A team of 5 motivated birders went to the tip to brave the rain this morning. As a Gene Kelly’s good cover, we enjoyed a nice morning birding in the rain. Nice ? Well, that feeling wasn’t shared by the entire group as you can see on the photo that follows ! Although, we spent our 4 mandatory hours with cheerfullness and in a good mood !

The beach was totally empty of tourists this morning, the contrast is really striking compared to yesterday ! We really wondered why !

The birding wasn’t as rewarding as we hoped it could be with this strong winds though. There was only a few migrants that came into our sighting range : 8 Great Skuas (Stor Kjove), 16 Northern Fulmars (Mallemuk) and a few Gannets (Sule). Although, we enjoyed some great views at some resting birds on the beach or feeding birds close to it. The Mediterranean Gull (Sorthpvedet Måge) was still present at the pool on the beach, which is quite nice to see here since it is a scarce species for Denmark. Strong winds have also taken a few Black-legged Kittiwakes (Ride) which were resting, we counted as much as 51 birds ! At last but not least, 2 young Arctic Terns (Havterne) were foraging along the beach on the Kattegat side. What beautiful and delicate birds they are !

In the afternoon, Amelie and Angus went to Jennes Sø to put up some nets since we will ring there on Friday and the following days with Michael Ancher. It took them almost the entire afternoon since the nets were not carefully stored and cleaned.

Christina read about moult strategies and bird catching methods, while I worked on a reminder about moult strategies and the extent of moult in post-juvenile moult, which can be really useful when we are ringing.

By the way, the fever of night catching caught Angus and Amelie again yesterday night and they were succesfull ! They caught not only one but two Dunlins (Almindelig Ryle) !

https://dofbasen.dk/search/result.php?design=table&soeg=soeg&periode=dato&dato=09-09-2020&omraade=stor&stor=588&obstype=observationer&species=alle&sortering=dato

People: Martin Grienenberger, Amelie Zeller, Angus Barnett, Simon S. Christiansen, Christina Stinn, Knud Pedersen

A promising start today as Simon and Amelie were greeted by a long-eared owl (Skovhornugle) whilst opening the nets. However throughout the morning we gradually closed the mist nets which were most exposed to the increasing wind speeds. No surprise then the amount of birds caught was nothing in comparison to yesterday’s success. It’s always nice to catch a great spotted woodpecker (Stor flagspætte) though. This young bird has red coming through on the back of the head identifying him as a male bird. They pack quite the nasty peck too – can you really blame them?

Although it was also a lot quieter on the sea today, Martin, Christina and Knud were happy to see a passing manx shearwater (Almindelig skråpe). The 2^nd year Mediterranean gull (Sorthovedet måge) remained on the pool by the point and there was still a few passing skuas over the sea; 13 Great skuas (Storkjove) and 1 Arctic (Almindileg kjove). Among the kittiwakes (Ride) there were 3 colour ringed birds so hopefully we can recover some information on these individual birds’ movements.

In the afternoon I attempted to go shopping with Amelie but cycling against the wind at times I felt like I was going backwards! Seems we can expect a similar day weather wise tomorrow.

Ringmærkning (Kabeltromlen):

Gærdesmutte - Wren: 4
Munk - Blackcap: 1
Rødhals - Robin: 1
Rødstjert - Redstart: 1
Stor flagspætte - Great spotted woodpecker: 1

Total: 8

Klik her for at se dagens observationer indtastet i Dofbasen af observatører i området

People: Martin Grienenberger, Amelie Zeller, Angus Barnett, Simon S. Christiansen, Christina Stinn, Knud Pedersen,

Today was the best autumn ringing day we've had this year: We caught 104 birds (88 new, 16 recaptures), including over 20 coal tits (Sørtmejse) as well as several great tits (Musvit) and blue tits (Blåmejse) during our ringing session. Simon says it might be a good year for coal tits. He also heard 2 woodlarks (Hedelærke) while we were out — very cool. With that many birds in the nets, we did not have enough bags with us, so we used three boxes to transport the birds from the nets to the ringing station.

Amelie spent some time this afternoon getting more bags together so that we are better prepared for the next "tit invasion", as Angus called it.

We also caught a beautiful Eurasian siskin (Grønsisken) female:

Another exciting capture was a marsh warbler (Kærsanger):

The birds kept us so busy that we hardly had a chance to look into the sky. There was news about a long-tailed skua (Lille Kjove) that Martin saw during his migratory bird count - unfortunately, the rest of us did not, but perhaps we'll be lucky the next time one of them stops by.

Apart from the aforementioned long-tailed skua (Lille Kjove), Martin spotted 50 great skuas (Storkjuve), 50 fulmars (Mallemuk), 2 sooty shearwaters (Sodfarvet Skråpe), and a Mediterranean gull (Sorthovedet Måge) —just to mention a few —During his migration count today. The audio recorder that he had left out overnight did not record as many birds as anticipated: some waders, but not many passerines, apart from a few tree pipits. In the afternoon, Simon and Martin went birdwatching around Grenen and saw some stonechats (Vestlig Sortstrubet Bynkefugl) and two Western yellow wagtails (Gul Vipstjert); overall, there were not as many birds as they had hoped. Tonight, Amelie and Martin are headed to Jerup for a couple of hours of (hopefully) good bird watching to end the day.

There are strong winds in the forecast, so we will see tomorrow morning whether we can go ringing. Hopefully, we can at least get a couple of hours in. Otherwise, we will focus on migration counts at the point and peruse the extensive library at the station to learn more migratory birds, including their migration patterns and molting strategies. One thing is certain: It never gets boring at Skagen Fuglestation!

Ringmærkning (Kabeltromlen):

Sortmejse - Coal tit: 21
Rødhals - European robin: 14
Fuglekonge - Goldcrest: 6
Gransanger - Chiffchaff: 6
Musvit - Great tit: 6
Jernspurv - Dunnock: 7
Munk - Blackcap: 7
Løvsanger - Willow warbler: 3
Rødstjert - Common redstart: 3
Lille Gråsisken - Lesser redpoll: 3
Blåmejse - Blue tit: 3
Rørsanger - Reed warbler: 2
Tornsanger - Common whitethroat: 2
Skovspurv - Eurasian tree sparrow: 1
Lille Dompap - Bullfinch: 1
Gærdesanger - Lesser Whitethroat: 1
Kærsanger - Marsh warbler: 1
Grønsisken - Eurasian siskin: 1

Total: 88

Klik her for at se dagens observationer indtastet i Dofbasen af observatører i området

People: Martin Grienenberger, Amelie Zeller, Angus Barnett, Simon S. Christiansen, Christina Stinn, Knud Pedersen, Jørgen Kabel, Jan Pilsmark and Palle

Christina joined Martin and Knud at the migration count today. They had a sunny morning and slowly the number of migrationg birds is getting higher. The counting team saw Gannets (Sule) on the move, 8 Great Skuas (Storkjove) and an Arctic Skua (Almindelig Kjove) really close at the tip. For Christina it was her first time at the migration count today. She doesn’t know many seabrids yet and expects a steep learning curve.

Martin wanted to go to the Natural History Museum today, but unfortunately, it was closed…

Angus will work on our picture archive. We use it to save and organize all the bird pictures we have, but also for pictures of the volunteers, guided tours and other events at the observatory.

Meanwhile, I prepared Kanelbullar, with Lisa’s recipe, for a guided tour about rocks by Kristina. She was really nervous to guide her first tour today, but in the end, we had a wonderful time and we learned a lot about rocks! Kristina had prepared a map with different kinds of stones you can find at the beach around the lighthouse. We should find them on the beach and could ask her questions about the stones. The kids had a lot of fun and were really interested in the rocks.

Kristina is a great teacher!

But Aslan was definitely a highlight for all of us.

Kristina also brought a big bag to collect plastic and other trash that’s polluting the beach.

After that, we went to the birder’s club and had some Kanelsnegl, coffee and juice. We also painted some stones, that was a really relaxing work!

Klik her for at se dagens observationer indtastet i Dofbasen af observatører i området

People: Martin Grienenberger, Amelie Zeller, Angus Barnett, Simon S. Christiansen, Christina Stinn, Knud Pedersen

It is easy to get caught up in the workload of the observatory and neglect the more basic jobs around the house. Today was primarily a cleaning day. The weather had put bird ringing on hold with scattered heavy showers throughout the day. However a lay in was quite welcomed. The bad weather also created an opportunity to finally start work on our photo archive here at the observatory. The archive is a great resource for us to reflect on so that we can see previous ringing encounters or just reminisce the good moments.

In the afternoon I found a couple hours between the rain to do a bit of birding in the dunes. Amelie had found a possible peregrine (Vandrefalk) kill and I was a little excited by the fact it might have been a gyr falcon (Jagtfalk). But my quest ended in failure with very little to report on. It would however need to have been a considerably large sized raptor to take a lesser-black back gull (Sildemåge).

In the evening our guest Alfreda came by for a glass of wine for her last night with us. It is fair to say we will miss her a lot! She has been great company and her love for birds and nature is admirable.

Klik her for at se dagens observationer indtastet i Dofbasen af observatører i området

People: Martin Grienenberger, Amelie Zeller, Alfrida Garboe, Angus Barnett, Simon S. Christiansen, Christina Stinn.

You’ve read earlier in the week that we are now 4 volunteers. This means we can split again the team so we can be both at the ringing station and counting migration. That’s what we did today !

Amelie, Angus and Christina went ringing at sunrise, joined by Simon. In the meantime, I was counting at World’s End 3 with Knud.

We've been waiting for westerly winds for a long time now, but we didin't notice any great changes since it was a rather slow morning on both sides. Only 12 birds were ringed today and the team decided to close the nets earlier than the usual, around 10.

Gransanger - Chiffchaff

Lille Gråsisken - Lesser Redpoll

At sea, it was kind of the same with a really slow migration happening, with only a few Gannets (Sule) on the move, some alcids, Red-throated Divers (RØdstrubet Lom). Although, we had the chance to see some nice roosting birds such as two Brant Geese (Knortegås) which were belonging to two different subspecies : the white-bellied hrota (Lysbuget) and the dark-bellied bernicla (M?rkbuget). According to Knud, it’s an uncommon sighting to have them together ! We also enjoyed great views of a Black-throated Diver (Sortstrubet Lom) already in its winter plumage and roosting with more common Red-throated Divers.

In the early afternoon, Simon organized a session about moult strategies. We’ve spent a nice hour and a half learning about the different kind of moult birds can use and which moult strategies they use in relation with their migration strategies. The aim was to learn how to use this knowledge when we are in the field to age more accurately the birds we ring. We now have our homework to do with a lot of reading and learning which strategis are used by the species we might encounter during our ringing sessions. It may have felt like a return to the school benches for this scholar session, but it surely felt enriching and fascinating ! We need more of those teacher Simon !!

The rest of the day was spent to our usual daily tasks like data entry, sorting pictures for the archive, …

Ringmærkning (Kabeltromlen):

Gærdesmutte - Wren - 1

Gransanger – Chiffchaff - 1

Munk – Blackcap - 4

Rørsanger – Reed Warbler - 1

Sortmejse – Coal Tit – 3

Lille Gråsisken – Lesser Redpoll - 1

Klik her for at se dagens observationer indtastet i Dofbasen af observatører i området

People: Martin Grienenberger, Amelie Zeller, Alfrida Garboe, Angus Barnett, Simon S. Christiansen, Christina Stinn, Knud Pedersen

Today Angus and I opened the nets at Kabeltromlen in the morning at 5:15, so they could be open 30 minutes before sunrise. It was a warm and sunny morning and we were happy to have many interested visitors! A german family came by and especially their kids were very keen to learn the different bird species.

Martin did the migration counting at Kabeltromlen today, so that he could also join the ringing. Like in the last days, he observed many Great Spottet Woodpeckers (Stor Flagspætte) and one Nuthatch (Spætmejse). It is a record year for both species!

Also, it was the first day of ringing for Christina today. She had already been ringing on the island Greifswalder Oie, Germany for a month and wants to improve her skills here to apply for a job as a professional ringer.

We had some nice birds today: two Spotted Flycatchers (Grå Fluesnapper), a Dunnock (Jernspurv), a Garden Warbler (Havesanger), a Yellowhammer (Gulspurv), some Redstarts (Rødstjert) and Robins (Rødhals) and two Coal Tits (Sortmejse).

It was nice that Knud also joined the ringing today. He didn’t go for migration counting this week, as there were easterly winds, which isn’t favourable for counting seabirds. The last few days Simon has been going ringing with us, so we could improve our skills for ageing and sexing. That’s so much fun! I’m looking forward to learning more tomorrow when Simon will do a moult session with us at the station.

In the afternoon, Angus went shopping for cooking dinner tonight. Christina did some work for her freelancer job as a translator in Germany. Also, Martin and Christina entered the ringing data from today.

Later that night, Angus and I will try our luck again to go nightcatching at Grenen, we will keep you updated!

Ringmærkning (Kabeltromlen):

Blåmejse – Blue Tit - 2

Grå Fluesnapper – Spotted Flycatcher – 2

Gransanger – Chiffchaff - 3

Jernspurv – Dunnock - 1

Løvsanger – Willow Warbler - 1

Munk – Blackcap - 6

Rødhals – Robin - 2

Rødstjert – Common Redstart – 1

Rørsanger – Reed Warbler – 1

Rørspurv – Reed Bunting – 1

Solsort – Blackbird – 1

Sortmejse – Coal Tit – 2

Tornsanger – Common Whitethroat - 3

Total: 26

Klik her for at se dagens observationer indtastet i Dofbasen af observatører i området

Link to the Trektellen Page of the Skagen Fuglestation

People: Martin Grienenberger, Amelie Zeller, Alfrida Garboe, Angus Barnett, Simon S. Christiansen, Christina Stinn, Knud Pedersen

Ringing continued as per normal this morning. The ringing station at Grenen felt a little quieter than usual, but that didn’t stop us catching a reasonable amount of migrants. Martin managed to spot a nightjar (Natravn) in the road before we even arrived and doubled his luck with a kingfisher (Isfugl) just as we were opening the nets. It seemed the flocks of coal tits (Sortmejse) had moved on today, but in their place a notable amount of arriving blackcaps (Munk) and chiffchaffs (Gransanger). We also managed to catch one of the many great spotted woodpeckers (Stor Flagspætte) that have been flying around in recent weeks. Between net rounds Simon spotted a perched honey buzzard (Hvepsevage) across the dunes. This is actually the first time I’ve seen one that wasn’t in flight! Other noted migrants included a flock of 30 redpoll (Acanthis sp), 1 grey wagtail (Bjergvipstjert) and a fly over nuthatch (Spætmejse).

After the session we set up another two nets bringing the total number of nets up to 25. Here’s hoping it’s the rarity net.

Honey buzzard (Hvepsevage)

After lunch I indulged myself in a very good nap, woke up and finished inputting today’s ringing data. The evening plan was to pick up some pizza, go back to Jerup Strand and count sandwich terns (Splitterne). There were none – but the birding didn’t disappoint. Among the 100s of dunlin (Almindelif Ryle) we managed to pick out a little stint (Dværgryle). It was quite the spectacle to see 300 graylag geese (Grågåss) passing out at sea in a strong V formation. Meanwhile a peregrine (Vandrefalk) was keeping watch inland on the fence posts and 2 grey plovers (Strandhjejle) sat out on the sandbanks. All bird photos today were taken through the scope.

Little stint (Dværgryle)

Grey plover (Strandhjejle)

This evening we welcomed the newest member to our volunteer team; Christina from Germany.

Ringmærkning:

Fuglekonge: 1

Gærdesanger: 3

Gransanger: 7

Gråsisken: 1

Havesanger: 1

Jernspurv: 2

Løvsanger: 2

Munk: 6

Rødstjert: 3

Rørsanger: 6

Rørspurv: 1

Stor Flagsætte: 1

Tornsanger: 1

Total: 35

Klik her for at se dagens observationer indtastet i Dofbasen af observatører i området

People: Martin Grienenberger, Amelie Zeller, Alfrida Garboe, Angus Barnett, Simon S. Christiansen, Kristina Sønderkjær

Today was a very promising start to the new season and it has filled me with excitement for the coming months. Ringing nets were up an hour before sunrise. The atmosphere was alive with many calling migrants. Throughout the day there were flocks of crossbill (Lille Korsnæb) and siskin (Grønsisken) moving but a little too high for the nets. What was impressive though was the sudden appearance of many migrating coal tits (Sortmejse) -a few finding their way into the nets. It seemed like the dunnocks (Jernspurv) had arrived over-night too with many calling from the scrub. A low passing honey buzzard (Hvepsevåge), 5 very high common buzzards (Musvåge) and a fly over grey wagtail (Bjergvipstjert) kept spirits high throughout the morning. The last bird ringed was a whinchat (Bynkefugl) just to cap off a great session.

Coal tit (Sortmejse)

Whinchat (Bynkefugl)

Nets closed at midday, we took our lunch and then spent the afternoon clearing out a gap for two more nets which we will set up tomorrow. Situated in the reedbed, the new nets have a lot of potential for some good species. Whilst doing this we found a rather handsome looking caterpillar on the sea buckthorn. The species is buff-tip moth Phalera bucephala.

Before:

After:

Buff-tip moth caterpillar

Ringmærkning:

Sortmejse: 10

Tornsanger: 1

Stenpikker: 1

Solsort: 2

Rørsanger: 3

Rødstjert: 3

Rødhals: 1

Munk: 4 

Løvsanger: 1

Jernspurv: 3

Gransanger: 3

Gærdesmutte: 1

Fuglekonge: 1

Bynkefugl: 1

Broget fluesnapper: 1

Total: 39