When the sun becomes shy for a few days and the sky is dressed in its grey colour, you must find alternatives and creative ways to bring light into your day. This is part of the reason why Justine, Rosalina and I headed to the art gallery (Skagen Kunsthal) next to the harbour this morning, where we were welcomed by the curator Gorm Spaabæk. We spent a delightful time with him, who very kind and humble to show us his art pieces but also a vaste collection of less known Danish and international artists who drew and painted the most diverse landscapes and subjects. Needless to say, we genuinely had a lovely time and most of all we learned a lot. I can only suggest to our readers to pop by and pay him a visit if and when they will come back to Skagen.

Meanwhile, back at the station Simon was receiving William Aarrestrup, who is the oldest active ringer in Danemark, and his friend Peter Jørgensen, who is a taxidermist (for people like me who didn’t know, the taxidermist is the person whose skill is to preserve animal body through stuffing). This was definitely the best day for them to be here since in the afternoon we caught a rock pipit (Skærpiber) by using our traps and a recording of its call and William was very enthusiastic because for him it was a new species in hand.

We also openend the nets in the lighthouse garden trying to catch more birds but the flocks of yellow hammers (gulspurv) and bramblings (kvækerfinke) that were seen didn´t unfortunately come close enough.

While on a short birdwatching walk Robbie and Amandine saw also two red-brestaed merganser (toppet skallesluger) who apparently have been hanging around the lighthouse for some days now and, in anticipation of the bad storm who will hit us in the next days, they also took down the tent at Kabeltromlen and brought back all the ringing material that was left there.

The rest of the day, otherwise, went by with usual admin tasks like checking sheets, entering data and sewing nets.

But the night had another surprise for us! Robbie and Amandine went nightcatching and they caught a Jack snipe, which is the fifth of the autumn. Well done!

Ringmærknings Fyr

Skærpiber 1

Ringmærknings Grenen

Enkeltbekassin 1

Folk på stationen: Simon S. Christiansen, Rosalina Sø Leth-Nissen, Robbie Lawler, Angela Di Pumpo, Justine Costa, Amandine Dore, William Aarrestrup, Peter Jørgensen.

Klik her for at se dagens observationer fra DOF basen af fugle i Skagen

After yesterday's closing day, the weather was not ideal for observations so we were all allowed to enjoy a bit longer our bed. We all had our own occupations this morning: a little tour in Skagen for Amandine, contract negotiation for Rosalina, net fixing for Robbie, and a nice walk to Skagen for Angela and me.

After that, part of the team went with Simon to the harbor looking for gulls and other rarities that could hide there. The highlight of the trip was a young Arctic tern (Havtern), which is quite late for the season.

Although the nets at Kabeltromlen are now taken down, we still try to catch birds in the lighthouse garden: the nets were opened few hours during the day and we caught some local birds: Great tits (Musvit), Robin (Rødhals), and two Yellowhammers (Gulspurv), one male and one female. Good training to age and sex them!

This afternoon, we did a session about Redpolls (Gråsisken) with Simon that you can find on our Youtube channel : 

Part I : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zzrh1oxqqCU

Part II : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0TA9fbJA0A

I still have to learn but theoretically, we now know how to make the difference between all Redpolls subspecies (or species that’s the fun part). Let’s practice now!

Finally, the day ended really well for us: Angela and I went ”night catching” (at 17h) and we caught two Woodcocks (Skovsneppe)! A good way to end the day!

Klik her for at se dagens observationer fra DOF basen af fugle i Skagen

Folk på stationen: Simon S. Christiansen, Rosalina Sø Leth-Nissen, Robbie Lawler, Angela Di Pumpo, Justine Costa, Amandine Dore.

This morning was the last day of ringing at Kabeltromlen for this autumn 2021... We were all very motivated for this last day, hoping to catch some birds. The weather was perfect: relatively warm and almost no wind....



We caught several recaptures from previous day, but not so many new birds. We recaught the Siberian Chiffchaff (Sibirisk Gransanger) that was ringed the day before, which was the first one in hand for me. Nice recaptures also included a beautiful male Bullfinch (Lille Dompap) and female Bearded tit (Skægmejse). 





We also got the first and only Mealy or Common Redpoll (Gråsisken) of the season, and luckily had a couple of Lesser Redpoll (Lille Gråsisken) to compare with ! All of us were very happy to see it !



The last bird ringed today ended up to be a nice first year male siskin (Grønsisken), after which we opened the bottle of Champagne we had brought to celebrate the end of the season in the field ! Jørgen and Igor joined us for this last day and shared the Champaign with us !



After the ringing, it was time to take down all the nets and poles until next spring. After a couple of hours untying strings and rolling nets, we headed back home, happy and hungry.

In the late afternoon, Robbie and me went out for some night catching since the day have become much shorter. We were aiming at catching a Jacksnipe (Enkeltbekkasin). We almost managed to catch one in one of the reedbeds north of Kabeltromlen, but unfortunately, it flew off. We kept looking for some birds and saw some sanderlings (Sandløber) but didn't catch any as they are quick at flying off...  After a last check south of Kabeltromlen, we got the nice surprise of finding a woodcock (Skovsneppe).... and caught it ! We brought it back to the lab and ringed it. A very nice bird to have in hand and to look at, and surprisingly big ! 

Soon after, we had a very typical danish dinner prepared by Simon ("Pork election dinner") with Jørgen, and ended up the evening talking around a piece of chocolate cake prepared by Angela. 
It was a perfect "ending" to the 2021 autum season...

Ringmærkning – Kabeltromlen

Sangdrossel – 1

Solsort – 1

Lille Gråsisken (cabaret)  – 2

Gråsisken (flammea) –  1

Rødhals – 1

Grønsisken – 1

Blåmejse – 1

Gransanger – 2

Fuglekonge – 1

Ringmærkning – Grenen

Skovsneppe – 1

Total: 12

Folk på stationen: Simon S. Christiansen, Rosalina Sø Leth-Nissen, Robbie Lawler, Angela Di Pumpo, Justine Costa, Amandine Dore, Jørgen Kabel & Igor

Klik her for at se dagens observationer fra DOF basen af fugle i Skagen

I dag åbnede Angela og jeg nettene ved Kabeltromlen. Vi ringmærkede sammen med Simon og Justine. Vi fik en Sibirisk gransanger som uafgjort var dagens højdepunktet for ringmærkningen. Vi fik også fuglens kald, som også ligger tilgængelig inde i DOFbasen: Sibirisk Gransanger

Robbie var ude og observere og så en bl.a. en Blå Kærhøg og to rastende viber.

Jacob Sterup fra Århus Universitet kom og hentede de døde lomvier og alke som vi havde samlet ind fra Grenen. Vi håber at universitetet kan finde ud af hvorfor fuglene dør.

Kl. 13 spottede Anders Nielsen en Brun Løvsanger! Robbie og Simon tog straks ud for at se den. De hørte den dog kun.

I eftermiddags tog vi til Strandby og derefter Bratten Strand. Vi købte ind på hjemvejen og hentede en tidligere frivillig, Amandine, som er her de næste uger.

Ringmærkning – Kabeltromlen

Blåmejse – 4

Fuglekonge – 3

Gransanger – 1

Sibirisk Gransanger – 1

Lille Gråsisken – 3

Rødhals – 2

Solsort – 3

Vindrossel – 2

Total - 19

Folk på stationen: Simon S. Christiansen, Rosalina Sø Leth-Nissen, Robbie Lawler, Angela Di Pumpo, Justine Costa, Amandine Dore, Jørgen Kabel, Jacob Sterup, Søren Brink, Claus Madsen, Anders Nielsen, Erik Christopherson, Rolf Christensen.

Klik her for at se dagens observationer fra DOF basen af fugle i Skagen

Today we said goodbye to our last guests of the season, whilst we are sad to see Lotte and Britta go we are glad to know they had a good time. We also said goodbye to Gustav today, who we are sure will be back in the near future; that bird list won’t expand itself.

With Knud out counting Geese and Swans for Novana today, the rest of the team went to Nordstrand to observe. Sheltered slightly from the winds the team was hoping for a rarity, but instead, the highlight was a late Barn Swallow (Landsvale). I went out searching for passerines around Skagen, finding some common Crossbills (Lille Kornsæb) near the station.

Autumn migration seems to be slowing but we are all very optimistic for a late rarity after promising signs from elsewhere in Northern Europe.

Ringmærkning – Jennes Sø      

Grønsisken                           1

Nordlig Gråsisken              2

Gærdesmutte                     1

Musvit                                   2            

Lille Gråsisken                   28

Total                                     34

Folk på stationen: Simon S. Christiansen, Rosalina Sø Leth-Nissen, Gustav Nyberg, Robbie Lawler, Justine Costa, og Knud Pedersen.

Klik her for at se dagens observationer fra DOF basen af fugle i Skagen

Not intimidated by the cold and strong wind today, Robbie and Gustav decided to sit down at Kattegat bunker to observe the migratory birds pushed by the eastern wind. Unfortunately, though, the visibility was not the best and two hours later they came back home, happy to have been out in the field. Two of the rarity committee´s members, however, who were with them, spotted a Brunnich’s Guillemot (Polarlomvie), which is not an usual bird out here. I would say this was definitely the highlight of the day!

Once home, the guys set up a trap trying to catch a rock pipit (Skærpiber) but once again they haven’t been very lucky.. probably they will be though on their way nightcatching later tonight.. fingers crossed for them! After the success of the past days, I hope they will be back with other birds and possibly new species to ring and release.

As for Justine, she showed me how to analyse the data from the nocmig – the nocturnal migration- so we spent the whole day listening to bird calls and reporting the data which will soon be ready for you to see. But my day started with a dead guillemot (lomvie) who was brought back to us from our guests who went walking on the beach this morning and found it at the tip.
Just before lunchtime, though, we went for a short trip to the harbour with Simon and Rosalina and we saw a razorbill (alk), a guillemot (lomvie), a seal peacefully swimming, one kittiwake (ride) and two red-breasted merganser (toppet skallesluger).

While the rarity committee was having the meeting in the conference room, our day passed by sewing nets, cleaning and doing some ordinary admin tasks, but we shared a delicious fish meal all together this evening which we really enjoyed. Thank you Simon for that!

Ringmærkning – Jennes Sø      

Gærdesmutte                   1

Rødhals                              2

Fuglekonge                        2

Blåmejse                            4

Musvit                                5

Total                                   14

Folk på stationen: Simon S. Christiansen, Rosalina Sø Leth-Nissen, Gustav Nyberg, Robbie Lawler, Justine Costa, Lotte, Britta, Michael Ancher and The Danish Rarity Committee

Klik her for at se dagens observationer fra DOF basen af fugle i Skagen

This morning, Gustav and Robbie went observing with Knud. The highlights of the observations were an Arctic Skua (Almindelig Kjove), a Little Gull (Dværgmåge), and the first Purple Sandpiper (Sortgrå Ryle) for Gustav! They also set up the whoosh net and at the end of the observations, 55 Snow Buntings (Snespurv) went close to the nest and they finally caught one! I hope we will catch more soon! They also saw a Serin (Gulirisk) which is quite late for the season.

Rosalina and I, did a few daily tasks at home like sewing the nests in the attic and analyzing a night recording for me. I already found many Redwings (Vindrossel) migrating above Skagen and some resident Blackbirds (Solsort).

This afternoon we all cleaned before going night catching with Simon in different areas. We saw 14 Woodcocks (Skovsneppe) and finally caught three of them! I was really glad to ring one of them.

Michael was out, ringing at Jennes Sø as well.

We also said goodbye to Lisa and Georges today, have a good trip and thank you for all the good moments!

Ringmærkning – Skagen by

Skovsneppe        3

Snespurv              1

Ringmærkning – Jennes Sø                                       

 Blåmejse             3                                                                                                                     

 Musvit                 4                                                                                                      

 Fuglekonge        2                                                                        

Gærdesmutte     3                                                         

Rødhals                3                                          

Bogfinke              2                                                                        

Nordlig Gråsisken             1                                                         

Lille Gråsisken    39                                        

Gulspurv             1

Total      62

Folk på stationen: Simon S. Christiansen, Gustav Nyberg, Rosalina Sø Leth-Nissen, Robbie Lawler, Angela Di Pumpo, Justine Costa, Lotte & Rita, Michael Ancher.

Klik her for at se dagens observationer fra DOF basen af fugle i Skagen

I dag ringmærkede Robbie, Gustav og jeg. Vi fik ikke mange fugle, 12 i alt med aflæsningerne, og vi lukkede meget tidligt. Simon derimod så en sibirisk gransanger mens vi ringmærkede, så det var jo godt nok :) 

Justine var ude på Verdens Ende 3 og sætte whoosh-nettet op, hvorefter hun observerede med Knud. Hun fangede desværre ingen fugle.

Robbie og Gustav har heller ikke haft heldet med sig i eftermiddags da de forsøgte at fange bjergpiber bag ved fyrtårnet. Til gengæld blev lokkemaden bestående af melorme meget populære blandt de lokale måger, som manøvrerede at vælte og dreje fælden, så de kunne få fat i ormene. Meget imponerende.

Rita, Lotte og Anne var med ude ved Kabeltromlen i dag og også ude ved Verdens Ende 3 og observere. De tog også på Skagen Kunstmuseum, hvor de løb ind i Justine, Angela og Georges, som var på museumstur. Georges havde sin sidste dag i dag og skal rejse i morgen tidlig.

Rita, Anne og Lotte lavede mad til os i dag, og lige da vi var færdige med at spise, kom Simon op og fortalte at ham og Lisa havde fanget sæsonens første skovsneppe! Den var meget fin, og utrolig stærk. Det var en fin aktivitet for os at lave med Lisa her i aften, da Lisa dsv. rejser tilbage til sit arbejde i Tyskland i morgen. Vi har virkelig nydt at arbejde med dig Lisa! Auf Wiedersehn! Vi ser frem til næste gang vi ses, forhåbentlig snart!

Ringmærkning – Kabeltromlen

Fuglekonge – 2

Lille Dompap – 3

Grønsisken – 1

Sangdrossel – 1

Vindrossel – 1

Total - 8

Ringmærkning – Fyrhaven

Skovsneppe – 1

Total - 1

Folk på stationen: Simon S. Christiansen, Rosalina Sø Leth-Nissen, Lisa Vergin, Gustav Nyberg, Robbie Lawler, Justine Costa, Knud Pedersen, Lotte, Rita & Anne

Klik her for at se dagens observationer fra DOF basen af fugle i Skagen

With only myself and Justine available this morning we did not go ahead with ringing. I instead headed to Grene Sø to try and catch Water pipits (Bjergpiber) and Justine was out with Knud at World’s End 3 for observations. Unfortunately, I had no success with the Water pipits but I have come away feeling positive for the next session as they responded strongly to the sounds.

(Islom, Summer plaumage. Jørgen Kabel, 2018)

Whilst the migration season is slowing down there were still some highlights to be had at sea. Today the team saw A late Arctic tern (Havterne), which we wish good luck on its arduous journey ahead. There was a Short-eared owl (Mosehornugle) hunting on Grenen Sø this morning which we are hoping sticks around, and we were treated with views of a Great-Northern diver (Islom), and a Black-throated diver (Sortstrubet Lom). It is also worth noting that 26 seals were counted resting at the tip this morning, it isn’t just birds that get the team excited.

We spent the afternoon watching Lisa’s presentation of her Master's Thesis on post-breeding dispersal of Sandwich Terns, and we once again send our congratulations on a job well done for achieving a distinction on some excellent avian science.

We are back out ringing tomorrow, let us hope that a rarity lands in the nets.

Folk på stationen: Simon S. Christiansen, Rosalina Sø Leth-Nissen, Gustav Nyberg, Robbie Lawler, Angela Di Pumpo, Justine Costa, Georges Dieres Monplaisir, Lotte & Rita.

Klik her for at se dagens observationer fra DOF basen af fugle i Skagen

When the wind is that strong and the sky is fully charged with rain, all you want to do is… going to the harbour to look at some gulls!! What you might find though, if your eye is as sharp as Simon´s, is a purple sandpiper (Sortgrå ryle) resting on the rocks. This is what we did during the morning, when we took a small trip to Skagen with Simon, who actually also sent the snails that we collected yesterday for them to be tested against toxic substances. But we were not the only ones interested in gulls, as also our guests – Lotte and Rita – went out first thing in the morning to watch at the gulls feeding on the coast just down the lighthouse.. a spectacle with the light of the sunrise. They then walked to Grenen where they found two dead birds – most probably guillemots (lomvie) – and 11 resting seals at the tip. In the afternoon they walked to Jennes sø where they bumped into a hunter which had just shot two woodcocks (Skovsneppe). Although very sad, they took the chance to appreciate the birds up close.

As for Robbie, this morning he went out to look for some migrating finches or trushes and he observed mistle trushes (misteldrossel), song trushes (sangdrossel) and redwings (vindrossel) and when he came home, he did some net fixing as the rest of us all.

Tomorrow it will still be a pretty windy day, but we will be out observing at World’s End 3!

Folk på stationen: Simon S. Christiansen, Rosalina Sø Leth-Nissen, Robbie Lawler, Angela Di Pumpo, Justine Costa, Georges Dieres Monplaisir, Lotte & Rita.

Klik her for at se dagens observationer fra Dofbasen af fugle i Skagen