Energetic Winds

With another day of strong easterly winds and a bright and sunny day, it seemed that all of Blåvand was in an energetic dance: The branches and leaves on the trees, the slim black treads of the mist nets, hats that blew off the head of tourist showing their sunburned faces and of course, the birds flying through the sky.

The strong wind meant that very view nets could be opened today. The wind turned out to be so strong that after the first round we closed all the nets at the lighthouse garden. Leaving only five nets open in the station garden.

The day did start out promising when during the first round two Redstarts were already in the nets. In total 17 birds were ringed today which is not bad all things considered. There were the usual visitors of Blackcaps and Lesser Whitethroats, but the most notable species of the day was a Brambling, we haven’t had that many of this species this season. Later in the day Morten opened the nets again when he heard a Serin call in the station garden. As of writing this blog the nets have been open again for several hours with no luck of catching the Serin, but Morten has not given up yet, so maybe there will be a joyous update tomorrow!

With none of the household names being able to do the morning observations Michael stepped up to the plate. Although no great number of migrating birds, Michael did spot a Black tern this morning! After morning observations Michael took another crack at reading the rings of birds around the station. Today he managed to read four rings! One from a White Wagtail and of three Tree Sparrows. One of the Tree Sparrows has not been controlled since 2022. This bird has been sneaking around the station for two years without anyone here knowing it was still around, not until Michael showed up with his unrelenting effort. And when you think this young man is busy enough looking at birds, he also managed to spot a beautiful Emperor moth.

Emperor Moth

People at the station: Michael, Morten and Maxim