Observations:
Ringing:

Ringing today was what it was. The wind was quite strong and northwest so none of us were poitively inclined from the getgo but the effort had to be out in. 3 ringed European Fly Catchers (Ficedula hypoleuca) and 1 recap, was some consolation. Every ringer at the station at the moment has them as one of the favourites, so when you only get 4 out 9 total birds in that species you can't be too mad.

After standardized work at the station we had a visit from the people over at the National Park Wadden Sea. They enlisted our help in removing the netting and monitoring equipment from a site for nesting Little Terns (Sternula albifrons).

The only Little terns getting it on at Blåvand bird station

Regrettably we haven't had nesting terns this year or the year before, but the same program has seen great success on Fanø island, so maybe next year with revisions we'll get some baby Little Terns (Sternula albifrons) of our own.

We sadly also had to say goodbye to Ida today, as she is headed onwards to greener fields. It has been a joy to have Ida join us for ringing and general good mood around the station, and we're hoping for a return season with more birds for her one day.

Ringing numbers 15/8

At the station: Lois, Nicolas, Miguel, David, Strummer, Alba, Jonas, Ida, Johan

Observations:

Marsh Harrier record count! Today, weak to moderate southeast winds in the morning provided good conditions for raptor migration at Blåvandshuk. Totals of the day were 46 Marsh Harriers (many of them heading southwest, out to the sea), 62 Kestrels, 1 Red Kite, 3 Sparrowhawks and 1 Osprey. Visible migration of Yellow Wagtail and Tree Pipit was also seen from the Wader Spot. 

Large gull groups (around 5,000 individuals in total) resting and feeding in the low tide gave a good chance to check them: at least 72 Caspian Gulls, mainly adults and advanced immatures. Also a 1K Mediterranean Gull.

Wader migration was not bad, with almost 1,000 Oystercatchers and a good variety of other waders. 

Ringing:

It was an interesting day for the ringers, with no recaptures all day, but 14 newly ringed birds. We caught a couple migrating Common Redstarts (Phoenicurus phoenicurus), but otherwise the totals were back down to the numbers we've grown used to. 

We decided to put up the swallow-net, which rewarded us with two new House Martins (Delichon urbicum), both of them beautiful adult birds. 

One of the shiny Martins.

Around 5pm, Henrik came to the station for our goodbye dinner, as I will be leaving tomorrow morning and the Totos leave on Sunday. We ordered pizzas and sat together outside, in the nice company of the local House Martins, Tree Sparrows (Passer montanus) and Wood Pigeons (Columba palumbus), while Sandwich Terns (Thalasseus sandvicensis) flew overhead. 

When dinner was over, Strummer, motivated by the presence of many Wood Pigeons, turned on our speaker with Wood Pigeon calls and put it under the swallow-net, with high hopes of catching one of them. As all 10 of us waited, watching the net for (in many of our opinion) too long without anything happening, we finally gave up and went our separate ways. Who knows if, one day, Strummer will manage to catch one of the elusive birds. 

One of the Wood Pigeons in question.

I had a wonderful last full day here at the station, and I will miss the lively company and the (not so many) birds. Hopefully, the migration will pick up soon, so that my friends here can be woken up from their birdless slumber and get to work! I am very grateful that I got to spend some time here at Blåvand Fuglestation and will definitely come back to visit in the near future. Thanks for an amazing experience!

After dinner, we finally got around to taking the group photo that we've been wanting to take for about a month.

A beautiful last sunset at the counting spot.

Today's totals:

At the station: David, Miguel, Lois, Nico, Alba, Strummer, Johan, Ida, Henrik, Jonas, and Stig Nielsen

Ringing

Today was another slow day of ringing at Blaavand.   Thankfully, unlike many of the previous days we were able to reach ten new birds ringed during standard time.  Some highlights included our third Bullfinch (Dompap) of the season and pairs of both Robin and Redstart (Rødhals and Rødstjert) which were all welcome suprises.  Most shockingly, we caught our second Reed Warbler (Rørsanger) of the season, a bird that we dilligently confirmed with measurements.  

After standard time, we made sure to spend some effort trying to catch House Martin (Bysvale) which yeilded on new bird and one recapture.  Hopefully the future days will bring us more luck but these slow days have given us time to analyze each bird we catch.

Migration today was quite slow in these completely calm conditions, but a nice surprise in the late evening saved the day. Just a few minutes after Jonas mentioned the possibility of Black-tailed godwits at this time of year, a group of 4 distant Godwits migrating southwards was spotted. As they approached the headland, the ID was clear: we got them! 

Blaavand dunes from the Lighthouse top

Observations:

The day started with the northwesterlies weakening, giving more favourable conditions for the observation. The wind got almost completely calm in midday, and until sunset. Almost clear skies and soft temperatures gave a really pleasant birding day! 

The morning count was interesting, with a Dotterel migrating south being the main highlight. 

A nice arrival of passerines made this the best morning for migrant species since we arrived. Common Redstart, both species of Flycatchers, both Whitethroats, Chiffchaff,  Willow Warbler, Garden Warbler, Blackcap, Icterine Warbler, Eurasian Reed Warbler, Northern Wheatear, Tree and Meadow Pipits or Yellow Wagtails were some of the migrant species seen in Blåvandshuk area today.

Seeing a group of around 12 Gray Partridge just ~1 km away from the station and a group of 10 Snipes flying south at very low height at the same spot was a remarkable moment. 

The evening was perhaps quieter, but still some movement of waders made possible to increase the daily total numbers. Some groups of Oystercatchers, Calidris spp., and Turnstones - with 40 birds, the highest number of the season for them so far. The partial solar eclipse was a special moment during the migration count! 

Ringing:

It has finally happened. For weeks, we have been eagerly anticipating its arrival: We finally had a decent day of standardized ringing!!! 

After a few days of inconsistent weather but consistently low numbers of birds, the sudden mild weather and winds of today turned out to be just what the migrants were waiting for to turn that trend around. Already by the first two rounds, we were catching a bit more than what we have previously done at those times of day, but it was at the third round of standardized ringing that the numbers really took off. 

Starting off at the Station garden, the first couple of nets had already produced a few catches, signalling that this might become a slightly busy round, and when we got to the first 18 m net on our route, Johan began working on extracting the first bird in that net, while I went over to the second, hanging a little distance from the first. As I approached, I could see that it was a pretty big bird, closer to the size of a thrush than a common warbler, and when I got to it, it was not a thrush sitting in the net, but instead a beautiful young Red-backed Shrike (Lanius collurio)!!! The very first of the season. As we had about 6 other birds this round just from the Station garden, we started off with ringing and processing these, giving Lois, who was interested in seeing the Shrike, time to get here. 

The young Red-backed Shrike. Shrikes are well-known for their ferocious bites, however this one was not able to pierce our flesh. Foto: Alba M. Holmberg

After releasing the Shrike, I was pretty fired up, anticipating pretty good numbers for the rest of the day. And even though the peak was over, we still did not have even a signle round with no birds, with many of the birds we did catch being migrants, such as fat Garden Warblers (Sylvia borin), Common Redstarts (Phoenicurus phoenicurus) and a few more Pied Flycatchers (Ficedula hypoleuca). After standard, we closed the nets at the lighthouse but kept the Station garden open, and we even set up a new net out on the parking lot in hopes of catching some of the House Martins (Delichon urbicum) that nest under the roof of the Bird Station. Although most of the Martins easily dodged the net, two young House Martins and a single young Tree Sparrow (Passer montanus) did manage to fly into it, and were consequently ringed. 

We ended up closing the nets no sooner than at 20:01, and by the end of the day, we had managed to catch (not counting night-catching) 46 birds of which 33 were newly ringed and 13 were recaptures.

Today's captures:

After sunset, we also tried to catch Eurasian Nightjar using the newly erected swallow-net, though without luck. Strummer (who returned ealier in the day) did however see one fly over the Station. Although the night from 12/8 to 13/8 bore no success, that was not the case for the night from 11/8 to 12/8, which is where the Sanderling (Calidris alba) and the two Dunlins (Calidris alpina) in the overview are from.

Young Sanderling caught during night-catching. Foto: Ida Bek

At the station: David, Miguel, Nico, Lois, Alba, Johan, Ida, Strummer, Jonas

Observation:

The first Merlin of the season was seen near the Lighthouse, coming in south from the dunes. 

The migration counts were carried out during the standard protocol time - three hours after sunrise - and two and a half hours in the afternoon. Daily total wader count rises up to 1,031 individuals, with the dominant species being again the Oystercatcher, as is typical in westerlies. Anyway, some mixed groups made the day more interesting, and a nice group of 6 Ruffs with smaller Calidris was a nice surprise.

The Spanish team near the Sabine's Bunker after the morning count.

Seabirds gave some nice and close sightings with up to five individualised Arctic Skuas (with good pictures to upload!), juvenile Kittiwake and a juvenile Mediterranean Gull. The resting groups of gulls holded less Caspian Gulls than the previous days.

Ringing:

Strong winds meant that, for the second day in a row, we had to abandon any hope of obtaining standardized ringing in the morning. Instead, we tried for some nightcatching, though we did not end up cathing anything bird-sized that was actually a bird; however we did find a giant moth!

Convolvulus Hawk-Moth found during night-catching. Foto: Ida Bek

After returning home and getting the chance to sleep in, we awoke to the winds still going strong, and it was only after noon that they had died down enough for us to be able to open some of the nets down at the station garden. Throughout the rest of the day, we were thus able to relax inside between (mostly empty) short rounds to the nets. Though we did not catch many birds, the birds we did catch were very nice, with especially the second Pied Flycatcher (Ficedula hypoleuca) and the first Tree Pipit (Anthus trivialis) of the season giving us hope for more migrants to come. 

At this time of year, we use the shape of the white pattern on the middle tertial to age Pied Flycatchers. If there is a notable step, it is a 1cy bird (hatched this year), and if the white edge is smooth, it is 2cy+ (hacthed last year or ealier). Foto: Ida Bek 

Today's captures:

At the station: David, Miguel, Nico, Lois, Alba, Johan, Ida

Observations:

Today, forecasted conditions didn't allow to carry out the standard migration count protocol, so the observer team decided to redistribute the 3h effort along the day. We achieved this by counting for 1h in the morning just after the front passed and 2h in the afternoon.

Wader movement was visible, though slow. A few hundreds of the most common species, and no real highlights. A few passerine migrants and raptors, were seen, but the conditions weren't good for them either.

Hope tomorrow improves!

Ringing:

Oof. Yesterday we looked at todays weather in the evening and concluded that the morning rain wouldn't make it possible to complete standardised ringing. We set the alarms to 8am and hoped that we could sleep until then. Waking up we promptly opened the nets hoping to catch the birds gettin' movin' after the rain, but numbers didn't exactly impress so we closed all nets at 1pm. The conclusion is that we'll need a prince charming (a rare vagrant maybe?) soon to awake us from our slumber.

We did get a Dutch family who came to visit for a ringing tour after getting their blood flowing by being present for the barred warbler (Curruca nisoria) yesterday. Luckily we were able to show off a captured Common Chiffchaff (Phylloscupus collybita) and a Lesser Whitethroat (Curruca curruca). Ida got to unfold some of her dutch and educational capabilities, and I like to think that even though we didn't gather that much data today, we still furthered the birds' cause by spurring the interest of possible future birders :).

Todays ringing numbers:

At the station: David, Miguel, Nico, Lois, Alba, Johan, Ida

Observations:

Weak southeast wind in the morning were quite promising for 9th of August. These kind of days usually perform well in diversity, increasing the number of wader species migrating near the coast, mantaining or even increasing wildfowl, and allowing migrant passerines to be detected in the Blåvandshuk area (both in active migration or resting and feeding in the bushes).

A short passerine dedicated walk in mid-morning break produced some migrants, such as Icterine Warbler, Common Redstart, Spotted Flycatcher, Willow Warblers, etc! 

The Spanish observation team decided to spend the morning mainly in counting active migration. Species composition during the seawatch was quite nice. The best numbers of the season of Common Shellducks and Eiders were achieved (24 and 17 respectively).

Over 1700 waders were counted, with Oystercatchers being again the dominant species (~600), but plovers being the highlight with over 190 Grey Plovers migrating south, as well as 80 Golden and 220 Ringed. Bar-tailed Godwits, Red Knots were also present, but with lower totals than the previous week.

Little Gull, four Black Terns and a Black-throated Diver were other really nice birds to see during the morning. The count was interrupted by an alert in the Station chat: Barred Warbler close to the Lighthouse!

Barred Warbler (Curruca nisoria) found by Henrik in the area. Picture taken minutes after by Nico Magdalena. First of the season for this species with few records in Blaavand!

Ringing:

Today was a diverse day for the bird ringers, with two new species for the season (European Pied Flycatcher and Common Reed Warbler), and nine different species in total. We also hoped and prayed that the Barred Warbler that was in the area would fly into a net, but unfortunately we weren't so lucky. 

The Pied Flycatcher (Ficedula hypoleuca).

The Common Reed Warbler (Acrocephalus scirpaceus).

A Common Linnet (Linaria cannabina), the second one for the season.

The day's captures:

At the station: David, Miguel, Nico, Lois, Thiemo, Jule, Leima, Henrik, Alba, Johan, Ida

Observations:

The 8th of August started with weak westerlies blowing at around 6 m/s, progressively turning into southwest and decreasing in intensity.  These conditions are not ideal for detecting the migration of either seabirds or shorebirds from Blåvandshuk, being too weak winds to force pelagic species to pass close to land and too western for favouring inland waders to pass over the shore.

Even with low numbers, the count was fine with a nice diversity. Some highlights were a 1K Mediterranean Gull, a couple of immature Arctic Skuas, a Red-throated Diver and some Caspian Gulls of different ages, despite lower numbers than the previous days. 

Wader diversity was well represented, but the total number for 3h counting was around 150 individuals, so not an impressive number.  

View from the Sabine's Bunker in the evening.

The evening count was somewhat better, with 1,5h count producing over 250 waders, mainly oystercatchers carrying some other species in their mixed groups. Also the first documented juvenile Bar-tailed Godwits of the season were seen, first flying south over the Sabine's Bunker and then resting on the beach a hundred meters south.

Two juvenile Bar-tailed Godwits resting close to the shore. 

Ringing:

After a day of only one bird in the nets, the outlook could only really be positive (relatively). There was a big(ish) payoff with a whole 17 birds caught over 10 different species. The birds looked a lot like the birds we have been seeing all season, but with a few boring days, it was almost like seeing old friends :´) . We had time to inspect the funny specimens which included a yellowhammer (Emberiza citrinella) with a lot of its plumage still growing, and a willow warbler (Phylloscupos trochilus) with juuuuuust enough white to make you say "hmm" in the aging.

1K Willow warbler (Phylloscupos trochilus) with a lot of white on the belly.

Moulting Yellowhammer (Emberiza citrinella)

Todays ringing numbers:

At the station: Miguel, Lois, Nicolas, David, Laima, Jule, Thiemo, Alba, Ida and Johan

Observations:

Ringing:

The ringing today started just after the middle of the night, when Ida and I went out to try nightcatching again. After a bit of practice with the spotter, flashlight and ketcher-net, our efforts finally gave a return in the form of a beautiful little Dunlin (Calidris alpina)! We took it back to the lab to get a look at it in a better light, and after I helped Ida get a ring on it (this being her first time putting on a steel ring), we began to study its plumage in order to age it. This was the first time I had ever handled, much less had to age, a shorebird, so it was a bit challenging, but in the end we managed to figure out it was a 1k bird (that is, hatched previously in this year)! 

Dunlin being held in the lab. Foto: Ida Bek

After the rest of the measurements were done, we took it back to the beach and let it sit in the dark for some minutes, until its eyes could recallibrate to the darkness, before we released it. Still having a couple hours before dawn, we set out to try to catch more, and after barely half an hour, we again had a bird in the net: A cute juvenile Common Ringed Plover (Charadrius hiaticula)! Again, we waded over the dunes at the lighthouse to get back to the lab, and while handling the bird, we noticed that each foot was a toe short of what most birds have; turns out Common Ringed Plovers have lost their first toe, the so-called hallux, which is the toe that points backward in most (anisodactyl) birds!

Common Ringed Plover in the lab, showing off its ring. Note that each foot only has 3 toes. Foto: Ida Bek

Close-up ventral view of the foot of the Common Ringed Plover. Foto: Ida Bek

After releasing the plover, we did not have enough time to catch anything more before the sky started to turn light again, removing the element of surprise from any approach toward the birds. The approaching dawn also brought with it the start of standard ringing which, because of strong north-western winds, had to be conducted with only the most sheltered of nets. The combination of bad conditions and little nets unsurprisingly made for a horrible day of standard-time: Johan and I ended up wandering up to and down from the lighthouse 10 times just to catch only one (1) bird. That one bird was a very cute juvenile female European Stonechat (Saxicola rubicola) though, so at least we got to ring a bird we haven't caught for a few days.

After standard was over, we all drove down to Ho klitplantage to first look at some waders, and afterwards go into the forest-area to look (and listen) for Willow Tit (Poecile montanus) and Wood Warbler (Phylloscopus scibilatrix). We succeeded at finding both species (with Willow Tit being a new lifer for me), and on the way back, we also managed to find some pretty cool invertebrates, such as a Wasp spider (Argiope bruennichi) and a great green bush-cricket (Tettigonia viridissima).

Later in the day, we got three new arrivals: Laima from Lithuania, and Jule and Thiemo from Germany, who will stay the weekend in order to scout Blåvands Huk for places to put an antenna, which they will use to help track birds with radio-transmitters for a project that seeks to study the effects of off-shore wind farms on the migration-behaviour of passerine birds. Hopefully they will be able to build this antenna and start to put the small, non-invasive transmitters on birds by next autumn. We're all very excited to see what they learn from this project! 

At the station: Alba, Johan, Ida, David, Lois, Nico, Miguel, Henrik, Laima, Jule, Thiemo