Vanen tro gik jeg på morgenobs. Forventningerne var tilpasset nordenvinden, som aldrig er rigtig godt til trækfuglene her i Blåvand. Det endte dog med at blive en nogenlunde trækdag. Dagens helt klare højdepunkt på morgenobsen var en flok på 5 Sølvhejrer som fløj øst. Ret fåtallig art på selve hukket, da de sjældent trækker så langt vestpå. 
Derudover hyggede vi os med trækkende Bjerglærker som kom lavt over vandet. Små men fine flokke! 
En ung Havørn lavede også et trækforsøg på hukket. Muligvis samme individ som i går, selvom jeg synes dragten var lidt anderledes? 
Derudover blev årets første Søkonge observerede, af Carsten Svejstrup. Han var den eneste der fik fuglen at se, så vidt jeg ved. Men ikke desto mindre en god art at få med. Dagen sluttede af med en enkelt trækkende Storkjove! Dejlig morgenobs!

Morgenen var mere stille end i går, og der var da heller ikke så mange fugle på første runde, især ikke gærdesmutter.
Ved anden gennemgang af nettene opdagedes en piber siddende helt nede i bunden af F1. Den blev hurtigt bestemt til tajgapiber og meldt ud over mobilen til felttræfdeltagerne. Efter at der var taget biometriske mål blev fuglen fremvist for deltagerne på felttræffet, hvor den skabte megen glæde, og adskillige fik ny art. Der foreligger i øjeblikket 12 fund af tajgapiber i Danmark, og heraf er de 7 fra Blåvandområdet, hvoraf to er ringmærket.
Ellers var det primært fuglekonge som dominerede i dag, men en enkelt runde var der også fyldt godt op med blåmejser.
Ringmærkning: Tajgapiber 1, gærdesmutte 9, rødhals 14, solsort 7, sangdrossel 4, munk 3, gransanger 1, fuglekonge 37, sortmejse 9, blåmejse 26, musvit 12, skovspurv 2, bogfinke 4, kvækerfinke 1, grønirisk 2, lille gråsisken 1. I alt 133 af 16 arter.

Den ringmærkede Tajgapiber fremvises! Foto: DMA.

DMA/Bent

En ret vindstille morgen, men i løbet af dagen friskede vinden op fra nord men kun til 6-7 sekundmeter. En rigtig god sigtbarhed og skydækket 3-4/8. Vinden var ret kold og temperaturen nåede da heller ikke over 16 gr.
Igen i dag var der mængder af folk på Hukket og kigge på morgentrækket. Flere spændende fugle blev observeret. Igen i dag var der 2 Islommer som passerede, og den ene i fuld sommerdragt. Den fortsatte ned mod Hvidbjerg, hvor adskillige folk som var i det område også fik glæde af den. Nordenvind er ikke god til rovfugle men i dag sås både havørn og vandrefalk. Også 1 almindelig kjove lagde vejen forbi. 68 alk/lomvier trak hvilket er pænt efter Blåvandforhold.
Efteråret tyder på at blive alletiders bedste bjerglærkeår, og i dag trak 18, hvorimod lapværling er nærmest fraværende.
En ringdrossel sås ved Vesterled og efterårets 2. silkehale sad lige foran nettet V1, men fløj dog ikke i.
Der var gang i ringmærkningen de første par timer, og alene i stations sad der på 1. runde 11 gærdesmutter. Talrigeste art blev blåmejse. Årets 7. hvidbrynet løvsanger blev ringmærket, ligesom efterårets 2. lille fluesnapper også blev en realitet.
Antalsmæssigt forsætter de flotte dagstotaler.

Ringmærkning: engpiber 1, gærdesmutte 36, jernspurv 2, rødhals 26, solsort 1, munk 8, hvidbrynet løvsanger 1, gransanger 2, fuglekonge 26, rødtoppet fuglekonge 1, lille fluesnapper 1, sortmejse 1, blåmejse 52, musvit 10, skovspurv 6, bogfinke 4, kvækerfinke 1, grønirisk 5, dompap 3. I alt 187 af 19 arter.

Igen i dag rastede der nonnestenpikker på det nordlige Skallingen, ligesom der er 10 sølvhejrer.

Engpiber. Ny mærkeart for efteråret. Foto: Bent Jakobsen

The day began with heavy mist that literally Blavand was covered in a white veil most of the morning with very low visibility. At some moment even the lighthouse could not be seen clearly.
Bird activity was not seen much, and migration was going on but most of it would be invisible. Nets in gardens were quiet.Under such unfavourable condition, the most visible migration was Common Starling and 5,200 birds were counted, which were almost the whole migration volume, with total count of 6,000 birds. Jimmy was struggling amid the mist and still counted 212 Meadow Pipits, 106 Chaffinch and Brambling, 32 Grey Wagtails and 6 Shore Larks. Out on the sea several several divers of different species were seen and a Great Northern Diver in breeding plumage was a nice treat of a bad weather day.
In the gardens only 29 birds were ringed with 9 species altogether. Goldcrest was the most ringed bird with 7 on the net, followed by 6 Song Thrushes and 5 Greenfinches. Tits were totally absent, except for a retrapped Crested Tit. Today Jimmy is leaving the station and we will see him next season.

Foto:Jennifer Leung

Foto: Jennifer Leung

With the great results yesterday - meaning a lot of counting work - Jimmy set off with full preparation (enough food and coffee for long working hours) and high spirit. He was joined by Bent and other birders (Henrik, Henrik, Leo and Sven) who came in the station last night to form a "gang of migration watch". More pairs of eyes did yield more results when 63,550 of Bramblings and Chaffinch were counted as they passed through in streams after streams over people's heads that one could not count all that birds without missing some other species. Finches naturally composed the mostly counted species out of over 75,000 migrants counted for the whole day. Seeing finches flying all around was certainly delightful, but it could not drive up adrenaline the way migrating raptors did when the gang saw 76 Red Kites showering the shore! These kites instantly broke their own record made yesterday without breaking a sweat. Before the gang could catch a breath from counting, they saw 7 Rough-legged Buzzards in good view and 98 Sparrowhawks all over the place. In the mean time 12 Hen Harriers and 3 Merlins joined in to make a raptor platter for the day.

Highlight of passerine migration belonged to larks - 717 Skylarks and 167 Shorelarks were counted, which would be a lot to see in one single day here. Grey Wagtails tried to steal the spotlight from larks with very good number of 37 birds and probably one of the best single day records in Blavand. In a regular day, 10,240 Common Starlings for a morning could be some sight worth to see, but a day like this everyone was simply distracted by other more exciting migrants. Blue Tits did not make an impact we expected today with just 577 birds counted. To make up for the loss from missing all the fun on the shore, I tried to look at the sky more when I was not busy with the nets, and in the late afternoon I got one young Peregrine Falcon flying over the main house and a Common Kestrel showing well nearby.  

Compared to the hustle and bustle on the shore, migration looked a little bit lackluster in the garden and lighthouse nets as we had in total 279 birds caught. Blue Tits were again the mostly ringed species with 172 birds. Adding 32 Great Tits and 8 Coal Tits (where is Crested Tit?? I need one on net!), tits altogether again made up the major force on nets. The rest of the ensemble were Blackcap, Chiffchaff, Firecrest, Goldcrest, Dunnock, Robin and a young Black Redstart which we don't catch very often. We closed nets at 1500. Dinner time was "the more the merrier" when we had four new visitors joining us. We had yummy chicken legs and an excellent dinner prepared by Sune!

 Foto: Jennifer Leung

Today the weather was very nice for migration watch and ringing with not much wind in the early morning, but very humid for us. On the shore it began with mild S wind and then SE wind, and migration swinged in just when the first light came. In the garden and lighthouse we had a long ringing day as there was an incoming of Blue Tits around lunch time. We closed all nets at 1500.

The sky was clear and it was warm most of the morning. Migration began with big flocks of Meadow Pipits, which amounted to 2,346; then came Brambling and Chaffinch with total count of 1,684. Highlights of the day included influx of Blue Tits just before lunch time, altogether 1,416 was counted. So Jimmy was busy using two clickers at the same time to count flocks of incoming migrants and barely had time to catch a sip of coffee. The count of Blue Tits is the 5th highest single day record. But this highlight was easily paralleled by 7 Red Kites, which is the highest single day count. The raptor excitement did not stop with the kites, as Jimmy also saw 6 Hen Harriers with one cracking adult male as an eye candy for him. Not to mention that 61 Sparrowhawks were undoubtedly a delightful sight for him. Speaking of good numbers, Common Starling should be the champion of the day with 2,640 counted. One early Snow Bunting joined the eventful migration mix, and Barred Warbler was seen again at the same spot again. Around 9,000 migrants were counted today. Also a Parrot Crossbill migrate.

Blue Tits influx also attacked the nets as they were effortlessly the mostly ringed birds of the day - 126 were ringed among 171 birds we caught on nets. Incoming of tits always make ringers a little bit frenetic or frantic, depending on your personality, and the best (of tits) is yet to come. Leaf warbler variety was less than yesterday as we had only 3 Chiffchaff and one Firecrest on the net. Goldcrest is an obvious absentee. 12 species of birds were ringed today.      

En af dagens 7 røde glenter. Foto: Jennifer Leung

En af dagens 70 spurvehøge. Foto: Jennifer Leung

Nets were open again with a mild SW wind in the morning, mostly overcast with a brief time of clear sky. Fair weather for ringing and we open all nets until 1pm. On migration watch, Jimmy had a better morning after an uneventful day yesterday with strong wind and almost no visible migration.

With less wind and warm weather, some more birds were seen and heard when first light came. The day began with some migration along the shoreline, and most active in the first hour. Jimmy had nine Shorelarks and six Parrot Crossbills as highlight of the day, and a female Peregrine chasing after gulls on shore certainly gave him some entertainment. Things began to quiet down afterward and migration was slow again. The juvenile Barred Warbler which attracted a small crowd on Sunday was not seen again today.

In the garden and lighthouse, we have ringed some warblers and tits, with two Yellow-browed Warblers and two Chiffchaffs, also two Willow Warblers which would be a bit late arrival in this season. Incoming became slow after the first two hours.
And we had "Tuesday Gang" here in the station for some birdwatching.

Foto: Jennifer Leung

Foto: Jacob Nielsen

Til morgen var vinden sydvest 13 sekundmeter, så nettene forblev lukkede denne dag. Seje Jimmy drog på stranden, men uden de store resultater.
Høgesangeren sad på samme sted som i går, og af træk skal bare nævnes 2 store skalleslugere, ellers var det småt med fugle.

Bent