North wind is not good for us but song bird migration has started!

Morgen observation:

Igen i dag lå vinden mellem nord og nord-nordvest, og det er efterhånden bare opskriften på en kedelig dag på obsen. Næsten ingenting bevægede sig. Kun nogle stædige strandskader valgte at denne vindretning kunne bruges til at trække i.

Ud over strandskaderne kom der utroligt få andre vader, og mange af dem valgte at lande på stranden ud for Hukket – som om de havde fortrudt deres beslutning om at trække. De fortsatte dog videre efter kort tids rast.

Selv rastefuglene var meget fåtallige i dag, da vandstanden stod meget højt. Det betød, at der ikke var meget plads til mågerne, og ternerne havde tydeligvis sat sig på den lille smule tørre sand, der var tilbage. Så i dag skete der ikke engang noget spændende blandt de rastende fugle på stranden.

Heldigvis kan de rastende fugle i klitterne sommetider redde stemningen.

En utrolig fin huldue sad og kiggede ud over området fra toppen af en af bunkerne, og det var især to tårnfalke, der stod for underholdningen. De fløj rundt og prøvede ihærdigt at fange mad. Det lignede en ung og en ældre fugl – og efter flere forsøg uden held valgte den unge at flyve over og sætte sig i en af antennerne ved militærskuret, hvor den sad og skreg efter mad, mens den voksne fortsatte jagten.

Udover det kom der også pludselig en musvåge meget tæt på. Den dykkede fra stor højde og ramte ned bare et par meter fra mig, hvilket straks fik bysvalerne til at reagere. De gik i gang med at irettesætte den og prøvede at jage den væk.

Og som om det ikke var nok med en utrolig sløv obs, begyndte det i løbet af morgenen at trække mere og mere op til regn. Mørke skyer samlede sig over mig – og selvfølgelig, med 25 minutter tilbage, kom en ordentlig byge.

Jeg havde valgt at lade paraplyen blive hjemme, men vurderede, at det bare var en kort byge, så jeg blev siddende. Den stoppede da også hurtigt igen, så jeg tænkte, at jeg kunne nå at afslutte obsen og komme tilbage, før det regnede igen.

Men nej.

Med 10 minutter tilbage begyndte det at regne helt vildt, og alt blev vådt med det samme. Og som om det ikke var nok, forsvandt den ellers gode sigt på 30 km, jeg havde haft hele morgenen – og blev erstattet af... ingenting. Jeg kunne ikke engang se havet længere.

Så med ingen sigt og træls regn var det tid til at pakke sammen. Jeg fik hurtigt samlet udstyret og satte i rask tempo kursen mod stationen.

Selvom regnen hurtigt aftog lidt, blev det ved med at dryppe hele vejen tilbage. Alt var gennemblødt, da jeg endelig kom ind – men jeg fik hurtigt tørret skopet og satte mig så til at skrive dagens obs ind.

THK

Ringmærkning:

Last night the weather forecast looked really good for today, finally low winds, due to the fact that we were right in the eye of a storm, so to say – there is a low air pressure region right above us meaning, that from every direction wind is blowing towards us – and should bring birds. But, unfortunately, the limit of the eye of the storm is further south, so we were still in north-wind-territory meaning birds could just pass through without having to stop to visit us.

Still we had high hopes but they were soon washed away by reality: one bird in the first net check and then nothing for more than an hour. But then suddenly, the winds changed (although not in direction but in what they brought with them). Rain clouds appeared seemingly out of the nowhere – as is not uncommon right at the coast. A very short but quite heavy shower made us question if we should stay open at all. But the next net check answered that question very decisively with 6 birds in one net check. For the next hour and a half we were forced to check nets continuously due to passing rain showers but every time we came up with some birds, so no need to complain.

The birds we caught were almost exclusively local birds, signs of migration still being very rare in the form of two Icterine warblers and possibly a Willow warbler.

After the standard ringing, we still kept the nets open for two more hours, Estelle apparently thinking it might be worth it – and it turned out, she was right: at 11am, the sun again bright and quite hot in the sky, the time you would least expect the very bird that shows you that migration has started after all, it was right there in outermost shrub nets: a Pied flycatcher.

The Pied flycatcher we caught: it's probably a young male

A sure sign of migration! We are here, ready and hoping for more. Although the weather does not look much better for the next few days.

Either way, when you look at the results for today, no, we still didn’t catch huge numbers, but having 13 species with only 14 birds ringed isn’t nothing!

As an important side event: Kim and Maria, who seem to have a vegetable garden that offers more variety than your local grocery store, have brought many goods from their garden (and some from the forests) with them and have been cooking great dinner for themselves and us for the last two days. Thank you so much! Of course, the garden needs to be attended to, so they have to go back tomorrow, which will leave Estelle and me alone at the station again until Tuesday.

One of the delicious meal of yesterday evening made by Kim and Maria

MH

Folk på stationen: Estelle Cumin, Thomas Kristensen, Martina Hillbrand, Henrik Bøhmer, Kim og Maria