The day began with heavy mist that literally Blavand was covered in a white veil most of the morning with very low visibility. At some moment even the lighthouse could not be seen clearly.
Bird activity was not seen much, and migration was going on but most of it would be invisible. Nets in gardens were quiet.Under such unfavourable condition, the most visible migration was Common Starling and 5,200 birds were counted, which were almost the whole migration volume, with total count of 6,000 birds. Jimmy was struggling amid the mist and still counted 212 Meadow Pipits, 106 Chaffinch and Brambling, 32 Grey Wagtails and 6 Shore Larks. Out on the sea several several divers of different species were seen and a Great Northern Diver in breeding plumage was a nice treat of a bad weather day.
In the gardens only 29 birds were ringed with 9 species altogether. Goldcrest was the most ringed bird with 7 on the net, followed by 6 Song Thrushes and 5 Greenfinches. Tits were totally absent, except for a retrapped Crested Tit. Today Jimmy is leaving the station and we will see him next season.

Foto:Jennifer Leung

Foto: Jennifer Leung

With the great results yesterday - meaning a lot of counting work - Jimmy set off with full preparation (enough food and coffee for long working hours) and high spirit. He was joined by Bent and other birders (Henrik, Henrik, Leo and Sven) who came in the station last night to form a "gang of migration watch". More pairs of eyes did yield more results when 63,550 of Bramblings and Chaffinch were counted as they passed through in streams after streams over people's heads that one could not count all that birds without missing some other species. Finches naturally composed the mostly counted species out of over 75,000 migrants counted for the whole day. Seeing finches flying all around was certainly delightful, but it could not drive up adrenaline the way migrating raptors did when the gang saw 76 Red Kites showering the shore! These kites instantly broke their own record made yesterday without breaking a sweat. Before the gang could catch a breath from counting, they saw 7 Rough-legged Buzzards in good view and 98 Sparrowhawks all over the place. In the mean time 12 Hen Harriers and 3 Merlins joined in to make a raptor platter for the day.

Highlight of passerine migration belonged to larks - 717 Skylarks and 167 Shorelarks were counted, which would be a lot to see in one single day here. Grey Wagtails tried to steal the spotlight from larks with very good number of 37 birds and probably one of the best single day records in Blavand. In a regular day, 10,240 Common Starlings for a morning could be some sight worth to see, but a day like this everyone was simply distracted by other more exciting migrants. Blue Tits did not make an impact we expected today with just 577 birds counted. To make up for the loss from missing all the fun on the shore, I tried to look at the sky more when I was not busy with the nets, and in the late afternoon I got one young Peregrine Falcon flying over the main house and a Common Kestrel showing well nearby.  

Compared to the hustle and bustle on the shore, migration looked a little bit lackluster in the garden and lighthouse nets as we had in total 279 birds caught. Blue Tits were again the mostly ringed species with 172 birds. Adding 32 Great Tits and 8 Coal Tits (where is Crested Tit?? I need one on net!), tits altogether again made up the major force on nets. The rest of the ensemble were Blackcap, Chiffchaff, Firecrest, Goldcrest, Dunnock, Robin and a young Black Redstart which we don't catch very often. We closed nets at 1500. Dinner time was "the more the merrier" when we had four new visitors joining us. We had yummy chicken legs and an excellent dinner prepared by Sune!

 Foto: Jennifer Leung

Today the weather was very nice for migration watch and ringing with not much wind in the early morning, but very humid for us. On the shore it began with mild S wind and then SE wind, and migration swinged in just when the first light came. In the garden and lighthouse we had a long ringing day as there was an incoming of Blue Tits around lunch time. We closed all nets at 1500.

The sky was clear and it was warm most of the morning. Migration began with big flocks of Meadow Pipits, which amounted to 2,346; then came Brambling and Chaffinch with total count of 1,684. Highlights of the day included influx of Blue Tits just before lunch time, altogether 1,416 was counted. So Jimmy was busy using two clickers at the same time to count flocks of incoming migrants and barely had time to catch a sip of coffee. The count of Blue Tits is the 5th highest single day record. But this highlight was easily paralleled by 7 Red Kites, which is the highest single day count. The raptor excitement did not stop with the kites, as Jimmy also saw 6 Hen Harriers with one cracking adult male as an eye candy for him. Not to mention that 61 Sparrowhawks were undoubtedly a delightful sight for him. Speaking of good numbers, Common Starling should be the champion of the day with 2,640 counted. One early Snow Bunting joined the eventful migration mix, and Barred Warbler was seen again at the same spot again. Around 9,000 migrants were counted today. Also a Parrot Crossbill migrate.

Blue Tits influx also attacked the nets as they were effortlessly the mostly ringed birds of the day - 126 were ringed among 171 birds we caught on nets. Incoming of tits always make ringers a little bit frenetic or frantic, depending on your personality, and the best (of tits) is yet to come. Leaf warbler variety was less than yesterday as we had only 3 Chiffchaff and one Firecrest on the net. Goldcrest is an obvious absentee. 12 species of birds were ringed today.      

En af dagens 7 røde glenter. Foto: Jennifer Leung

En af dagens 70 spurvehøge. Foto: Jennifer Leung

Nets were open again with a mild SW wind in the morning, mostly overcast with a brief time of clear sky. Fair weather for ringing and we open all nets until 1pm. On migration watch, Jimmy had a better morning after an uneventful day yesterday with strong wind and almost no visible migration.

With less wind and warm weather, some more birds were seen and heard when first light came. The day began with some migration along the shoreline, and most active in the first hour. Jimmy had nine Shorelarks and six Parrot Crossbills as highlight of the day, and a female Peregrine chasing after gulls on shore certainly gave him some entertainment. Things began to quiet down afterward and migration was slow again. The juvenile Barred Warbler which attracted a small crowd on Sunday was not seen again today.

In the garden and lighthouse, we have ringed some warblers and tits, with two Yellow-browed Warblers and two Chiffchaffs, also two Willow Warblers which would be a bit late arrival in this season. Incoming became slow after the first two hours.
And we had "Tuesday Gang" here in the station for some birdwatching.

Foto: Jennifer Leung

Foto: Jacob Nielsen

Til morgen var vinden sydvest 13 sekundmeter, så nettene forblev lukkede denne dag. Seje Jimmy drog på stranden, men uden de store resultater.
Høgesangeren sad på samme sted som i går, og af træk skal bare nævnes 2 store skalleslugere, ellers var det småt med fugle.

Bent

Vinden fra det nordlige hjørne og sol ind i mellem. Det blev en dag på det jævne både på trækobsen og ringmærkningen.
Jimmy var igen på trækobsen, hvor Vicky også tog en tørn om morgenen. Med små 200 skovspurve må det være ny Blåvandrekord. Også lidt stære 1674 og bog/kvækerfinker 806 trak.
Det mest spektakulære var en 1K høgesanger, som Jimmy fandt lige neden for obsposten. Den havde fundet et solbeskinnet sted, hvor der var en åbning i hybenbusken, og slikkede sol. Sjældent man ser en høgesanger så eksponeret i så lang tid. Inden for et område på 4 kvadratmeter, hvor den sad var 3-4 munke, musvit, sangdrossel og blåmejse.
I ringmærkningen som Jennifer og jeg klarede, var rødhals igen dominerende, hvorimod fuglekonge stadig udebliver. Kommer de mon i år.
Ud af 3 gransangere havde to vinger over helt op til 63.
Ringmærkning: rødhals 15, dompap 1, musvit 1, gransanger 3, gærdesmutte 4, blåmejse 7, skovspurv 1, bogfinke 1, grønirisk 1, fuglekonge 1, munk 1, sangdrossel 1. I alt 37 af 12 arter.
I dag drog Vicky Knudsen igen østover

Der var åbent hus på stationen i dag fra kl. 9. Så John og Bjørn Frikke kom friske og satte vejviserskilte ned til obsposten. Her havde Jimmy og Vicky allerede indtaget deres positioner, og var i gang med observationerne.
Der var lettere travlt ved nettene og da der kom besøgende kl. 9 kom John forbi fyrhaven, hvor en hvidbrynet løvsanger kunne fremvises. Gruppen gik til observatørerne, hvor der også var pænt gang i den. Efterårets første kortnæbbede gæs kom forbi i et antal af 12, og over havet kunne det imponerende træk af lommer fremvises med i alt 84.
Også småfuglene gjorde at observatørerne ikke stod og dovnede den og for Blåvand det imponerende oktobertal af landsvale med 467. Øvrige 1533 engpibere, 950 bog/kvækerfinker og 119 grønirisker.
Klokken 9 kom deltagerne ned for at kigge ringmærkning. Efter at have serveret kaffe og rundstykker til de friske gæster, gik de på runde Jennifer og jeg, og heldigvis var der flere fugle at vise, selv om morgenrykket var overstået.
På 2. rundvisning med ringmærkning deltog et pat stykker så 22 besøgte os på denne dag.
Der blev også lige med bud sendt kaffe og rundstykker til observatørerne.
Ringmærkning: gærdesmutte 6, jernspurv 2, rødhals 50, rødstjert 1, solsort 2, sangdrossel 2, vindrossel 2, gærdesanger 1, munk 10, hvidbrynet løvsanger 1, gransanger 10, fuglekonge 6, blåmejse 1, skovspurv 1, bogfinke 3, grønirisk 1. I alt 99 af 16 arter.
Gærdesangeren var endnu en af de ret brunlige, formentlig af østlig oprindelse. Også Helgoland meldte om en Østlig Gærdesanger (Blüthi) i dag