Blåmejse, Musvits, and various tasks

Today began at approximately 2:30 am for Alice and I, as after a brief hiatus from ringing over the past few days due to foul conditions, it was our turn to open the mist nets.  The rest joined us soon after for the first round of net checks.  Early on, it rained a little bit -  bad for ringing - but thankfully it did not last long and we were able to get in a full morning of fieldwork, despite having to close a few nets due to wind.  Overall, it was a pretty standard day of ringing, with no exceptional species.  However, a blue tit "blåmejse" and a large number of great tits "musvit" in the nets were highlights. 

Great Tit "Musvit" & Blue Tit "Blåmejse"

After returning from ringing we all had some lunch and got some rest.  Rita and Nathan spent some time in the attic repairing damaged mist nets.  Martina went to Flagbakken to look for raptors, but unfortunately did not see any, though she says the view was quite nice!  Alice spent some time exploring the local area with a camera in hand.  Conditions made birding hard, though she had a nice encounter with a Roe Deer "Rådyr."  The net in the lighthouse garden was opened very briefly in the afternoon as well, and a singular house sparrow "Gråspurv" was caught and ringed.

Alice's photo of a Rådyr

We had a lovely dinner afterwards, and our guests joined us for our evening meeting to recap the day's events.

Unfortunately, the wind conditions for the next few days seem too bad for ringing, so we will not be ringing tomorrow morning.  However, Martina and I plan to do a seawatch / seabird count in the early morning tomorrow, and the others will do some much-needed maintenance of the mist net lanes later in the morning. 

- Max

Ringing Totals:

Kærsanger (Marsh Warbler): 2

Rørsanger (Reed Warbler) : 1

Gærdesanger (Lesser whitethroat): 4

Tornsanger (Common whitethroat): 4

Munk (Eurasian blackcap): 4

Gransanger (Common Chiffchaff): 1

Blåmejse (Blue tit): 1

Musvit (Great tit): 5

Rørspurv (Reed bunting): 1

Gråspurv (House sparrow): 1

Total: 24

Local Observations of the Day in DOFBasen

People: Rita DeLucco, Hanelie Sidhu, Alice Scalzo, Nathan Delmas, Max Laubstein, Martina , our guests