Flot træk af stære

Vejr: først overskyet med enkelte dryp, senere nogen sol. Jævn vind fra omkring syd og sydsydøst. Temp. mellem omkring 12 grader. God sigt.

Det var noget overskyet om morgenen, og det lignede lidt at det skulle regne. Der var nogle drosselkald i luften, for det meste fra vindrossel og sjagger. Vi blev mødt af en kæmpe flok stære der var på vej ud lige før morgenobsen skulle til at begynde, omkring 4000. Ikke længe efter kom der en ny kæmpe flok på omtrent ligeså mange som også trak ud. Da en flok på ca. 1200 var på vej ud, kom der en spurvehøg gik til angreb og fik alle sammen til at styrtdykke (med en øredøvende larm fra vingerne) lige foran os og lande i noget rosenkrat i nærheden; én måtte lade livet.

Ca. 1200 stære klumpet sammen i noget hybenkrat. Foto: Rose Mink Rørdam

Det blev til, inkl. de første 4000, til 12500 udtrækkende fugle på ca. en halv time! Herefter trak der ikke nært så mange stære, men stadig ca. 500-1000 i timen. I alt blev der noteret over 15000 stære.

Der kom ikke meget andet end stære. Et par bjergvipstjerter blev det til og nogle bog- og kvækerfinker. Der var ikke mange blåmejser; der kom kun en flok på omkring 13, og det var sikkert den flok som Luke fik fornøjelse af kort efter. 7 spurvehøge trak mod syd.

Der var lidt mere fut i sortænderne som der kom lidt over 1100 af. Over 200 ederfugle trak mod nord. Der kom også andre ænder, fx en flok pibe- og krikænder samt en toppet skallesluger.

Dagens mest usædvanlige obs var en ung ride der kom trækkende bag os i klitterne og fløj bagom fyret. Hvor ofte ser man lige det?

Kort før morgenobsen endte, gik vi besked om at der var blevet fanget en ringdrossel i Fyrhaven. Det er en sen fugl, og den ville jeg gerne se. (Rose tog imidlertid tilbage til stationen fordi naturen kaldte; herefter tog hun til Vadehavscenteret og Mandø med sine venner og kom først tilbage her til aften.) Efter at have set ringdroslen blev jeg sendt i stationshaven for at pille fugle ud eftersom der var lidt travlt.

Anders, Luke og jeg ringmærkede til solnedgang hvor bl.a. en rødtoppet fuglekonge blev fanget; det er, ligesom ringdroslen, en sen fugl.

Om eftermiddagen ankom Joshua og Emma som har i sinde at blive her til engang i december måned. Vi er nu 7 på stationen.

I nat lægger vinden sig helt, og der kommer en lille vinddrejning om i øst. Stille og klart vejr plejer at give dis og tåge, så det er muligt at vi skal døje lidt med det i morgen tidlig.

Folk: Emma, Joshua, Anders, Emilia, Louis, Rose, Luke, Michael.

 We heard lots of thrushes migrating yesterday evening, so we opened the nets early in the dark today, as the best time to catch them is in the pre-dawn light as they start moving. We were rewarded with one Redwing and a few Blackbirds, we being me and Anders Brinkmann who has joined us for a few days to help out with the ringing and observations. Anders regularly helps out at Skagen Fuglestation, but due to current restrictions he came to Blåvand for his first visit here.

It was a busy thrush day, with Redwing, Song Thrush and many Blackbirds caught, 18 new and 5 retraps during the day! This includes a small flurry of 6 birds at sunset which we caught heading to roost in the trees in the station garden, as I had the nets there open all day. It’s a shame we aren’t able to satellite tag the Blackbirds at the moment, as today would have been a productive day. The star thrush of the day was a late migrating Ring Ouzel, a young female, which Anders saw whizzing through the station garden flying straight into a net.

Young female Ring Ouzel. Photo: Anders Brinkmann

It was a moderately busy day, which kept Anders and I busy whilst allowing us time to have a good look at the birds. Other highlights include two Lesser Redpoll, which we haven’t caught in a while and seem to be thin on the ground this year. We caught an adult and first year bird, which allowed us to see the differences in the ages quite clearly which was nice.

Lesser Redpoll. Photo: Luke Nelson

We caught an interesting Blue Tit which was lacking pigment in it’s lower mandible (I assume). Photo: Luke Nelson

We caught several Bullfinch today, including a female of the northern subspecies pyrhulla. We caught it alongside a female of the western, resident subspecies europea allowing us to see the difference in colour on their upperparts, as well as their size difference.

Northern (right) and Western (left) female Bullfinches. Photo: Luke Nelson

Anders had said to Michael yesterday that he wanted to see a Firecrest, as he’s not seen one before. And we managed to make his dreams come true as we caught one in the afternoon and he got to ring it. Needless to say he was very pleased!

Firecrest. Photo: Anders Brinkmann

This afternoon Emma and Joshua joined us, and they will be staying here until mid-December! They have spent the Autumn at Gedser fuglestation, being involved with the ringing and catching many birds! It’s nice to have a fresh injection of enthusiasm, and I’m excited to hear about their experience at Gedser and hopefully learn new things from each other. Alongside Anders representing Skagen, we have people with experience from the three DOF fuglestations, sharing knowledge and experience.

This evening, Anders, Emma and Joshua have gone out night-catching on the beach whilst I’ve been writing this, but they found no birds. We also had some nets open and sound playing to see if we can catch any owls, but again no joy!