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

Today we were divided into two teems: Robbie, Angela, Georges, and I, went ringing and Rosalina went observing with Knud. It was not a busy day for both: we caught 28 birds and the migrating birds were not numerous. The highlight of this morning was the flock of Long-tailed Tits (Halemejse) including one europaeus, and a Treecreeper (Træløber).

Today was also a record for migrating Whooper Swans (Sangsvane)!: around 530 were observed coming from Syberian lakes.

After lunch, we all went collecting snails on the beach next to the lighthouse. The goal is to analyze the toxicity level of the water throughout these filter-feeding gasteropod which concentrate the toxic molecule.

Ringmærkning - Kabeltromlen

Bogfinke              2

Dompap               3

Fuglekonge         3

Gærdesmutte     2

Gransanger         1

Halemejse           1

Halemejse           6

Rødhals                2

Sangdrossel        1

Skægmejse          3

Solsort                 2

Træløber             1

Vindrossel           1

Total                     28

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 DOF basen af fugle i Skagen

Today was a very uneventful day. Simon, Justine and I did the "Fugle for Alle" video in the morning where the activity was for me to feel inside some boxes and guess what object I had found. It was pretty funny, and it was really cool to talk about different bird features in relation to the objects.

No ringing, a bit of observing, and- as the title says - it was mostly netsewing. I finally finished the recruitment video for next year and am very pleased with it. Check it out at https://youtu.be/piHrmrwK4ac !

Angela, Georges, Justine and Robbie went out to look for the rare Palla's Warbler (fuglekongesanger) that Robbie and I saw yesterday, but with no luck. In the afternoon our new guests, Lotte and Rita, arrived and we will look forward to spending the week with them!

Tomorrow is ringing time and we will hope to catch something good by then.

- No ringing -

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 DOF basen af fugle i Skagen

With more high winds we were unable to open the nets this morning, which appears the case again tomorrow. Angela and George joined me at Kattegat Bunker for some windswept observations. Being far away from World’s End we felt we were missing some of the migration action so moved after two hours, but we were quickly reminded why we weren’t at World’s End 3 to start after we struggled to steady our scopes in the consistent strong gusts.

We headed back to the station to begin our tasks and begin our cleaning day. Just as I sat down to eat Simon rang to say a Pallas’ leaf warbler (FugleKongersanger) had been seen at World’s End 1 by Rolf. After a quick bike ride and a faster walk, I was met by a few local birders staring at bushes below, Simon and Lisa joined shortly after. We only had to wait for a few minutes before the bird began to show again and we were all treated with amazing views. Erik Christophersen managed to get some shots that perfectly demonstrate the beauty of this Eastern rarity.

Credit: Erik Christophersen 

Whilst far from being the first record for Denmark -fingers crossed for the Brown Booby (Brun Sule) – The species is far from a common sighting, with only 16 records for Skagen since its first sighting back in 1981. The last individual was caught on the 15th October 2020 at Jennes Sø, perhaps we can get a repeat on Monday.

Credit: Erik Christophersen 

Folk: Simon S. Christiansen, Lisa Vergin, Rosalina Sø Leth-Nissen, Robbie Lawler, Angela Di Pumpo, Justine Costa, Georges Dieres Monplaisir and Rolf Christensen.

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

Today the wind was still low, so we opened the nests with Angela and Georges who did it for the first time. We had various species like Chaffinches (Bogfinke), Bramblings (Kvækerfinke), Siskins (Grønsisken) and the usually Wrens (Gærdesmutte) and Gold Crests (Fuglekonge). The surprise for today was the Jack Snipe (Enkeltbekkasin) that we caught in the nests! We also recaptured a Redpoll (Gråsisken) which came from Norway!

 Robbie and Rosalina were at Grenen trying to catch Water Pipits (Bjergpiber) into the reeds. They didn’t catch any but Pipits reacted to the recording so we will try again!

After the ringing morning, we went to Ellekrattet to look for the Spotted Flycatcher (Grå Fluesnapper) and try to catch it. This bird is really late in the season: Fly Catchers are supposed to migrate in august/beginning of September to go to Africa The goal was to make some DNA samples with feathers to confirm or exclude rare subspecies. We didn’t catch it unfortunately but we made really good observations!

Picture: Erik Christophersens

Finally, Simon received DNA analyses from a Bonelli’s Warbler which was caught last spring and the analyses confirmed that the bird was a Western Bonelli’s Warbler (Vestlig Bjergløvsanger) and not an Eastern Bonelli’s Warbler (Balkanløvsanger).

Ringmærkning - Kabeltromlen

Blåmejse              1

Bogfinke              8

Enkeltbekkasin   1

Gærdesmutte     3

Grønsisken          5

Kvækerfinke        2

Munk                    2

Musvit                  2

Rødhals                3

Rørspurv             3

Total                     30

Folk på stationen: Simon S. Christiansen, Lisa Vergin, Rosalina Sø Leth-Nissen, Robbie Lawler, Angela Di Pumpo, Justine Costa, Georges Dieres Monplaisir, Alex Sand Frick, Lone og Lars.

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