It’s been 4 days since the autumn season started, and the waders are here! The weather is not very sunny and hot, but it’s good for migration: we've had SW, SE, and E winds in the last few days, bringing a lot of oystercatchers, dunlins, and bar-tailed godwits close to the beach. Today was a very good day, we had more than 800 dunlins and about 250 oystercatchers. There were also fewer bar-tailed godwits and curlews than on previous days, but the number of shanks and sandpipers is clearly increasing (124 redshanks today). We saw the first spotted redshanks of the season as well. In total we had about 1500 waders.

We are enjoying the results of the good work from the past few weeks, which involved cleaning and preparing all the observation spots. We created different spots adapted to each wind direction, so we can be protected by the bushes and have more comfort during observation. We also cut the grass and pruned the bushes along the paths that connect the spots to each other. See below how proud Henrik seems about the “NW wind spot”!

Kai, the German volunteer who joined us for the last 2 weeks, left the station yesterday. I really enjoyed sharing experiences with him and comparing the birds of our countries. It is also (and already) Maxim’s last week at the station, and we will definitely miss the incredible dinners he cooks.

The days are slowly getting shorter, but it doesn’t change how much we enjoy the sunrises.

Current people at the station: Maxim, David and Théotim

Today we started as usual with the migration count at sunrise (5 a.m.). It was a beautiful start of the day with good weather conditions. The wind came from the southwest. Especially, we focused on counting the wader migrations. We had for example 85 Bar-tailed Godwits, 53 Red Knots, 124 Dunlins, 18 Eurasian Oystercatchers during the standard counting time of 3 hours. Also worth mentioning are the many seagulls migrating or resting on the beach. Henrik has counted more than 1000 Black-headed Gulls. Also impressive was an arctic skua (one of my favorite birds), which has been observed for two days.

Théo (right), Henrik (left), Me (center)

After the standard count time Henrik took a walk at the beach. He could observe a Curlew Sandpiper, the first for this season.

A Curlew Sandpiper in a group of Dunlins. (picture: Henrik)

All in all not a bad day.

People at the station: Théo, Henrik, Maxim, Kai

I dag er det d. 10. juli og det betyder at efterårssæsonen officielt er skudt i gang. På dette tidspunkt, trækker der primært vadere og vinden har en stor indflydelse på antallet af trækfugle. Heldigvis for denne første dag i sæsonen, var vinden i nat SØ og her til morgen sydlig, mens dagen startede overskyet. Det havde sendt en del vadefugle af sted og vi fik en flot trækdag med bl.a. strandskade 233, storspove 76, lille kobbersneppe 143, mudderklire 28, rødben 108, hvidklire 30 og almindelig ryle 257. I alt træk der 911 vadefugle i dag og det er bestemt godkendt. Heldigvis var vi fire personer til at få det hele med (Theo, Kai, David og undertegnede)

Der kom overraskende også lidt pibeænder og krikænder og desuden 4 bjergænder. 

På den lidt mere bemærkelsesmæssige front, blev der fundet en rastende rovterne på stranden og Rune talte 10 kaspiske måger. En fed adult almindelig kjove jagtede terner det meste af morgenen, lige i strandkanten. 

I morgen skal vinden være i SV og forblive på de ca. 5-6 m/s, så vi forventer ikke det store træk. 

Så er vi kommet ind i juli og ligesom sidste år starter måneden med masser af blæst - og heldigvis fra den rigtige retning. Allerede i går blæste det op, men 1,5 time i sabinebunkeren gav meget lidt. I dag var vi så ude fra solopgang, da vinden var helt rigtig: VSV med omkring 12-13 m/s. 

Fra venstre: Kai, Theotim og undertegnede

Ca en halv time efter obsens start kom dagens fugl: en rigtig fed almindelig skråpe på mellemdistance. Det er årets første i Blåvand, men vi håber på at der kommer flere, måske på søndag allerede. Obsen var ellers præget af sortænder (1200), suler (ca. 60), sildmåger (430) og udover skråpen blev vi også belønnet med 3 mallemukker og tre trækkende kaspiske måger. 

I alt en meget godkendt obs ift. at vi stadig er i starten af juli. 

Der er pt. ingen ringmærker på stationen, så vi må nøjes med havobs. Og det kan da også gå hen og blive sjov på søndag. Lørdag eftermiddag blæster det op med 16-20 m/s og søndag morgen starter vinden i SV/VSV med ca. 13 m/s og aftager lidt i løbet af formiddagen. Det ser rigtig spændende ud til f.eks. alm. skråpe. 

We have decided that, because there isn't a lot to discuss in the blogs, we don't do a blog every day but every few days, so that we don't have to write 3 sentences just to make a blog. 

The last few days have been way better with the weather then before. With almost no rain and less wind, I opened the nets a few times. This resulted in 3 days over 20 birds, especially young birds. It is still very slow compared to the first weeks I got here and definetely a little later in end summer-begin autumn, but it is pretty good for the time of year. One of the birds that should be mentioned was a marsh tit, which has been caught only once before. 

Willow tit

For my own shrike project, I found today the 4th nest. 1 nest I have ringed last weekend, 2 other nests still had eggs and this nest was still empty, they have started a little bit later then I'd expected and hoped. Besides the shrikes, a nice side catch was a nest of a corn bunting. It is not yet a common breeding bird here, but today I figured there are at least 3 pairs with a nest, so still enough to discover.

corn bunting

2 days ago we had a working day, which ment that we cleaned the whole shed and did some gardening. Because of the lack of battery power, I had some trouble with especially mowing the lanes, so there is still a part that needs to be mowed, but I am planning to do that tomorrow, when the military area is closed for 2 days again. 

Power team!

I have also been out a few times for night catching, which got me another partridge, and last night I had 8 birds, one stonechat, 2 skylarks, 2 common whitethroats, 2 meadow pipits and a linnet. Pretty good, as my record for one night was standing on 5.

About the observations we can be short, but lets give it a positive twist. Théotim has enough time and oppertunities to get to know the species really well, because when he (finally) sees some birds migrating, he can take his time to take a good look at them.

Yesterday, Théotim (a French guy) joined us as a volunteer for the next 9 weeks. He will be focusing on counting waders during the migration period. To celebrate his arrival, he baked a chocolate cake that was "edible" according to Michael.

In the evening, we had a great time trying to catch two red-backed shrikes (a male and a female). Michael had spotted the nest, and even though we had to wait until today to catch the parents, we ringed 4 of the 5 babies. See the photos below.

Today, Michael and Maxim ringed 2 ringed plovers and the female red-backed shrike. Another nest of red-backed shrikes was discovered with 2 eggs inside. After a few observations, David had to leave the station to go back to work, but he'll come back soon!

Tonight, we welcome 2 guests at the station!

The last few days have been pretty changable, just like today. We have some rain regularely, but then suddenly the sun is shining again. As I am typing this, it is sunny while it is raining. And this shower hasn't even been mentioned at the forecast...

This morning I went out for nightcatching again. With 4 new birds, the score isn't that bad, and some variation as well. I had one yellowhammer, skylark, a young tree pipit and a linnet. I normally ring them in the field, but this time, just when I wanted to ring the linnet, an unexpected shower came by, and I was luckely close to the station, so I ran back and savely ringed it there.

I also went out this afternoon to see if I could find the shrike pair that I have been seeing a few weeks back, but then suddenly not anymore. Luckely, soon after my arrival I saw the male. Unfortunately, this bird has the habit to just disappear into nothing, so I didn't see it for to long. As I was looking for the shrike as it had just disappeared, I saw a white tailed eagle flying over the beach, always impressive to see this awesome bird!

We are still waiting for the weather to make a change. Michael and I are hoping for at least a few more days to have the chance to do some ringing before the spring ringing season officially ends this saterday. With the strong winds no nets were open today and it looks like most days/mornings this week ringing will be obstructed by winds and potential rain.

In the night Michael went out again and had some success catching birds. Most notable was the catch of a Meadow pipit, which was a first for Michael to have in the hands!

Early in the morning while making some coffee there was a surprise visit from David, who had done some morning observations. David had hoped for some action with the strong northwestern winds but unfortunately that turned out not to be the case.

After dinner Michael went out to the beach to try and read the rings of some shorebirds. He spotted some gulls with colour rings of which he managed to read the rings of two lesser black-backed gulls, both turned out to be with German rings. And while at the beach Michael checked on the fenced off breading area and managed to ring four collared plover chicks!

People at the station: David, Michael and Maxim

This night I went out for night catching again. It was a very good night, because I caught 5 birds in total, 3 new skylarks, the wheatear from 2 days ago and a yellowhammer from last year. At the beginning of the morning I also almost managed to catch the bluethroat that has been there for the last month, but not this night yet. But one of these days I will hopefully manage to catch it, as it is singing really early close to the path.

When I came back, the wind was still too strong to open the nets, but after a few hours of sleep, I decided to open the nets because the wind decreased a lot. Right after opening the last net in the station garden, I immediately had a 1k crested tit in the net. I am absolutely fascinated by this beautiful bird, only my second time ringing it.

I also opened in the lighthouse garden, where I caught a 1k coal tit, also not a bad species for here, and for me as well! besides that I had 3 1k great tits, 1 1k blackbird, 1 2k greenfinch, a control of a songthrush, willow warbler and common whitethroat. Not a lot of birds, but for these days not too bad. Unfortunately, coming days don't look good again for opening the nets as it is windy again.