Mass Ringing at Kabeltromlen 

Slowly, I am getting used to my new rhythm. Three o’clock feels like seven, so I haven’t been as tired as before when we went by bike to Kabeltromlen.
The air was fresh, but still pleasantly warm, with no wind at all. The only sounds we heard were countless birds singing. It was the most successful ringing day I have ever had. The ringing had not even started when Alix already caught a bird while opening the nets.
During the first round, we had an unbeatable ten birds. The frequency stayed almost that high throughout the day. During the second or third round, Julian joined us. He had spent the whole night trying to catch some quails. Unfortunately, Julian was not as lucky as the day before. However, he heard at least eight quails, maybe even more, so he will try again over the next few nights.
Despite the spectacular number of birds, the ringing itself was not unusual. Nice catching a few Common Whitethroats (Tornsanger), two Sedge Warblers (Sivsanger) and a robin (Rødhals).
After a while, János’s waders got a leak, so he went to the end of the world, where he made some nice observations. He saw a Black Kite (Sort Glente), two Crossbills (Lille Korsnæb), 180 Common Swifts (Mursejler), and ten Grey Herons (Fiskehejre).

 

Because of the high number of birds, we continued ringing. Between the rounds, we had to stay focused to keep up with ringing all the birds. Although we no longer had ten birds every round, there were still enough to keep us busy.
My personal highlight came during the last round at the last net: a Chiffchaff mother and five of her baby Chiffchaffs. I doubt that I have ever seen such lovely and sweet birds. They had fluffy bellies, fresh new feathers, fragile little legs, and were almost small enough to hide behind a ping-pong ball.
We released the family together next to the net where we had caught them. There might even have been a sixth chick in the area. We heard it calling right after catching the family. As we did not want to separate them, Alvin and Alix went back and released all six birds in that area.

It was already noon when we finally left after ringing 61 birds and having 9 recaptures. During the last hour, we had run out of water, and it was quite hot in the sun. Nobody had expected to stay until 1 p.m., four hours longer than usual. That is why we were particularly happy to take a refreshing swim in the cool, turquoise waters of the Kattegat.
While walking to the beach, we were told that a racing pigeon had been wandering around the lighthouse and occasionally flying around to entertain some visitors. It may sound funny, but the pigeon is probably a weak, disoriented bird in need of help and food.
The first attempts to catch it failed, but by the evening the pigeon had become so weak that Alix and Alvin had no difficulty gently picking it up. They prepared a box with seeds and water for it. Hopefully, it will recover quickly.
Its condition was terrible, as it had virtually no fat reserves left. Over the next few days, we plan to call a wildlife hotline to make sure we are doing the right thing or to place it in good hands if necessary.#

Highlights from Observations:
Black Kite (Sort Glente) - 1
Common Swifts (Mursejler) - 180

 

Ringing (Kabeltromlen)
Sivsanger - 2
Kærsanger - 5
Rørsanger - 10
Gransanger - 6
Munk - 28
Havesanger - 1
Gærdesanger - 1
Tornsanger - 3
Sangdrossel - 1
Grå Fluesnapper - 1
Rødhals - 1
Bogfinke - 2
Total: 61