Today began with Hanelie opening the mist nets while David, Henrik, Karen, and I prepared for our daily morning observation. The weather was fantastic - 6°C with a steady west wind and occasional strong gusts.

We were fortunate to observe a resting Great Northern Diver (Gavia immer) along with several species of waterfowl and two species of waders migrating south along the coast. You can find a complete list of all our observations here .

Morning Observation. Picture: Joseph Stephan

Hanelie had a great time ringing 12 birds in total, including a Goldcrest (Regulus regulus).

Goldcrest/ King of Birds/ Regulus regulus, picture: Hanelie Sidhu

After a traditional Danish lunch with delicious rye bread, egg salad, curried herring, and a variety of fish, we spent some time pressure washing the picnic tables. We then painted them, giving the yard a fresh new look.

Painting the picnic tables. Picture: Joseph Stephan

Before the evening tour, which was guided by Henrik B. and Bent J., we enjoyed a vegetarian pasta amatriciana and some soda.

Start of the night tour. Picture: Joseph Stephan.

We're excited for tomorrow - the weather forecast looks amazing again!

People at the station today: Hanelie, David, Henrik, Frida, Lisa, Karen, Joseph.

I was the first going out to open the nets early in the morning today and what I first noticed was that it was really cold. It even had minus degrees, at 06.15, when all nets were open, it was -1,5 degrees. Back at the house, I recommended Karen and Joseph to wear very warm clothes as they were preparing to go to the obs. Henrik was already at the observation spot at sunrise and had a really good number of Red-throated Divers “Rødstrubbet Lom”, but as it was so cold and there was not so much more exciting to expect, he left quite early to do some office work at the station. Karen and Joseph came later but stayed longer until the number of Red-throated Divers “Rødstrubbet Lom” went down a lot. They had a Woodcock “Skovsneppe” which is a common bird here at this time, I often flush them early in the morning when opening the nets – unfortunately non made its way in the nets so far this early spring – but it is not so often seen at the obs.

Todays observation at Blåvandshuk can be seen here.

This morning at the obs.

Despite the cold, it was a very sunny morning and when I checked DMI I had expected it to be a better day than yesterday in the ringing. And yes, it kind of was, while I just had one new Blackbird “Solsort” yesterday, it was five new birds today. Frida joined me on the second round and then went to the beach to the others. It was unfortunately a zero round but later in the morning, when Henrik, Frida and Joseph sat at the table in the house and worked, I could show them some birds, one of them was a Goldcrest “Fuglekonge”, which was the first in the net this spring season, I had already been missing them.

Siskin "Grønsisken"

Karen was really happy to be back in Blavand and stayed outside the longest. She also took some great pictures as of this Ringed Plover “Stor Præstekrave”  fouraging at the beach.

Ringed Plover "Stor Præstekrave fouraging. Picture: Karen Koefoed

At the station: Henrik Böhmer, David Manstrup, Hanelie Sidhu, Karen Koefoed, Joseph Stephan and Frida.

Today started with Hanelie and me opening the mist nets while Henrik went out for the morning observation. It was quite chilly, only 2 degrees, with a northerly wind blowing at 3 m/s. For the first net run, Frida joined the ringing, and I went to join Henrik for the observation.

The migration was surprisingly fast, with 306 Red-throated Loons, 850 Scoters, 4 Barnacle Geese, and 4 Long-tailed Ducks flying south within the first two hours after sunrise. Additionally, a stunning adult Mediterranean Gull was resting on the beach, much to Henrik’s delight - it sent him into ecstasy! You can find the complete observation list here.

Ringing was quite slow, with only eight birds in total. The highlight was a Tree Sparrow, which, fun fact, happens to be one of Hanelie’s favorite birds to hold in hand.

After closing the mist nets together, Henrik took us on a trip to “Hvidbjerg Camping og Kapellet,” where we spotted two White Wagtails (ssp. Yarrellii), one Marsh Tit, two Common Buzzards, and one Mistle Thrush. After that, we visited “Grønningen” and enjoyed the stunning landscape, along with sightings of Lapwings and Stonechats.

Before dinner, Frida and I took a walk on the beach and were surprised by one of the most intense rainbows we had ever seen. It’s incredible how light hitting a raindrop can create such vibrant colors - truly mesmerizing to observe.

Another lovely surprise awaited us when, all of a sudden, Karen pulled up. It was such a joy to reunite, as Hanelie, Karen, and I had already met on several occasions. After a heartwarming chat, Hanelie prepared dinner - a delicious pizza with homemade dough, topped with mushrooms, tomatoes, shrimp, olive oil, salt, and pepper. We devoured it before heading to our well-deserved beds.

Wow, what a day!

The ringing:

This is not such a nice morning, I thought, when I went out opening the nets. It was a bit windier than the last days, 7 m/s, but some nets were quite exposed, and I did not open them all. When I opened it had 3,9 degrees, we had already colder mornings, but the wind made it feel a little uncomfortable outside. Apparently, the birds too thought that it was not the best morning. While I was very active walking rounds and rounds, their activity was low, just four birds in five hours made their way into the nets, two of them were recaptures.

Yellowhammer/ Gulspurv

The moths:

This morning, there was nothing in the traps, but yesterday evening, I got one moth, I have already caught it in February on our balcony in Germany, but it is a new one for Blåvand this spring: Phigalia pilosaria, in Danish Fjer-måler. It overwinters as pupa and is one of the first species in the year that hatches. Therefore, I was a bit surprised, that I did not catch it earlier at Blåvand, but now it was here. It is a male, in the macro moth you can often identify their sex by looking at their antennae, which are bigger in males. But in a few species, and Phigalia pilosaria is one of them, the females are flightless in some species without wings, in other species with very small wing bases.

Phigalia pilosaria/ Fjer-måler

Little Tern “Dværgterne” project:

During the morning, Ulf brought Frida and Joseph back to the station. They had been looking at the beach in Fanø, where the Little Tern “Dværgterne” fence will be put up and had their first meeting in person, making plans for the project. Joseph will place Tern dummies in the fenced area, to attract the terns. He brought them as raw models, made by a 3D printer back in Germany. This afternoon, Joseph sanded the pieces of the Terns and glued them together, while Frieda was already painting some Terns.

Frida and Joseph working on the Little Tern "Dværgterne" dummies.

At the station: Hanelie Sidhu, Joseph Stephan and Frida

The ringing:

The morning started a bit foggy but later, it cleared up. But the sun had problems coming through the clouds and the sky stayed grey all morning. I did not have many birds, highlights were two Starlings “Stær”, that were in the net in the second round. Thet are usually in the garden calling from the tree next two the lab, but do not go in the net very often. Maybe the fog helped.

Starling "Stær"

A Siskin “Grønsisken” was also, as always, very cute.

Siskin/ Grønsisken 

The moths (and a beetle):

Just one moth in the trap this morning, it was again Xylocampa areola “Gedeblad-ugle”. On one of the house walls outside, I found the larval case of Taleporia tubulosa “Cigarsækbærer”. When I went to the trap in lighthouse garden at dusk, I found the Great Diving Beetle, Dytiscus marginalis “Stor vandkalv”.

Dytiscus marginalis/ Stor vandkalv

At the station: Hanelie Sidhu

The ringing:

Yesterday was already a really nice day for ringing but today was even better. There was again not much wind and soon the sun came out. I had a good number of birds, even better than yesterday, 27 new and 12 recaps. And it was a good variety of species, 15 different. Especially nice was a Bullfinch “Dompap”, a Crested Tit “Topmejse” and two Tree Sparrows “Skovspurv” – I love Sparrows in hand, so although it is a common species that I see every day, I really enjoy them in hand.

But the Redpolls “Gråsisken” made the numbers. First I had one of the subspecies cabaret in the lighthouse garden.

Lesser Redpoll "Lille Gråsisken"

After, there were 10 of the northern subspecies flammea in the station garden. They were mostly in the net behind the pond. In the weekend, Henrik had filled the pond with some more water and it looks like it worked and attracted the birds, they probably went down to drink and then got caught in the net. I left the nets a little longer open than standard, but there was nothing anymore. So I wanted to close at 12, but still heard one Redpoll calling. I could not resist to try with sound, as Redpolls “Gråsisken” react very well on that, so I left some nets open and had the speaker on for about two more hours, but just two more got caught.

Redpoll "Nordlig Gråsisken"

The moths: 

This morning no moths but yesterday evening I had some. New were two small, but difficult ones: Agonopterix scopariella “Vitergyvelfladmøl” and one that is probably Acleris lipsiana.

Agonopterix scopariella “Vintergyvelfladmøl”

News from the station:

In the afternoon, Ulf and Kim came to the station to meet Joseph and Frida. They went to the beach to have a look at the place, where the Little Terns “Dværgterne” will breed later the season and where they will put up a fence, so they do not get disturbed. After all four left to Fanø, where they will stay until Wednesday, to have a look on the islands, where they will put up fences to protect the birds too. Joseph will do his bachelor thesis project about Little Terns “Dværgterne”, so this is an important part of his work.

In the evening, the board of the bird observatory had a meeting at the station.

Tomorrow again low winds but not so much sun and colder, so I am hoping to again get a good number of birds.  

People: Joseph Stephan, Frida, Hanelie Sidhu and Blåvandgruppen.

The ringing:

After I had opened the nets, Henrik came to the station to bird in the area with David and another car arrived just before I went for the first round: Xenia came to the station today to join the ringing. She had chosen a good day, especially the first two rounds were good with birds. We had a lot of Dunnocks “Jernspurv” today, but later, the morning brought some surprises, that all Xenia took out of the nets. While I had a zero round in the stations garden, she took a suspicious Tit of the net. Marsh Tit “Sumpmejse” and Willow Tit “Fyrremejse” have a very similar appearance. Now in spring, the easiest to identify them in the field is listening to their songs, which are very different, but also the call is different. But there are some other characteristics that you can use for identification. The Marsh Tit “Sumpmejse” has a whitish edge on the upper mandible of the bill, while the Willow Tit “Fyrremejse” has a completely black bill. In the Marsh Tit “Sumpmejse”, the head is shiny black while it is not really shining in the Willow Tit “Fyrremejse”.  Also the bib is usually quite small in the Marsh Tit “Sumpmejse” while is larger in the Willow Tit “Fyrremejse”. In hand, you can look at the tail. In the Willow Tit “Fyrremejse”, P6 is clearly shorter than P5. After some investigation, we came to the conclusion, it is a Marsh Tit ”Sumpmejse”. At the CES in my hometown we have both species, but the Willow Tit “Fyrremejse” is a bit more uncommon. Later, David told us, that at Blåvand, the Marsh Tit “Sumpmejse” is rare, so it was a good catch.

Marsh Tit/ Sumpmejse, pictures of Xenia Maria Salomonsen

A little later, Xenia also had two Goldfinches “Stillits” in the bags, also a nice species which we do not catch often here.

Goldfinch "Stillits", picture of Xenia Maria Salomonsen

In total, we had 25 new birds today, a good number for the first half of March.

 The moths:

The weather was nice the last days, the ringing good for March, but nevertheless, there was something missing to make my luck complete: The moths traps were empty.

Until yesterday evening, when I found  three different species in the traps, of which two were new for me and one must remain a slash species. This morning, there was just one, but a new one for me, so it is finally worth again to make a list.

Xylocampa areola/ Gedeblad-ugle

Acleris hastiana/ Foranderlig vikler

Later in the afternoon, Joseph and his girlfriend Frida, who will stay with us for one week, came back to the station.

At the station: David Manstrup, Henrik Böhmer, Xenia Maria Salomonsen, Hanelie Sidhu, Joseph Stephan and Frida

Observations:

Jeg gik på hukket og sad der i cirka halvanden time. Der var ikke meget bevægelse over havet, men man skal nyde de små ting her i begyndelsen af sæsonen. Der var intet usædvanligt hverken på arter eller tal. 
Det bedste var nok 4 Kaspiske Måger på stranden ud af de omkring 300 Sølvmåger som rastede. Heriblandt en rigtig flot 2K Kaspisk Måge, som jeg kunne nyde igennem hele morgenen. Det varmede også en smule da 2 flotte voksne suler kom trækkende syd, men jo ikke noget der ellers tager kegler i birder danmark.  

The ringing:

Not so many birds were singing early in the morning, so I was not totally sure if it would be such a good day for ringing. There was again very little wind and soon it became sunny.

The first round brought just one bird but later it turned out to be the best day for this season, with 14 new birds and four recaptures.

The species, that I caught the most today was the Dunnock “Jernspurv”. Three of the Dunnocks had a lot of feather lies. For some reason, Dunnocks often have these, more than other species. Later in the morning, I met Svend Aage, who came for the garden work today and I talked with him about it. He asked if also other often ground flying birds would have these lies, as the Røbin “Rødhals” or the Wren “Gærdesmutte”. But in my experience, it is really mostly Dunnocks “Jernspurv”, I don´t remember seeing it on Wrens “Gærdesmutte”, but think I had some Robins “Rødhals” with feather lies, but mainly really Dunnocks “Jernspurv”. On the following rounds, I kept wondering a bit, why Dunnocks are particularly vulnerable for feather lies, I did not find a solution. But evenings are still quite long, I might search if there are any articles about that and will update you, if I find something on that.

 Another Chiffchaff “Gransanger” was in the net today. Other highlights were a Greenfinch “Grønirisk” and a Redwing “Vindrossel”. When I went out to take a picture of it, Steffi from the lighthouse and some visitors saw me and I could show them the bird with the beautiful rusty red under the wing.

Greenfinch "Grønirisk".

The visitors took the picture for me. Now I am also on it.

News of the station:

Many people were at the station today, as some of the trees in the station garden were cut today, so they are lower and on the hight of the nets, so the birds do not just fly over. First Hans Bjerre with his car full of equipment arrived together with Svend Aage, then also Henrik Callesen, Bent and Henrik Böhmer arrived. David did a few hours of migration count but was also soon in the garden to help. As there were so many people, there was also cake, which was nice.

Hans at work.

People: Svend Aage Clausen, Bent Jakobsen, Hans Bjerre, Henrik Callesen, Henrik Böhmer, David Manstrup, Hanelie Sidhu

This morning, there were even more Songthrushes “Sangdrossel” singing. I heard at least two both around the station and lighthouse garden. And first round, I found one in a net in the lighthouse garden. Another short-distance migrant arrived in the net, a Chiffchaff “Gransanger”. There are also a few that stay over winter but most still migrate to warmer parts of Europe, so I see it as another sign that migration starts.

Chiffchaff "Gransanger"

And some other nice species were in the nets today: The first Robin “Rødhals” of the season, a common but always nice bird as well as a Crested Tit “Topmejse”. First, it was just calling in the lighthouse garden, next round it was in one of the nets at Krattet.

The Crested Tit "Topmejse" refused to show its pretty crest on the picture.

The wind was very low today, but after nine o´clock, it slowed down a lot with passerine activity. The sun came out and it was a beautiful morning, but at 9.30 the last bird was in the net.

When I closed the nets, two of the pegs in the ground, to which the net poles are attached with rope and which make them stand, went out of the ground. So I was still a bit busy with hammering them in and making the nets stand again. But now, it is all ready to be up tomorrow morning again!

At the station: David Manstrup, Hanelie Sidhu

The morning started again with opening the nets, Joseph and I did one garden each. When I came down from the lighthouse garden, a Song Thrush “Sangdrossel” was singing near the stations garden. I stood still for a while and listened. Another sign, that spring is really starting! When I went for the first round, it had stopped and I hoped to find it in the net, but not yet. It turned out to be a really beautiful, sunny and bright day, I had the biggest number of birds so far that season, 12 new and 5 recaps. Most birds were caught in the stations garden. The only bird in the lighthouse garden was a Treecreeper, but this time a Eurasian “Træløber”. Note the short bill in comparison to the Short-toed Treecreeper “Korttået Træløber” the long hind claw and the supercilium which reaches both the forehead and the nape. It was nice to have both Treecreeper species in such a short interval, to compare, as I still had the Short-toed well in mind.

Eurasian Treecreeper "Træløber"

Tree Dunnocks "Jernspurv" in the nets today.

During the morning, Joseph left to Copenhagen for a long weekend. He will be back on Sunday.

Also this morning, a professional cleaning team came to the station and cleaned the floors on the ground floor and the bathrooms.

It was a really nice spring day and many Ostercatchers “Strandskade”, Sanderlings “Sandløber” Turnstones “Stenvender” and Purple Sandpipers “Sortgrå Ryle” were gartering on the sand bank at the beach.

The weather looks promising for the next days, I am looking forward to some nice mornings with ringing and also hope to finally have something in the moths traps again.

At the station: Joseph Stephan, Hanelie Sidhu