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

When I left the lighthouse this morning, it smelled like rain. And indeed, it had rained during the night, which means that opening the nets took a bit longer for Pauline and me than usual and really challenged our calmness.

Anja, Simon and our student intern Celine joined for the first round and with two scopes looking into Skagerak and a recorder, we were prepared for birds everywhere: in the nets, the air and on the sea. And the ringing day was quite nice with two Song Thrushes (Sangdrossel), a late Reed Warbler (Rørsanger) and also a late Willow Warbler (Løvsanger).

Chiffchaff (Gransanger) on the left and Willow Warbler (Løvsanger) on the right in comparison. Note the greenish colour to the Willow Warbler in comparison to the brown of the chiffchaff, the Willow Warbler's strong supercillium and long primary projection.

We also had a couple of old birds, which is very exciting since we most of the birds we catch are hatched this year. One of them was this nice Blue Tit (Blåmejse) whose wing you can admire here:

 Adult male Blue Tit (Blåmejse). Note the dark blue indicating male and the blueish tinge to the primary coverts, indicating adult.

The real excitement went down at World’s End 3 though, where Mio and Laura did the migration count. Already in the first hour, they got really got views of a Manx Shearwater (Almindelig Skråpe) close by the tip. It then disappeared flying into Kattegat. An hour later, there was a different bird coming in from Kattegat that flew Northwest. From Kabeltromlen, I scanned the sea for a long time and was in close contact with Mio, but unfortunately, we did not see it. The Danish name, meaning „Common“ or „Ordinary“ Shearwater, is a little misleading since it is not a common bird at all and in general also less common that Sooty Shearwater (Sodfarvet Skråpe) in Denmark. So everyone was very happy about these amazing observations! The rest of the time, the counters where entertained by widgeon migration (Pibeand), three Long-tailed Skuas (Lille Kjove) and three Great Skuas (Storkjove).

Manx Shearwater (Almindelig Skråpe) over the water. Foto: Mio Brix.

Around noon, we all got backed and entered data. I went on a walk to check the beach south of the lighthouse because or guests Michael and Birgit saw a dead Guillemot (Lomvie) there yesterday. We collect this species as part of a big monitoring project. Unfortunately, I think the bird was taken away either by another animal or the sea. However, I found an Edible Crab (Taskekrabbe) that was sadly dead, but big and impressive to see.

Edible Crab (Taskekrabbe). Size comparison to my hand (about 17 cm long).

In the afternoon, we had a lecture held by Simon. He explained scull ossification to us and how to use it to age birds in the field. We looked at photos and dead birds that we have collected over the past years so we now know what to look out for when ageing difficult species like Long-tailed Tits (Halemejse) or Goldcrests (Fuglekonge).

After our ususal meeting, we ate a delicious dinner cooked by our guests Michael and Birgit. Thank you for that! Then we prepared everything for nightcatching. Tonight, we will go to Skarvsøen in the hope of catching Jacksnipes or other waders. As always, you have to wait until tomorrow to see if our quest is successul.

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

When I went outside early in the morning to open the nets, I was pleasantly surprised — it was really, really warm. As it got lighter, it became clear that today was going to be a very foggy day.

We were ringing with Pauline, Jule and Simon, and Jule and I opened the nets. Before the first round, we often try to guess what kind of day it will be, how many birds we’ll catch and whether there will be any special ones. Jule guessed that we would catch more than 50 birds today. And already during the first round, it looked like she might be right. We barely had any time to sit down between rounds. As soon as we finished ringing the birds, it was time to go and check the nets again. Most of the birds we caught were pretty typical species, but there was also a highlight — a Song Thrush (Sangdrossel). We’re already looking forward to seeing them again, hopefully in larger numbers. And there was also a Bullfinch (Dompap). This is my favourite bird, so I’m always especially happy to see one.

Song Thrush and Bullfinch. Photo by Pauline Nähring

Observation was not easy for Mio and Laura today. The photo probably describes the situation better than words can.

We’re not watching birds, but beautiful views. Photo by Mio Brix

A proper seawatching session wasn’t really possible, but the guys still managed to see some interesting species, including Pink-footed Goose (Kortnæbbet Gås), Wigeon (Pibeand), Velvet Scoter (Fløjlsand) and Long-tailed Duck (Hvinand).

As usual, after such an active morning, we had some time to rest, which is exactly what we did. But not Mio — he still had plenty of energy and went out looking for passerines. When he came back home, he suggested opening the net in our garden, for the first time in quite a while. At least during the 1.5 weeks I’ve been here, we hadn’t done it once before. But the rain had other plans, and after about an hour we had to close the net again. Still, we managed to ring a Robin (Rødhals) and a Great Tit (Musvit), so that was pretty good too.
Well, Jule’s prediction came true: 40 birds + 10 recaptures.

Overall, it was a calm and relaxed day. Some people took a nap, some entered data, while others were drawing and knitting.
After making a tasty dinner for everyone, Mio came up with a new plan — he headed out for night catching. And the rest of us are waiting for some news. We’ll definitely tell you all about it tomorrow.

Ringing (Kabeltromlen):
Gærdesmutte: 15
Jernspurv: 2
Rødhals: 12
Sangdrossel: 1
Munk: 1
Gransanger: 1
Fuglekonge: 1
Blåmejse: 2
Rørspurv: 5
Total:40

Ringing (Det Grå Fyr, Skagen):
Musvit: 1
Rødhals:1
Total: 2

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 and our Guests Birgit and Michael

The ringing team today, consisting of Anja, Laura, Pauline and Simon, had a nice morning with an okay amount of birds caught (24). With some Wrens (Gærdesmutte) and a beautiful Brambling (Kvækerfinke), you really get reminded that we are now in autumn. Still, we are waiting for a bigger ringing day, but with so little wind this week, maybe we can be optimistic that this day is coming soon?!

Anja ringing a Blue Tit (Blåmejse) while Laura is looking up ageing features on her phone in the ringer’s Digiguide from the Ottenby Bird Observatory (link to that Digiguide here).

At Worlds End 3, Jule’s and my clickers were quite busy in the first hour. Over the flat sea, there were migrating Fulmars (Mallemuk), Gannets (Sule) and still some Scoters (Sortand) to be counted. Highlights of the count were two Sooty Shearwaters (Sodfarvet Skråpe), a young Pallid Harrier (Steppehøg) (which was unfortunately only seen by local observers at Worlds End 1), 11 Great Skuas (Storkjove) and at least two Long-tailed Skuas (Lille Kjove).

After the count, Jule and I looked for some passerines at Ellekrattet and Jennes Sø, but unfortunately, there wasn’t much activity at all...

Meanwhile, the ringers had already headed back to the station and had lunch and naps to get some new energy for the afternoon and evening.

In the evening, while I was talking about my morning, I realized that I should go out after the meeting to seawatch for a bit. Which I did, and it was very successful! There wasn’t really much birds, who migrating, but there were some nice views of roosting birds:

View from a dune a bit west of Worlds End 3 of six Long-tailed Skuas (Lille Kjove) and two Great Skuas (Storkjove).

After this successful and short evening observation, we had an awesome dinner prepared by Pauline, who made some kind of pizza that could be called “Pizza Boats”.

So, the wind is gone for the next few days, and we are looking forward to some good passerine migration!

Highlights from the Observations:

Sooty Shearwater (Sodfarvet Skråpe)-2

Pallid Harrier (Steppehøg)-1 (only from WE1)

Long-tailed Skua (Lille Kjove)- >6

Great Skua (Storkjove)-11

Ringing (Kabeltromlen):

Total: 24

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 and our Guests Birgit and Michael 

  I have finally realized why envy is considered a sin. We could not do any ringing today as the wind was really owning the stage. That meant half the team went to do some observations while the rest could sleep in. I Was not one of the sleepers.

Me and Jule started our count at 7 am this morning. I was a few minutes late so Jule counted the scoters (Sortand) til I arrived. She had already counted over 300 scoters by the time I got there… in total there were 5 times more and in the middle of those flocks we spotted 2 velvet scoters (Fløjlsand) as well! Whilst common scoters are basically completely black, the velvet scoters have a bright white patch on their wings so it’s easy to tell them apart.

It has been less than an hour at the migration count... Photo: Laura Tamminen

Yesterday the ponds formed by the extreme winds and rain were huge, like a sea of its own. By this morning, they had dried up a bit, but it still gave us an opportunity to spot all kinds of waders (vadefugle) up close. The seals had also turned up, sunbathing on shore. They were completely unbothered by the tourists and tractors.

a photo done through the scope. Resting seals. Photo: Laura Tamminen

I was quite surprised but very pleased to see 3 great skuas (Storkjove) flying around today. During my stay we have usually only spot 1 per day. The long-tailed skuas (Lille kjove) and arctic skuas (Almindelig kjove) didn’t hide either!

After returning to the station Anja and Pauline had woken up too and we all got some well-earned breakfast. The rest of the day has been quite slow, but since the weather is lovely with the sun shining bright, Jule and Anja decided to go for a walk. Jule spotted a long-tailed duck (havlit) in Kattegat!

We are expecting Mio, who will arrive later this evening!

Link to today’s observations in the Dofbasen from observers in the area!

People: Anja Gorbunova, Pauline Nähring, Laura Tamminen, Jule Tappe, Jeppe Madsen, Simon S. Christiansen, Birgit and Michael 

Yesterday evening, we all headed out for another nightcatching session. We were lucky enough to catch another Red Knot (Islandsk Ryle), which was a great highlight and a nice ending for our volunteer Alfred. There were noticeably fewer waders along the beach this time, but it was still a successful night for us!

1k Red Knott                         Picture: Pauline N.

This morning, Anna and I opened the nets at Kabeltromlen. Simon and Alfred joined us for the first check at 7:00. I have to say, I’ve really learned to appreciate the Chiffchaffs (Gransanger) we get here. Today, we caught seven of them and they are great practice for me when it comes to finding moult limits! We also saw a flock of Crossbills (Lille Korsnæb) flying above Kabeltromlen! Fingers crossed for next week.

Hey, Anja is here again!

I won’t keep you waiting, so I’ll start with the most important part of the previous day — the night catching.

A couple of days ago, we were already discussing the possibility of going out for a night catch, but for different reasons it didn’t work out. Yesterday, however, we were brave and determined. Jule, Alfred and I had been looking forward to the evening since the morning, although we were also a little worried that once again nothing would happen because of the weather. The forecast was quite uncertain and it was a shower all the time. For Alfred and me, it was our first experience with night catching. Armed with a  hand net, thermal binocular and flashlights, we headed towards the point. We expected to see some waders along the way, but the beach was completely empty. Only when we reached World's End 3 did we finally start seeing birds. The first few attempts were not very successful. We were trying to approach the birds too quickly, but once we changed our tactics and started moving more slowly, we finally caught our first bird. We couldn’t have been happier when we realised it was a Bar-tailed Godwit (Lille Kobbersneppe)! They are not particularly difficult to see here, but this was the first Bar-tailed Godwit ever caught and ringed at the station. After taking some photos and ringing the bird, we released it back into the wild. Wet, tired, but very happy, we finally went to bed.

Our first Bar-tailed Godwit. Photo by Pauline Nähring

In the morning, it was raining, so we opened the nets an hour later than usual. We weren’t sure they would stay open for long, because the forecast showed a good chance of rain and wind. In reality, the weather turned out to be much better than expected. In the end, we managed to do the full four hours of ringing. The day turned out to be quite productive. The first few rounds were calm and steady, and Laura and I had time to practise ageing the birds. But then, after a short shower, a flock of Blue Tits (Blåmejse) and Chiffchaffs (Gransanger) suddenly appeared in the nets. We barely had enough bags for all of them. And once again, there was one interesting Chiffchaff among them. It was a bird with a moult limit in the primaries, meaning that it had an arrested moult.

Chiffchaff with arrested moult. Photo by Pauline Nähring

Meanwhile, Jule and Alfred went out for the daily migration count. Today they saw three Long-tailed Skuas (Lille Kjove), three Arctic Skuas (Almindelig Kjove), a Black Tern (Sortterne) and a Rock Pipit (Skærpiber). One of the highlights was a Fulmar (Mallemuk) that flew quite close and gave us a really good chance to have a proper look at it. Since our ringing started later today, the others had enough time after the migration count to come back and join us for some ringing as well.

After that, we went home to rest. Everyone except Pauline, who went shopping with Kirsten, something we were very grateful for, because the fridge was almost completely empty.After a short rest, Alfred went for a long walk and took some more amazing photos. I managed to get a little bit of work done, Jule also spent some time outside, walking and relaxing by the coast, while Laura and Pauline stayed at home and continued recovering after the busy morning.
And you’ve probably noticed that Mio isn’t mentioned in the morning activities. No, we haven’t forgotten about him — he just went away for the weekend and will be back with us on Monday.
(Mio, I know you’ll read this, we’re already really looking forward to having you back!)
Kittywake with the yellow ring. Photo by Alfred Godsk Geckler.

We ended the day with a delicious dinner made by Alfred and some good conversations around the table, remembering the highlights of the day. I’ll share one of my highlights with you, it’s in the photo below.

This rainbow is my personal hightlight of the day. Photo by Anja Gorbunova.


Ringing (Kabeltromlen):
Rødhals: 8
Jernspurv: 5
Munk: 2
Gærdesmutte: 1
Tornsanger: 1
Havesanger: 1
Gransanger: 11
Blåmejse: 13
Musvit:1
Total: 43

Ringing Jennes Sø (Michael Ancher):
Blåmejser 2
Topmejse 1
Lille gråsisken 4
Jernspurv 2
Musvit 1
Rødhals 1
Total: 11

Highlights from the observations:
Lille Kjove: 3
Almindelig Kjove: 3
Mallemuk: 3
Sortterne: 1
Skærpiber: 2

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

People:  Anja Gorbunova, Pauline Nähring, Jule Tappe, Laura Tamminen, Simon S. Christiansen, Kirsten Bregn, Alfred Godsk Geckler.