Happy volunteers on their way to the nightcatch

While Simon, Jule and I were walking through Ellekrattet yesterday evening searching for Jack Snipes (Enkeltbekkasin), only flushing two Nightjars (Natravne), Pauline and Mio made their way to the northernmost tip of the beach. They saw several different species of waders (Vadefugl), terns (Terner), and even some seals (Sæler) watching them from the water. When they came back, they carried a nice surprise. They had caught two Red Knots (Islandsk Ryle) on the beach. We ringed the birds, released them back onto the beach, and went to sleep feeling really satisfied after seeing such cool birds up close.

1k Red Knot

In the morning, Pauline, Jule and I made our way to Kabeltromlen to open the nets before the sun appeared on the horizon. We could already hear some Robins (Rødhals) and Dunnocks (Jernspurv) calling from the surrounding bushes. We were soon joined by Simon, our guests Kurt Håkonsson and Marianne Mølgaard, as well as the school class staying here in Skagen for a few days to collect data.

We caught 35 new birds in total, most of them being Chiffchaffs (Gransanger), Blackcaps (Munks), and Robins (Rødhals), but also one Marsh Warbler (Kærsanger), one Reed Bunting (Rørspurv), and two Eurasian Bullfinches (Lille Dompap), which made Pauline really happy. We also heard the first Bramblings (Kvækerfinke) of the autumn migrating south.

Mio and Knud were counting at Worlds End 3. They spotted a bunch of Arctic Skuas (Almindelig Kjove) and one Great Skua (Storkjove), but this time no Long-tailed Skua (Lille Kjove). Has the good run of Long-tailed Skua observations come to an end? We’ll see over the next few days. To make sure Mio still got to see some of those amazing skuas, Knud showed him some pictures he took ages ago of them roosting on the beach. Once again, there was also a Black Tern (Sortterne) around.

After the count ended, Mio came over to KAB, and together we made our way back to the lighthouse. We ate lunch, entered the data, and took a nap to be ready for our next night tour. In the afternoon, our new volunteer Laura arrived all the way from Estonia. Not long after her arrival, Simon came to the station to give a presentation on different moult strategies. That was really helpful for understanding what you have to look for when ageing a bird.

Simon making sure we understand how birds are moulting

Now Mio is preparing some wraps for dinner. We’re planning to head out to the beach again tonight to catch some waders. You can read tomorrow, if we were succesfull or not.

Ringing (Kabeltromlen):

Total: 35 birds

Observation Highlites: 

Another early morning started at Kabeltromlen where Jule and I opened the nets at 6:00. The nets were quickly ready and Jørgen Kabel, Simon, their dogs Igor and Odin, our guests and a visiting school class joined us for the first check.

Today’s blog has to start with a supplement. Yesterday, after some of us had gone to sleep already, Hannes went on a mission: Finding Natterjack Toads (Strandtudse). They are a rare toad species but common around the lighthouse. And he was successfull and took this very cute photo:

 A very cute Natterjack Toad (Strandtudse). Foto: Hannes Schäfer.

Right after waking up in the morning, I checked the weather forecast and was happy to see that only small rain showers would come up throughout the moring so we could go ringing at Kabeltromlen normally. So Pauline and I rode our bikes to KAB, opened nets and were soon accompanied by Simon and a number of other people: There is a high school class from Germany visiting us this week, collecting data both at the count and at the ringing. Five students of the class came with us on rounds today. The courses’s teacher is Martina, a former volunteer from here.

There were also three families, our guests in the apartment and some passers-by watching the ringing, so it was a full area today! Luckily, we also had some birds, especially Robins (Rødhals) and all common Sylvia warblers. A highlight was also a Pied Flycatcher (Broget Fluesnapper) in the first round. Even though it’s already a bit late in the season, I hope we’ll still get more of them!

 Young visitors admiring a bird being ringed by Pauline in the tent. Foto: Jule Tappe.

Hannes, Mio and Knud had a good time counting from World’s End 3 and the two rainshowers didn’t impress them in the slightest. They saw Long-tailed, Arctic and Great Skuas (Lille Kjove, Almindelig Kjove, Storkjove), among them even a first-year Great Skua, several Little Gulls (Dværgmåge) and two Rock Pipits (Skærpiber).

Afterwards, they read rings in the tern (Terne sp.) flock, and among the gulls (Måge), mostly from Sandwich Terns (Splitterne) and Kittiwakes (Ride).

Back at the station, we all entered data and rested before Simon came for the day’s meeting in the afternoon. While preparing social media posts (please follow us and check out the latest posts!), Simon showed the German class the station and our great library and lab.

 Simon showing the German class around the bird observatory. Foto: Mio Brix.

In the evening, Hannes and I went on separate walks (by coincidence). Unfortunately, only he got Purple Sandpipers (Sortgrå ryle) flying over Kattegat while I practiced my cricket ball throw with the stones on the beach. Loyal readers of the blog might remember my newfound passion. Then Pauline made delicious pancakes for everyone and we had a proper dinner cooked by Hannes. It was a Greifswald classic consisting of three different kinds of pasta and four different kinds of pesto, three of them green basil ones. Then we enjoyed a cosy evening in the lighthouse while the wind roared outside.

Link to today's observations in the Dofbasen from observers in the area.

People: Mio Brix, Hannes Schäfer, Knud Pedersen, Pauline Nähring, Jule Tappe, Simon S. Christiansen, Kurt Håkonsson, Marianne Mølgaard

This morning started like most mornings up here. After the very windy day yesterday, we were able to go ringing at KAB again today. Yuhuu! It was still quite windy, which affected the number of birds we caught (9 in total). But with 3 Robins (Rødhals) caught today, it already gives a small impression of the coming autumn ringing season! Especially Pauline was very happy to see a Bullfinch (Dompap) in the hand again. Such pretty birds!

Jule ringing a Robin (Rødhals) with lots of interested people around.

The autumn impression also really showed up at the migration count today. Directly as we started, Knud, who was at Worlds End 3 two minutes before us, had already 2 Long-tailed Skuas (Lille Kjove) in his scope. And as time went by, we got more and more of these super cool Skuas. At the end of the count, we had at least 14 (!) Long-tailed Skuas (Lille Kjove)! An awesome number of such an awesome bird. For all of us, it was so nice to see so many of them and get a lot of experience with their flight style and colouration!

 But these weren't the only Skua species we got that day. In total, we got 12 Great Skuas (Storkjove) as well! Some of them were also flying quite far out, so you really had to scan the horizon precisely! And while doing that and seeing a lot of Fulmars (Mallemuk), we found a Sooty Shearwater (Sodfarvet Skråpe) at the beginning of the second hour, and just half an hour later, a second one turned up!

Hannes spotting a Sooty Shearwater (Sodfarvet Skråpe)

There is so much more I could tell you about this morning, but then this wouldn't be a blog post, it would turn into a whole book! But of course, we will update you on what will be happening over the next few days!

After our lovely morning, we spent the day cleaning the station, entering data, and doing a net survey to check the quality of the nets in the attic and label the nets correctly.

Net survey!

After our working tasks at the station, Hannes, Jule, and I went out to the Sandormvinget Dune to do some evening observations. There, we saw 3 Long-tailed Skuas (Lille Kjove) and one Great Skua (Storkjove). After this short but great evening outside, we continued the evening inside with a very delicious dinner prepared by Pauline.

So, as you see, autumn in Skagen is here, and we are all looking forward to seeing what the next days will bring!

Highlights of the observations:

Long-tailed Skua (Lille Kjove)- >14

Great Skua (Storkjove)- >12

Sooty Shearwater (Sodfarvet Skråpe)-2

Ringing (Nordstjernevej) from Michael Ancher:

Blue Tit (Blåmejse)- 2
Great Tit (Musvit)-5
Blackcap (Munk)-1
Chaffinch (Bogfinke)-1

Ringing Kabeltromlen:

Total: 9

 Link to today's observations in the Dofbasen from observers in the area.

People: Mio Brix, Pauline Nähring, Hannes Schäfer, Jule Tappe, Simon S. Christiansen, Marinanne Mølgaard and Kurt Håkonsson

After our successful evening seawatch yesterday, I was excited to start the day with the migration-count at Grenen accompanied by Mio and Jule. We were hoping, that the strong westerly winds might have blown some interesting seabirds to Skagen. Sadly that weather conditions also meant, that ringing at Kabeltromeln became impossible because no nets could be opened. Good for Pauline though, as she was able to enjoy some extra-sleep.

Mio walking to World's End 3 in the sunrise.

We started the count with some more or less stationary Gannets (Sule), terns (terner) and gulls (måger). But not much time had to pass, until we spotted a bunch of Fulmars (mallemuk) flying in bows far out at the horizon. I don’t get to see Fulmars that often, so identifying them in flight on greater distances was a bit challenging at first but started to work out quiet well as more and more fulmars started to appear in the distance.  At some point I spotted a bird which flight in bow arches reminded me of the Fulmar (Mallemuk) flight I just learned, but looked a bit different. More agile and fast in its movement and the wings seemed to be thinner and more pointy at the end. That’s a Sooty Shearwater (Sodfarvet skråpe)! One of the species we were hoping for this morning.

There were also some interesting birds passing in shorter distance like two Long-tailed Skuas (Lille Kjove), of which one was so close at the beach, we thought it might join the local gull-roost. The Long-tailed, had a hard time moving west against the wind, while being passed by some ultra-speedy Arctic Skuas (Almindelig Kjove). More calm and steady in flight were two Great Skuas (Stor kjove) which looked like they didn’t even noticed it was windy. As time passed migration kept slowing down and we made our way back to the lighthouse.

Mio proudly shared the chocolate-wrap recipe and I have to admit, that it wasn’t that bad like I expected. Turns out one toasted wrap with exactly three pieces of chocolate as its topping tastes really good! Saturday is cleaning day, so we continued with cleaning the station and the lab.

After cleaning Jule had a look at Kattegat from the old bunker. She had a good time watching some waders like Sanderlings (Sandløber), Dunlins (Almindelig Ryle) and Red Knots (Islandsk Ryle) at the beach, which might become interesting for nightcatching the next days. On the water there were Arctic Skaus (almindelig kjove) and a Great Skua (Stor kjove) passing by towards Grenen. That’s were my and I decided to again have a look at the water. We again saw quite a few Fulmars (Mallemuk) (this time even a bit closer), some Artic Skuas (Almindelig Kjove) , three Long-tailed Skuas (Lille Kjove) and five Great Skuas (Stor Kjove). That was just awesome:)

When we came back to the station a pleasant smell welcomed us. Pauline had decided to bake cinnamon rolls and a pie. A nice surprise.

Beautiful Cinnamon Rolls with white chocolate and raspberries. Pauline is a real baking wizard!

In the evening Nils Eriksen, Stig Frediksen and Grethe came to visit the station and prepared a delicious dinner. Thanks again for that! They then carried on with a guided night excursion to Grenen by Nils, which Mio and Pauline joined. They also planned to scout the beach for roosting waders (Vadefugl).

Highlights of the observations:

No Ringing today :(

 Link to today's observations in the Dofbasen from observers in the area.

People: Mio Brix, Simon S. Christiansen, Pauline Nähring, Hannes Schäfer, Jule Tappe, Niels Eriksen, Grethe and Stig Frederiksen

Westerly winds shook the lighthouse windows this morning. I woke up to meet Páll at Kabeltromlen and open nets for ringing. Because of the wind, we were quickly finished because about a quarter of our netmeters had to stay closed. For the first round, Simon, Pauline, Sophie, Grethe and Stig arrived. Considering the wind, we actually had a very good day, especially in terms of species: Two Bullfinches (Dompap) and a Red-Backed Shrike (Rødrygget Tornskade) kept us entertained even though the numbers were low.

Simon, Sophie, Pall and me admiring a bird.

A very pretty first year Bullfinch of the subspecies europaea (Lille Dompap). Foto: Pauline Nähring

After closing the nets, I went to work with a hedge cutter. Under the nets, grass and reed had been growing. Now, the nets don’t get tangled anymore!

Freshly cut reeds below the net. It looks chaotic but I swear, it's a clean cut! Foto: Jule Tappe.

In the meantime, Mio and Knud had a very succesfull morning at World’s End 3 during the migration count. In the second hour, there was a Long-tailed Skua (Lille Kjove) that was later joined by three more! There was also a Great Skua (Stor Kjove), a Little Gull (Dværgmåge) and some migrating Kittiwakes (Ride) around.

After these enjoyable morning activities, we entered data at the station and welcomed Hannes, who will stay at the station for a couple of days. Then, we held a Shuffle Ball tournament. In the game, you have to slide a game piece over the board as far as possible, but not too far. The further you slide, the more points you get.

Mio and Pauline playing the Shuffle Board Game. Foto: Jule Tappe.

At this point, I would really like to present you all the game results and the overall winner, but unfortunately, I can only remember that I lost all games. Maybe we should repeat soon.

In the late afternoon, I went for a walk around Ellekrattet and Storsig, enjoying the nice weather before the rain tomorrow. Highlights were Wheatears (Stenpikker) and a Stonechat (Sortstrubet Bynkefugl). However, a little further North, Mio and Hannes were birdwatching on a different level: While quickly checking Nordstrand for the Surf Scoter (Brilleand), they didn’t only find it: They also got very good views of a Black Tern (Sortterne) two of the Long-tailed Skuas (Lille Kjove) from the morning and even a Manx Shearwater (Almindelig Skråpe)! And all of this in the span of 30 minutes!

After this intense evening, we had a late dinner and are excited about tomorrow. I hope we will still see many birds, even though the westerly winds are increasing. So this is the perfect time to put the endless birder’s optimism to use!

 Link to today's observations in the Dofbasen from observers in the area.

People: Sophie Booker, Mio Brix, Simon S. Christiansen, Páll Vang Kjærbo, Pauline Nähring, Hannes Schäfer, Jule Tappe, Grethe and Stig Frederiksen

Today I got up early again to open the nets at Kabeltromlen, where Páll was already waiting for me to help me out. Jule also joined for the first ringing round and we had a good variety of birds. A Robin (Rødhals) was already waiting for us in the nets while we were opening them which was a nice start to the morning.

We caught 19 new birds in total, including a Blue Tit (Blåmejse), a lot of Blackcaps (Munk), Common Whitethroats (Tornsanger).... and a Dunnock (Jernspurv) which was definitely our highlight for today.

 

 

Somehow, all the blog posts I write seem to start with a night-catching story. This time, Simon went to Volsted with Johan to catch Great Snipe (Tredækker). And they were very successful, catching two Great Snipes! One of them was a recapture from our catching session a few days ago and it had even increased in weight by 5 grams!

The already known 1K Great Snipe (Tredækker) with 5 more grams on the scale! Photo by Simon S. Christiansen

The first ones who got up this morning were Jule and Pauline, who opened the nets at Kabeltrommlen. A bit later, Sophie, Páll and Simon joined them. In total, they didn’t catch that many birds, but they still enjoyed the morning with some Redstarts (Rødstjert), and even the next Red-backed Shrike (Rødrygget Tornskade) flew into the net. It’s always a mix of excitement and a healthy dose of respect for just how bitey these little birds can be. But in this case, the bird was more chilled and not that bitey, also because it was a young bird, which are mostly not as bitey as the adults.

Young Red-backed Shrike (Rødrygget Tornskade). Photo by Pauline Nähring

The advantage of going on migration count is (apart from all the cool birds you can get, of course) that you can’t get bitten by birds in the hand. Okay, yes, that’s really obvious, I agree, but I’ve been searching for a good linking sentence from the ringing to the observations at World’s End 3, which Knud and I took care of. Today, I already got some feelings of autumn migration with some migrating Meadow Pipits (Engpiber), and the first Kittiwakes (Ride) also began to migrate. Especially the young birds are just so pretty, and I always enjoy watching them! Apart from these birds, the highlight of the count was definitely a Merlin (Dværgfalk), which was coming straight in from the sea.

Afterwards, we headed back and went grocery shopping with Simon. On our way back, we stopped at Nordstrand to look for the Surf Scoter (Brilleand), and yes! We saw it again! Not as well as yesterday, but it was still cool to see! 

Observing the Surf Scoter (Brilleand) from Nordstrand. Photo by Simon S. Christiansen

In the afternoon, we did our daily routine with data entry, napping, and then, in the evening, Pauline prepared a delicious dinner as well as a delicious apple crumble, while Jule sewed a net at Kabeltrommlen and I walked out to Cape Gadagong and got to see a Merlin (Dværgfalk).

And with the apple crumble in our stomachs, this day at Skagen Fuglestation comes to an end, and we are all looking forward to seeing what the next days will bring!

Highlights of the observation:

Surf Scoter (Brilleand)-1

Merlin (Dværgfalk)-1

Ringing (Kabeltromlen):

Total: 24

Link to today's observations in the Dofbasen from observers in the area.

People: Mio Brix, Jule Tappe, Pauline Nährung, Knud Pedersen, Simon S. Christiansen, Johan Funder, Jørgen Kabel, Grethe and Stig Frederiksen

Another sunrise, another day of birdwatching and -ringing. But that’s not totally true, since the bird observatory never really sleeps. As you might know from yesterday’s blog, we tried to catch storm petrels (Lille Stormsvale) last night on the beach and Nightjars (Natravn) in the old lighthouse garden. Unfortunately, only one of those goals was reached and we caught two first-year Nightjahrs before midnight. This number the 21st and 22nd Nightjar of the season which is a new station’s record! The elusive ghosts of the sea, the storm petrels, did not visit us though. All of us had been really hopeful because one more bird would have been the tenth of the season, but we had no luck. Also, this might have been the last night of setting up nets on the beach so our last chance is now gone. But there is no reason to be disappointed! The season has already been great for Storm Petrels and Pauline’s night shift was not withouth events. At around 2 am, an adult male Common Redstart (Rødstjert) was caught in the Nightjar net. This was one of several more to come for the day.

One of the Nightjars (Natravn) caught on the evening of the 31st of August. Foto: Jule Tappe.

In the morning, I opened the nets at Kabeltromlen while Mio and Pauline took down the nets on the beach. I was met by Oluf for the first round; the two of us took care of the ringing together today. Jørgen Kabel and our guests Grethe and Stig Frederiksen were very nice company in between rounds. Actually though, we didn’t have so much time to chat and quite some birds to ring with several Robins (Rødhals), Blackcaps (Munk), Garden Warblers (Havesanger) and the already mentioned Redstarts (Rødstjert). There was even a beautiful Tree Pipit (Skovpiber) and the first Coal Tit (Sortmejse) of the autumn season.

A very pretty Coal Tit (Sortmejse) at Kabeltromlen. Hopefully the first of many. Foto: Jule Tappe.

Mio had everything under control and World’s End 3 doing the migration count. He saw some Arctic Skuas (Almindelig Kjove), a Cuckoo (Gøg) and a Hen Harrier (Blå Kærhøg). One highlight were four Orcas (Spækhugger), one male and three females, that he spotted in the sea. However, this was not the most exciting thing that swam on the waters of Grenen. Knud was on his way to birdwatch at Skarvsøen when he looked over the sea at Nordstrand to search for the Orcas. While he was unsuccesull in finding them, he found something else instead: In a flock of Common Scoters (Sortand), he found a male Surf Scoter (Brilleand). Just like me, it looks like it’s wearing glasses due to the white spots on its head (except for the fact that my glasses are real and not white spots). It is a vagrant duck from North America and a pretty one too! After the count, Mio walked to Nordstrand to also see it and he was later joined by Oluf and me, who was so kind to take me with him in his car. There, we good views of its striking white nape and base of beak as it went up and down with the waves.

A male Surf Scoter (Brilleand) in a flock of Common Scoters (Sortand) at Nordstrand. Foto: Mio Brix.

The puppy Odin was happy after ticking Surf Scoter (Brilleand) on his Life-list

After this exciting morning, we all came back to the lighthouse and continued our daily routines: Taking a nap and entering data. One time-consuming task today was also updating the picture archive. Because all of the nice pictures that you see here naturally have to be transfered, sorted and named.

In the late afternoon, I took a walk to Kabeltromlen to pick up my bike that I left there earlier. On my way there, I checked all the White Wagtails (Hvid Vipstjert) in the parking lot of Grenen for ones with rings since we caught quite a few of them last month. Unfortunately, I didn’t see any. Back at the station, we enjoyed a delicious dinner cooked by Mio and shared funny stories of our stays at different bird observatories.

Now, it has become quiet at the station. Everyone is tired from the past days of nightcatching and has to regain energy for the next days. There is one person, however, who apparently has no need for sleep: Simon is trying to catch Great Snipes (Tredækker) again and we are all hoping to wake up tomorrow to new photos of these amazing birds in the group chat. If you haven’t seen a Great Snipe yet, you should check out our blog post from 30th of August.

Total: 22

Link to today's observations in the Dofbasen from observers in the area.

People: Mio Brix, Sule Tappe, Pauline Nähring, Oluf Lou, Simon S. Christiansen, Grethe and Stig Frederiksen, Odin

After a few months away I’m finally back at Skagen Fuglestation! This time I’ll be staying for a whole month until the beginning of October and the first days have already been full of exciting observations, ringing and meeting new people :)