Kvismare fågelstation, Sweden - Day 15

Juvenile Common Sandpiper

Adult female Ringed Plover

Last night we all went out onto Hammarmaden to catch some waders. We set up 7 nets, of which three of them were set up by myself marking my first ever lone wader line set-up. We caught three birds in the evening which included 2 juvenile Common Sandpipers (I ringed 1, Magnus Friberg the other) as well as an adult female Ringed Plover. Three fantastic birds and two new species in the hand for me. We left the site at 01.30 to get some sleep before the 03.00 wake up for CES at Vallen.

Juvenile Savi's Warbler

Juvenile Savi's Warbler

Craig and Heather opted out of CES this morning to complete various tasks that have built up around the observatory, which meant that Jalle, Jasper, Eric (PhD student) and I set up 24 nets at Vallen. There were 4 species that were the undoubted highlights of the morning. The star bird was a juvenile Savi's Warbler which is a lifer for me and an incredible bird to ring! We initially thought it was a River Warbler because of the appearance, but looking at biometrics, it came apparent that this was in fact a Savi's.

Juvenile Common Rosefinch

This Juvenile Common Rosefinch was a real surprise as it came back from a net round extracted by someone who didn't identify it when it was in the net. As a result, I got a real shock when I pulled it out the bag! A superb little bird and only my 2nd ever! A great bird to ring.

Male Lesser Spotted Woodpecker

One of the main targets of mine before I came to Sweden was Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, but I really didn't think I was going to get to ring one. When I walked up to Jalle at a net, it took me a while to realise he was holding this fantastic bird! I got the lovely task of ringing the bird and was certainly one of the highlights of my ringing career! An incredible bird!

Juvenile Marsh Warbler

The final highlight species for the day were 2 Marsh Warblers! The first had a wing of 74mm and the second of 72mm. All biometrics added up to Marsh and compared to Reed in the hand at the same time, it looked like a completely different bird (maybe because it was!) The hind claw was noticeably shorter and paler than Reed as well as the short bill, white chin and greenish fringing of the tertials. The notch on the inside of p9 also fell much lower than the tertials. Again this was one of my main targets to ring whilst in Sweden. This was part of my big 4 which included Great Reed Warbler (we caught 3 new birds today!), Marsh Warbler, Bluethroat and Northern Long-tailed Tit.

A truly fantastic morning's ringing and probably my best days ringing ever! Top quality birds and it was really nice to be left to my own devices and be in charge of a ringing team. Fantastic training!

Totals for the day (additional recaps in brackets)
Lesser Spotted Woodpecker - 1
Savi's Warbler - 1
Reed Warbler - 28 (6)
Sedge Warbler - 11 (1)
Marsh Warbler - 2
Great Reed Warbler - 3
Willow Warbler - 21 (1)
Garden Warbler -  3 (1)
Blackcap - 2 (1)
Whitethroat - 2
Reed Bunting - 8
Blackbird - 1
Thrush Nightingale - (2)
Common Rosefinch - 1
Greenfinch - 2
Great Tit - 1 (1)
Blue Tit - (1)

Total - 87 (14)