Gedser Odde on the island of

Falster Falster () is an island in south-eastern Denmark with an area of and 43,398 inhabitants as of 1 January 2010.

in the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by the countries of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and the North European Plain, North and Central European Plain regions. It is the ...

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

's southernmost point. The

terminal moraine A terminal moraine, also called an end moraine, is a type of moraine that forms at the terminal (edge) of a glacier, marking its maximum advance. At this point, debris that has accumulated by plucking and abrasion, has been pushed by the front e ...

from

Idestrup Idestrup is a town some southeast of Nykøbing Falster on the Danish island of Falster. As of 2024, it has a population of 1,125. History Idestrup Church built in the Romanesque style dates from the 12th century. With its whitewashed walls ...

through Skelby to

Gedser Gedser is a town at the southern tip of the Denmark, Danish island of Falster in the Guldborgsund Municipality in Region Sjælland, Sjælland region. It is the Extreme points of Denmark, southernmost town in Denmark, and also the southernmost poin ...

is part of the maximum glaciation line across Falster, from

Orehoved Orehoved is a small harbour town in the north of the Danish island of Falster. It grew up mainly as a result of the railway and ferry services in the late 19th century. As of 2024, it has a population of 450. Etymology The element "''ore''" stem ...

to Gedser. Fronted by low cliffs, the ridge, high, continues underwater a further south-east to Gedser Rev. Sydstenen (the south stone) marks the southernmost point.

Geology

The coastal cliff at Gedser Odder is almost always exposed. The

strata In geology and related fields, a stratum (: strata) is a layer of Rock (geology), rock or sediment characterized by certain Lithology, lithologic properties or attributes that distinguish it from adjacent layers from which it is separated by v ...

deposited during the last ice age can be clearly seen, but lake sediments have also been exposed, from the lowering of the terrain. The sediments from the postglacial period contain fossils of

freshwater snail Freshwater snails are gastropod mollusks that live in fresh water. There are many different families. They are found throughout the world in various habitats, ranging from ephemeral pools to the largest lakes, and from small seeps and springs t ...

s and

mussel Mussel () is the common name used for members of several families of bivalve molluscs, from saltwater and Freshwater bivalve, freshwater habitats. These groups have in common a shell whose outline is elongated and asymmetrical compared with other ...

s, evidence of a freshwater episode in the Baltic. The ice age strata consist mostly of

moraine A moraine is any accumulation of unconsolidated debris (regolith and Rock (geology), rock), sometimes referred to as glacial till, that occurs in both currently and formerly glaciated regions, and that has been previously carried along by a gla ...

s of clay and boulders deposited by the melting glacier. Traces of pink in the moraines come from red sandstone plucked up in the

."Gedser Odde"
, Geologiske lokaliteter. Retrieved 21 November 2012.

Birds

Gedser Odde is a good site for observing

migratory birds Bird migration is a seasonal movement of birds between breeding and wintering grounds that occurs twice a year. It is typically from north to south or from south to north. Migration is inherently risky, due to predation and mortality. The ...

, especially on windy days.

Common eider The common eider (pronounced ) (''Somateria mollissima''), also called St. Cuthbert's duck or Cuddy's duck, is a large ( in body length) sea-duck that is distributed over the northern coasts of Europe, North America and eastern Siberia. It breed ...

s can be seen in large numbers around the point in the spring (from the end of March to the beginning of April) and autumn. It is not uncommon for as many as 40,000 per day to fly past. The common scoter is viewable throughout the year in flocks of as many as 3,000. In the autumn, migratory

geese A goose (: geese) is a bird of any of several waterfowl species in the family Anatidae. This group comprises the genera '' Anser'' (grey geese and white geese) and ''Branta'' (black geese). Some members of the Tadorninae subfamily (e.g., Egyp ...

can be seen in their thousands. Other species crossing the area include the red-throated loon, pomarine skua, the long-tailed jaeger, and great skua. Gedser Odde is probably the area with the most

little gull The little gull (''Hydrocoloeus minutus''), is a species of gull belonging to the family Laridae which is mainly found in the Palearctic with some small colonies in North America. It breeds on freshwater lakes and marshes, and spends winters at ...

s in both the spring and the autumn with up to a thousand per day."Gedser Odde"
Natur og fugle. Retrieved 21 November 2012. Among the

birds of prey Birds of prey or predatory birds, also known as (although not the same as) raptors, are hypercarnivorous bird species that actively predation, hunt and feed on other vertebrates (mainly mammals, reptiles and smaller birds). In addition to speed ...

which frequent the area in fairly large numbers between the southernmost point and the Gedser Marina are the

rough-legged buzzard The rough-legged buzzard (Europe) or rough-legged hawk (North America) (''Buteo lagopus'') is a medium-large bird of prey. It is found in arctic and subarctic regions of North America, Europe, and Asia during the breeding season, and migrates s ...

red kite The red kite (''Milvus milvus'') is a bird of prey in the family Accipitridae, which also includes many other Diurnality, diurnal Bird of prey, raptors such as eagles, buzzards, and harrier (bird), harriers. The species currently breeds only i ...

(often flying low), the

western marsh harrier The western marsh harrier (''Circus aeruginosus'') is a large harrier (bird), harrier, a bird of prey from temperate and subtropical western Palearctic, Eurasia and adjacent Africa. It is also known as the Eurasian marsh harrier. Formerly, a numb ...

and

common buzzard The common buzzard (''Buteo buteo'') is a medium-to-large bird of prey which has a large range. It is a member of the genus '' Buteo'' in the family Accipitridae. The species lives in most of Europe and extends its breeding range across much of ...

. Smaller birds also occur, including the western yellow wagtail,

meadow pipit The meadow pipit (''Anthus pratensis'') is a small passerine bird that breeds throughout much of the Palearctic, from south-eastern Greenland and Iceland east to just east of the Ural Mountains in Russia, and south to central France and Romania; ...

, common chaffinch and brambling. Much less common species have on occasion also been observed in the area, such as

little egret The little egret (''Egretta garzetta'') is a species of small heron in the family Ardeidae. It is a white bird with a slender black beak, long black legs and, in the western race, yellow feet. As an aquatic bird, it feeds in shallow water and on ...

black stork The black stork (''Ciconia nigra'') is a large bird in the stork family Ciconiidae. It was first described by Carl Linnaeus in the 10th edition of his ''Systema Naturae''. Measuring on average from beak tip to end of tail with a wingspan, t ...

Steller's eider Steller's eider (''Polysticta stelleri'') is a migrating Arctic diving duck that breeds along the coastlines of eastern Russia and Alaska. It is the rarest, smallest, and fastest flying of the eider species. Due to the extensive contraction of i ...

short-toed snake eagle The short-toed snake eagle (''Circaetus gallicus''), also known as the short-toed eagle, is a medium-sized bird of prey in the family Accipitridae, which also includes many other diurnal raptors such as kites, buzzards and harriers. The genus n ...

, Blyth's reed warbler,

great reed warbler The great reed warbler (''Acrocephalus arundinaceus'') is an insectivorous bird in the family Acrocephalidae. It is a medium-sized passerine bird and the largest of the European warblers. It breeds throughout mainland Europe and the Western Pa ...

, eastern olivaceous warbler,

barred warbler The barred warbler (''Curruca nisoria'') is a typical warbler which breeds across temperate regions of central and eastern Europe and western and central Asia. This passerine bird is strongly migratory, and winters in tropical eastern Africa.De ...

, brown warbler and rock bunting.

Features

Gedser Fyr, a square, lighthouse, sits north-west of Gedser Odde point. The tower features a light and a racon, or radar transponder, and can be ascended. Extending for about north from Gedser Odde, Falster's east coast is protected by a dyke. Submarine cables extending north-east, south-east, and south-south-east lie off Gedser Odde.

References

{{coord, 54, 33, 33, N, 11, 58, 11, E, display=title Geology of Falster Birdwatching sites in Denmark

Geology

Birds

Features

See also

References