Hi!

The wind had dropped this morning, so I opened all the nets at 6:30. Seems quiet today, with less birds moving through, although I did watch the sparrowhawk chasing a flock of siskins, however, neither species found their way to a net today. There seemed to be a lot of Eider on the water throughout the day, with little sign of the gannets. 

During the quieter periods this afternoon, I went for a walk around the northern part of the island, and got to see some impressive views, and spotted the lighthouse. A lot of admiral butterflies were noted on the move today also. 

A total of 38 birds were ringed today, with decent numbers of goldcrest (garden warbler 1, blackcap 3, robin 7, great tit 1, blue tit 5, treecreeper 1, chiffchaff 3, willow warbler 1, goldcrest 12). 

Regards,
Meg 

Hi!
Still been very windy here today, so I only had the more sheltered nets open. The day seemed to be quieter all around, with small flocks of meadow pipits, siskins and blue tits seen flying over. The occassional barn swallow also continues to pass over. The gannets continue to enjoy the windier weather and were seen out over the water again today.  More sparrowhawks were also seen flying over today. 

A total of 27 birds were ringed (robin 8, blackcap 3, blue tit 6, wren 2, redstart 1, chiffchaff 1, treecreeper 1, goldcrest 5). 

Hopefully the wind drops tomorrow, to allow for some better ringing conditions. 

Regards,
Meg 

Hi!

A quieter day in comparison to yesterday. Nets were opened at 6:00, however it felt quiter on the island from the start. The wind steadily got worse throughout the day, as per the yellow warning on the forecast for later on, as such nets were shut at 16:00. A total of 23 birds were ringed (blackcap 8, robin 2, blue tit 4, pied flycatcher 1, redstart 1, wren 2, chiffchaff 1, treecreeper 2, goldcrest 1 and great tit 1).  

There seems to be more movement of finches and tits over the last few days, and increasing numbers of treecreepers. The windy weather this afternoon and evening has brought out gannets to feed in the oslofjord, which I have been watching through the window at the station. Surprisingly this evening I have also seen small numbers of bats, flying around at dusk, unperturbed by the wind. 

The wind is due to drop in the morning, so hopefully will be better for mist netting. 

Regards,
Meg 

Weather conditions today were much better so upon getting up, I quickly opened the nets. The first round brought lots of birds, including a flock of redpolls and a few siskins. So the nets were briefly shut to allow me time to catch up processing birds. When I finished the last of these birds, Terje arrived with his wife's cousin, bringing some supplies - most importantly Bamse Mums! Terje helped me reopen the nets and the rest of the day brought in steady numbers of birds. 

The clear skies and sunny weather provided ideal conditions for raptor migration with a number of sparrowhawks recorded passing through and a rough-legged buzzard. 

A total of 85 birds were ringed (goldcrest 17, chiffchaff 1, treecreeper 5, robin 12, blackcap 7, reed bunting 2, meadow pipit 1, great tit 1, siskin 5, blue tit 9, blackbird 1, wren 7, lesser redpoll 17). 

Due to heavy rain when I got up at 6:00, the nets were only opened at 9:00 when the rain subsided. The weather was much better the rest of the day, with the sun even coming out in the afternoon. There was a bit more variety in the nets today with a total of 31 birds caught  (redstart 1, lesser redpoll 3, siskin 1, wren 2, robin 15, blackcap 8 and goldcrest 1). There was a lot of activity around with meadow pipits, robins and wagtails moving through. There continued to be movement of several sparrowhawks. Red Admiral butterflies migrating  were also noted across the island. 

Tomorrow is due to be sunny and warm, so will be interesting to see what birds are around. 

Regards,
Meg 

The weather this morning was much better for mist netting and I got the nets open at 6:00. The island felt more alive with birds and whilst opening nets I was pleasantly surprised to see a Nightjar. The nets were more active today with a total of 26 birds caught (goldcrest 3, wren 4, robin 8, blackcap 10 and sparrowhawk 1).  A young male sparrowhawk was a highlight of the session. It does appear there were a number of sparrowhawks active today. 

As the nets got quieter later in the morning, I used the scope to watch the seals on the neighbouring island. There were a large number present, along with small numbers of shag and eider. 

The nets were shut at 11:30 due to the start of heavy rain which persisted for the rest of the afternoon. The weather looks to be improving tomorrow and over the next few days, so I'm feeling optimistic. 

​Meg

A very quiet day here today. I got up at 6:00 to assess the weather, with poor catching conditions and rain forecasted later in the morning, I opened six nets. The rain arrived promptly at 10:00, at which time I closed the nets with only 2 birds caught (robin 1, blackcap 1).  
The rain persisted for the rest of the day with short breaks allowing me to see if there were any birds out on the fjord. Mostly eider and cormorants recorded out on the water, and a number of gulls. Of the passerines, there were small flocks of meadow pipit passing over and some barn swallows. 
More wet weather is expected tomorrow, but I hope to get some nets open for a few hours before the rain arrives. 

Meg 

A young female blackbird was the first thrush satellite tagged for the autumn. 

We got up at 6:00 to find it was still a little too dark, so had a quick coffee before we went to open the nets. It has been a steady day with robins being the main species recorded. Hans Erik was very happy with a blackbird in the net, which he attached a satellite tag to, once back at the station. 

Hans Erik left around midday back to the mainland and I am now here on my own. I continued with the nets open till 17:00, which were promptly shut thanks to a thunderstorm rolling in. I was pleased to see a few garden warblers amongst the birds today. In total 50 birds were ringed (robin 24, garden warbler 2, blackcap 15, goldcrest 5, wren 1, coal tit 1). 
Regards,
Meg 

We arrived at the station at midday and were welcomed by a beautiful dragonfly which landed on our fingertips and allowed us to take its picture. It tilted its head and looked straight at us, equally as stunned to see us, as we were to see him. 

First bird of the day was a handsome young male redstart, who was checked over to see if he was carrying fat, a sure sign he is ready to continue his migration. 

Hi, 
I'm Meg Speck, a ringer from England who was given the opportunity to come across to Store Færder through Chris, a fellow ringer at Filey Bird Observatory. This was a great opportunity, which I gladly accepted. After a rather rough boat trip across from the main land with Hans Erik, we arrived at 13:00 and put the nets up. We were treated to a redstart as our first bird of the day, with the remainder of the day predominantly robins. We ringed a total of 22 birds (redstart 1, wren 1, robin 13, blackcap 7). I look forward to the rest of my stay on the island. 

Regards,
​Meg and Hans Erik 

Ringmerking: 
Fuglekonge 2, Gjerdesmett 1, Møller 1, Grønnsisik 2, Rødstrupe 5, Munk 1, Trepiplerke 1, Gransanger 1.
Tot. 14

Kort dag i dag. Tross perfekte "Færderforhold" lett østlig bris, overskyet og disig, var det helt stille i bushen og i lufta når vi stod opp, 0545. Netta ble sperret kl.1200, da det fortsatt var helt rolig i bushen. Kanskje er det for varmt, slik at trekket er utsatt ? Det var 18 grader når vi sto opp. Litt flere fugl i lufta enn i går, Heipiplerker og Grønnsisik dominerer. Samme værmelding de neste par dagene, før det er meldt sørlig vind og mye regn fram til neste mandag. Vi pakker sammen og drar inn. Så da blir det stille her ute noen dager.

Egil og Geir Inge