A Rather Busy Day

It was another cold day with some new snow settled on the frozen snow from the previous few days. The light breeze was ideal for some more ringing today, and the appearance of some sun throughout the day was most welcome by the team as our jobs involved being both outside and in.

Figure 1: EURING Age 4/Danish Age 2k+ male Common Redpoll.

With sunrise not being until 08:40, Mathilde, Simon Jr, and I had a mini lie in today but still felt tired. Simon and I opened the nets ready for a day of ringing whilst Mathilde tidied the rooms ready for our guests later in the day. The ringing was pretty constant throughout the day but there was a noticeable lull in the early afternoon. The first couple of rounds caught the highest number of Blackbirds [Solsort] coming down to all our apples and it was interested to recatch three from yesterday too. However, the overall ringing session was dominated by a flock of Long-tailed Tits [Halemejse], with some from Kabeltromlen, and the Common Redpoll [Nordlig Gråsisken] with the highest caught flock being 29 today. In total, we have now caught over 100 in just two days from two specific nets in the garden which is impressive and roughly 10%+ of the overall numbers migrating SE currently. Out of the birds caught, 95% have been aged as adults which is a complete contrast to mid-October to mid-November when a higher percentage of juveniles were caught. Where are these very snazzy looking birds coming from (see pic above)? On the other hand, there was still no luck on the Rock Pipit [Skæpiper] attempts, though we do keep trying. One day Simon Jr.

Figure 2: EURING Age 3/Danish Age 1k male Greenfinch [Grønirisk].

This was pretty nice to catch though, a Greenfinch [Grønirisk] (see pic)!

Whilst in between rounds, Mathilde and I fixed some of the broken waders ready for next year, I tried to detach some of our ‘stuck’ ringing poles without success, Simon Jr inputted our night catching totals into DOFbasen to keep all our records up to date and Simon SC and Lisa started preparing some food for the afternoon. This was followed by a nice pre-Christmas food and beverages with local birders Erik, Jørgen and Oluf. Albeit we didn’t catch too many birds during the festive celebrations, it was nice to have some bird related conversations. It was also nice to have some of the homemade marmalade and mulled wine too. Thank you for a lovely couple of hours and happy birding!

Figure 3: Simon and I out nightcatching...

Time seems to be flowing by quite quickly at the moment and once the sun set and our guests had left, Simon Jr and I went out to see if we could get close to the flocks of waders that have appeared near the bunker because of the snow.

Figure 4&5: EURING Age 3/Danish Age 1K Purple Sandpiper [Sortgrå ryle] profile and wing photos.

After wading in the inlets, sometimes up to chest deep, we successfully caught a juvenile Purple Sandpiper [Sortgrå ryle] which was nice. A random side note but for anyone interested and know the area, the sunken underwater bunker absolutely stinks of fish and guano, a weird smell you don’t get the pleasure of smelling from the beach! Back to the main part, the Purple Sandpiper [Sortgrå ryle] was the first of the year caught at the station which was a slight surprise. They have though been absent for most of October/November but good to see 20 this evening out on the rocks. Once processed and released, it was back to the inside jobs again. Inputting ringing data and sorting out some office jobs was broken by a nice curry cooked by Simon. Everyone was pretty tired this evening so an earlyish night for the others whilst I write the blog. How is it midnight already!?

Ringing totals

Ringing (Fyrhaven)

Total: 47

Ringing (Grenen)

Total: 1

Overall Total: 48

Today’s observations on Dofbasen from observers in the area

People: Thomas Weston, Mathilde Ducroz, Simon Kiesé, Lisa Vergin, Simon S. Christiansen, Erik, Jørgen (and Egor) and Oluf Lou.