Three firsts for Leona

The morning fog was less heavy today but lingered until a bit after sunrise, so Bello and Menno could not view the sea properly during their three-hour count. Despite the slight delay they got to observe hundreds of Red-throated Diver and Common Scoter, apart from the plentiful Herring Gulls that always line the beach. They even spotted four swans, probably Whooper Swans although too far to identify with certainty. Some other migratory movements included numerous Siskin and three Redpoll.

Leona and myself were unable to open any nets until later in the morning, due to the chilly conditions until almost 10am (sub-zero temperatures between -4 and -2 degrees Celsius). Therefore, the standard ringing hours were not possible, yet we opened the station nets when it got warm enough and the frost started to thaw. Leona also managed to observe her first Long-tailed Ducks, following a back and forth with Bello over the walkie-talkies with Bello when he found a couple of them close to the beach. By mid-afternoon we only managed to ring a Robin and recapture a first-winter female Blackbird.

Reed Bunting and Mistle Thrush (another lifer for Leona!) were observed during the day, while a couple of Starlings are already prospecting – with one briefly singing around the station and sitting in a nest box for some time. Bent also came by today and we fixed a few things with some of the nets and data inputting. Interestingly, he also found the first Adder this year in the sand dunes. A nice group of Red deer were seen just outside Blåvand by Bello and Leona at dusk - it was also first time for Leona seeing this species.

Tomorrow should be almost fog-free with a light breeze from the SE direction. It should be possible to get the standard counting and ringing hours done…let’s see what happens!

Long-tailed Duck, Female and Male 

Red Deer Group 

Photos by Bello 

Ringing list (new/ recapture):

1/0 Robin

0/1 Blackbird

DOFbasen list:

https://dofbasen.dk/search/result.php?design=table&soeg=soeg&periode=antaldage&dage=10&omraade=hiddenlok&hiddenlok=555209&obstype=observationer&sortering=dato

Folk på stationen: Bent, Leona, Menno, Bello, Timmy