GPS-mærkning af solsorte påbegyndt

Vejr: mest tørt og klart med svag til jævn fra vestnordvest, senere sydvest og syd. Temp. omkring 10 grader. God sigt.

Det blev atter en lidt stille morgen, men der kom da nogle fugle nu og da. Lidt over 50 lommer trak mod syd. Lomvierne og alkenes træk er lidt svært at holde styr på; mange synes at trække mod syd tæt på land, mens de langt ude overvejende trækker mod nord. I virkeligheden er det nok snarere fourageringstræk for deres vedkommende.

Der var ikke mange ænder, heller ikke sortænder. Der kom nogle flokke af ederfugle trækkende mod nord (78), men ellers blev det kun enkelte andre ænder som fløjlsand, toppet skallesluger, pibeand and krikand.

Søkongerne kommer stadigvæk trækkende fint lige foran brændingen i revet; i dag blev det dog kun til én, og den blev overhalet af en lomvie så man kunne sammenligne størrelsen, og den var, som ventet, markant mindre!

Lidt senere kom der en thorshane, næsten i samme spor. Det er den anden dette efterår, så vi har allerede slået sidste efterår mht. antal.

Blandt andre mere usædvanlige fugle kom der en toppet lappedykker, og en 1K knopsvane fløj lidt frem og tilbage i revet før den landede. En havlit, tilsyneladende den samme fra i går, fløj ligeledes lidt frem og tilbage.

Der var lidt flere småfugle i luften, for det meste små korsnæb samt bog- og kvækerfinker, og nogle stære trak mod England. En større flok skovspurve og stillitser kom lige ud til os og tog så retur; et par flokke af alliker var også på trækforsøg.

Dagens træktal: knopsvane 1, ederfugl 78, fløjlsand 3, sortand 460, toppet skallesluger 7, pibeand 3, krikand 1, toppet lappedykker 1, rødstrubet lom 54, sule 3, skarv 15, thorshane 1, alk 1, søkonge 1, lomvie 2, lomvie/alk 26, spurvehøg 1, allike 85 (TF), blåmejse 6, musvit 10, stær 135, skovspurv 25 (TF), engpiber 8, skærpiber 1, bjergvipstjert 1, bog-/kvækerfinke 129, dompap 2, grønirisk 3, stor/lille gråsisken 2, lille korsnæb 38, stillits 20 (TF), grønsisken 25.

Der er blevet ringmærket stort set hele dagen ifm. solsortemærkningen, og i den forbindelse er vi mange på stationen; Lars Tom og Michael Køie har forladt stationen. Rose er tilbage fra København.

Jeg har fået lyttet noget mere nattræk igennem; der er ikke noget spændende, men flere vindrosler og solsorte er trukket igennem; overraskende nok er der endnu temmelig få sangdrosler, men de kommer måske de nærmeste dage (eller nætter!).

I morgen tager vinden til igen (op til omkring 10 m/s), og det ser ud til at den fortrinsvis skal komme fra mellem syd og sydøst, nok måske især sydøst. Det bliver spændende at se om der således ikke kunne blive blæst noget herud; ringmærkningen er dog måske i fare pga. vindstyrken.

Folk: Bent, Lars Tom, Sven Bødker, Thyge Enevoldsen, Michael Køie, Kasper, Jesper og Jonathan, Amelie, Simon, Jimmy, Daniel, Rose, Luke, Michael.

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Today has been the start of Blåvand’s involvement in an exciting new project. As part of the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behaviour Global Thrush ICARUS project, we will be putting satellite transmitters on Blackbirds alongside many other bird stations across Europe, North America and Asia. The aim of the project is to investigate the reason some populations of Blackbirds migrate whilst others don’t, where they go and what routes they take, and to trial the new ICARUS technology. You can read more about the project here: https://www.icarus.mpg.de/31292/black_birds&source=gmail&ust=1603224849387000&usg=AFQjCNG-yLpfwp-XRB3R8vz6mAPkPZhzlQ

This will allow us to learn much more about where Blackbirds that pass through Blåvand spend the rest of their lives, and we should be able to share with you details of where they end up.

To get started today we have had training in putting the satellite trackers on Blackbirds, alongside Simon and his volunteer Amelie who have come from Skagen, where they will also be deploying trackers. Kasper Thorup and Jesper Madsen who help run the Danish Ringing Scheme from the Zoological Museum in Copenhagen came to give us the training and make sure we were ready to go. Kasper travelled all the way from Christiansø yesterday, arriving late last night, a journey from the most Eastern to most Western points in Denmark! Alongside Simon and Amelie from the most Northern point in Denmark, we almost cover every compass point!

We had received twelve satellite tags from Germany last week, but we thought it a bit optimistic to be able to deploy all of them today, as we don’t usually catch that many Blackbirds, perhaps even none. However we got off to a good start with three Blackbirds in the first net round, with another three in the second! We create a harness to hold the tag on each Blackbird, with the size depending on the size of the Blackbird, as it has to be a good fit. Once we had measured the Blackbirds we got to making the harnesses which was quite fiddly work. These are then put on the Blackbirds and are checked to ensure they are safe, before we release the bird. Kasper was instructing us how best to do this, having worked with tags and harnesses before. Whilst we were busy with this Bent and Daniel were checking the nets and ringing, which was a great help.

One of the satellite tags with leg harness. These fit around the Blackbirds legs like a backpack. Photo: Simon Christiansen

Creating the leg harnesses for he satellite tags. Photo: Amelie Zeller

Once the tag is put on we check for a good fit. Photo: Jesper Johannes Madsen

The satellite tag sits on the back of the bird, where a solar panel keeps the battery charged. Photo: Luke Nelson

Ringing wise it was quite a steady day, but never too busy, which was quite ideal as we had the Blackbirds to focus on. The highlight was catching the second Firecrest of the season, and Daniel was pleased to ring his first. We got the second and third Goldfinch of the season too, which was a nice surprise. We also caught a retrap Crested Tit, which Kasper and Jesper were excited to see as they aren’t found in Zealand so not a bird they see often. 

Firecrest. Photo: Amelie Zeller

Goldfinch. Photo: Amelie Zeller

Crested Tit. Photo: Jesper Johannes Madsen

We kept the nets open during the afternoon, to try and catch more Blackbirds. This proved successful as we got about one or two an hour. Amazingly by the end of the day we had caught thirteen Blackbirds meaning we were able to deploy all the tags and get good experience in putting them on. We couldn’t ask for a more successful day, as also they were quite well spaced out over the day so we had time to process them all. We closed the nets as the sun was setting, having been ringing for eleven hours, a long day but very productive!

A female blackbird tagged and ready for release. Photo: Jesper Johannes Madsen

At one point this morning Bent appeared shouting “Cake! Cake!” at me as he had brought us some, for which we very appreciative: it helped keep us going whilst we were busy. Thanks to Sven Bødker who has donated a copy of the book “Ageing & Sexing of Migratory East Asian Passerines” to the station, a new book Daniel and I are very excited about as it will help if we catch any more eastern vagrants. Much appreciated! And thanks also to Rose for going food shopping and cooking for us all this evening, a delicious mushroom pasta and salad.

Species	Ringed	Recaptures
Wren (Gærdesmutte)	4	1
Dunnock (Jernspurv)	0	1
Robin (Rødhals)	5	5
Blackbird (Solsort)	9	4
Song Thrush (Sangdrossel)	2	0
Chiffchaff (Gransanger)	0	1
Goldcrest (Fuglekonge)	10	8
Firecrest (Rødtoppet Fuglekonge)	1	0
Crested Tit (Topmejse)	0	1
Coal Tit (Sortmejse)	1	0
Blue Tit (Blåmejse)	5	1
Great Tit (Musvit)	5	0
Tree Sparrow (Skovspurv)	1	0
Chaffinch (Bogfinke)	1	0
Greenfinch (Grønirisk)	6	0
Goldfinch (Stillits)	2	0
Siskin (Grønsisken)	6	0
Bullfinch (Dompap)	0	2
Yellowhammer (Gulspurv)	1	2
Total	59	26