There's nothing sweeter than a long-tailed tit

This morning was very cold when Amira and I went to open the nets at Kabeltromlen, but it was not windy at all, so we could open all the nets and then huddle together for some coffee at the Kabeltromlen to see the beautiful sunrise. We were joined by Lisa, Simon, Gabriel, and some guests before the first round. It was a fairly busy morning with a steady and lägom flow of birds into the nets, with a nice variety of species. Gabriel and I were very happy indeed to come across a flock of absolutely gorgeous long-tailed tits (Halemejser) on one of the early rounds. They are very round and soft and smell like marshmallows and I wish they could come live with us in the lighthouse. We also had some treecreepers (træløber), and plenty of goldcrests (fuglekonge) again.

Stillits

It was truly abysmal in the middle of the morning to have to say goodbye to Gabriel, who we have grown to adore. In fact, there was so much moaning and wailing from Amira and me after he left that Simon accused us of turning into “Skagen Silly Observatory” and had to take a short break from us. We carried on with the ringing feeling like we lost a wheel, but luckily we did find another flock of soft halemejser to mend our broken hearts. All but one of the flock was in the net, and the lonely one followed us through the reeds for some time calling plaintively until she, too, flew into one of the next nets and got to join her friends in the box. When ringing the long-tailed tits, we always keep them with us until the last one is ringed and release them all together because they can’t bear to be apart.

Halemejser are a social species and have strong family ties. Being so tiny, they lose body heat easily in the cold, and cope with this by roosting close together (also known as snuggling) to share heat. So cute! They spend most of their time together, foraging as flocks of 10-20 individuals in winter and breeding semi-cooperatively in summer (failed breeders often help their siblings rear chicks). What a charming species.'

Halemejse

Later on, Florian and Miles joined us after observation to help on the closing round. We found in the net a firecrest (Rødtoppet fuglekonge!!), a very handsome female adult that was ringed here last autumn. At the end of the last round, we were joined by our new volunteer Mara, and it was very lovey to meet her and spend the rest of the day together.

Rødtoppet fuglekonge

Miles and Florian went to World’s End III for migration count this morning, and weren’t expecting too much in the calm conditions. But it wasn’t too long before they called over the radio that a White-tailed eagle (Havørn) was resting on the beach. Soon after, they called out a yellow-billed loon (hvidnæbbet lom) in breeding plumage resting in Skagerrak. They were very pleased with this. They were also seeing larger flocks of Auks (Lomvie/alk) of 10 r 20 together, which is a nice sight.

Havørn

After work we all went for a family swim and had lunch together. An afternoon of data entry went by very fast, and then we had a nice, tasty dinner cooked by Florian.

Final words from Gabriel: “Make sure to keep your hands warm. You don’t want them ending up like mine.”

Ringing Kabeltromlen

Stillits 1
Sydlig Halemejse 6
Nordlig Halemejse 1
Halemejse 14
Vindrossel 3
Solsort 1
Grønirisk 2
Musvit 6
Gærdesmutte 15
Rødhals 4
Grønsisken 1
Sortmejse 2
Lille Dompap 11
Stor Dompap 8
Dompap 4
Bogfinke 2
Munk 5
Kvækerfinke 6
Blåmejse 7
Træløber 5
Fuglekonge 19
Gransanger 3
(Retrap Rødtoppet Fuglekonge)
Total new birds: 126

Ringing Jennes Sø

Vandrikse 1

Stor Flagspætte 1

Gærdesmutte 5

Rødhals 2

Gransanger 1

Fuglekonge 5

Halemejse (Nordlig) 6

Sortmejse 2

Blåmejse 7

Musvit 5

Træløber 2

Grønsisken 2

Lille Gråsisken 18

Lille Dompap 4

Highlights from World's End III

Havørn

hvidnæbbet lom

Today's observations in DOFbasen can be seen here. 

People: Gabriel Axelsson, Florian Hatt, Sarah Partridge, Amira Nuseibeh, Miles Scheuering, Michael Ancher, Simon S. Christiansen, Lisa Vergin, Mara Glane, and our guests Mette and Jesper.