A little bird for a big number!

Ringing: Today we were prepared for anything, but the garden was much more quiet during opening round, than yesterday, and it also showed through some smaller first rounds. The birds kept a steady flow throughout the day though, and we ended up with 54 birds in the nets. 

Among the birds, we had another beautiful specimen of my favourite (read the blog from yesterday ;-) ), and some really nice Tree Sparrows (Skovspurve), who also frequents the station's roof. 

Our third Tree Sparrow today :-) Picture by Mathilde Sif Eiby.

Late morning I (Mathilde) was bringing some birds from the station garden to the lighthouse to ring, and I pass a fellow birder who tells me he's spotted a Red-Breasted Flycatcher (Lille Fluesnapper) in the lighthouse garden, to which I respond: "Cool, maybe we'll get it in the nets". And next round, GUESS WHAT?! I call Strummer, who calls Johan and Anton etc, and it ends up being Antons DK-species number 300!

A young Red-breasted Flycatcher, distinguished on the tail, and aged from the light spots in the wing feathers called greater coverts. Picture by Mathilde Sif Eiby.

Lastly, at the end of ringing, after (second) last round didn't give a single bird, we were expecting a fast closing round, until Strummer shows up with 5 Coal Tits (Sortmejser) among more. 

Two of the Coal Tits from today, all of which were young, seen from moult limits in the wing - in this case a clear contrast between the feathers within the feather group called greater coverts. Picture by Strummer Edwards.

Today's numbers:

Observations: Today was my (Antons) first day at obs, and expectations were high after yesterday's influx of passerines. The weather still looked good, and I was hopeful for hundreds upon hundreds of small songbirds. That, however, was apparently not destined to happen.

The day started with a few meadow pipits (Anthus pratensis), some common scoters (Melanitta
nigra), and a few red-throated loons (Gavia stellata); however, not in large numbers. I was
optimistic that as the sun rose, so would the numbers. They did, but not remarkably, and by the
end of the day, we had only seen 318 meadow pipits, 298 common scoters, and 54 red-throated
loons on the obs.

As for the other passerines I was so hopeful for, the most notable numbers were 16 dunnocks
(Prunella modularis), 81 linnets (Linaria cannabina), 30 redpolls (Acanthis flammea), and 3
yellow wagtails (Motacilla flava). And as for the coastal birds, the only notable observation was
a razorbill (Alca torda) resting extremely close to the beach.

Furthermore, we were joined by a few birds of prey at obs today: 1 2k white-tailed eagle
(Haliaeetus albicilla) and 2 sparrowhawks (Accipiter nisus) flew by.

Tomorrow the wind looks good for a proper sea watch with chances for storm-petrels,
shearwaters, and skuas. After missing Sunday's obs, I am really looking forward to some
seabirds, hopefully a storm-petrel or a shearwater.

Todays observations

Other things: The station also welcomed a new guest, Jakob Hansen, who will be joining us at obs over the next couple of days.

Here is Jakob picking up the slack by cleaning the fridge as soon as he arrived! Picture by Johan Them Steffensen.

While Jakob managed the fridge, I (Mathilde) threw myself at sorting the pantry, which I've been side-eying since I arrived.  

Who doesn't like labels? Picture by Mathilde Sif Eiby

At the station: Strummer Edwards, Johan Them Steffensen, Mathilde Sif Eiby, Anton Ræbild Jensen and Jakob Hansen