GEDSER - 22nd September

The weather reverted back to the tropical conditions of last week – clear, sunny and warm with a corresponding drop in the number of birds in the nets; the total of 97 new birds was not too bad though but probably contained mainly leftovers from the last couple of days rather than new new arrivals.   43 Robins and 23 Chiffchaffs were again the bulk of the catch with 7 Song Thrushes and a latish Willow Warbler also of note.

                Birds around in the morning included a group of 4 Tundra Bean Geese which spent some time feeding in a stubble field west of the garden, 3 Red Kites drifting around and many many birds feeding in the freshly ploughed fields now surrounding the station including 2000+ mixed Herring, Common and Black-headed Gulls with good numbers of White Wagtails, Meadow Pipits, Chaffinches, Bramblings, Linnets and Greenfinches.

                The ringing had dried up by the end of the standardised session so we went out to the point (1045-1345) where there were a good range of raptors heading, south, turning back again and generally floating around making themselves very difficult to count but my figures included 21 Rough-legged Buzzards, 19 Common Buzzards, 37 Sparrowhawks, 3 Red Kites, 5 Kestrels and single Hen Harrier, Marsh Harrier, Honey Buzzard and White-tailed Eagle.   Other birds included 55 Little Gulls, 2 Arctic Skuas, 265 Wigeon, 12 Pintail, 200 Common Scoter, 15 Shoveler and 4 Sanderling while passerines included 600+ Chaffinches and 250+ Swallows heading out with smaller numbers of Siskins, Meadow Pipits, White Wagtails, Yellow Wagtails and a Grey Wagtail.

 

A dangerous mist net extraction!

Edible Frog Rana esculenta

Green Brindled Crescent

 

GEDSER - 21st September

More nice ringing conditions with the light wind back in the east and bits of cloud cover coming and going but it was never going to be as busy as yesterday and we ended up with a, still respectable 272 new birds caught with the main species being 171 Robins, 33 Chiffchaffs and 28 Goldcrests and the highlights comprising 2 Grasshopper Warblers and a Marsh Warbler.  

There were a few things around including a Rough-legged Buzzard, a Red Kite (who was trying to steal a mouse from a Kestrel!), a handful of Sparrowhawks, a few Chaffinch flocks which started to appear mid-morning and good numbers of Gulls – Herring, Common and Black-headed and White Wagtails feeding on the freshly ploughed fields bordering the garden.

We went out for a little jaunt across to Lolland in the afternoon with the highlight being a cracking juvenile Red-necked Phalarope spinning around at Majbølle along with 300+ Dunlin, 2 Ruff and lots of ducks before a look at point for the last hour of daylight produced hundreds of Eider, Wigeon and Brent Geese piling through in big flocks along with smaller numbers of the usual hangers on with Teal, Shoveler, Pintail, Common Scoter and 5 Velvet Scoter.

 

Brent Geese in the evening light

Pink-barred Sallow

L-album Wainscot

 

GEDSER - 20th September

Another fantastic ringing day with the light wind moving into the north and cloud cover coming and going throughout but warm and sunny in the afternoon; it was by far the biggest ringing total so far this year with an excellent 665 new birds caught during an all-day effort with the main species comprising 283 Robins, 149 Chiffchaffs and 111 Goldcrests supported by 34 Wrens, 20 Dunnocks and 26 Blackcaps.   The highlights in the day’s catch were a smart first winter Barred Warbler (the second of the autumn), a Marsh Warbler and a Great-spotted Woodpecker along with other little bits including Tree Pipit, 2 Redstarts, 3 Reed Warblers and the first 3 Bramblings of the autumn.

                Birds overhead and away from the nets were few and far between (mainly because we had no time to look around!) but did include a White-tailed Eagle, a Merlin, a Common Buzzard and a few Sparrowhawks cruising around, a Spotted Flycatcher in the garden and 70+ Golden Plover while overhead passage was limited to a few Chaffinch, Brambling and Siskin flocks along with a few White Wagtails and Tree Pipits.

Barred Warbler

Great-spotted Woodpecker

Brambling

Chiffchaffs were everywhere today!

as were Robins - this one checking out the wine ropes

GEDSER - 19th September

Excellent ringing conditions through the morning - pretty calm and overcast produced the biggest numbers of the autumn so far with 218 new birds caught; nearly half the total was made up of a good arrival of 104 Chiffchaffs with the rest including 45 Robins, 17 Blackcap, 16 Goldcrests, 4 Sparrowhawks and the first Great-spotted Woodpecker to be caught this year.   Away from the ringing it was much much quieter over the garden with very few birds moving overhead as there were just a few Bramblings, Tree Pipits and White Wagtails with a few small flocks of Chaffinches and Siskins; several Grey Wagtails and a few Golden Plover were the only other bits.

                An hour’s look off the point in the afternoon (1515-1615) was also much quieter than of late with 524 Eiders, 18 Common Scoter, 69 Wigeon, 2 Pintail, 2 Teal, 2 Brent Geese, a Black-throated Diver, 4 Grey Wagtails and a Hobby over the fields.   Birds along the beach north of the point late afternoon then included a decent flock of c28 Sanderling, 14+ Dunlin and 2 Turnstone.

 

Turnstone

 

GEDSER - 18th September

A consistent, brisk NE wind was a constant through the day but cloud cover came and went with a clear, sunny spell mid-morning before heavy cloud and a few drops of rain arrived; the nets were busy throughout the morning without ever being hectic as we managed 199 new birds comprising mainly 83 Robins, 22 Chiffchaffs, 38 Goldcrests (the first notable arrival of the autumn) and 27 Chaffinches amongst other bits.  

The overhead passage was the highlight of the day as it started off pretty slow but as soon as the heavy cloud rolled in after the sunshine at least 5,000 Chaffinches began to pour over the garden, low to the east (an awesome 33,000 were counted at the point!!) – a brilliantly fantastic sight as the sky was sometimes black with birds passing overhead, calling loudly!   Other birds overhead included big flocks of Siskins (4,000+ at the point!) together with Bramblings, Greenfinches, Tree Pipits, Swallows, White Wagtails and Meadow Pipits etc. while odd bits included a decent flock of 50 Cranes calling loudly at dawn when there was also a mixed flock of White-fronted Geese and Bean Geese which headed SW, Grey Wagtail, a few Crossbills, 3 Stock Doves, a Red Kite and a few Sparrowhawks; a fantastic, classic autumn visible migration morning defining what it’s all about!

The very concentrated spell of passage wound down by lunchtime so we headed up to Bøtø where a great flock of 105 Cranes were the most impressive sight while the raptor list was also notable as it comprised 3 White-tailed Eagles, 2 Hen Harriers (including an adult male), a Marsh Harrier, a Rough-legged Buzzard, a Red Kite, a Merlin, probably the same juvenile female Peregrine harassing the ducks and Lapwings then fighting with the Harriers and several Sparrowhawks, Kestrels and Common Buzzards.   Other bits of note were 2 Great White Egrets, 31 Dunlin, 4 Ruff, an Avocet and 7 Barnacle Geese with the Greylags before a drive across the fields north of Gedser produced more of the same with a Rough-legged Buzzard and 2 Hen Harriers with [another?] adult male.

 

Striped Field Mouse Apodemus agrarius in a bucket

 

GEDSER - 17th September

Bit of a change with a strong north-easterly wind blasting the garden through the day; the nets were very quiet as 34 new birds were caught including 20 Robins but there were a few birds overhead with 2 Grey Wagtails, a group of 4 Ravens which powered through and a single Honey Buzzard with a few Finches and Pipits.

                We closed the nets straight after the standardised session was finished and headed out to the point where there were thousands of ducks and geese piling through to the south with the bulk made up of 1,800+ Wigeon (2,000 had been counted before we got there) and 2,700 Eiders (5,400 were counted before we got there) pouring through in big flocks.   Geese had also started with 400 Brent Geese and the highlight of a single Tundra Bean Goose with a group of Eiders while other duck included 300 Teal and smaller numbers of the usual Pintail, Shoveler, Red-breasted Merganser, Tufted Duck and Common Scoter with a Velvet Scoter and 2 Goldeneyes.

                Other birds were a bit sparse but comprised a Red-necked Grebe, 2 Red-throated Divers, a Black-throated Diver, 5 Little Gulls, an Arctic Skua, a noisy flock of 17 Cranes, single Peregrine and Honey Buzzard, 2 more Ravens, 4 Bar-tailed Godwits, 3 Knot and 3 Grey Plover while there were 2 juvenile Caspian Gulls in the stubble field just behind the point.

 

Eiders

Brent Geese

Part of the Crane flock

Honey Buzzard

Firebug, Pyrrhocoris apterus

 

GEDSER - 16th September

Same same again in the morning – calm, clear, sunny and warm but there were fewer birds in the nets with 67 new birds caught made up of 39 Robins, 13 Chiffchaffs and 7 Blackcaps amongst others; the morning’s highlight was an Ortolan which flew low over the garden calling along with smaller numbers of Chaffinches, Siskins, Redpolls, Tree Pipits etc.

                We finished ringing a bit earlier as numbers dropped off rapidly and went for a look at Bøtø before the sun went round to blind anyone looking east; the highlight was probably a total of 86 Cranes (two flocks of 50 and 36) which flew south.   There were a few waders passing through with flocks dropping in, often literally for a few seconds before heading off including 55+ Dunlin, 2 Knot, a Ruff, a Spotted Redshank, 9 Grey Plover and 5 Bar-tailed Godwits.   Raptors comprised 2 Merlins, a beast of a juvenile female Peregrine which landed in the water, a White-tailed Eagle, a couple of Sparrowhawks and distant Red Kite and Rough-legged Buzzard while other birds included 4 Great White Egrets, the two resident Cranes and plenty of ducks.

                The easterly wind really picked up in the afternoon with quite extensive cloud cover and a walk up the beach produced a few more waders on the beach with 4 Knot, 3 Sanderling, 13 Dunlin, 3 Turnstone, 2 Grey Plover and 4 Oystercatchers while offshore 700+ Wigeon went south in big flocks with small numbers of Pintail, Teal and Shoveler with the first 5 Brent Geese of the autumn.

 

Cranes

Sanderling

Dunlin and Sanderling

Mixed ducks