Few birds, big views

And once again, there is a new person on the blog! I’m Anja. I arrived at the station two days ago and I’ll be here for the next two weeks.

Today was my first day ringing here with Jule and Pauline.
I already had some experience checking nets and helping with ringing in Germany, but it still feels like starting from zero every time, because everything is a bit different here. A new route, a different way of handling the nets, new rules for entering the data. And, of course, beautiful new views of the sunset that are impossible to ignore.

Proof of a beautiful view. Photo by Anja Gorbunova.

There weren’t many birds today. The first round was quite busy, but after that there were not many birds in the nets. The weather was really nice, so it was a good day to be outside and enjoy some of the last warm days of autumn.
A few birds made us think a little. We caught three Chiffchaffs (Gransanger), and it was quite difficult to see the moult limit on them. We took some photos to check in the evening.
A Chiffchaff with an unclear moult limit. Photo by Pauline Nähring

At the same time, Mio, Laura and Knud, who joined them for the first hour, were watching birds from World’s End 3 and enjoying the nice weather too. There were fewer birds than yesterday, but they still saw some Arctic Skuas (Almindelig Kjove), a Black Tern (Sortterne), a group of Eurasian Jays (Skovskade) and a Raven (Ravn). They also saw a big flock of Golden Plovers (Hjejle) flying southwest and then back again.

When we got back to the house, we had breakfast (or lunch, who knows), entered the data into the computer and went to rest for a while, because we had some cleaning to do later.
In the afternoon, everyone did their own thing. Jule went for a walk to listen to music and think about life. Mio went birdwatching in the reserve and to the secret lake with the recorder. Pauline took some time to relax, Laura started making dinner, and I had to do a little bit of work even though it was Saturday.
By the evening, the house was quiet and clean. Laura made a really tasty dinner, and after that we just sat around for a while and relaxed after the day.

Tomorrow it’s an early start again and another day of ringing. But for now, it’s time to get some sleep.?

PS. I’m posting this blog one day later, so I can already tell you that there’s a very interesting story coming this evening. Today was definitely not a usual day at the station.

Observation Highlight:
Long-tailed Skua (Lille Kjove) — 1
Great Skua (Storkjove) — 2
Black Tern (Sortterne) — 1
Grey Plover (Strandhjejle) — 1

Ringing (Kabeltromlen):
Robin (Rødhals) — 2
Reed Warbler (Rørsanger) — 1
Lesser Whitethroat (Gærdesanger) — 1
Blackcap (Munk) — 2
Chiffchaff (Gransanger) — 3
Reed Bunting (Rørspurv) — 3

Total: 12

Nordstjernevej (Michael Ancher):
Great Tit (Musvit) — 1
European Robin (Rødhals) — 1
Blackcap (Munk) — 1

Total: 3

Jennes Sø (Michael Ancher):
Lesser Redpoll (Lille Gråsisken) — 21
Crested Tit (Topmejse) — 1
Spotted Flycatcher (Broget Fluesnapper) — 1
European Robin (Rødhals) — 2
Great Tit (Musvit) — 5
Willow Warbler (Løvsanger) — 2
Blue Tit (Blåmejse) — 1
Common Chiffchaff (Gransanger) — 2

Total: 35

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

People: Mio Brix, Jule Tappe, Simon S. Christiansen, Pauline Nähring, Morten Jenrich Hansens, Laura Tamminen, Anja Gorbunova