Pigeon day!

We all got up again at 04:30 to try and some more Snow Buntings (Snespurv) and maybe some Twite (Bjergirisk). Unfortunately it was very windy which meant all the birds could see the net we had set up. So they were able to avoid it everytime they flew in to feed on the seeds we had put out. 

After we closed the nets János, Alvin and I did the morning migration count. There were lots of birds moving including a 15000 Wood Pigeons (Ringdue) which is surprisingly high, 3000 Jackdaws (Allike) and 2000 Chaffinches (Bogfinke). Because of this windy weather a lot of the birds we saw turned around at Grenen rather than heading out to sea towards Sweden. One of the rare species we saw during the migration count was a female Pied Wagtail (Sortrygget Vipstjert) which has come here all the way from the United Kingdom.

Wood Pigeons (Ringdue) and Stock Doves (Huldue) migrating

During our migration count Alix and Julian went to continue putting up the nets at our ringing site. They made very good progress throughout the morning which matched the effort they put into this task. They aslo enjoyed a few nice species throughout including the first booming Bittern (Rørdrum) of the year and this Moor Frog (Spidssnudet Frø) which will be beginning to breed soon. After some lunch Alvin and I went to join Alix and Julian to finish the nets. It felt really great to finish here and we all look forward to some amazing spring ringing. 

Alix putting up a mist net

Moor Frog (Spidssnudet Frø)

After we had finished the nets we came back to the lighthouse where János was making his famous hot chocolate which we all enjoyed very much. For dinner we ate a really nice and warming soup that Julian made for us. Perfect as we were all still pretty cold from being outside all day. Tomorrow looks like it might have some sun in it which will hopefully mean we see lots of migrating birds. We will let you know how it goes!

Highlights of today: 

15000 Wood Pigeons (Ringdue)

1 Pied Wagtail (Sortrygget Vipstjert)

70 Snow Buntings (Snespurv)

Highlights of the ringing at Nordstjernevej:

Dunnock (Jernspurv) - 2 

Great Tit (Musvit) - 2

Blue Tit (Blåmejse) - 1

Chaffinch (Bogfinke) - 1

total: 6

Highlights from ringing at Lighthouse Garden:

Blackbird (Solstort) - 1

total: 1

Link to today’s observations in DOFbasen from observers in the area

Summary of todays raptor migration on DOFbasen

People: Alvin Johansson, János Schadl, Alix Bortolussi, Julian Helbig, Dylan Daunt, Simon S. Christiansen, Michael Ancher.