Blæst og små tal

Vejr: overskyet med let regn af og til og hård vind fra omkring vest, senere aftagende vind og lidt sol. Ret lunt med temp. omkring 18°C. God sigt.

Det havde småregnet i løbet af natten, men det var rimelig tørt om morgenen. Dog ud på morgenen begyndte der at blive dannet små byger ud for hukket som drev mod vest så man fik dem lige i hovedet; regnen var så fin at radáren ikke kunne registrere den. Jeg var placeret i hullet eftersom der var skydning, ellers havde jeg nok sat mig i Sabinebunkeren. På trods af vinden var det ikke specielt koldt da temperaturen lå på omkring 17°C.

Trækmæssigt mindede det meget om i går: det begyndte i det små, men ud på morgenen kom der nogle flokke af vadere. Til forskel fra i går kom der dog et par almindelige kjover, 2 ungfugle, trækkende sammen.

Jeg havde en overgang selskab af Daniel som bl.a. fik set kjoverne, nogle rødstrubede lommer og strandskader, men det var nok ikke lige den mest spændende trækdag for ham.

Sven Bødker var på besøg omkring middag og kunne donere et flot sulebillede til stationen samt et søm og noget kage!

Der har her sidst på eftermiddagen været en online ringmærkningskonference som Luke og Daniel deltog i som repræsentanter for Blåvand Fuglestation; det er noget om GPS-sendere der nok skal sættes på solsorte i en nær fremtid. Læs med senere om hvordan det gik.

Træktal: sortand, krikand 2 N, rødstrubet lom 34 S/1 N, sule 3 N, strandskade 66, hjejle 1, småspove 1, storspove 1, lille kobbersneppe 15, islandsk ryle 2, alm. ryle 6, lomvie/alk 1 N, alm. kjove 2, spurvehøg 1.

Det ser ud til at vi får en gentagelse af dagens vejr i morgen: gråt med byger og ret blæsende fra vest.

Folk: Sven, Daniel, Rose, Luke, Michael.

 The forecast for this morning was for strong winds, which turned out correct and genorously included some rain too. So we didn't open the net first thing as a result. As I thought this would happen, with the prospect of a lie in, Daniel and I went out last night to see if we could catch any birds by dazzling them. This is when you shine a bright light at the birds which causes them to freeze, allowing you to drop a net on them to catch them. It can mean many interesting birds are caught which we wouldn't catch in the nets. Daniel had done this before at Skagen fuglestation so was showing me how it was done. Or at least he would have if there had been any birds, instead we found german tourists looking for amber, and many deer (20+). It was interesting to be out in the dark, and it was very atmospheric with the strong winds blowing sand, and the lighthouse beam shinging round like the eye of Sauron. 

I took the opportunity to have a late start having a leisurely breakfast. The wind died down so I opened a few sheltered nets in the station garden at 11:30 until mid afternoon. We managed to catch a bird each in that time, a Pied Flycatcher and a Robin. Better than a zero bird day. 

Pied Flycatcher. Photo: Luke Nelson

Sven came round late morning to put up a picture and very kindly brought us cake! I think it might be the best I've had so far in Denmark! Rose, Sven and I had a good chat over coffee and cake and he showed me the Danish bird atlas webpage on Dovbasen which is a really interesting resource which I can put to use in future blog posts. 

The best cake in Denmark? Photo: Luke Nelson

This afternoon I went for a swim, it was nice to get out after being sick the past week. I didn't start swimming straight away when I got here, but in recent weeks I've been going and really enjoying it and appreciate that the sea is right on our doorstep. I'll see how long into the autumn I keep it up. 

This evening Daniel and I took part in a conference call with many other bird stations in Europe and universities as we will hopefully be taking part in a project putting GPS trackers on Blackbirds this Autumn. The aim of the project is to see why some populations migrate, while others don't or only some individuals migrate, and seeing what route they take during migration and the habitats they use (https://www.icarus.mpg.de/31292/black_birds). It's a very exciting project and I'll write more about it at a later date if we manage to sort permissions. 

Whilst we were on the video call Rose started making us pizzas for dinner, which were really delicious! A mix of traditional pizza and pizza blanca. For a topping Rose also roasted some mushrooms she foraged (she knew what they were but I forget the name), which tasted just like chicken. 

Pizza and mushroom photos, the point at which this turns into a food blog, if it isn't already. Photo: Luke Nelson