After the westerly winds had lessened over night, we were finally able to do some ringing today! Simon K., Mette and I went to Skarvsøen for CES ringing. We arrived at 4:15 in the morning and before having put down baggage, we already came across a highlight: A bittern (Rørdrum) flew over the lake and even called! They are such mysterious and cool birds that you get see rarely! In good spirit, we set up the nets and were joined by Páll, Leona and Sebastian for the first net round. While the first couple of rounds only offered a small number of birds, by the third round, we caught about 5 birds per round, making us busy but giving us enough time to study moult. We mostly caught Common Reed Warblers (Rørsanger), Chiffchaffs (Gransanger) and Lesser Whitethroats (Gærdesanger). Many of the warbler were recaptures from previous ringing sessions, with one Reed Warbler ringed as an adult in 2022. This means it is now at least 5 years old!

One of the adult Reed Warblers (Rørsanger) we caught.

In between net rounds, we watched the birds on the lake, among them Wood Sandpipers (Tinksmed), Common Snipes (Dobbeltbekkasin), Northern Shovelers (Skeand), a Little Ringed Plover (Lille præstekrave) and the Spoonbill (Skestork) that you might remember from yesterday’s blog. After ringing, Leona and Sebastian left to continue their journey around Scandinavia.

In the meantime, Alexander and Mio were doing the migration count from World’s End 3. Unfortunately, they had sea fog that blocked their view on the horizon but still managed to experience some nice observations. There was a Yellow-legged Gull (Middelhavssølvmåge) and four Mediterranean Gulls (Sorthovedet Måge) resting on the beach, several Arctic Skuas (Almindelig Kjove) on the sea and two Black-throated Divers (Sortstrubet lom).

First calendar year (left) and second calendar year (middle) Mediterranean Gull (Sorthovedet Måge) next to each other.

Apart from birdwatching, there was also some mammal-watching going on as three Bottlenose Dolphins (Øresvin) swam around Denmark’s tip into Kattegat. A very cool sight! After the count, Mio and Alexander read rings of terns (Terne) and Gulls (Måge) on the beach.

By noon, we were all back at the lighthouse, entered data from the morning and took a nap. Alexander, Mette and I went into town to buy some groceries and also returned a lot of bottle deposits that had accumulated over the past couple of months. Thank you for driving us, Mette! After a delicious meal prepared by Simon K., we set up the nets on the beach for what’s about to happen tonight: We are going to try to catch European Storm Petrels (Lille stormsvale) and Nightjars (Natravn) again! Fingers crossed that there will be good news about that on the blog tomorrow!

Link to today’s observations in DOFbasen from observers in the area.

People: Mette Breede, Mio Brix, Simon S. Christiansen, Leona Gottschalkson, Sebastian Jurr, Simon Kiesé, Páll Vang Kjærbo, Alexander Nyholm, Jule Tappe

Jule, Simon, and I were the first to breathe in the fresh Skagen air that morning. We went out to World’s End 3 to do the migration count. Later, we were joined by Leona and our guest, Mette.. As the combination of yesterday’s and today’s blog titles suggests, there was not much migration over the sea, and the numbers of roosting terns (terne) and gulls (måge) were lower than on the previous days. Nevertheless, an adult light-morph Arctic Skua (Almindelig Kjove) and several Fulmars (Mallemuk) kept us watching the sea. Fortunately, the smaller flock of terns on the flooded beach at Grenen was quite close, so we were able to read some colour rings.

Ringed Sandwich Tern (Splitterne) from Poland

After the standardized count, we all headed back to the station. After a short nap, we were woken by Sebastian, who had cooked a delicious lunch for us. This motivated Leona, Sebastian, and me to go to Skarvsøen to cut reeds and branches so that the nets would be clear for the next CES ringing session tomorrow.

After cutting down the reeds around the first net, I walked up and looked over Skarvsøen . I immediately noticed a white bird with its typical foraging behaviour: a Spoonbill (Skestork)! It was the first July record for the Skagen area. Normally, Spoonbills appear here during the spring season. Simon also came by to see the bird.

  1K Spoonbill (Skestork) foraging

After Simon had enjoyed watching the bird and Leona, Sebastian, and I had finished cutting down the reeds, we headed back to the station. There, we welcomed Alexander, who will be staying at the station for one week.

Now, after our usual evening routine of dinner and the evening meeting, we will all go to bed early so that we are ready for CES ringing and the migration count tomorrow.

Let’s see what the next few days will bring!

Link to today’s observations in DOFbasen from observers in the area.

Highlights from the observations:

Spoonbill (Skestork)-1

Arctic Skua (Almindelig Kjove)-1

Mediterranean Gull (Sorthovedet Måge) - 1

People at the station: Mio Brix, Simon Kiesé, Alexander Nyholm, Jule Tappe, Leona Gottschalkson, Sebastian Jurr, Simon S. Christiansen, Mette Breede.

Tonight it was very windy and cloudy, so it was an ideal night to go nightcatching at Grenen.
Right before 11 pm Sebastian and I went out to the tip to approach some resting Arctic Terns (Havterne), Sandwich Terns (Splitterne), Greater Black backed Gulls (Svartbag) an Herring Gulls (Sølvmåge) which were sitting at a lagoon on the beach.
After 3 hours of trying to find approachable birds to catch, we decided to go back to the station and get some sleep.

As it was again too windy in the morning to open the nets at KAB Jule, Sophie, Mio and Simon K. went out to World's End 3 to do the migration count.

Already in the first hour they were surprised by several 5 Arctic Skuas (Almindelig Kjove). During the count a total of 5 birds showed up.

Afterwards they were looking at a huge number of terns and aging them. Also they were able to read a Mediterranean Gull (Sorthovedet Måge) ring and a Swedish Lesser Black Backed Gull (Sildemåge) Ring.

 
Meanwhile Simon S. C. was able to see that the Eagle Owl (Stor Honugle) that was ringed 4 Days ago at Jerup Rescue Center was safely released back into the wild close to where it was originally found.

The wind should calm down the day after tomorrow, so Simon and Jule went to KAB to give the vegetation around the nets a good trim, as reeds and branches are growing into the nets.
In the evening Sebastian and I cooked a vegetarian lasagna and we all enjoyed our dinner together.

 Link to today’s observations in DOFbasen from observers in the area.

People: Mio Brix, Simon Kiesé, Jule Tappe, Sofie Bugge Kobberø, Leona Gottschalkson, Sebastian Jurr, Mette Breede.

The wind brought us together, and so all the volunteers and our guest Søren found themselves at the end of the world in Grenen: World’s End 3. The beach was flooded by the strong westerly wind (too strong to open the nets at KAB) and there were lots of gulls and terns flying around the large lagoon. Right from the start, I began counting the Arctic Terns (Havterne), as their numbers had so impressed me yesterday. Today there were significantly more again, and I managed to count 152 adults and 2 juveniles. Brilliant! As well as my regular count of terns, I naturally couldn’t help but keep an eye on the sea.

Jule watching the Sea during the pretty sunrise.

Here, the wind finally brought in a few more seabirds, such as three Arctic skuas (Almindelig Kjove), which delighted us with some magnificent views. Suddenly, a Great Skua (Storkjove) appeared. For Jule, this was a new species, and she caught a brief glimpse of the bird just before it landed on the sea. There were only a few Fulmars (Mallemuk) about until, behind a fishing boat, 30 of them suddenly appeared. In the end there even was a young Little Gull (Dværgmåge) foraging. All in all, a successful morning.

The evening was filled with sorting stuff, baking cake and our daily tasks. You see - we used the time wisely that we gained by not being out ringing today. We already miss having birds in the hand though.

In the evening our new guests arrived. Since everyone was motivated to go ringing, but the weather forecast does not look good for the next two days, we decided to give it a go in the lighthouse garden. This was a good decision, since we caught a pretty Barn Swallow (Landsvale). An old male, which we can tell by the very long tail steamers.

 Link to today’s observations in DOFbasen from observers in the area.

People: Mio Brix, Simon Kiesé, Søren Roed, Jule Tappe, Sofie Bugge Kobberø, Leona Gottschalkson, Sebastian Jurr, Mette Breede.

This morning held some nice surprises for all of us! Brian and I biked to Kabeltromlen before sunrise, opening up the nets and meeting Simon, Sophie and Páll around 4:50 am. Luckily, the wind was a lot less stronger than predicted allowing us to open all the nets for the usual timespan. We managed to catch 20 birds in total, including two adult Icterine Warblers (Gulbug), a Yellowhammer (Gulspurv) and a Willow Warbler (Løvsanger).

Between the rounds, we had already spotted a Red-backed Shrike (Rødrygget Tornskade) perching on the net poles. And then in the very last round, also Brian’s last round at Kabeltromlen ever, it was finally in the net! He ringed it and the bird was admired by all of us. What a beautiful sight!

Male Red-backed Shrike (Rødrygget Tornskade).

Ringing the last birds in the tent during a rain shower.

Meanwhile, Simon K. and Knud were busy doing migration count at World’s End 3. While there was little migration on the sea, they were kept busy by resting birds on the beach. 800 Terns (Terne sp.), including 100 Arctic Terns (Havterne) were counted! This is an impressive high count and the highest number of Arctic Terns counted at Grenen since 2020. The three of them also found a lot of colour rings in all colours of the rainbow from dark blue to red in species like Common Tern (Fjordterne), Sandwich Tern (Splitterne) and Mediterranean Gull (Sorthovedet Måge). In total, about 30 rings were read! They could have easily continued but had to stop due to rain, just as we did at Kabeltromlen.

Common Tern (Fjordterne) with colour ring.

After having finished the last data entries, it was time to say goodbye. After almost a month at the station, Brian left for new adventures. Thank you for your contribution to the bird observatory! But we also welcomed Mio! He will stay until the end of the season in December.

There was another reason to celebrate today since it was the birthday of Søren, our current guest at the lighthouse. He cooked a delicious meal for all of us and Sofie made a scrumptious cake. This was not the end of the day though, because some cleaning tasks still awaited us. Now, our optics are free of sand and salt and are ready to use tomorrow! But now, it is time to use the rainy evening for an early night.

 Link to today’s observations in DOFbasen from observers in the area.

People: Mio Brix, Brian Browne, Simon S. Christiansen, Simon Kiesé, Knud Pedersen, Søren Roed, Jule Tappe, Páll Vang Kjærbo, Sofie Bugge Kobberø, Charlotte Butler, Lisa Vergin.

Even though the wind picked up, we were out early this morning. The attempt on nightcatching was unsuccesful but we were looking foward to ring some diurnal birds at Kabeltromlen.

Due to the wind we had to close a bit early, but it was still a good morning, since we had a lot of fun with making silly jokes, giving Juliane (who had to took the train back to Germany today - was nice meeting you, have a good trip) and Brian (who unfortunately leavs tomorrow) the chance to ring some last birds here. Sofie, who stays here over the weekend to get an impression of the stations work, also got her first impression of ringing. 

Best birds were not in the net though, but in the air. It started with a Cuckoo (Gøg) flying away from our net lanes in the early morning. During ringing we heard calls of a Spotted Redshank (Sortklire). Even though we did not get views on it, Brian enjoyed this new species to him. While closing nets due to the uppicking wind, we heard the Green Woodpecker (Grønspætte) again, that is around for several days now.

The uppicking wind is the right word to lead over to the migration counts. Jule was out at World's End 3 and got the joyful company of Knud. Their highlight were 10 Mediterranean Gulls (Sorthovedet Måge) on the beach. 9 of them were first and one was a second year bird. That's a quite good number and since it increased the past days, I'm curious if it will get even higher. An adult dark morph Arctic Skua (Almindelig Kjove) was pretty and together with Fulmars (Mallemuk) and Kittiwakes (Ride) the image of "westerly-wind-birds" was completed.

After having delicious dinner and finishing the data work, Jule and I went out to Grenen to have a look at the roosting terns. There were more than 700 - mostly Common (Fjordterne) and Sandwich Terns (Splitterne), but also 28 Arctic Terns (Havterne). We read some rings of the roosting birds including two of the young Mediterranean Gulls (Sorthovedet Måge). The highlight was not far away: a fourth calendar year Yellow-legged Gull (Middelhavssølmåge)! Since it is moulting the same feathers as the bird Knud saw two days ago, it must be the same bird. Since it was a new species to Brian, he came out aswell, so we three celebrated this Life/Denmark/Grenen-tick. On my way back a young Goshwak (Duehøg) flew over my head. It was really fun to see so many birds around and since I was busy with ringing the past days, this was my first time really being out on the beach this stay. 

 Young Mediterranean Gull (Sorthovedet Måge) in good company. (Simon Kiesé)

Highlights from the observations:

Mediterranean Gull (Sorthovedet Måge) – 10

Arctic Skua (Almindelig Kjove) - 2

Green Woodpecker (Grønspætte) - 1

Spotted Redshank (Sortklire) - 1

Yellow-legged Gull (Middelhavssølmåge) - 1

Ringing (KAB):

Chiffchaff (Gransanger) - 4

Marsh Warbler (Kærsanger) - 1

Common Whitethroat (Tornsanger) - 3

Common Redstart (Rødstjert) - 1

Wren (Gærdesmutte) - 1

Great Tit (Musvit) - 1

Total: 11 

Link to today’s observations in DOFbasen from observers in the area.

People: Brian Browne, Simon S. Christiansen, Simon Kiesé, Søren Roed, Juliane Rößler, Jule Tappe, Páll Vang Kjærbo, Sofie Bugge Kobberø.

Our efforts today started before midnight, as we set up nets to catch storm petrels (Lille Stormsvale) and nightjars (Natravn). Jule was on the night shift, and she stayed up all night doing the net checks. We all hoped to be awoken in the night with news of a bird in the nets, but unfortunately we didn’t catch anything. The morning teams said goodnight to Jule as we headed to the field and she headed to bed for some much-needed rest. 

I took the morning count from World’s End 3 while Julian, Simon and Páll ringed at Kabeltromlen. There weren’t crazy numbers of birds on the ocean but it was interesting overall with a few Mediterranean Gulls (Sorthovedet Måge) and a Little Tern (Dværgterne) on the beach. A Eurasian Hobby (Lærkefalk) streaked in and made a low pass over the beach, sending the gulls and terns out to sea in a frenzy, and an Arctic Loon (Sortstrubet Lom) cut across the tip high up. The main highlight came along with a slight bit of frustration: in the last hour I picked up on a large shearwater (skråpe) flying northwest close to the horizon. Watching it at a distance through the heat haze, it was difficult to be fully certain of an identification, so I left it as a Great/Cory’s/Scopoli’s Shearwater (Sort/Atlantisk/Scopolis Skråpe). Exciting, but a bit disappointing.

The ringing team caught four Icterine Warblers (Gulbug), a Marsh Warbler (Kærsanger), a Yellowhammer (Gulspurv), and a young Black Redstart (Husrødstjert). They also had a flyover Eurasian Green Woodpecker (Grønspætte), rare out this far on the peninsula, and the Cinereous Vulture (Munkegrib) passed by overhead on its daily foray out to Grenen. 

Juvenile Black Redstart (Husrødstjert) in the hand

After we all returned, we had a new arrival: Sofie, who will be staying and volunteering for a few days at the station! Welcome! We all took naps and then we got ready to go on an exciting venture: the wildlife rehab center had received a Eurasian Eagle-Owl (Stor Hornugle), and we would be ringing it! But before then Simon needed to drive one hour away to pick up rings from another Bird Ringer since we did'nt have the right siize among the otherwise many different ring types in our stock. A large crew drove down to help and watch: the station volunteers, Simon and Lisa, Knud and Inge Pedersen, our guest Søren, and Mette from the station cafe. At the center, first Jule ringed a juvenile Herring Gull (Sølvemåge) also at the center, and then Simon went into the enclosure to catch the owl! It was quite cool to be able to see such an impressive raptor up close, and it was also a species that Simon had never hold before.

Eagle Owl (Stor Hornugle) at Jerup Rescue Center (Vildtplejestation)

Simon with the newly-ringed owl

After, everyone returned home, while Páll, Jule, Juliane and I headed to Jerup Strand to look for shorebirds. It was fun to finally be able to see shorebirds on the ground, and in numbers! Feeding on the mud were dozens of lapwings (Vibe), golden-plovers (Hjejle), redshanks (common/Rødben and spotted/Sortklire), ringed plovers (Stor Præstekrave), whimbrels (Småspove), bar-tailed godwits (Lille Kobbersneppe), dunlin (Almindelig Ryle), and oystercatchers (Strandskade), among other shorebirds. Not only that, but there were also six Eurasian Spoonbills (Skestork) sweeping their bizarre bulbous bills through the water, a lifer for Juliane and I! Jule was able to read the color ring on one, so perhaps we’ll find out where it's been. My lifer Corn Bunting (Bomlærke) sang from the grasses, and it was my first time seeing the godwits in their striking orange breeding plumage. Juliane saw her first Black-bellied Plover (Strandhjejle), and Jule was excited about a Marsh Harrier (Rørhøg) flying over. Juliane brought a collection of beautiful shells back as well.

After we returned, Juliane made dinner, and we quickly ate before heading out to set up nets on the beach. We’ll try again for storm petrels and nightjars again tonight, hopefully with better luck than last night!

The team setting up storm petrel nets

This was Juliane’s last day at the station before returning to Germany in the morning, and although it was quite busy, it was a good day to end on! She described it as “full, bright, and exciting” in our evening meeting, and I agree.

Link to today’s observations in DOFbasen from observers in the area

People: Brian Browne, Juliane Rößler, Páll Kærbo, Jule Tappe, Simon Kiesé, Simon Christiansen, Lisa Vergin, Knud and Inge Pedersen, Sofie Bugge Kobberø, Søren Roed, Mette Christensen, Jeppe Therkildsen Madsen.

This day started at a rather unusual time, or not, if you are at the Bird Observatory! Around midnight, Brian and I where still on the beach of Grenen, trying to catch waders. Unfortunately, we weren’t lucky so instead enjoyed a nice night walk, admiring the view of the lighthouse in the dark. At sunrise, our usual tasks called: Brian, Juliane and Knud attended to the migration count at World’s End 3 and Simon K., Páll and me were ringing birds at Kabeltromlen. It was my first time at this legendary site so I was shown all the nets and was excited to ring my first birds – hopefully many are still to come! There was also a slight breeze of wind, forcing us to leave some nets closed. Still, we caught surprisingly many birds with a strong second round of 15 individuals, including two Icterine Warblers (Gulbug) and many juvenile birds.

Icterine warbler (Gulbug)

Above us, some passerines were busy: Redpolls (Gråsisken), Common Crossbills (Lille Korsnæb) and a Tree Pipit (Skovpiber) flew over our heads while we were ringing. Checking the nets, a couple of Common Snipe (Dobbeltbekkasin) flew away startled. We used the spare time in between net checks for some seatwatching, getting an impression of what Juliane, Brian and Knud where dealing with a few hundred metres north: Migration was again slow with little to no activity on the sea. Some nice birds were still around though, like a Golden Plover (Hjejle), a Whimbrel (Småspove), three young Mediterranean Gulls (Sorthovedet Måge) and even a Yellow-legged Gull (Middelhavsmåge) on the beach.

Yellow-legged Gull (Middelhavsmåge). Photo: Knud Pedersen

Our guest Søren Roed also joined both the count and later the ringing to get an impression of what we are up to every morning. After this sleepless night and busy morning, we went back to the station and admired a stuffed stone-curlew (Triel) in the exhibition. You should check it out! All took a nap and got some rest before entering the data of the morning. I also went into town to get some groceries for the next couple of days that are going to be busy again. Until the evening, we took things slow to be prepared for what’s to come this night: We are going to try to catch and ring storm petrels (Lille Stormsvale)! If you want to find out whether we caught one of these magnificent birds, check out the blog tomorrow!

Link to today’s observations in DOFbasen from observers in the area.

People: Brian Browne, Simon S. Christiansen, Simon Kiesé, Søren Roed, Juliane Rößler, Knud, Pedersen, Jule Tappe, Páll Vang Kjærbo

Today the day for me and Brian started extremely early, since we wanted to catch some birds at night. Brian went out to Kabeltromeln and tried to catch Common Snipe (Dobbeltbekassin) or other waders in the muddy patches along the paths, while I opened the net for nightjars (Natravn) again. After many sleepless hours, both of us remained unsucessful unfortunately. Maybe next time!

But our day wouldn’t have to stay without any birds, since there was CES-Ringing at Skarvsøen awaiting us. While Simon K., Brian, Páll and I participated in the ringing, Jule carried out the migration count at Worlds end 3 together with Knud. Above the calm sea without any wind, not much activity was to be seen today. But her morning was not without any highlights: a new highcount for the season of five Mediterranean Gulls (Sorthovedet måge) showed up, as well as one migrating Long-tailed Duck (Havlit). At the same time, our Ringing was quite successful, with 31 ringed and 9 recaptured birds in total and some pretty cool catches. We recaptured an over 6 year old Common Whitethroat, which must be familiar with Simon K. by now. According to our data, it was in his hand in 2024 and 2025 before.

Over 6 year old Common Whitethroat (Tornsanger), captured in Skagen every year since 2023!

We were also happy to capture our first Marsh Warbler (Kærsanger) for the season and see the comparison between Marsh- and Reed Warbler (Rørsanger). Later I had the opportunity to extract a beautiful adult Eurasian Jay (Skovskade), which might be the coolest bird I have ever taken out of a net by myself! Brian got to ring his first ever Steel-ring and learnt some handling techniques for such a big bird. We all were left with some pecks and bruises, but it was super exciting to admire the starring eyes and wings of a Jay from up close. On the last net-check, Brian got treated with a glowing red male Bullfinch (Dompap), which was one of the species he was hoping to get good looks on since he arrived at Skagen.

Adult Eurasian Jay (Skovskade)

Male Bullfinch (Dompap)

After the Ringing was done, many Raptors showed up again and were flying with the warm winds on this bright sunny day. There were a lot of Honeybuzzards (Hvepsevåge) and even a White-tailed eagle (Havørn) amongst them. After watching them for a bit, everyone returned to the station and went for a much needed nap. After our evening meeting,Simon K. prepared delicious Dinner and I made some warm Apple crumble. Afterwards I took a short walk along the beach, where a dark-morph Arctic Skua (Almindelig Kjove) flew by. Later in the night Jule and Brian went out to try and catch waders again. Unfortunately, they were without success. Luck doesn’t seem to be on our side at night!

Link to today’s observations in DOFbasen from observers in the area.

People: Juliane Rößler, Brian Browne, Jule Tappe, Simon Kiesé, Páll Vang Kjærbo, Simon S. Christiansen, Knud Pedersen, Søren Roed