Ringing and Farewells

Today it was time for another Ringing day. For me and Brian it was the first time ringing at Kabeltromeln, while for Julian it was his last ringing session at the Fuglestation this year. It was very hard for him to believe that after staying for over four months! Bao was also with us and very excited to ring european birds for the first time in his life. Påll and Family Rasmussen gave us a visit too, and the kids were once again fascinated by the birds.

Common Chiffchaff (Gransanger)

It was interesting how the site changed with the start of summer season. Where there was water all over before, there is now only mud left. The reeds and shrubs have grown a lot as well. The weather has been quite windy today, so we had to close up some nets after a short while. Nonetheless, we had a total of 14 birds, so there were enough for all of us to practice. The biggest Highlight we caught was a Common Linnet (Tornirisk), which is the first catch of the species at the station this year. Of course, as a matter of celebrating his last ringing day, Julian got to ring this special bird!

Common Linnet (Tornirisk)

There were a lot of passerines and other birds flying above our heads every now and then. There were a bunch of Common Crossbills (Lille korsnæb), three Honey-Buzzards (Hvepsevåge) (a lifer for me!), a Yellow Wagtail (Gul vipstjert) (a lifer for Brian!) and some Redpolls (Gråsisken). But just while we were already packing up, a European Bee-eater (Biæder) flew right above our heads! A lifer for me and Brian, and an exciting observation for the rest of the team. On our way back to the bikes, Brian started to clap near the reeds to attract some Waterrail (Vandrikse). The flushing worked, but not in his expected way – a few meters away, Påll saw a Bittern (Rørdrum) flying up. It quickly vanished into the reeds, so we didn’t have a chance to see it. But we are very happy for Pålls new lifer of course!

Brian went for a nap and some seawatching on the beach, where he observed some Little Terns (Dwærgterne). The rest of us returned to the station to do computerwork. In the afternoon we said Goodbye to Bao, who will continue with his student exchange in Denmark. We wish him all the best and it was very nice having him here! And another farewell had to be taken – our lovely guests Kristine, Martin and their kids were leaving us today. But not before they saw the Cinereous Vulture (Munkegrib) one last time, perched on a tree a few meters away from them! It was such a pleasure to have the Rasmussens as our guests and we hope to welcome them again sometime. The rest of the day was spent with completing tasks, until Rasmus and Magnus arrived at the station in the evening. They will join us for birding in the next couple of days. And also welcome to our new guests Lærkebjørn and Mark! We are very excited to have all of you over!

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

People: Juliane Rößler, Julian Helbig, Brian Browne, Bao Shen Yap, Simon S. Christiansen, Martin & Kristine Rasmussen, Påll Vang Kjærbo, Erik Christophersen, Magnus Lund Christensen, Rasmus Matthiesen-Juhl, Lærkebjørn & Mark Desholm