distinguishable silhouettes, which may partly explain the rather low numbers recorded today. Apart from that, there seemed to be few birds overall.

I think my favourite moment was in the ten minutes before the end of the birdwatching session, when a group of eight northern gannets [sule], including one 4K, came to fish on the horizon and land in the waves. - I’m pretty sure northern gannets are in my top 10 favourite birds to watch :) -

 Ringing:

This morning was not bad for catching birds. And Morten was lucky: We had quite many long-distance migrants: Redstarts “Rødstjert”, Pied Flycatchers “Broget Fluesnapper”, Willow Warblers “Løvsanger” and the first Common Whitethroat “Tornsanger” of the season! Robert and I closed the lighthouse garden while Morten kept the nets in the station garden open during the afternoon to get some more birds and samples.

Lille Gråsisken. Picture by Robert.

Rødstjert hun, picture by Hanelie.

Moths of the day

This night even less moth than yesterday. Only 6 different species. I think it was just too cold this night. But we had a new species for the location for this season: The Pebble Prominet (Ziczacspinder, see pictures below).

Pebble Prominent (Ziczacspinder)

At the station: Morten Jenrich Hansen, David Manstrup, Thomas Kristensen, Clara Delahaye, Jorn de Jong, Robert Luttik, Hanelie Sidhu.