Some Dance, Some Soar and Others Slither

This morning, we all took our chance to say goodbye to Bianca one last time before she left for home. It is nice to know that Bianca will be in good company on her way home with Maria, Thea and William. The positivity and excitement she brought to the station will be greatly missed!

Due to the strong winds today all nets in the gardens stayed closed in the morning, which gave Morten the opportunity to do the observations together with Lisa and James. There was no great number of birds counted today but the three observers did spot three different species of terns: Common tern (Fjordterne), Little tern (Dværgterne) and Sandwich tern (Splitterne) and they got a good look at some Gannets (Sule) close to shore.

Gannet on the coast

While the rest were contributing to the productivity of the bird station I on the other hand went for a long morning walk through the dunes and along the coastline. The strong winds made the tall grass dance beautifully with a silvery hue in the light of the morning sun, and outside of the usual fanfare I spotted a Common kestrel which I had not seen here before in Blåvand. It’s always a joy to see them elegantly soar in the wind, even on a day like today.

James on the other hand found some interesting critters on his walk in the afternoon. A (deceased) Common lizard, or more intricately known and astutely named as the Viviparous lizard (firben). A lizard that lives farther north than any other (non-marine) reptile. Even more excitingly, James found an adder (hugorm)! And while photographing the snake James got a little too close for its liking which made the slithering critter make a small defensive charge towards the camera (which is quite imposing when looking through a zoomed in lens).

Viviparous lizard.

Adder

Later in the afternoon the wind settled a little, so of course Morten took this chance to open a view nets in the station garden for a short while. This resulted in one ringed chiffchaff and the recapture of two Goldcrests.

For tomorrow it looks like there will be some rain after sunrise and later in the afternoon more rain will come, but there should be a possibility to open the nets in the morning and to do some observations!