Monday 20 August 2012

Kvismare fågelstation, Sweden - Day 39

1cy Thrush Nightingale
1cy Thrush Nightingale wing - note fresh white tipping and thorning to flight feathers as well as 5 retained juvenile outer greater coverts.
2cy+ Thrush Nightingale
2cy+ Thrush Nightingale wing - note overall monotone quality to the wing and uniform Greater coverts lacking the obvious ginger tips.
juvenile female Common Redstart

This morning Craig went to Öby Kulle, whilst the rest of us went to Banvallen. Craig caught a total of 27 birds including 7 retraps. Highlights came in the form of 3 Tree Pipit and a Spotted Flycatcher
Totals for Öby Kulle: (Retraps in brackets)
Great Tit - 6 (5)
Blue Tit - 1
Marsh Tit - (1)
Willow Warbler - 4 (1)
Robin - 1
Spotted Flycatcher - 1
Garden Warbler - 4
Tree Pipit - 3

Highlights from the 33 (1 recap) birds we caught at Banvallen came in the form of a juvenile female Redstart which had almost completed it's post juvenile moult so looked very smart indeed. After worrying that I wasn't going to see many more Thrush Nightingales whilst in Sweden, I was very happy to catch 4 today, including a 2cy+ bird that was ringed in June. It was nice to be able to compare the ageing criteria of a freshly moulted adult and a juvenile which is very close to completing post-juvenile moult. The adult was carrying a lot and was 'Fat 7' on the scale of 0-9, so I think we were very lucky to retrap this before it migrates away from Kvismaren.

Totals for Banvallen: (Recaps in brackets)
Reed Warbler - 1
Willow Warbler - 3
Blackacap - 1
Garden Warbler - 2 (1)
Whitethroat - 1
Redstart - 1
Thrush Nightingale - 3 (1)
Robin - 5 (1)
Blue Tit - 4 (2)
Great Tit - 3
Blackbird - 2
Song Thrush - (1)
Nuthatch - (1)

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