A rosy morning . .

The weather was calm and warm this morning, though not as hot as previous weeks (thankfully). The Grenen ringing site was drying out, to the point where we might not need waders anymore (for which Michele will no doubt be pleased, they’re very hot and difficult to move in). We were on site for about 4 hours, during which we ringed 13 birds and recaptured 3, though only local birds. The main highlight of the day however was a stunning male rosefinch we caught. We’d seen him (or possibly another) fly over our heads singing earlier on the morning, and then found this bird in the nets on the opposite side of the site. It’s been quite a good year for movement of this species, and is the third we’ve caught, but the first male, so quite a treat.

Other than that it was fairly unspectacular (as we expect for most summer days here, but June can turn up the odd extreme rarity which is always in the back of our mind) and we closed at normal time. The weather set in mid afternoon, so plans for birding, in particular observations of the breeding bitterns of Skagen were delayed, and though I went out for it later, and did see both adults making feeding flights, I was rained off quickly . .
We intended to go out ringing on Monday, so once again, early nights, though the weather was looking iffy, so we weren’t certain of our chances. .