Five thousand waders! And First Rødstjert of the season

Observation

Moderate southeast winds during the night and the morning in the 4th of August, along with very soft rain during the night and good cloud cover were quite promising for wader migration at Blaavandshuk.

The day started with a notable variety and good numbers of waders, particularly interesting when it comes to "continental" species, such as Shanks, Sandpipers or Plovers. Passage continued during the whole day, slowing down progressively in the evening.

Many birders at the Wader Spot and a 16.5 h count provided over 5,000 waders southwards! Oystercatcher was the dominant species with over 1,700 individuals, but Dunlin, Red Knot and Bar-tailed Godwit made a good contribution with 868, 586 and 350 birds respectively. Tringa species were abundant in the early morning with 50 Greenshanks, 7 Spotted and 282 common Redshanks, and 3 Wood Sandpipers plus 10 Green Sandpiper. Some other interesting records were a Temminck's Stint, 7 Spotted Redshanks and Little Ringed Plover. Other species detected included Whimbrels, Curlews, Curlew Sandpiper, Turnstones, Ruff, etc.

Some ducks brough some variety appart from waders, with 3 Goldeneyes, 5 Eiders, Velvet Scoter and some Graylags, Gadwalls, Eurasian Teals, Red-breasted Merganser...

All these birds contributed to a very funny day for the observer team from Spain and all the birders who joined the counts!

Ringing

While today was another overall slow day of migration ringing, we were rewarded with a long awaited first of season! We caught two female Redstarts (Rødstjert) which were absolutely stunning in the hand. 

Besides that, other highlights included a 2k+ Lesser Whitethroat (Gærdesanger) and another Treecreeper (Trælober), bringing our total for the season up to five!

We kept nets open until 7, catching around one bird an hour (still doing net runs throughout dinner and the ringing team watchparty of Project Hail Mary). Afterwards, I completed my nightly himulation ritual of catching 0 birds night catching.

The Strummer Edwards nightcatching experience at this point in the season