Long Hours, Great Rewards: Bird Ringing and Observation at Blaavand Fuglestation

After a restful night, Strummer and Merit set up the mist nets just before sunrise. Meanwhile, Louis and I headed to the beach for our daily morning observation.

The weather was quite pleasant, so we settled by the shore in our new comfortable chairs and thoroughly enjoyed observing and admiring the birds that graced us with their presence. We continued observing beyond the regular time, spending three more hours, before returning to the station to take a break. I dozed off and had a refreshing nap, while Louis returned to the beach for another five hours of observation, a testament to his dedication that earned him the nickname "Legendary Louis." In total, 1.622 Common Terns/Arctic Terns (Fjordterne/Havterne), 400 Sandwich Terns, 3 Black Terns, 896 Oystercatchers (Strandskade), 115 Turnstones (Stenvender), 20 Common Redshanks (Rodben) and 1.111 Red Knots (Islandsk Ryle) were observed migrating southward today. All observations can be found here: 

Red Knots migrating southward - Foto: Louis Poulsen

Merit and Strummer also had a highly successful day of bird ringing, capturing 16 new birds, including a Common Whitethroat (Tornsanger) with a beautiful moult limit. Additionally, they netted one Tree Pipit (Skovpiber), one Eurasian Wren (Gaerdesmutte), one Dunnock (Jernspurv), one Icterine Warbler (Gulbug), four Common Whitethroats (Tornsanger), one Garden Warbler (Havesanger), two Willow Warblers (Lövsanger), one Great Tit (Musvit), and five Eurasian Tree Sparrows (Skovspurv).

Common Whitethroat with a beautiful moult limit - Foto: Merit Lenk

To cap off this wonderful day at the Fuglstation, Merit prepared a delightful Risotto for dinner, and all of us relished every bite. With hopes of favorable weather tomorrow, we anticipate an influx of splendid birds in Blåvand, and an early awakening once again.

People at the station: Louis Poulsen, Merit Lenk, Strummer Edwards, Joseph Stephan