It was Julian and me on migration count at WE3 this morning, and Julian used the opportunity to count inland and get more confident in identifying the passerine flight calls. Little wind from the east and mild temperatures made the perfect setup for a good migration day, and it was noticeably more passerines moving than the past days, with the most numerous being the Pipits (Piber) and Yellow Wagtails (Gul Vipstjert). Also, the sea was a bit busier with good numbers of Red-throated Divers (Rødstrubet Lom), a couple of Scooters (Sortand), Fulmars (Mallemuk), and Arctic Skuas (Almindelig Kjove) migrating. The first real highlight was a Surf Scooter (Brilland) called out on Zello. It was seen at Sandklit only a few hundred meters west of us, migrating close to the beach in our direction. Unfortunately, when we saw the Scooter flock it had joined, it was already much further out and directly in front of the sun for us, which left us with little chance to pick out the bird. Dylan got a bit luckier spotting the flock from the ringing table a bit earlier when it was still close to the beach. At the end only the finder and Dylan saw the bird of the around 30 birdwatchers at Grenen this morning.

Other highlights of the morning were two Shags (Topskarv) and two Great Northern Divers (Islom), and when we just finished the count, a Tawny Pipit (Markpiber) was called out. We got the information that it had landed in the dunes at Grenen and searched the area for 30 minutes before we found out that it had actually turned inland and back westwards. Nevertheless, it was a beautiful morning with many good birds!

Alvin, Dylan, Sverre and Simon had a more calm start to the day with a little over twenty birds of a nice diversity in the net and a singing Grashopper Warbler (Græshoppersanger) during the opening round. However, they saw most of the observation highlights, and Dylan also saw the Surf Scooter (Brilland). They also started to take blood samples of species that winter in sub-Saharan Africa to find out more about the viruses they bring with them. In the late morning we also got a generous donation from Brian Kristensen to buy cake and ice cream. This is very much appreciated and will keep us fueled for the weeks of early mornings.

Reed Bunting (Rørspurv)

When we went back, we all had lunch, and Dylan and Alvin went out to Saftevandsbakken to look for raptors, where they saw a Golden Eagle (Kongeørn) and a Black Kite (Sort Glente). They also took a nap in the sun, and Dylan had forgotten to apply sun cream, so he had to hide his face from the sun not to get burned.

Dylan napping at Saftevandsbakken

We also saw the Golden Eagle (Kongeørn) from the lighthouse and it was actually a lifer for Sverre. After entering the data of the morning, I also went out for a longer walk to Grenen and from there to Skarvsøen and back over Jennes Sø. I counted the Cormorant (Skarv) colony on the way and got a new high count with 121 active nests around the lake. Other observations of note have been a Rough-legged Buzzard (Fjeldvåge) and five White-tailed Eagles (Havørn) attempting at Nordstrand. On my way back I also had lunch, which I brought out with me.

We also did the weekly cleaning today to have more time for birding tomorrow, and after a delicious dinner by Alvin, I went out to Grenen again to do an evening seawatch.

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

Summary of today's raptor migration in DOFbasen

People: Alvin Johansson, János Schadl, Julian Helbig, Dylan Daunt, Simon S. Christiansen, Sverre Dahl Porsgaard, Jesper & Mette, Brian Kristensen

Today I (Sverre) happily joined the observation post at worlds end three with Alvin and Dylan. It was slightly windy from southwest. Not a lot of migration going on today, but we did have a nice variety of species. I Particularly enjoyed some migrating black gullemots (Tejst), a bunch of fishing gannets (Sule) and two Egyptian geese (Nilgås) flying straight overhead! Jesper and Mette joined us for a couple of hours at worlds end 3, I get the feeling that they also enjoyed a good look of the gannets in the morning sun.

- Nilgæs above our heads

The ringing team, consisting of Juian and János, had a fair 36 birds today. Mostly birds from the sylvia family like blackcap (munk), lots of lesser whitethroats (gærdesanger) and common whitethroats (tornsanger). Their top bird of the day was a recap of a reed warbler (rørsanger) ringed at skarvsøen in august 2023. Nice to see that it is still around. During the ringing Simon was kind enough to swing by and help with the ringing, and he even brought cake. Peter Harris and co also visited the ringers at kabeltromlen.

In the evening all of us were invited for dinner by the kind owners of restaurant blink. Heine and Christel had invited the entire volunteer staff, Simon, Simons dad, Jens from the nature agency, Mette and Jesper and the team from the café for a wonderful dinner. We had a lovely meal and were treated to the best rumballs of my life for dessert. It was a pleasure dining with everyone from the lighthouse area. Thanks a lot for hosting us:)

-Family dinner at restaurant Blink

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

Summary of today's raptor migration in DOFbasen

People: Alvin Johansson, János Schadl, Julian Helbig, Dylan Daunt, Simon S. Christiansen, Sverre Dahl Porsgaard, Jesper & Mette

Today János, Sverre and I were at the morning ringing. We were pleasantly surprised to feel the wind coming from the South rather than from the Northwest. This means that the birds can get pushed up from further south to the tip at Grenen where we ring. Our first round was really nice with quite a few birds like Redwing (Vindrossel) and Lesser Whitethroats (Gærdesanger). We were pleased to catch a higher number of birds compared to previous days with these weather conditions.

The morning migration team today was Julian and Alvin. They had a nice time with some good seabirds like Great Skua (Storkjove) and Fulmars (Mallemuk). There was also a sighting of a White-billed Diver (Hvidnæbbet Lom) but no one from the station saw it. Hopefully more will come in the next week. They also had some nice passerines including a Waxwing (Silkehale) and the hihgest count of Yellow Wagtails (Gul Vipstjert) so far this spring.

Nice morning sunrise

We then all headed back to the station and then heard news of an unidentified raptor. It was difficult to know what the people were looking at so we waited for an identification. We then saw a picture of the bird and could immediately tell that it was a 2K Bonelli’s Eagle (Høgeørn) which are really rare in Skagen. We then headed south very quickly on our bikes. By the time we arrived at Saftevandsbakken where the eagle had been seen it had headed South. We really hope that it returns to Skagen again in the next couple days for all of us to see.

During the rest of the afternoon, we completed daily tasks like the day’s data entry. During this time, we also had the garden net open which caught a female Redstart (Rødstjert) and a Lesser Whitethroat (Gærdesanger). At 3pm I gave my seabird session on the breeding and scarcer species of seabirds seen in Northern Europe. I really enjoyed sharing what I know about my favourite group of birds. After, we had a lovely made by Mette and Jespe which was delicious! In the early evening János took a trip out to Grenen to look for some seabirds moving and he saw over 200 Fulmars (Mallemuk) which is the highemeal count so far this spring.

Me giving my seabird session

In the late evening after sunset, we decided to go out looking for displaying Great Snipes (Tredækker). Sometimes they stop in Skagen in early May but tonight we did not hear any. The next few nights also look good, so we hope to hear some of them soon. During our late outing we also saw a Great White Egret (Sølvhejre) and a Short-eared Owl (Mosehornugle).

After having counted so many Fulmars (Mallemuk) and Kittiwakes (Ride) on our little seawtaching session yesterday evening, expectations were high for today’s migration count held by János, Dylan and Sverre at World’s End 3 (Jesper and Mette also joined them at some point). But in terms of numbers they were a bit disappointed, only very few birds were migrating both on the sea and inland. However, it was truly quality over quantity today: With a Great Skua (Storkjove) and even a Pomarine Skua (Mellemkjove), they had two very good highlights. The Arctic Skuas (Almindelig Kjove) completed their Skua-triplet. There has also been a White-billed Diver (Hvidnæbbet Lom) called out on Zello, which unfortunately no-one of us saw. Meanwhile, Alvin and I were ringing at Kabeltromlen. It was a bit too windy to open all the nets and we also had to ring down by the tent for a period of time, but still we had a good time.

Opening nets in moonlight.

For the first couple of hours it was only the two of us, later Simon came by – and then a large crowd: Both people from Swarovski Optik and a group of danish birders visited Kabeltromlen today, in the end we had about forty interested people around. Simon introduced them to our work and the practice of ringing in general. Unfortunately, we didn’t catch a bird in the last round which we could have shown to them, but still we hope they enjoyed their visit.

Many visitors at Kabeltromlen today.

Later, some of the Swarovski employees also met us at the station – and had a nice surprise for us: A cutting edge stabilised scope for us to test for some time. Thank you very much for this opportunity! While all the others were napping, Sverre went for a birding walk around the area, met some people and talked to many locals. This way he got a great overview of all the different locations. Jesper and Mette spent their afternoon at Saftevandsbakken. Later, we opened the net in the lighthouse garden and caught a few birds including a Lesser Whitethroat (Gærdesanger); overall a much more relaxed form of ringing compared to the more adventurous “expedition” ringing at Kabeltromlen.

Blackcap (Munk) ringed in the garden.

In the evening after dinner, János and Sverre went out to Grenen again, where they again observed high numbers of Fulmars (Mallemuk) as well as a resting Short-eared Owl (Mosehornugle) with slightly weird eyes.

Short-eared Owl (Mosehornugle) with a squinting eye. It's giving us a mad look!

People: Alvin Johansson, János Schadl, Julian Helbig, Dylan Daunt, Simon S. Christiansen, Sverre Dahl Porsgaard, Jesper & Mette

Today Dylan opened the nets by himself because Alix was leaving the station in the early morning, and I wanted to say goodbye to her at the train station. We all hope she will have a great time in Blåvand :)

In the last round of the ringing, we caught a Common Whitethroat (Tornsanger) with an old ring on its leg. Turns out he was ringed here in 2022 as a second calendar year bird, which means he was born in the summer of 2021 and makes him almost five years old!

Five year old Common Whitethroat (Tornsanger) male

János and Julian were out counting the migrating birds and had a very calm morning, with the highlight being a Merlin (Dværgfalk).

In the afternoon, Dylan and I set up the garden net to try and catch some birds, but even though we had the net open for three and a half hours, we did not catch any birds, which was a bit of a bummer.

Sverre also arrived in the afternoon and will be staying with us for 10 days. Welcome to the team!

After dinner, all of us went out to World's End Three to do some seawatching. Because of the wind, there were quite a few Fulmars (Malemuk) and Kittiwakes (Ride).

Seawatching from Grenen 

Highlights from the observations
Merlin (Dværgfalk) - 1
Black Kite (Sort Glente) - 1

Ringing (Kabeltromlen):
Gransanger - 3
Gærdesmutte - 2
Rødhals - 1
Gærdesanger - 4
Løvsanger - 2
Munk - 5
Tornsanger - 2
Total: 19

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

Summary of today's raptor migration in DOFbasen

People: Alvin Johansson, János Schadl, Alix Bortolussi, Julian Helbig, Dylan Daunt, Simon S. Christiansen, Sverre Dahl Porsgaard, Jesper & Mette

Today the winds were still coming form the west, but slightly from the South so we were hoping for lots of birds moving through Skagen today. Unfortunately, it was very cloudy in the early morning which meant the number of birds at the migration count was low. Today I was at the migration count with Knud and Jørgen. We did not see many passerines migrating, but we did see a Ruff (Brushane) and a female-coloured Golden Oriole (Pirol). The second one in two days!

Golden Oriole (Pirol), photo by Erik Chistophersen

János and Julian were at the ringing. They had lots of birds this morning catching mainly Willow Warblers (Løvsanger) and Blackcaps (Munk). They also caught the first Garden Warbler (Havesanger) of the spring, two Redstarts (Rødstjert) and two Yellowhammers (Gulspurv). Thy also had a close flyby from the Golden Oriole (Pirol) and it even landed in a tree. They also saw a partially leucistic Lesser Whitethroat (Gærdesanger) with a white head and tip of tail. It was nice to have higher numbers than the last couple weeks. Hopefully these higher numbers continue.

Redstart (Rødstjert)

Partially leucistic Lesser Whitethroat (Gærdesanger), photo by Erik Chistophersen

Today was Alix’s last day at the bird station so Alvin and Alix had a quieter morning enjoying the local area. Looking through some bird books and having a relaxing time. Alix has been a great part of the team since the start of March. She will be heading to Blåvand Fuglestation for two months and we all hope that she has a fantastic time there!

In the afternoon János and I toured the area near us stopping at places like Batteriskoven, Saftevandsbakken and Stald Grenen. There weren’t many birds, but we did still had nice views of the Black-winged Kite (Blå Glente), some Pied Flycatchers (Broget Fluesnapper) and some resting Yellow Wagtails (Gul Vispstjert).

Highlights from observations:

The morning started with high expectations. It was the second day with warm temperatures after a longer cold period, and in the past days, many long-distance migrants had arrived. It was also the first day of the CES ringing at Skarvsoen, where we will be ringing every 10 days until September to monitor the breeding passerines. For Alvin, Alix and Dylan, it meant an early start to the day. Getting up at 3am, they had an amazing session ringing 35 birds. Interesting was a recapture of a Reed Warbler ringed last year at the same location. It was also the first for Skagen this spring.

Ringing site at Skarvsøen

Reed Warbler in the early morning light

They also caught a Common Whitethroat (Tornsanger) and several Sedge Warblers (Sivsanger)

Comparison between Common (left) and Lesser Whitethroat (right)

The highlight of the morning, however, was a Citrine Wagtail (Citronvipstjert) migrating over, which was found and recorded by Alvin.

Flight calls of the Citrine Wagtail (Citronvipstjert)

In the meanwhile, Julian and I were counting at Nordstrand together with Knud, Oluf, and Jørn. For us the first hours were comparatively slow, with little movement on the sea and many of the passerines turning around still far away from the tip. In the last hour, however, our patience was rewarded with good numbers of Red Kites (Rød Glente) and some White-tailed Eagles (Havørn), as well as a Pallid Harrier (Steppehøg). We also got very good views of a hunting Arctic Skua (Almindelig Kjove).

After the end of the count, Julian went back to have lunch and finish some office tasks, and I made a small bike trip, checking a few areas for passerines, with birds of note being a Wood Warbler (Skovsanger) and two more Sedge Warblers (Sivsanger). I also had a short break before heading out again, this time for a longer period. I first went to Grenen to look for resting Pipits and Wagtails and after that to Batteriskoven and the industrial area. Here I found a mixed breeding pair of Carrion and Hooded Crow (Grakrage ssp. corone and cornix) building their nest and a Sand Martin (Digesvale) colony. So maybe we can try and ring them later in the season.

Since the sky was still filled with raptors, I made a stop at Saftevandsbakken, where I also met Alvin and Alix and we had good views of the Black-winged Kite (Blå Glente). I kept on birding, and also Dylan and Julian went out with Simon to check a few woodlands and the industrial area. In Batteriskoven they found a Firecrest (Rødtoppet Fuglekonge), which is a good species in Skagen.

Alvin at Saftevandsbakken

Alvin and Alix stayed a bit longer at Savtervandsbakken, where they also saw a Golden Eagle (Kongeørn). Beside our sightings, there was also a Turtle Dove (Turteldue), a Golden Oriol (Pirol) and a Red-throated Pipit (Rødstrubet Piber) and Red-rumped Swallow (Rødrygget Svale) seen in Skagen this day. So many good birds to keep us busy.

They day ended with a delicious dinner by Alvin and a nice sunset evening birding with a close flyby Hobby (Laerkefalk)

Highlights from the observations:
Pallid Harrier (Steppehøg) - 2
Golden Eagle (Kongeørn) - 1
Firecrest (Rødtoppet Fuglekonge) - 1
Black-winged Kite (Blå Glente) - 1
Wood Warbler (Skovsanger) - 1
Arctic Skua (Almindelig Kjove) - 1
Citrine Wagtail (Citronvipstjert) - 1

People: Alvin Johansson, János Schadl, Alix Bortolussi, Julian Helbig, Dylan Daunt, Simon S. Christiansen, Søren, Knud Pedersen, Jørgen Hulbeck C.

There were many people visiting Alvin, Alix and Simon as they were ringing at Kabeltromlen this morning: Søren, Knud, Hanne and Jens Eriksen and Johan Oli Hilmarsson from Iceland. They all picked a very good day; not only were there many raptors to see flying low above Kabeltromlen (among them, for example, three Black Kites (Sort Glente)), but also the ringing itself was quite successful despite the winds that made the team move down to a more sheltered spot for processing the birds. They caught the first three Sedge Warblers (Sivsanger) of the season, as well as the first Common Redstarts (Rødstjert). Also the number of birds ringed in total increased a lot compared to the past days. The reason for that might be the warmer weather and southerly winds, that cause more and more birds to migrate up to Skagen.

Sedge Warbler (Sivsanger) ringed at Kabeltromlen.

In the Baltic Sea, there was a Humpback Whale (Pukkelhval) which in March and April stranded multiple times along the German coast. It got a lot of medial attention, and was named “Timmy” (after the bay where it was laying). Many rescue attempts were unsuccessful and the whale’s health declining. In the end, a private initiative took over and actually managed to transport the whale and ship it to the North Sea. Today, this unusual convoy passed Skagen, and before I joined János and Dylan for the migration count at Grenen, I tried to find it through my scope just from the shore next to the lighthouse. It was very far out at the horizon, but I did manage to see it through the haze. What a strange happening to witness!

Far away view on the rescue operation for the Humpback Whale ("Timmy").

Before leaving, I also had a singing Common Whitethroat (Tornsanger) in the lighthouse garden, which was the first one this spring for the Skagen area. At the migration count, the highlights were the first Black Tern (Sortterne) and four Shorelarks (Bjerglærke). Overall a good variety of species.
After lunch, we all went out again for birding at some point. At Batteriskoven, János and Dylan found a very early Garden Warbler (Havesanger) as well as many Pied Flycatchers (Broget Fluesnapper), and heard several singing Wood Warblers (Skovsanger). Apart from the birds, they also had two Camberwell Beauties (Sørgekåbe).

Camberwell Beauty (Sørgekåbe)

Alvin and Alix went out to Ellekrattet and Grenen, where they saw the Shorelarks (Bjerglærke) again. János held a great birding tour for two clients this afternoon, biking around the area and focusing mainly on raptors, of which there where many to see, such as Hen Harriers (Blå Kærhøg), White-tailed Eagles (Havørn), a Rough-legged Buzzard (Fjeldvåge) and an Osprey (Fiskeørn).

fantastic weather

After we’ve all come back, Simon gave us a helpful little session about the best techniques for summarising the raptor observations, a daily task for us which sometimes can be quite challenging. In the evening, six Bee-eaters (were called out on Zello, which Dylan went to see at Grenen. On our evening walks in the heathlands, we discovered high numbers of resting Wheatears (Stenpikker) and some Whinchats (Bynkefugl). For the Wheatears, we also set up a few traps to try to catch them, but unfortunately we haven’t had success. This is often a matter of luck, but hopefully we’ll manage to catch some of them soon.

Whinchat (Bynkefugl) l. and Wheatear (Stenpikker) r. close to eachother in the heath.

To finish off, something to celebrate: Alix, Alvin and János have now obtained their C-licences for ringing, which means that – under Simon’s responsibility – they can ring on their own from now on. Congratulations!

People: Alvin Johansson, János Schadl, Alix Bortolussi, Julian Helbig, Dylan Daunt, Simon S. Christiansen, Søren, Knud Pedersen, Johan Oli Hilmarsson, Hanne & Jens Eriksen

This morning Julian, Alix and Alvin were at ringing. The winds were coming from the Southwest today, so it meant we were hoping for better numbers of birds. Unfortunately, the cloud cover was higher than usual, so it meant the migration was a lot worse than we would’ve expected. Ringing totals were good in the first couple rounds with birds like Sparrowhawk (Spurvehøg) and Lesser Whitethroat (Gærdesanger) caught. Then the number of birds slowed down because the team had to close a lot of nets due to the high winds.

Lesser Whitethroat (Gærdesanger)

The first flowering plants of the spring

Ringing set up                    

This morning János and I were at the migration count. We too had less birds than we hoped but we still had a few nice species like Waxwing (Silkehale), Yellow Wagtails (Gul Vipstjert), Wood Sandpipers (Tinksmed), Rough-legged Buzzard (Fjeldvåge) and Little Ringed Plover (Lille Præstekrave). Hopefully the next few days will be better with higher numbers of migrating passerines.

Me at the migration count

We have had a few more tiring days so we all had a quieter middle of the day than normal so we could catch up on some much need sleep.

After a shopping trip I decided to go for an afternoon birding trip to the harbour and a couple other sites. I had a much nicer time than expected with some nice birds including 13 Common Sandpiper (Mudderklire), 2 Purple Sandpiper (Sortgrå Ryle), a Turnstone (Stenvender) and a Caspian Gull (Kaspisk Måge). It was really nice to see and hear the Common Sandpipers (Mudderklire) as we have not had many this spring so far. On the way home I stopped at Batteriskoven to try my luck for some spring migrants. I was able to see a couple birds including a male Redstart (Rødstjert) and Pied Flycatcher (Broget Fluesnapper). In the coming days we hope to see out first Wood Warblers (Skovsanger) of the spring here.

Black Kite (Sort Glente)

During my outing Alix and Alvin were enjoying some time outside doing some wood carving. Which was the first time they had done something like that. János aslo went outise to look at the sea and he saw a big group of 70 Fulmars (Mallemuk) following a couple of fishing boats on the sea from the Grey Lighthouse.

For dinner we had gnocchi bake made by Alix. It was very delicious and we look forward to eating the leftovers tomorrow. 

Highlights from today:

Ringing from today (Kabeltromlen)

Gransanger - 2
Gærdesanger - 1
Løvsanger - 2
Gærdesmutte - 1
Munk - 8
Sangdrossel - 1
Spurvehøg - 1
Total: 16

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

Summary of today's raptor migration in DOFbasen

People: Alvin Johansson, János Schadl, Alix Bortolussi, Julian Helbig, Dylan Daunt, Simon S. Christiansen, Søren

Today for migration was Alvin and I at Grenen. The morning started out with an absolutely beautiful sunrise.

Sunrise at Grenen

The migration was a little slow but we had the chance of seeing and hearing a few waders like Wood Sandpiper (Tinksmed), Common Sandpiper (Mudderklire) or Redshank (Rødben) for example. 

A Serin (Gulirisk) was called out around 07:30 and Alvin was lucky to hear it! 

As we were getting ready to round up the last hour of the count, a Waxwing (Silkehalen) was heard and Alvin spotted two Arctic Skuas (Almindelig Kjove) far out which was so nice!

At ringing, the numbers happened to be a bit higher up today finally after a few days of very calm ringing sessions. The ringers caught the first Lesser Whitethroats (Gærdesanger) of the season, a beautiful male Bullfinch (Dompap), and a Sedge Warbler (Sivsanger) was heard by János! 

Lesser Whitethroat (Gærdesanger) caught today  

In the afternoon the whole team went out to Nordstrand to finalise the set up of nets of our CES ringing site. After the efforts and installation, we were rewarded on our walk back with the sightings of 5 flying Spoonbills (Skestork), a Pallid Harrier (Steppehøg), a Wryneck (Vendehals) and even a White Stork (Hvid Stork) earlier in the afternoon.

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

People at the station: Alvin Johansson, János Schadl, Alix Bortolussi, Julian Helbig, Dylan Daunt, Simon S. Christiansen, Søren