Water, Waders, Wet

When it’s raining, most birders stay indoors, but not us. Even with lovely August weather, we set off early this morning to watch and ring birds.

After Cora and I had set up the nets at KAB, the daily rosefinch (Karmindompap) flew overhead calling – what a lovely start to the day!

Jule took down the nets on the beach, which unfortunately hadn’t caught anything last night, whilst the rest of us set off to count from World’s End 3. The morning brought plenty of waders (Vadefugl). In particular, Golden Plovers (Hjejle), Bar-tailed Godwits (Lille Kobbersneppe), but also a few Grey Plovers (Strandhejle), Red Knots (Islandsk Ryle) and Ruddy Turnstones (Stenvender) decided to head south in the light wind. Later, a rain shower came in from the south, which dampened the mood somewhat. Even in the rain, the migration of waders continued, so we stuck it out despite our wet clothes and the numbers kept rising.

The rain is a bit more of a problem when it comes to ringing, as we don’t want the birds to get wet. That’s why we decided to close the nets a little earlier. All 10 birds stayed dry, thanks to our quick reaction time.

Back at the station, there were some enchiladas left over from yesterday. Delicious! Then Simon Sr. popped round and gave a talk on ethics in bird ringing. This is an important part of life as a bird ringer, as you have to deal with various situations – such as rainy weather like today. It’s fascinating to discuss different scenarios and share "weird" stories, that happened over the time.

As you may have noticed, I’m being a bit more brief today than I have been recently, which is because we’re going to try and ring some waders this evening (following on from this morning’s sightings). That’s why we need to get everything ready straight away, set up the nets and try our luck. You’ll read more about it tomorrow. I can already smell delicious aromas wafting from the kitchen: Magnus and Johanna are cooking, and I can hardly wait. Thanks to our guests for the cake today. Food keeps the station running!

Link to today's observations in Dofbasen from observers in the area.

People: Mio Brix, Cora Köberle, Jule Tappe, Simon Kiesé, Johanna Veentjer, Magnus Houen Lauritsen, Simon S. Christiansen, Jan Hjort Christensen, Kristine Kleffel.