Mandø 13 -14/9

Stephan and I finally managed to get a few days off for birding. We decided to go to the magical island of Mandø in the Wadden Sea. The island is the smallest of the three islands in the Danish part of the Wadden Sea that can be visited fairly easy. We arrived before sunrise friday morning and decided to use the first hours on visible migration on the southern tip of the island. Upon arrival we noted that mist nets had been put up in the bushes along the central dike on the island. Local birder Jens Hjerrild Hansen (JHH) was ringing. 

When JHH went for his first net round I told him to bring back the Barred Warbler as Stephan needed the species for his Danish list. Stephan was off chasing a Hen Harrier at this point. 30 minutes later JHH returned with a nice 1. year Barred Warbler. A perfect start to a very nice day.

Acceptable numbers of pipits, swallows and some raptors passed south during the morning. A German couple had spend the night in an auto camper on the small parking lot near the southern end and decided to come for a short chat as they got up. I tried my best in gebrocken German and Stephan held the fort birding wise. After five minutes I discovered a reddish ringtail Harrier in the distance. Upon first glance the jizz clearly felt as Pallid. During the next hour we chased the harrier around the southern part of the island and managed to get some acceptable shots of the bird for documentation. How Stephan managed to miss the bird still baffles me (he needs it for his self-found list...). A nice migrating Red-throated Pipit called just once but caused reaction and immediate outbursts from both of us. Other good species during the morning included Merlin, Osprey and Hen Harrier 2.     

13/9 1. cal. year Barred Warbler, Mandø. A nice sylvia! We relocated the warbler in the evening.

13/9 JHH with Barred Warbler on a nice morning on Mandø. JHH has ten mist nets on Mandø.

13/9 Yours truly enjoying Mandø.

13/9 1. cal. year Pallid Harrier, Mandø.

13/9 1. cal. year Pallid Harrier, Mandø. Probably a female as the eyes seem dark.

The rest of the day we checked bushes and fields for passerines. Good numbers of Wheatears (100+), Redstarts (50+) and still some flycatchers were present, though we failed finding anything really interesting. A Lapland Bunting, various raptors (the pallid hanging around for most of the day) and the Barred Warbler. 

Saturday it was raining, alot. The birding was slow and we went back to the mainland to check fields for plovers. We didnt find anything really good, best birds being Black-tailed Godwit ssp. islandica (4), Merlins, and an adult Med Gull.

14/9 Adult Med Gull at Fovrfeld Bækkens runout. A regular spot for the species. 

RDN