A common snipe to start the week right

Another ringing day, another early waking up – even though every day we get around 2 minutes more of sleep, as the sun starts rising later. Simon Jr. and I were opening the nets at Kabeltromlen today and were joined by Rebecca and Hayley for the first control walk. And we were immediately generously rewarded – a Common Snipe (Dobbeltbekkasin) was caught in the net! It was my first time seeing one up close, so you can imagine how euphoric that moment felt.

The Common Snipe (Dobbeltbekkasin)

It was a very misty and wet day, and the fog was rather thickening then lifting. Accordingly, there were fewer and fewer birds per round, and we closed the nets rather early. Still, we had a nice mix of birds, for example Bluetit (Blåmejse), Dunnock (Jernspurve), Lesser Whitethroat (Gærdesanger) and a Common Redstart (Rodjstjert). I hadn’t held a Bluetit before and quickly realized how much they like to pinch your finger – ouch. Today was the last time Henning was attending our ringing session, and tomorrow we will get to meet Michael, who will stay ringing with us for the next days.

A Dunnock (Jernspurve)

No migration count was going on today, as the view was not sufficient, but early afternoon was used for birding around the lighthouse. We saw a Rock Pipit (Skærpiber) and some Turnstones (Stenvender), and Simon Jr., who was very persistent in his observations, could watch several Arctic Skuas (Almindelig Kjove) flying across the sea and some Velvet Scoters (Fløjlsand) roosting.

The rest of the day was pure autumn weather, made of rain, wind and some more hot chocolate. Perfect weather to take some phone calls, do some writing and data stuff, and taking walks in the forest to search for mushrooms. As we call it here: Normal human stuff.

Ringing (Kabeltromlekrattet):

Common Snipe (Dobbeltbekkasin) – 1

Lesser Whitethroat (Gaerdesanger) – 1

Common Redstart (Rodjstjert) – 1

Reed Warbler (Rørsanger) – 1

Dunnock (Jernspurve) – 1

Blackcap (Munk) – 5

Bluetit (Blåmejse) – 1

Total: 11

People: Antonia Greil, Hayley Land, Rebecca Cheape, Gustav Nyberg, Simon Kiesé, Henning, Helle und Nils.

A link to today's observations from volunteers and local observers.