We always catch the most birds when it rains

This morning, Amira, Anton and I opened the nets at the ringing. Mara joined for first round, after a much deserved lie in. Mara is always at the ringing and always helping open, so we were happy to give her a little extra sleep today! There were many birds flying overhead and in the bushes, with large flocks of siskens (grøninsken) and fieldfares (sjagger). We had good numbers of birds in the nets, including a flock of long-tailed tits (halemejse) and a bearded reedling (Skægmejse). There was rain forecasted for mid-morning, so we knew it was coming, but of course we had several large flocks of blue tits (blåmejse) just as we were trying to close. It seems like we always catch the most birds when it is raining! We were still able to close nets and get the birds ringed in a timely fashion, which we were pleased with.

The observers had a nice morning at World’s End 3 with several good birds. Lise and Florian joined Knud and Jørgen and they braved the rain showers to continue counting for the whole morning. They had a Great Northern Diver aka Common Loon (Islom), a Little Auk aka Dovekie (Søkonge), and a Grey Phalarope aka Red Phalarope (Thorshane) just as the count was ending! They also saw a House Martin (Bysvale), which is now very late. The possibility of it being a Siberian House Martin (Sibirisk Bysvale) was mentioned, though this species has never been recorded in the Western Palearctic and it would be very difficult to confirm without a DNA sample.

Lise was excited to visit World’s End 3 for the first time, after we went to Nordstrand the first time she went observing. She said even with the rain it was still very cozy and hygge, being with everyone and bundled up in many layers. They also saw a Short-eared Owl (Mosehornugle), only the third we’ve seen here this fall.

The view from Kap Gadagung this afternoon. Photo by Miles

After the morning’s activities, many of us went out birding. Florian visited Kabeltromlen after the ringing was finished and saw many siskens, as well as some Mistle Thrushes (Misteldrossel), which was quite nice. In the afternoon he went out to Ellekrattet, where we ran into each other. It was nice to be out, and we saw several Bearded Reedlings very close, along the edge of the reed bed. We have taken quite a liking to the woods east of the Grenen stables, and today Amira visited them. She says they may be even better than Batteriskoven!

This evening, Lise cooked us a delicious dinner and afterward Amira and Anton went out night catching woodcocks (skovsneppe) at Bankes Marker next to Batteriskoven. They saw several but unfortunately did not catch any. Anton was quite excited to go out, and I think we will go out with Simon later this week.

Highlights from World’s End 3:

Link to today’s observations from the area.

People: Mara Glane, Florian Hatt, Amira Nuseibeh, Miles Scheuering, Lise Mastrup, Anton Møbjerg Toft, Simon S. Christiansen, Knud Pedersen, Michael Ancher and our guest Jørgen Hulbæk