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A Golden eagle (Kongeørn) near Skagen

fredag 11. marts 2022
af Alice Scalzo

This morning, the wind was blowing South East, which is why Robbe and I took our bikes to go to Nordstrand. There, we stayed all morning with Knud. We had a decent amount of birds, many Whooper swans (Sangsvane) and Wood pigeons (Ringdue) decided to cross, and we also got the chance to see a White-tailed eagle (Havørn) and a Greater fronted goose (Blisgås) very close to us.

Havorn 4 5K Nordstrand 11.03.22KNP.IMG 9626

Meanwhile, Hanelie and Marion had stayed at the station to have some rest and work a bit for university.
 
Blisgas 2K Nordstrand 11.03.22KNP.IMG 9682
 
We then had a meeting with Simon, he explained to us how goes the night recording. We will install the recorder one of the following nights, when there is less wind.
This afternoon, Marion and Hanelie went to do the groceries so we would have what is needed for the dinner we are preparing for our guests.
Meanwhile, Robbe began preparing banana bread for tonight.
 
On their way back, Marion and Hanelie saw a Golden eagle (Kongeørn), they saw it close and were very happy. He flew North West so Robbe and I ran outside to try to catch a glimpse of the bird but we did not succeed. 
Elin and Jens walked all day from the station to the pencil, passing by the cormorant lake. They saw a Vipera berus (Hugorm), and many sea birds.
Dinner tonight will be a mixed salad, filled pancakes with mushrooms and spinach, and banana bread. We all cooked together, it was really a nice moment.
All bird photos from today are made by Knud, so thank you very much for sharing all these beautiful photos with us !!
People : Knud Pedersen, Robbe Cool, Hanelie Sidhu, Alice Scalzo, Marion L'Huillier-Hunsinger, Elin and Jens Vrang.

Migration count at Nordstrand and raptor spots tour with Jørgen

torsdag 10. marts 2022
af Marion L'Huillier-Hunsinger

Good evening everyone,

After a couple of foggy mornings, we finally got the chance to see the light again as the sun was rising this morning. The wind is mainly to thank for that. As it was Southerly wind, we agreed with Knud to meet at Nordstrand this time as this is where most birds would end up passing by. Hanelie, Robbe and I biked there and took the path crossing the reeds. However, with the cold temperatures throughout the night, the ground was a bit frost and what had to happen happened: one of us slid and fell. The unlucky chosen one was Robbe whose bike tires did not appreciate the slippery wood planks and unfortunately ripped his trousers but quickly recovered with no injury. We still managed to make it to Nordstrand and we settled on the dunes, a bit lower down to have some protection from the wind.

There were more birds than we had seen in the past few observation counts which we really enjoyed. Also some species we had not seen yet since arriving, including a Pintail (Spidsand), a Eurasian Curlew (Storspove), two Woodcocks (Skovsneppe) and one Bar-tailed Godwit (Lille Kobbersneppe). Eurasian Teals (Krikand) were very numerous today and we also saw more raptors. A White-tailed Eagle (Havørn), which was probably the same one as yesterday passed by. We also saw a female Hen Harrier (Blå Kærhøg) from close up and some Red Kites (Rød glente) and Common Buzzards (Musvåge). Knud also took the time to teach us how to identify more easily some species or differentiate males and females. We also learnt from him that a sub-species of the Bar-tailed Godwit (Lille Kobbersneppe) migrates from Alaska to New Zealand without any stopovers. This is therefore the longest known non-stop avian flight.

Today’s observations in Dofbasen from observers in the area

After a quick lunch, Hanelie, Alice and Robbe met up with Jørgen who had proposed to drive us around to show the best birding spots around Skagen. I wish I could have gone but the tiredness took over me and instead I stayed at the station, started to enter the observations, and took a nap. In the meantime, Hanelie, Alice and Robbe discovered that it was Igor’s 7th birthday! He seemed to treat one of Hanelie’s gloves as one of his birthday presents, carrying it proudly.

10 03 1

And thanks to Jørgen, they now know all the best spots to go to depending on the wind direction to observe birds and in particular raptors. He also explained that raptor migration here is a bit different than in most places as many raptors travel to the tip and end up turning around once they reach the sea. This can be quite nice as this way, if you missed it the first time, you might have the chance to spot it later.

Sum of the Raptors in the area based on observations typed into Dofbasen the same day

10 03 2

Once everyone got back, Hanelie joined me for a nap session while Alice and Robbe drew with hot chocolates to warm them up. Afterwards, we met up with Elin and Jens who we could not see the past evening as our activities took longer than expected. They told us that yesterday they took the bike and went to Råbjerg Mile again. They saw the two resident Common Cranes (Trane) near Skagen on their way there. When they got back in the evening, they were tired from the long ride on the muddy path and decided to have an early night. And today, they spent the whole day in Skagen’s much appreciated Art Museum. They visited it years ago but couldn’t last year due to Corona and have been reading books about some of the authors exhibited there. They had lunch at Brøndums but had to eat outside in the cold.

10 03 4

After our evening meeting, we again had the chance to enjoy an amazing meal prepared by Elin and Jens. It included starters, charcuterie and cheese boards, risotto with tomato and zucchini, homemade bread, and some local pastries for dessert. The table was again nicely dressed up with flowers and candles and the atmosphere was very relaxed. It is safe to say all of our bellies were happy and full after that. As a result, Robbe showed us a “Digestion music” playlist that can do wonders apparently while we are finishing entering the data in DOFbasen. Tomorrow it will be our time to cook for our lovely guests and the standards are high so we hope to provide nice dishes everyone can enjoy.

I hope all of you also enjoyed your day and we recommend you take a walk to Nordstrand if you have the occasion tomorrow as you could hopefully see some cool birds.

Marion

People: Robbe Cool, Hanelie Sidhu, Alice Scalzo, Marion L'Huillier-Hunsinger, Jørgen Kabel & Igor, Elin and Jens Vrang.

The long-awaited eagle “ørn”

onsdag 9. marts 2022
af Robbe Cool

God aften

As usual, our day started with the observations at Grenen. Because Knud was taking a day off, we decided to combine all skills of the four of us.  In the meantime, Sarah-Lou was enjoying a quiet morning. Surprisingly, we discovered two dead harbour porpoises “marsvin” on our walk. It was a unique opportunity to observe them from nearby but luckily we saw them alive too, later this morning.

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Once arrived at Grenen, the fog thwarted our migration count and we decided to take a look at the gulls. We studied the different moult cycles of the different species and tried to read colour rings. Unfortunately, we couldn’t read the rings because the birds were standing too deep into the water. I started to check the ducks on the sea and in no time, I found a female greater scaup “bjergand” migrating. Not much later, a long-tailed duck “havlit” was flying northeast with some scoters “sortand”. Although I was very happy with the observations, the others could only catch a glimpse of the birds.

After one hour, the fog started to disappear and we decided to start with the migration counts while Marion went back to the station to have some more rest. The birds were also happy the weather got better. We were treated to a group of 70 whooper swans “sangsvane” and several groups of goldeneyes “hvinand”. But it didn’t take long before we saw the highlight of today. A subadult (4cy) white-tailed eagle “Havørn” surprised all the gulls in the area and flew with heavy wing beats along our migration point. We were all ecstatic about seeing this giant. We were still recovering from this observation, but he came back already and found a nice spot on the beach. We called Marion and Sarah-Lou and they arrived right on time to see this giant.

WhatsApp_Image_2022-03-09_at_09.27.55.jpeg

When we walked back, the eagle came to say a final goodbye. Back at the station, we said goodbye to Sarah-lou who is going to an organic farm for her next adventure. We had a great lunch and then talked about the species we already saw and we hope to see. Marion used her afternoon to work on her Master thesis while the rest of us went to the cormorant lake.

Simon had another challenge planned out for us. We had to fix the camera that livestreams the cormorant colony. Therefore, we had to walk through the lake. Alice and Hanelie were brave enough to do it, while I was supporting them from the shore.

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Once arrived, they noticed that Simon didn’t give them the right tools. We called our guardian angel, Marion, and she arrived with the right tools. Alice and Hanelie went back into the water and Marion and I left.

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I fixed my cameratrap in the meantime and went to the grocery store to buy our guilty pleasure: cinnamon rolls!

In the evening we worked on our data while Alice made a delicious mushroom pasta. We had a quick evening meeting because today we had the ultimate worlds end 3 birding quiz! The three girls were extremely concentrated because they knew they could win a price.

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The quiz resulted in an ex aequo between Alice and Marion but in the bonus question, Alice could recognize the goldeneye as first and won the grand prize: another bag of cinnamon rolls!

Now we are chilling a bit and preparing for our first migration count at Nordstrand. It is the first of the past days with good birding weather. We hope to see some new species again and get to know the area a bit better.

See you tomorrow

Robbe

People: Robbe Cool, Hanelie Sidhu, Alice Scalzo, Marion L'Huillier-Hunsinger, Elin and Jens Vrang, and Sarah-Lou.

Cranes "Trane" at the lakes at Råbjerg Mile

tirsdag 8. marts 2022
af Hanelie Sidhu

Hello everyone!

We went to sleep yesterday with high hopes for today. Not for the Morning obs, though, as heavy fog was forecasted and we weren't sure we'd see much. Rather, we were hoping to see a walrus "hvalros" because one was seen some kilometers away from Skagen. After thinking about how best to get there, by train or hitchhiking, a much easier solution was found: we told our guests, Elin and Jens, who we have already taken to our hearts, about the walrus "hvalros". They were immediately enthusiastic and offered to take three of us with them, there was no more room in the car. But Robbe was confident, hitchhiking was an exciting alternative for the rest of us. For this morning, it was agreed that two of us would check the weather to see if the fog allowed a morning obs. Marion and I got up early and looked out the window. But we didn't see much because of the fog, only a few lights very close in the yard. This did not improve in the following hours. So for some of us, it was longer sleep, for others an earlier breakfast and meditate/ office work/ laundry. When everyone was out of bed, Robbe took part in an online university course, the highlight of which was when Marion came in and Robbe, with the microphone on, asked whether she had slept well. Meanwhile, Alice and I were in the attic sewing nets. Marion joined Robbe with work for the university for her master thesis and started to sort ringing data from Blåvand and Gedser. Robbe meanwhile also prepared a bird quiz for tomorrow, there should even be a prize, we are already curious. Sarah-Lou made a morning walk to the harbor and, despite the fog, she enjoyed the also somewhat eerie atmosphere on the coast. Then, she visited the Skagen Museum and was impressed by the paintings. Jens and Elin also biked in the morning to town and to the harbor, where they saw many Eiders "Ederfugle" and also Snow Buntings "Snespurv" and left the fish stores deterred by the high prices again.

At noon it was then really enough with the university work and the attic unfortunately was once again a little cold. But Marion made us pasta with delicious zucchini sauce. The plan was originally afterwards to drive with the guests to the place where the walrus "hvalros" was seen. But unfortunately, it turned out already in the morning that it had gone on the way again. Perhaps in the direction of Skagen? Hope dies last...

Nevertheless, we made a trip with Elin and Jens. They drove us to Råbjerg Mile and took Marion and me in the car, while Robbe and Alice confidently went hitchhiking. At the train station, we met Sarah-Lou, who also went with us to the moving sand dune. When we arrived there, Alice and Robbe were still walking and looking for a car to take them. Jens and Elin offered to pick them up as well, but the two were determined to make their plan work. So the five of us climbed the sandhills of Råbjerg Mile.

Walking_at_Rabjerg_Mile_resized.jpg

We saw Whooper Swans "Sangsvane", eight Cranes "Trane" flying over as well as three cute Snow Buntings "Snespurv" that were taking a bath.

Whooper_Swan_resized.jpeg

Finally, Robbe and Alice called, two Italians who had the same destination had kindly given them a ride. Now, we just had to find each other in the sand dunes but that worked out. So the group was happily reunited. Together we discovered two resting cranes, to which we also came reasonably close so that we could see them well through binoculars.

Trane_resized.jpeg

We were all satisfied with our trip, Jens, Elin, Marion, Sarah-Lou and I got back into the car comfortably, while Alice and Robbe had to look for a ride again. However, they did see Coal Tits "Sortmejse", Blue Tits "Blåmejse", Crested Tits "Topmejse", Goldcrests "Fuglekonge", Whopper Swans "Sangsvane", Buzzards "Musvåge" and Crossbills "Lille Kornsnæb" along the way, so it had been worth it.

And this time it didn't take so long until two drivers offered to give them a ride and even drove them to Det Grå Fyr. After the Evening Meeting, there was a real feast today, Elin and Jens had cooked for us and it was like in a Michelin Restaurant.

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There were several incredibly delicious courses and afterwards we were all full and satisfied. Then had an online meeting with Simon. Now, I´m sitting here, it´s quiet at the station, you can only hear the dishwasher, it´s late again with the blog. In this sense, good night, see you tomorrow!

Hanelie

People: Robbe Cool, Hanelie Sidhu, Alice Scalzo, Marion L'Huillier-Hunsinger, Elin and Jens Vrang, and Sarah-Lou.

A new seal friend !

mandag 7. marts 2022
af Alice Scalzo

Hello there !

Marrion, Hanelie and I left for Grenen early this morning.

Migration was quite slow on land and sea, but we appreciated the nice weather, we had a lot of sun and no wind.
When we arrived at the migration point we were surprised to see a seal (sæl) just a few meters away from the observation point, sleeping in the sun. He was surprised too but in the end stayed there a few hours next to us. Knud joined us after some time to help us count. Thanks to him we got to see a 3K Iceland Gull (Hvidvinget Måge).
 
gravelot
 
We also got the surprise to see the Common Ringed Plovers (stor præstekrave) again. This time we saw their courtship, and mating.
Then jørgen and Igor arrived.
Clouds coming from the West slowly came towards us, and visibility became quite bad on our last hour. When the lighthouse was no more visible, and the sea completely covered we decided to stop.
We came back to the station and met Robbe who had decided to stay and rest this morning.
 
foggy sea
 
Then Robbe and I left the station for groceries shopping and also to pick up Sarah-Lou at the station.
She will be with us until Wednesday, she is very interested in pictures and movies, so she was delighted to learn about the beautiful sunrises we get to see every morning.
We walked back to the lighthouse and got to see a few buzzards (Musvåge) on the way.
Meanwhile Hanelie and Marion had eaten and rested.
Then robbe and Sarah-Lou went on a walk so that she could discover the beautiful landscape with which we are surrounded.
She actually had quite a long day, she woke up at 6 o'clock because she had to take the bus early. After four hours of train she arrived at skagen where met her.
 
sunset
 
Elin and Jens, our guests for the week, managed to fix their bike problem in the morning. And in the afternoon they went for a walk up to Grennen and Nordstrand. They had the delight to see a few different bird species.
Sarah-Lou cooked for us a nice meal, vegetables and lentils, we are sure to enjoy it !

People : Knud Pedersen, Robbe Cool, Hanelie Sidhu, Jørgen Kabel & Igor, Alice Scalzo, Marion L'Huillier-Hunsinger, Elin and Jens Vrang, and Sarah-Lou.

Slow migration day with yummy meals to warm us up.

søndag 6. marts 2022
af Marion L'Huillier-Hunsinger

Hello everyone,

First I want to start this blog with very exciting news: Esben, Hanelie and I saw the northern lights while being out for night captures yesterday evening! They were faint but as it was our first time that did not limit our happiness. Forecasts predict that there might be some again today and maybe even brighter, so I advise all of you to have at least a quick look outside tonight, so you don’t miss them. After this nice sighting, we went to bed to then wake up to some amazing sunrise colours once again.

06 03 1

Today’s observation team consisted of Alice, Robbe and me. The wind was coming straight towards us, so it was quite chilly. Most of the birds did not seem to appreciate it much either as they were very few passing by, especially regarding sea migration. Even Northern Gannets (Sule) and Common Scoters (Sortand) were not present in many numbers or were just resting. The horizon was also pretty empty without the impressive flocks of Common Guillemots (Lomvie) and Razorbills (Alk). We did see more Whooper Swans (Sangsvane) than the previous day and so we might be seeing more from now on. Hopefully, the wind conditions will be better this coming week and we will get to see more individuals and species although it might mean having to be out on windier days. But this observation session was nonetheless enjoyable as we also were joined by other birders including Jørgen and Erik. We always enjoy having some company so if you ever see a couple of people with telescopes at Grenen in the morning don’t hesitate to come and say hello. One of the important birders that were also here this morning is already a famous representative of this blog who is capable of intensely staring at all birds passing by but also raising everyone’s mood. I am of course talking about Igor the beloved dog whose skills can be proved by the following photo.

06 03 2

As the migration was really slow apart from land migration, Alice and I ended up leaving a bit earlier while Robbe stayed until 11 am to finish the count with the locals. Once we were back, we started entering the observations on DOFbasen which you can check with the link below alongside records made by other local observers. We also cooked a mushroom risotto for lunch and decided to eat it outside to enjoy the sun and be ready in case a flock of raptors or other uncommon birds would appear. Hanelie and Esben could not join us for this meal as they were still busy planning the raptor GPS project for which we hope to share results in the coming weeks.

Observations of the day in DOFbasn from observers in the area

Sum of the Raptors in the area based on observations typed into Dofbasen the same day

With a full belly, all three of us felt quite sleepy and we enjoyed a chill afternoon. Then, we got the chance to meet our two new guests Elin and Jens Vrang. They are from Frederiksberg, Copenhagen, but actually drove from Funen today. They even saw a White-tailed Eagle (Havørn) on the way while we were waiting to see one in Skagen! They already stayed at the station last year and we are looking forwards to spending time with them throughout evening meetings and some dinners among other things.

Tonight, we are going to be planning the coming week, but we also want to go for a night walk in the hope of seeing the northern lights. And the dinner of the day was an Asian turn on couscous with broccoli and peanut butter sauce cooked by Robbe. And tomorrow we will see Knud again for part of the migration count.

We hope you are looking forward to the new week like we are and hopefully we will meet more of you in the coming days.

Marion

People : Esben E. Hansen, Robbe Cool, Hanelie Sidhu, Alice Scalzo, Marion L'Huillier-Hunsinger, Elin and Jens Vrang.

Observe, eat, clean, repeat

lørdag 5. marts 2022
af Robbe Cool

Dear birdwatchers,

As usual, Alice, Hanelie, and I woke up early again to be at Worlds end 3 before sunset. This was the first time for the team to count without Knud. But with all the training we got from him, we worked like a well-oiled machine with Hanelie and Alice focusing on the sea and me on the land. The day started again with big flocks of jackdaws “allike” but today the hooded crows “gråkrage” were present too with almost 1000 individuals migrating to Sweden. The weather was cloudier and colder than the previous days and that was clearly not appreciated by the siskins. As many siskins “Grønsisken” migrated northeast last week, they started to return today. After three hours, the migration stopped almost completely and we decided to call it a day. We took an alternative route to return to the station and visited the ringing spot where we will spend many hours next months.

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In the meantime, Marion had a relaxing start of her day. She helped us with entering the data and continued working on her Masterthesis. As lunch, we first had some tasty banana bread and then an alternative version of chili sin carne with salt chips which was actually much better than nachos. Thereafter, we replaced our birding skills with cleaning skills and made the lighthouse bright and shiny again. Everyone needed some rest after this intense week and we decided to have a chill afternoon. I took a nap and then went to my cameratrap to upload the videos. It was already evening when I arrived and many water rails “vandrikse” made their last calls of the day. I had no less than 450 videos in two days! Unfortunately, the wind pretended to be an animal and triggered the trap every minute.


When I came back at the station, Esben had arrived after working a whole day for the Raptor GPS project. Because he is still here, Marion and Hanelie could go nightcatching with him. They didn’t catch anything but a fake pigeon. We had a nice dinner prepared by Alice and prepared our plans for tomorrow.

Next week, it’s going to be the four of us most of the time because Simon went to Germany for a week. Luckily, we can welcome some new guests tomorrow and Monday, a (new) friend of mine is joining the team for three days. No day is dull here!

I hope you all had a lovely Saturday with better birding weather than we had.

Observations of the day in DOFbasn from observers in the area

Sum of the Raptors in the area based on observations typed into Dofbasen the same day

Robbe

People : Esben E. Hansen, Robbe Cool, Hanelie Sidhu, Marion L'Huillier-Hunsinger and Alice Scalzo

A colour-ringed Rock Pipit "Skærpiber" from Norway in our trap!

fredag 4. marts 2022
af Hanelie Sidhu

Good evening dear blog readers!

Now, there is finally some variety in the blog and other volunteers whose texts you can enjoy. But today it is my turn again to tell you about our adventures. Simon and Esben came yesterday in the late evening to the station, we were waiting for them after one after the other went to bed.

This morning, Marion and Robbe went to Grenen to the Morning Obs with Knud. Alice and I meanwhile stayed here and opened the nets in the lighthouse garden. We sacrificed a pack of our breakfast oats and pumpkin seeds to feed the birds at the nets. We also set our little trap with the worms on the beach again and used sound to attract the Rock Pipits "Skærpiber". Today we also prepared a bigger trap and hung worms in it, Esben helped us a bit. We also used sound on the nets but caught nothing. But when we checked the Pipit Trap for the second time, we were very excited: The trap was closed and a Rock Pipit "Skærpiber" was jumping around in it, it had eaten our two worms. It was already ringed, with a colour ring from Norway. We took it to the lab and called Simon, who came to take the measurements with Alice and explain how to age a Rock pipit. it was a 3K+ bird. Afterwards there was a photo session before I released the little guy.

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The morning brought no more birds and at 11 o´clock,  Alice and I closed the nets and took the traps back to the lab. Afterwards the lab was swept and soon Marion and Robbe arrived from Grenen. Their highlights were the Glaucous Gull "Gråmåge" and some Cranes "Trane" in the distance. And again, the Snow Buntings "Snespurv" pleased our observers.

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The weather was good and today also Marion got the chance to meet Jørgen and Igor.  When we went upstairs to the station, we planned the afternoon with Simon, because there was still a lot planned for today. We had lunch together and soon Esben, Simon, and Alice left to prepare practical work for the Raptor GPS project. This is a project to find out more about the offshore migration of raptors to Norway and Sweden.

However, the three had to set off twice, the second time Marion came with them as well. But that was not so bad, because so they could buy a few things and Simon could drive Robbe and me in the afternoon to the parking lot at Nordstrand. Karin also came with us, because her stay in Skagen was now finally over and Simon drove her afterwards to the train station from where the journey now goes back to Germany. Robbe and I met Knud at the parking lot and went to the Cormorant Lake to cut reeds. At the lake, we put on the waders and went into the lake with the hedge cutters. It almost seemed as if we had already practised this scene in a light version yesterday on our wet walk back to the station. And again I was the one who stayed with dry feed, yesterday because I was the only one wearing rubber boots, today because Robbes waders had a hole in them. So I waded to the deeper parts of the lake to cut the reeds, while Robbe stayed rather in the shallower water and did the work there. Knud cheered us on from the edge of the lake and directed us where to cut.

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Foto: Knud Pedersen

Now you all have a great view of the lake again and soon hopefully many breeding cormorants. After all the reeds were cut we went for a short walk where Knud showed us the whole lake and explained how the land changes and also how the lake was formed. He took us back to the lighthouse but the others were not there yet. After some time Simon, Esben, Alice, and Marion came back, who were on the way for the Raptor GPS project and did some shopping for us. We had quite a long evening meeting today and then we had super delicious vegetarian nutchos that Marion had cooked for us today.

Today’s observations in Dofbasen from observers in the area

Sum of the Raptors in the area based on observations typed into Dofbasen the same day

From the oven, it smells just besides delicious after banana bread, which Esben makes for us.  With this delicious smell in the nose, we´re now slowly going to bed, see you tomorrow!

Hanelie

People: Esben E. Hansen, Simon S. Christiansen, Knud Pedersen, Robbe Cool, Hanelie Sidhu, Marion L'Huillier-Hunsinger,  Alice Scalzo and Karin

Migration count and two birds ringed

torsdag 3. marts 2022
af Alice Scalzo

Hi there !

Our day started early this morning when Robbe and I went to Grennen to participate in the bird census. We meet Knud there, he had already arrived and began counting. The sky was clear and we could once again appreciate the beautiful sunrise before us, but the wind was stronger and quite chilly.
On the beach was an European Oystercatcher (Strandskade) and quite a few seagulls. A lot of Jackdaws (Allike) passed by.
We spent our morning there and had the chance to observe a Hen Harrier (Blå Kærhøg), a Common Buzzard (Musvåge) and a Black guillemot (Tejst).
We also had the chance to meet Jørgen and Igor his dog.
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Meanwhile Hanelie and Marion put up the nets in the garden, hoping to ring a few passerines passing by. They left some seed and installed the microphones with bird calls.
They caught 2 Yellowhamers (Gulspurv) the first round, and later on a Great Tit (Musvit) together with Simon. One yellowhammer was a recapture, so they ringed the two remaining birds. They also installed the traps on the beach to get a Eurasian Rock Pipit (Skærpiber), three approached the trap but unfortunately none went in.
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When they were finished, Simon showed them the night recordings. And Hanelie did the raptor summary.
 
Then we all met back home and began entering the ringing data with Simon's help.
Simon had then to leave, he will return tonight or tomorrow morning with Esben E. Hansen, former volunteer at the station.
We ate yesterday's leftovers for lunch.
In the afternoon Robbe, Hanelie and I took the bicycles to go to skagen and buy some batteries to install the camera trap.
We got to see a Glaucous Gull (Gråmåge) on the way, and a rather big flock of Common Eiders (Eiderfugl) resting in the harbour's waters.
We found a nice spot to install the camera and clean the place so we could get nice videos out of it. We also put an apple and peanut butter, hoping it will attract a few animals.
And then we headed back to the lighthouse. We decided to take the shortest path, but we ended up in a flooded area and continued by foot pushing our bikes through nearly knee deep water. It was quite the adventure ! But the landscape was really beautiful and filled with colours as the sun was setting. We got to see 2 Common Cranes (Trane).
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When we got back Hanelie made dinner.
We ate a really good Bolognese sauce with lentils and pasta.
Today Karin when to Skagen to the Teddy Bear museum, and she cycled to the moving dune and came back.
 
We will now also be posting on social media and you can go check the first Facebook posts on the account “Skagen Fuglestation”.
 
Ringing (Fyrhaven):
Yellowhammer : 1
Great tit : 1
Total : 2

People : Simon S. Christiansen, Robbe Cool, Hanelie Sidhu, Knud Pedersen, Marion L'Huillier-Hunsinger, Alice Scalzo, and Karin.

An exciting ringing at Fyrhaven and living birds observations.

onsdag 2. marts 2022
af Marion L'Huillier-Hunsinger

Hello fellow birders and bird enthusiasts,

I hope some of you had the chance to catch the lovely sunrise this morning and enjoyed the clear sky and sunny weather. From our side, we were already on our way to Grenen and during our walk there we got to admire the sky painting in bright colors and the sun slowly rising. This morning was particularly nice to go bird watching as there was very limited wind and the warmth of the sun. It was under these nice conditions that Alice, Robbe and I met Knud for the first time during our walk and we all settled down with our telescopes ready to observe the daily migration.

02 03 1

For any of you that have the time, the next two days should hopefully also be sunny with very little wind so it could be a nice opportunity to watch the sunrise. From the beginning, all of us appreciated the golden lighting turning some of the majestic birds into silhouettes carved out in the sky. Knud explained to us how we count and record these numerous birds and spread out the task. The observations then started with all five of us ready. We especially appreciated seeing all these birds flying past after seeing so many dead ones yesterday. For some of us, we had our first sightings of some sea birds, for others it was a chance to see more individuals than they had in the past.

02 03 2

Some of the species that granted us the pleasure of their presence today include numerous Common Eiders (Edderfugl), Northern Gannets (Sule), Common Scoters (Sortand). In lesser numbers, but nevertheless, interesting sightings, included Eurasian Wigeons (Pibeand) and Light-Bellied Brent Geese (Lysbuget Knortegås). The highlights was a young Iceland Gull (Hvidvinget måge) and a Shag (Topskarv). The latter quite far away though, migrating out of Kattegat. On the other hand, we are still waiting to see our first living Atlantic Puffin (Lunde). This session was also truly useful to get used to the species commonly seen at this time of year and the communication within the group as well as Knud's expertise promoted a great learning experience.

Today's observations in Dofbasen from observers in the area

From now on, we will also summarize all the raptor observations made in Skagen the previous day and add the link to that summary. Today's summary is very short as only one observation was entered.

Sum of the Raptors in the area based on observations typed into Dofbasen the same day

02 03 6

When we came back to Skagen Bird Station, we got to enjoy a fresh and yummy meal to refuel our bodies. This food was offered to us by lovely people who met up yesterday at the station to have a discussion session around the theme of the sea. Their goal was to raise questions and give their opinions on what the sea inspires them on a poetic level but also the economic and ecological aspects that come with it. We had the chance to get introduced to some of them while unknowingly attempting to catch mice as mentioned in yesterday's blog by Robbe. Around this meal, we also learn more about each other and the joyful atmosphere in these moments shows great promise for the future and the team cohesion.

02 03 3

For a short digestive walk, Hanelie, Alice and Robbe climbed up the lighthouse to see the view from the top. Later on, we tried to capture some European Rock Pipits (Skærpiber) using traps and audio recordings on the beach. We had previously spotted individuals with rings and were hopeful to trap one of these. As soon as the trap was in place and the call was playing, a ringed individual approached it! Unfortunately, dogs and people enjoying a nice walk passing by scared it away a couple of times. In the end, even with no distractions, it got close to the trap again but did not end up going in. So, this mission is postponed to another day so look out for future updates on it.

02 03 7

Meanwhile, Simon also had multiple meetings, one of which was around the idea of ??building an educational platform around birds. While this project is still far away, you should keep an eye out for it as it could be a great tool and more accessible than regular written guides. He also got his car back thanks to Rie Voertmann again who gave him a lift. He will then be off to Aalborg tomorrow. Karin discovered more of Skagen today and enjoyed a visit to the art museum which she has now recommended to all of us.

Afterwards, Simon introduced us to multiple guidelines and in particular the ones used to conduct night recordings. He then went to place a recorder outside, in Skagen, which will record sounds from 18:30 to 6:30 in the hope of hearing some special or rare birds. To this night-time activity, we added night captures. For this, we use audio recordings and nets as well as thermal binoculars to locate and capture species that can otherwise be very cryptic and discrete. While birds were quite absent tonight, we saw a couple of deer. Cloudy conditions might help for the next time.

However, even before we did these night captures, we got a really exciting capture at the station: a Gray Partridge (Agerhøne)! After yesterday's failed attempt and subsequent time spent chasing mice, a partridge granted us to pleasure to fall into the trap we had set up. Simon was the one who found it and then invited us to the lab to ring the first individual of this species by Skagen Fuglestation. Hanelie was in charge of putting the steel ring on the bird and managed to do it perfectly. After that, we spent quite a while trying to figure out the age and sex of this individual. We established it was a young 2k partridge, but we could not determine the sex. Luckily, we had the time to take photos of the different elements that can help sexing which include: primary feather and primary covers, the belly area, and the head. We will further investigate these photos to determine the sex and keep you updated if we manage to reach a conclusion. Alice then released the bird which ran away in its characteristic, and quite funny, walking style.

02 03 5

It is quite likely that this partridge alongside numerous others was released last July by a local hunter close to Grenen Camping. But this does not take away from the fact that it is a beautiful bird and we hope to ring more in the future.

02 03 8

One new addition we thought could be nice is to add the meals we make in the evening as we all have different cooking skills and recipes.

Dinner of the day: Volcano, for the recipe contact chef Robbe

02 03 4

We will now also be posting on social media and you can go check the first Facebook post on the account “Skagen Fuglestation”.

Tomorrow, you will discover Alice's first blog which will give all the interesting details on the observations at Grenen but also information on any bird we might catch and ring tomorrow at the station's garden.

Ringing (Fyrhaven):

Partridge: 1

Total: 1

 

People: Alice Scalzo, Robbe Cool, Simon S. Christiansen, Hanelie Sidhu, Knud Pedersen, Marion L´Huillier-Hunsinger and Karin.


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