Foggy prospects

When I went outside early in the morning to open the nets, I was pleasantly surprised — it was really, really warm. As it got lighter, it became clear that today was going to be a very foggy day.

We were ringing with Pauline, Jule and Simon, and Jule and I opened the nets. Before the first round, we often try to guess what kind of day it will be, how many birds we’ll catch and whether there will be any special ones. Jule guessed that we would catch more than 50 birds today. And already during the first round, it looked like she might be right. We barely had any time to sit down between rounds. As soon as we finished ringing the birds, it was time to go and check the nets again. Most of the birds we caught were pretty typical species, but there was also a highlight — a Song Thrush (Sangdrossel). We’re already looking forward to seeing them again, hopefully in larger numbers. And there was also a Bullfinch (Dompap). This is my favourite bird, so I’m always especially happy to see one.

Song Thrush and Bullfinch. Photo by Pauline Nähring

Observation was not easy for Mio and Laura today. The photo probably describes the situation better than words can.

We’re not watching birds, but beautiful views. Photo by Mio Brix

A proper seawatching session wasn’t really possible, but the guys still managed to see some interesting species, including Pink-footed Goose (Kortnæbbet Gås), Wigeon (Pibeand), Velvet Scoter (Fløjlsand) and Long-tailed Duck (Hvinand).

As usual, after such an active morning, we had some time to rest, which is exactly what we did. But not Mio — he still had plenty of energy and went out looking for passerines. When he came back home, he suggested opening the net in our garden, for the first time in quite a while. At least during the 1.5 weeks I’ve been here, we hadn’t done it once before. But the rain had other plans, and after about an hour we had to close the net again. Still, we managed to ring a Robin (Rødhals) and a Great Tit (Musvit), so that was pretty good too.
Well, Jule’s prediction came true: 40 birds + 10 recaptures.

Overall, it was a calm and relaxed day. Some people took a nap, some entered data, while others were drawing and knitting.
After making a tasty dinner for everyone, Mio came up with a new plan — he headed out for night catching. And the rest of us are waiting for some news. We’ll definitely tell you all about it tomorrow.

Ringing (Kabeltromlen):
Gærdesmutte: 15
Jernspurv: 2
Rødhals: 12
Sangdrossel: 1
Munk: 1
Gransanger: 1
Fuglekonge: 1
Blåmejse: 2
Rørspurv: 5
Total:40

Ringing (Det Grå Fyr, Skagen):
Musvit: 1
Rødhals:1
Total: 2

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

People: Jule Tappe, Pauline Nähring, Mio Brix, Laura Tamminen, Anja Gorbunova, Simon S. Christiansen and our Guests Birgit and Michael