Another sunrise, another day full of birds for us people here at Skagen Fuglestation. In the morning, Sophie and Páll opened nets at Kabeltromlen and were joined by Simon, Luis and me for the first round. The first half of ringing was quite good and many birds kept us busy, including many Wrens (Gærdesmutte) and Blackcaps (Munk) but in the second half of the morning, the stronger west winds showed their effect and it died down a little. There was great highlight though, with a foreign recapture from Norway: A first-year Dunnock (Jernspurv).

A beautiful Dunnock (Jernspurv) from Norway.

During the morning, we also heard and got another glimpse of the magnificent Nutcracker (Nøddekrige).

Meanwhile at World’s End 3, Mio and Laura got to really enjoy the stronger winds with finally a lot more action on the sea than on the previous days. Just like before, there was a Lapland Bunting (Lapværling) on the beach, but with almost 2000 Gannets (Sule), the sea was busy! There were also Long-tailed Skuas (Lille Kjove) around again and a Merlin (Dværgfalk) coming in from the sea. So all together, a very nice count after the calm before.

After lunch and data entry, Simon drove us to Gammel Skagen, about 10 km south of the lighthouse. From there, Laura, Luis and I did our regular beach survey as a part of the project „Seabirds under pressure (SUPRE)“. We collect a range of dead seabirds that are in decent condition to be transported and investigated. Fulmars (Mallemuk) are especially interesting, which is why I chose today’s title. However, we only found two Guillemots (Lomvie) today. There was also a dead porpoise (Marsvin) that we were quite impressed by. When it comes to living birds, we especially enjoyed two resting Mediterranean Gulls (Sorthovedet Måge) a migrating Barnacle Goose (Bramgås).

Walking the beaches looking for dead birds.

In the meantime, Mio was occupied with data entry, picture archive and quality assurance – classic computer tasks at the birds obs. He also welcomed our new guests, Jesper and Karen Marie, after we had to say goodbye to Anders and Dorthe in the morning.

After all this walking, we enjoyed a nice and quick dinner by Luis and are about to welcome Sarah to our team. She has been a volunteer here before and will be a part of the SKAF family again for the coming months.

Tomorrow, the wind will be even stronger than today. Let’s see what birds this will bring!

Link to todays observations in the Dofbasen from observers in the area.

People: Jule Tappe, Mio Brix, Laura Tamminen, Luis Q. Langfeld, Dorthe and Anders Østerby, Simon S. Christiansen, Páll Vang Kjærbo, Sophie Booker, Jørgen Kabel, Sarah Partridge, Jesper and Karen Marie, Michael Ancher

Every morning (or sometimes already a few days in advance), we check the weather forecast, not only to know whether we can go out, but also to somehow guess which birds might turn up. Before we checked the forecast again, we sadly had to say goodbye to Pauline, who left back to Berlin. We will miss you, it was such a great time with you here!

So, the weather today was almost the same as yesterday, with less wind and some sunshine. From the forecast, it was somehow clear that there wouldn’t be that much going on over the sea, but, as yesterday, it looked quite promising for good passerines again. And that was exactly what happened:

As Luis and I walked to Worlds End 3 today, we already got to hear one Lapland Bunting (Lapværling). For today’s count, we chose a dune that was around two dunes west of Worlds End 3 and a bit higher, giving us better views over the inland area behind us.

In that inland area, also Kabeltromlen is located, where Jule, Páll, Sophie, Simon, and Laura went out ringing today. Already in the first round, they caught a young Yellow-browed Warbler (Hvidbrynet Løvsanger). To see this beautiful bird, some locals and I also went to Kabeltromlen.

First good bird of the day: young Yellow-browed Warbler (Hvidbrynet Løvsanger). Photo by Laura Tamminen

After my quick walk to Kabeltromlen, I headed back to Worlds End 3, where Luis kept everything under control. Today, we paid particular attention to counting many of the resting Gulls (Måger) and Gannets (Suler), because it was European Birdwatching Day, when we compare numbers and observations from different places all over Europe!

While counting the Gannets, we received the message that the ringers had caught a Red Crossbill (Lille Korsnæb). How exciting!

And just some time later, Luis and I heard a “tsiip” call over the dune while counting. Unfortunately, we only heard that one call without seeing the bird, so it was impossible to say anything for sure at that point. But (!), I had a recorder running right next to me (I suggest to everyone that you always have a recording running while you are out birding ;-) and we checked the recording later. There, we could clearly see that the call we had heard was the call of an Olive-backed Pipit (Tajgapiber):

Spectrogram of today’s Olive-backed Pipit (Tajgapiber). Those calls are very similar to the calls of Tree Pipits (Skovpiber), but the calls of Olive-backed Pipits are generally higher-pitched, less modulated, and more downslurred. Sound file of the call here! Spectrogram and sound recording by Mio Brix

After the second counting hour, I switched with Jule, so she went to the count with Luis at Worlds End 3, while I went to Kabeltromlen for the last rounds. As I arrived there, we all got a decent look at a resting adult Hobby (Lærkefalk) which was sitting on top of the Sort Sommerhus!

While we were ringing a late Garden Warbler (Havesanger), Luis and Jule spotted a Great Skua (Storkjove) over the sea, and a bit later, there was a Great Grey Shrike (Stor Tornskade) sitting just a bit north of Kabeltromlen.

After Jule and Luis ended the count with two Rough-legged Buzzards (Fjeldvåge), Laura, Hendrik, Páll, Sophie, and I started closing the nets at Kabeltromlen. As we were closing the last net, we heard three very loud and beautiful “pssiii” calls from a Red-throated Pipit (Rødstrubet Piber), which was just flying abouve us! What a great end to the morning!

Spectrogram of two calls of the Red-throated Pipit (Rødstrubet Piber).They look a bit like a water slide. Listen to its call up here! Spectrogram and sound recording by Mio Brix

After we headed back to the station, there wasn’t any time to rest. It was time to clean the station and then go to Skagen town for ice cream to celebrate yesterday’s Nutcracker (Nøddekrige) observation. 

Celebrating the Nutcracker observation with ice cream. Photo by Simon S. Christiansen

To round up our day, our guests Anders and Dorthe made a wonderful dinner for us, and Lisa and Simon also joined us.

I could write down a lot more things about the day, but then this blog wouldn’t come to an end...

Highlights from the observation:

Olive-backed Pipit (Tajgapiber)-1

Red-throated Pipit (Rødstrubet Piber )-1

Great Skua (Storkjove)-1

Lapland Bunting (Lapværling)-1

Hobby (Lærkefalk)-1

Link to todays observations in the Dofbasen from observers in the area.

Ringing Kabeltromlen:

Total: 50

People: Jule Tappe, Pauline Nähring, Mio Brix, Laura Tamminen, Luis Q. Langfeld, Dorthe and Anders Østerby, Simon S. Christiansen, Páll Vang Kjærbo, Sophie Booker, Lisa Vergin, Jørgen Kabel

Yesterday evening, we already checked the weather forecast and wondered if today might be the headstart into a exciting October at Skagen Fuglestation.

Actually, the day started slow. Ringing started a bit later due to rain and observation was also hindered at first by misty conditions. Taken on its own, both were more average. Observation yielded some more Black Guillemots (Tejst) and dabbling ducks, only one Arctic Skua (Almindelig Kjove).

Ringing numbers weren't too high, but this gave everyone involved more time for enjoying the wonderful bird encounters that were about to unfold. At one of the rounds, Jule was lucky to discover two Siberian Nutcrackers (Tyndnæbbet Nøddekrige)! Fortunately, they stayed in the area around Kabeltromlen for a while, so that many other observers could watch them feeding on berries. Recording of the Nutcrackers can heard on this link to DOFbasen.

Siberian Nutcracker (ssp. macrorhychus) (Tyndnæbbet Nøddekrige) (photos by Jens Eriksen)

During this wonderful encounter, a pipit calling peculiarly flew over. First analysis of sound recordings point to Olive-backed Pipit (Tajgapiber), another visitor from Siberia. Here our recording on DOFbasen

And to put a cherry on top of this, there was also a calling and subsinging Yellow-browed Warbler (Hvidbrynet Løvsanger) seen around the netting area! 

Later on the day, the wind peaked up again, so birding got calmer. We instead listened to an inspiring talk of Dorthe and Anders about their recent journey to Ecuador and the Galapagos islands presenting us a dizzingly colourful different environment as well as reunions with well-known friends, e.g. Sanderling (Sandløber) and Common Terns (Fjordterne), at the other end of the world.

The day ended with well-deserved dinner by Laura and amazing cinnamon buns by Pauline, who will sadly leave us tomorrow.

I do not know where to start to be honest. So much happened today, I just want to write all about it in one sentence. The morning did not give us high hopes because the wind was crazy. Me and Jule decided to still open half of the nets, noting that if it got worse, we would close the rest. We were joined by Pauline and our guests.

We came back from the first round in an elated mood. Minus all the wrens (Gærdesmutte) we had to extract haha. There were about 12 bags with a bird inside and among them were 3 yellowhammers (Gulspurv) and a brambling! (Kvækerfinke). They aren’t rare birds, but they are lovely to get in the nets. Their colors are striking and they give me the warm feeling of autumn’s fast approach.

In the middle of one of our rounds, Jule approached me and Pauline, yelling “We have a Cello bird!”. It was a firecrest (Rødtoppet Fuglekonge)! Our excitement was through the roof. Alongside goldcrests (Fuglekonge) they are the smallest birds in Europe! The one we caught weighed just 5,4 grams. This bird was a first for Pauline and the guests!

Puffed up male yellowhammer (Gulspurv). Photo by Laura Tamminen

Lovely male brambling (Kvækerfinke). Photo by Jule Tappe

Our special catch of today, a male firecrest (Rødtoppet fuglekonge). Photo by Pauline Nähring

Other notable birds we caught today were a song thrush (Sangdrossel) and a male blackbird (Solsort). Around us we had a flock of red crossbills (lille korsnæb), we have really been hoping to catch some, but so far, we’ve had no luck. A hen harrier (Blå Kærhøg) and a goshawk (Duehøg) also flew past.

Doesnt it look quite goth? Male blackbird (Solsort). Photo by Laura Tamminen

I would also want to mention that a Siberian nutcracker (Sibirisk Nøddekrige) was spotted by Mio during the evening in Jennes So, so keep your eyes open for a potential lifer! They are lesser-known corvids whose plumage might remind you of a starling, except they’re way bigger and have a thicker beak. Their population here is scarce so this is a very special visitor for Skagen.

Mio and Luis had spent their morning on obs, but unfortunately it was quite slow and inactive. A pallid harrier (Steppehøg) was spotted, but sadly they missed it. They noted some Canada and pink-footed geese (Canadagåsen og Kortnæbbet gåsen) flying past.

After we came back, we had our usual breakfast and nap, which some of us really needed. I kept looking at the clock, waiting for it to hit 16:00. We had some very exciting birds waiting at the rescue center. So exciting that a dozen people came to admire and photograph it. One of them was a lovely tawny owl (Natugle) and right after it a magnificent Eurasian eagle-owl (Stor Hornugle). I was caught off guard by the size of the eagle-owl. It weighed 2,2 kg, they are one of the biggest species of owl after all... I am extremely lucky to be able to see an eagle-owl up close, their population is declining in Estonia and they are very rare, also in Denmark.

3+ tawny owl (Natugle), very calm in the hand. Photo by Jule Tappe

Juvenile and very unpleased eagle-owl. Photo by Pauline Nähring

We arrived back to the station, but Luis and Jule decided to immediately head off to Jennes So to hopefully spot the nutcracker, no luck this time. Let’s hope the bird will stay here for a while.

Jule and Luis on the lookout for a nutcracker (Nøddekrige). Photo by Mio Brix

Link to todays observations in the Dofbasen from observers in the area.

 People: Jule Tappe, Pauline Nähring, Mio Brix, Laura Tamminen, Luis Q. Langfeld, Dorthe and Anders Østerby, Simon S. Christiansen, Jeppe Madsen, Sophie Booker, Lisa Vergin, Henrik Christiansen, Hanne and Jens Eriksen, Jørgen Kabel.

This morning Luis and Jule went out for the morning count. It was windy, but otherwise a nice morning. They had some interesting observations, including Red-breasted Mergansers (Toppet Skallesluger) and one Arctic Skua (Almindelig Kjove). Another highlight was a Lapland Bunting (Laplandsværling) which finally gave a really good view. 

This morning, the ringing team of Pauline, Luis, Simon and me had a very good day, whereas Mio and Laura at the count were a bit underwhelmed.

There were very little birds around with only two Great Skuas (Storkjove) and one Arctic Skua (Almindelig Kjove). Many Reed Buntings (Rørspurv) in the bushes behind the dunes kept them company, with one Lapland Bunting (Lapværling) among them, like on the previous days.

The first two rounds at the ringing at Kabeltromlen kept us busy with around 20 birds and even though there was quite a drop in numbers later, there were still some birds around, including a flock of Blue Tits (Blåmejse) in the very last round (not one of my favourites). Species-wise, it was not a very diverse day though, with two Chaffinches (Bogfinke) being the highlight. Still, there is no reason to complain with 62 new ringed birds!

Our guests Anders and Dorthe Østerby joined both the ringing at the count for some time, before checking around Skarvsøen to see if they could hear or the see one of the Yellow-browed Warblers (Hvidbrynet Løvsanger ) that another birdwatcher had seen their earlier. Unfortunately, they didn’t but were quite pleased to see many waders in good numbers at the lake, like Common Snipe (Dobbeltbekassin), Dunlin (Almindelig Ryle), Bar-tailed Godwit (Lille Kobbersneppe) and Grey Plover (Strandhjejle).

Back at the station, we had lunch and Pauline and Luis entered data. Laura, Mio and I prepared for the beach survey to look for dead seabirds at the shore between the Grå Fyr and Gammel Skagen. Unfortunately, the Dofbasen app that we have to use for this had a technical issue today so we had to postpone our little hike.

Just after I had woken up from a half hour nap, Pauline and Luis came back from shopping with Anders and Dorthe. She told me in shock, that they had spend a lot of money at the supermarket and couldn’t explain why. A closer study of the receipt later showed why: Instead of charging for one packet of biscuits (the one that we bought), they charged us for 100!

A receipt for biscuits worth 2.295 dkk (equal to around 307 €).

This is a great example of the problems you have when you are in a country where you don’t have a feeling for the currency (yet). Even though, they already thought it was a lot at the shop, only back at the station we noticed how much money they had really payed. So we drove back to the shop and got the money for the none-existing 99 packages of biscuits back. Luckily, this was easily done. Then, Simon, Mio, Luis and I went to quickly check the bushes in the industrial area to see if we could find a cool warbler, but there were mostly Chiffchaffs (Gransanger) around.

 Luis and me watching Mio watching Chiffchaffs (Gransanger).

After our evening meeting, Laura and Simon checked sheets, Luis started cooking and Mio and Pauline set up nets for hopefully catching White Wagtails (Hvid Vipstjert) near the parking lot at Grenen. Let’s see if we can repeat our success from August.

People: Jule Tappe, Pauline Nähring, Mio Brix, Laura Tamminen, Luis Q. Langfeld, Dorthe and Anders Østerby, Simon S. Christiansen

In the early, early morning, we noticed that the wind was too strong to open the nets at KAB, as we had done on all the other days. The wind seemed to calm down during the morning, but then a second factor forced us not to open KAB at all today: It’s wet, drop-shaped, and transparent: rain!

But these conditions didn’t stop us from doing the migration count at World’s End 3 today. So Luis, Jule, and I went out. It was quite a good count (better than the day before), with five Long-tailed Skuas (Lille Kjove) and two Great Skuas (Storkjove). As we looked at the rain radar, we noticed that a lot of rain was going to come during the last hour, so we stopped one hour earlier.

Our guests, Anders and Dorthe, also joined us briefly at the count. On their way to World’s End, they saw a Lapland Longspur (Lapværling), so we also tried to find the bird. And it worked on our way back! It wasn’t a good observation, but we heard it calling several times and then briefly saw it flying.

After we headed back, we refilled our energy with some lunch, did the data of the day, did more laptop work, studied books, or took a nap. In the afternoon, Luis, Jule, Laura, and I walked out towards Batteriskoven to look for some passerines while Pauline prepared a delicious dinner.

close 1K Arctic Skua (Almindelig Kjove) on our way back to the station. Photo by Luis Q. Langfeld

more and more Rock Pipits (Skærpiber) are now around here! Photo by Luis Q. Langfeld

Observation highlights:

Long-tailed Skua (Lille Kjove)-5

Great Skua (Storkjove)-2

Lapland Bunting (Lapværling)-1

No ringing today

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

People: Jule Tappe, Pauline Nähring, Mio Brix, Laura Tamminen, Luis Q. Langfeld, Celine and Thomas Giver, Páll Vang Kjærbo, Dorthe and Anders Østerby

For me, it was the very first full day at Skagen Fuglestation. And it was an amazing one. I joined the morning count with Mio and Laura. The sun was shining and the wind was calm. I was told that the bird activity was rather calm which surprised me a lot as from my perspective, everywhere I looked was full with birds! There was good movement in Common Scoters (Sortand) and decent numbers of foraging Northern Gannets (Sule). For me personally, two Great Skuas (Storkjove) and two Long-tailed Skuas (lille kjove) were lifers! While counting, we were surrounded by flocks of Common Reed Buntings (Rørspurv), European Goldfinches (Stillits) and Common Linnets (Tornirisk). And a small treat also came by and was a lifer for Mio: a Lapland Longspur (Lapværling)!

Morning count at world's end 3 (photo by Mio Brix)

After the count, we went to the ringing team at Kabeltromlen who told us about their busy day so far with 55 birds in the nets of which a Eurasian Jay (Skovskade), the first 2K+ Eurasian Wren (Gærdesmutte) and a young Yellowhammer (Gulspurv) were the highlights.

1K Eurasian Jay (Skovskade)  (photo by Pauline Nähring)

1K Yellowhammer (Gulspurv) (photo by Pauline Nähring)

After a short break with lunch, nap and literature, we went out to set up a passive audio recorder in the field to autonomously monitor passing birds by their calls. Lets see what surprising records this will bring! During this activity, we got the message that a Northern Nutcracker (Nøddekrige) was spotted at Skagen Klitplantage. We're hoping to get to see some, too, in the following days.

And the afternoon, the wind peaked up from the south-east and we decided to have another seawatching session. Directly facing the wind, our endurance was rewarded with about 20 Northern Fulmar (Mallemuk), two Great Skuas (Storkjove) and four Sooty Shearwaters (Sodfarvet skråpe) (another lifer for the author)!

What a great first day here at Skagen Fuglestation, looking forward to the next three weeks!

Observation highlights:

4 Sooty Shearwaters (Sodfarvet skråpe)

4 Great Skuas (Storkjove)

2 Long-tailed Skuas (Lille kjove)

1 Lapland Longspur (Lapværling)

Ringing totals at Kabeltromlen:

Eurasian Jay (Skovskade) 1
Common Chiffchaff (Gransanger) 2
Common Blackcap (Munk) 5
Eurasian Wren (Gærdesmutte) 11
European Robin (Rødhals) 13
Dunnock (Jernspurv) 3
Common Chaffinch (Bogfinke) 1
Common Reed Bunting (Rørspurv) 12
Yellowhammer (Gulspurv) 1

total: 49

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

People: Jule Tappe, Pauline Nähring, Mio Brix, Laura Tamminen, Luis Q. Langfeld, Celine and Thomas Giver, Páll Vang Kjærbo, Dorthe and Anders Østerby

This morning started quite unfortunately. I managed to forget my phone at the station as I was leaving for observation and since the key was inside, I could not retrieve it. Even though we don’t really use our phones during counting anyways, it is still great to have it nearby in case we need to use Cello or look at the time. Luckily Mio had his phone, so all was good and, in all honesty, it was great to distance myself from that device for 4 hours.

Gorgeous sunrise at 7 am. Photo by Mio Brix

 We were also joined by Celine and her father. It was quite a slow day, there wasn’t much activity, but we still encountered great skuas (Storkjove) and long tailed skuas (Lille kjove). Me and Mio counted the resting gannets (Sule) and I only counted 10 birds less than him! I consider it a huge win since those birds flew around in large flocks and some were quite far out.

Mio also taught me about the aging of gannets. Did you know it takes about 6 years for them to get their adult plumage? We saw birds of various ages, and a 1k, which we love to see! Compared to the beautiful white adults, the 1k juveniles are darker brown with no white in sight. The wind has picked up again, but the sun kept us warm and it felt so cozy.

The wind might not bother us, but over at Kabeltromlen the ringing had to be cut short. The nets were closed earlier but the team still had a few lovely birds to ring.

2 lovely female bullfinches (Dompap). Photo by Anja Gorbunova

 Shortly before Me and Mio came back, we had to say goodbye to Anja. It was great getting to know her and working with her. Right after that we said hello to our new volunteer, Luis! I hope you have a wonderful time and expand your knowledge well! :))

We are working on a new recorder project, Simon is preparing. Photo by Mio Brix

Pauline baked us a delicious blueberry pie at noon which i unfortunately do not have a photo of, but believe me, i already miss that cake. 

During the afternoon it was quite calm, we cleaned the station and took our naps. Mio, Jule and Luis spent some time playing a bird ID game on the laptop. They only got one incorrect haha. I spent the time writing a postcard to the bird observatory I’m from: Vaibla Bird Observatory. It is considered a tradition to Vaibla that the volunteers send postcards from countries we travel to, this will be my first one.

Postcard bought from the gifts shop!

 Highlights from the observations:

People: Jule Tappe, Pauline Nähring, Mio Brix, Laura Tamminen, Luis Q. Langfeld, Anja Gorbunova, Simon S. Christiansen, Celine and Thomas Giver, Birgit and Michael Andersen

As you know, yesterday evening we headed out for another nightcatching session at Cormorant Lake. It turned out to be a successful evening, as we caught a Dunlin (Almindelig Ryle) and also had some great observations, including a Bittern (Rørdrum) and a Jack Snipe (Enkeltbekkasin)!

1k Dunlin (Almindelig Ryle)      Picture: Pauline N.

This morning, Jule and Laura opened the nets and we all had a nice morning at Kabeltromlen. I joined them later for the first check together with Celine. The first round was really exciting, as we caught a Grasshopper Warbler (Græshoppesanger). Since 2022, we had heard them many times around Skagen but had never caught one, so this was a very special ringing highlight for everyone! The first round was quite productive, but things became a bit quieter afterwards.

Grasshopper Warbler (Græshoppesanger)    Picture: Pauline N.

At the same time, Anna and Mio were out doing the migration count. One of the highlights was a Manx Shearwater (Almindelig Skråpe), which Jule had also been hoping to find and she managed to spot one as well, making it one of her highlights of the day!!

Later everyone returned to the station, where Celine and Jule spent some time working on the data. Laura and I then went shopping with Celine and her parents before everyone settled down for a well-deserved nap.

Ringing totals at Kabeltromlen:

Chiffchaff (Gransanger) – 4
Blue Tit (Blåmejse) – 3
Blackcap (Munk) – 4
Reed Bunting (Rørspurv) – 7
Pied Flycatcher (Broget Fluesnapper) – 1
Grasshopper Warbler (Græshoppesanger) – 1
Redstart (Rødstjert) – 1
Robin (Rødhals) – 8
Wren (Gærdesmutte) – 5
Great Tit (Musvit) – 1
Song Thrush (Sangdrossel) – 1

Observation highligths:

1 - Manx sheawater (Almindelig Skråpe)

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

People: Jule Tappe, Pauline Nähring, Mio Brix, Laura Tamminen, Anja Gorbunova, Simon S. Christiansen, Celine Giver, Birgit and Michael Andersen