Torsdag 17. oktober

We were very happy to catch the first fieldfare this autumn, here together with a redwing.

Most exciting bird of the day was this beautifully collard old merlin male.  Above, two merlin minds meet.

Hi,
The weather was not favorable for ringing this morning, but we were able to take turns to open all the nets, no news of migrants arriving during the night. However, we continued to capture a few thrushes and were lucky enough to ring the first fieldfare of the fall. This species is a very common wintering bird in France but is rarely captured at ringing stations, it was a young one-year-old male. With this new species, we captured all the species of Norwegian thrushes. The highlight of the day was the capture of an adult male merlin, which came to hunt greenfinches around the feeder.  Terje informs us that this is actually only merlin number 17 ringed at the station in 60 years. He ringed the last one himself in September 2020. Capture total today was 19:  gjerdesmett 8, rødstrupe 2, gråtrost 1, rødvingetrost 1, munk 1, fuglekonge 3, grønnfink 2, dvergfalk 1.

Best regards
Sebastien and Henry