Stære i massevis

One gets disappointed easily after a very good migration day, and it happened today in Blavand when the good wind did not bring in the migration army it was expected. But yesterday was exceptionally good, so the drop in total migration volume - from over 75,000 yesterday to over 40,000 today - should have been unsurprising. Variety in species did make up a bit for the lesser numbers when 68 species were counted, and some uncommon migrants were seen and caught. All in all it was still a nice day for migration watch, as well as good weather when we had clear sky most of the day with mild E and SE wind.

 

Chaffinch and Brambling were the major force of migration yesterday but today only 12,500 were counted, and their top spot was replaced by Common Starling with 24,120 birds, which accounted for more than half of total migrants counted. Grey Wagtails were still in good numbers with 21 passing through. A Garganey was spotted among flocks of migrating Pintails and Teals out on the shore. On raptor front the numbers also dropped for all species seen yesterday: 7 Hen Harriers, 4 Red Kites, 2 Rough-legged Buzzards and 2 Merlins. But 3 White-tailed Sea Eagles were seen travelling together far away from the shore and going down in the dunes as if foraging for food, which was an interesting observation even for the experienced migration counters.

 

Finally there was some nice surprise from the lighthouse garden - a Willow Tit was caught in the afternoon, which would be the first in this season as they are not commonly caught on nets in Blavand. But otherwise migration was much less interesting compared to the shore front. Altogether 68 birds were ringed and they were European Stonechat, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Coal Tit, Blackcap, Chiffchaff, Goldcrest, Wren, Robin, Dunnock and Sparrow.7

Fyrremejse. Foto: Jennifer Leung

Foto: Jennifer Leung