Dagbok SFOS

Today we open the nets at 6:00 again and the island sounded very quiet. It was a bit more windy than the previous days but also more warm. The birds seemed to have move on. Hopefully, at 10 am, there was a lot more animation when Hans Erik, Terje, Morten, Viggo and Elfie arrived on the island to spend the day. It was really nice to eat outside and enjoy the sunny afternoon and we thank them for visiting us. There were not a lot of birds around, but a glacous gull was seen and we have been continuing ringing through the day. Now the nets are still open to try to Catch a owl.

Thomas also left the island today and we thank him for the nice Company thoughout the week.

The ringing number for today is 20: 3 robins, 1 fieldfare, 2 blackbirds, 1 blackcap, 1 tristis chiffchaff, 2 goldcrests, 2 blue tits, 1 brambling, 2 chaffinches, 1 greenfinch, 3 common redpoll and 1 lesser redpoll.

Today, Jon woke up at 6:00 to open the nets. It was quite Cold in the morning but there was absolutely no Wind. The first round gave us a Nice amount of blackbirds and fieldfares, and then it went more quiet.

We had set up Three nets on hoftøya island yesterday afternoon to try to get some pipits or snipes. So, at lunch time, we closed the nets on store færder to try them. Although we stayed there all afternoon, we didn’t get any birds in the nets but Jon & johnatan found an old lesser black backed gull ring and all of us had a really pleasant afternoon.

Today morning, we managed to ring 24 birds before closing: 1 great tit, 2 robins, 5 blackbirds, 1 redwing, 1 song trush, 1 blackcap, 1 chiffchaff, 1 goldcrest, 1 greenfinch, 1 twite, 7 common redpolls, 1 bullfinch and 1 brambling.

Compared to the previous days, today seemed more quiet. There was a bit of North Wind in early morning and the birds have left the island. There were Flocks of siskins and bramblings, but we couldn’t hear much redwings today. After the first round, everything went suddenly very quiet and we caught less birds. The Wind dropped and even if it was Cold, it was Incredibly sunny and Nice weather throughout the rest of the day.

In the afternoon, we decided to set some nets on an island nearby, it was gorgeous and we really hope it will work.

There has been 36 New birs ringed today: 1 wren, 2 robins, 1 fieldfare, 1 redwing, 2 goldcrests, 1 treecreeper, 8 bramblings, 8 greenfinches, 1 twite, 2 common redpolls and 9 lesser redpolls, all of this brings us to 2783 birds ringed in Autumn up to now.

First of all, we were really Lucky to ring a Tengmalm owl yesterday night! For the French People, it was a must see so we were so happy about it! Johnatan was the first one to see it in the net and Jon left seb ring it, it was all very exciting!

But it was not all, today was a good day as well. We started early in a good but Cold weather and no Wind at all. Nets were open at 6:40 and are still open at this time to try to Catch owl again.

There has been another very good surprise in late morning with a stunning male pine grosbeak, another twitch for the Frenchies and the norvegian team was also very happy to see it. After it was ringed, it sat on a tree and started feeding allowing Sebastien to take a few good photos in the Wild. Then we ended the day with two twites that none of the frenchies had had in the hand before and which were the first two of the year. What a day!

As for the observations, one can also notice a couple of rough legged buzzards and a few snow bunting.

The number of birds ringed today is 51: 5 blue tits, 1 treecreeper, 5 wrens, 11 robins, 5 blackbirds, 2 fieldfares, 1 song trush, 1 chiffchaff, 6 goldcrests, 1 dunnock, 5 greenfinches, 2 twites, 5 bramblings and 1 pine grosbeak!

The number of birds ringed this Autumn now reaches 2742 and for the year 5198.

Yesterday in the end of the afternoon, Thomas, John and Johnatan arrived on the island. So we are now 5 ringers ready to ring! The rain stopped around 6:30 this morning allowing us to open the nets at that time. There almost no Wind throughout the Whole day and in the morning, we heard quite a few birs passing over the island. In the end of the day, we totalized 56 different species seen through the day, which is good for the season. One of the higlight were definitely the 7 phalaropes that we saw and approached on the water. For the French guys, there were also a few little awks around. There has also been Flocks of twites and siskins, a few redpolls and 6 waxwings passed over the island during lunch time.

As for ringing, we ringed 68 bird today, the tree sparrow was the most exciting bird in the hand according to Thomas and John. The list of birds ringed today: 2 great tits, 7 blue tits, 2 wrens, 17 robins, 5 blackbirds, 1 fieldfare, 1 redwing, 1 songtrush, 3 blackcaps, 5 greenfinches, 3 siskins, 11 lesser redpolls, 6 common redpolls, 1 bullfinch, 2 chaffinches and 1 tree sparrow.

Marie, Fred, Seb, Thomas, John and Johnatan.

Today, we woke up as it had almost stopped raining. We open the nets a bit later than we wanted to, around 7:30. The wind was still blowing at 8-10m/s and slowed Down to almost nothing in the afternoon. The nets were open all day With few birds calling around. There were not huge numbers of them, but we had fun anyway since we trapped several species that we don’t get often in our region of France. As for the observations, although it was quiet, we were happy to see our firsts sea eagles on the sea.

The total number of birds ringed today was 43: 6 robins, 2 fieldfares, 1 blackbird, 1 song trush, 1 redwing, 6 goldcrests, 14 greenfinches, 6 siskins, 3 redpolls, 1 dunnock, 1 wren and 1 reed bunting + 5 Controls.

Marie, Fred and Seb

It was way too windy to open at 7am this morning, with a Wind speed around 18m/s. After a strong breakfast, we were able to open most of the nets around 10.30am, the Wind had decreased just enough. In the morning, we saw two rough legged buzzards which Fred and Seb were really happy to see as it was their first time.

On the ringing side, we manage to ring 16 birds today: 1 robin, 1 blackbird, 1 redwing, 3 blackcaps, 2 goldcrests, 1 great tit, 1 blue tit, 1 treecreeper and 6 greenfinches. 7 birds were retrapped.

Hopefully, tomorrow, the conditions seem to improve a lot, so we have high expectations!

Marie, Fred and Seb

Today, I am back on the island with two french ringers for a couple of weeks! We arrived under the rain, but both of them were amazed by the view and very excited about the birds we might ring during our stay! On a short walk with Terje and Morten, we have seen the great grey shrike sitting in a bush and we saw it again in front of the window during lunch. A sparrowhawk also sat on a rock a bit afterwards.  After lunch, we manage to open the nets until it got dark and started raining again. Even though it was just for a couple of hours, we got 23 new birds today and a herring gull trapped in the net definitely made our day: 1 herring gull, 3 great tits, 1 blue tit, 2 wrens, 6 robins, 3 blackbirds, 1 chiffchaff, 3 goldcrests, 1 dunnock, 2 greenfinches and 5 Controls.

Marie, Fred & Seb