Hej allesammen!

Prescillia og jeg åbnede net idag, dog noget senere end normalt pga. vind og vand, så første runde var lidt i 10. Især de første runder var stille, men senere kom der lidt flere fugle, blandt andet 19 blåmejser som næsten stod for halvdelen af totalen idag på 40 fugle mærket. De var dog fordelt på mange fine arter, blandt andet Grønsisken, Sjagger, Jernspurv, en flot gammel han Gulspurv, og de søde Dompapper:) Derudover fløj der også Bjergpiber og Stor Korsnæb over os, samt 4 Landsvaler! det er ved at være meget sent for dem.

Dompap

Dianna og Alessandro kom også forbi ringmærkningen og kiggede lidt med før de tog ud for at se Råbjerg Mile med Aksel og hans kæreste.

Aksel gjorde om eftermiddagen et forsøg på at fange Skærpibere ved stranden, dog uden held, efter tog jeg og Aksel ind for at købe ind da jeg manglede en del ting til aftensmad, Dianna og Alessandro var ude og spise, så det var kun Prescillia, Aksel og jeg der var hjemme til chilli sin carne som jeg har lavede, og senere er der æbletærte fra Aksel´s familie;)

Knud og Jørgen var på morgenobs, og havde også nogle fine arter, blandt andet en Sodfarvet Skråpe og en Islom

Ringmærkning kabeltromlen:

Gærdesmutte 3

Rødhals 2

Jernspurv 2

Grønsisken 1

Blåmejse 19

Munk 2

Dompap 2

Rørspurv 1

Bogfinke 2

Musvit 2

Gulspurv 1

Solsort 2

Sjagger 1

Total 40

Observationer fra idag kan ses her

Folk på stationen: Aksel Y. Munkholm, Louis Kristoffer Poulsen, Diana Sciandra, Prescillia Lemesle, Simon Christiansen, Alessandro, Knud Pedersen og Jørgen Hulbæk

Today, Diana and I went to open the nets at Kabeltromel after several days of closure due to rain. It was a real pleasure to go back to the ringing with Simon and Lisa and then join Louis despite the morning punctuated with lightning and showers which still allowed us to see two beautiful rainbows.

Today, as usual, captures of blue tits (Blåmejse), wrens (Gærdesmutte), turdidae (Songtrush -Sangdrossel-, Redwing -Vindrossel- and Blackbird -Solsort-) but especially a lot of recaptures (13 in total) of which an adult songtrush -Sangdrossel- coming from the Netherlands! This species is common in Denmark but also in our nets! In migration, the populations of the North of Scandinavia cross Denmark to join their winter quarters.

Other nice capture of the day: two goldfinches - stillits-, a male and a female in the nets (a thought for Hanelie who appreciated them so much!), always a pleasure to see their reddish heads and their yellowish feathers.

In the morning, Aksel and his family came to the station to learn more about Aksel's daily life as a volunteer, the banding, the captured species... They have the right to an exclusive visit by Aksel! Between two tours and two showers, we also observed the second year Iceland gull from World End I, a first for the volunteers!

Photo courtesy of d'Erik Christophersens (Erik Christophersens fotoblog)

On his side, our guest Jørgen Hulbæk was in Grenen with Knud for the counting of seabirds with from the first minutes a little gull, then regular passages of razorbills and also the arrival of swifts.

At Jennes Sø, Michael Anchers accompanied by Simon, Frede Jakobsen, Poul Jenne and Annelise Jensen, had a nice capture: an Arctic Redpoll in the nets!

This afternoon, Diana joined her boyfriend who came to visit her for his birthday and discover Skagen, with a visit of the harbor and a walk at the tips. Louis also enjoyed an afternoon with his family. On my side, after a small tour in town, we are progressively preparing the transition to winter at the station: cleaning the bikes, tidying up and feeding the birds in the garden for the ringing sessions to come!

People at the station: Knud Pedersen, Diana Sciandra, Prescillia Lemesle, Simon Christiansen, Lisa Vergin, Michael Anchers, Frede Jakobsen, Poul Jenne, Annelise Jensen and our guest Jørgen Hulbæk

Today’s observations in the area on DOFBasen

Ringing at Kabeltromle:

Vindrossel 1

Munk 1

Lille Dompap 1

Blåmejse 7

Gærdesmutte 6

Rørspurv 1

Rødhals 4

Stillits 2

Fuglekonge 1

Solsort 5

Sangdrossel: 1

Total: 30

Ringing at Jennes Sø:

Gærdesmutte 4

Gransanger 1

Blåmejse 1

Nordlig Gråsisken 13

Lille Gråsisken 13

Total: 32

Sikke et blæsevejr der har været de sidste på dage og i dag var ikke en undtagelse. Det resulterede i en inde-dag for flere af os frivillige på stationen, som ikke havde modet til at bevæge os ud i det ustadige vejr.

Louis, Jørgen og Knud trodsede dog vind og vejr og stod for morgenobsen fra nordstranden, hvor der var mulighed for at finde en lille smule læ. Det var ikke en specielt travl morgen, men dog med et enkelt højdepunkter. En islom rastede ikke langt fra stranden, hvilket gav god mulighed for at nærstudere den store lom, som normalt blot flyver hurtigt forbi. Derudover fik Louis også fedet snespurvene op. Ikke med det formål at fede dem op, så de bliver klar til jul, men for at tilvænne dem til vores tilstedeværelse, så vi senere kan fange dem i nogle af vores nylavede fælder. Derudover var der en god variation af gæs som kom forbi obsen i dag. Her kan nævnes: Tajgasædgås, grågås, kortnæbet gås og canadagås.

Rastende islom

Hjemme på stationen blev dagen brugt på rengøring af stationen samt praktiske opgaver. Derudover brugte Diana dagen på at male fugle, hvilket hun jo egentlig er ret god til. Sidst på eftermiddagen havde vi fornøjelsen af Prescillias fremlæggelse omkring identifikation af måger. Et virkelig godt overblik over de forskellige måger som kan ses her i Skagen på obsen og hvordan man kan kende forskel imellem både arter og alder.

Hvis der er nogle lokale, som læser med her på bloggen, der har nogle nedfaldsæbler tilovers, så modtager vi dem med glæde, da vi mangler noget fodder til fuglene her til vinter.

Dagens observationer kan ses her

Folk på stationen: Aksel Y. Munkholm, Louis Kristoffer Poulsen, Diana Sciandra, Prescillia Lemesle, Simon Christiansen, Knud Pedersen og Jørgen Hulbæk

Hej allesammen!

Idag var der ingen ringmærkning pga. for meget blæst, så den stod i stedet på havobs efter regnen. Aksel tog ud til nordstrand for at obse med Knud og Jørgen, som lige havde haft en Islom tæt på kysten før Aksel kom, det kunne dog hjælpe på det da der senere kom en Almindelig Kjove fint tæt på kysten, der var også lidt gang i Lomvierne idag som blandede sig med alkene, så der var god mulighed for at sammenligne de to arter, derudover så de en flok på 60 Snespurve som i lang tid gik og spiste de frø som Dianna havde lagt ud til dem.
Jeg, Diana og Prescilla gik også ud for at se efter havtræk lidt længere nede ad stranden ved fyret, lidt Suler og Rider trak, dog lidt langt ude mange af dem med de store skibe som baggrund, selvom man ellers måske skulle tro at vinden pressede dem mod kysten, men ikke idag. Én enkelt Havlit fløj forbi, men ellers var der ikke meget træk, Men der lå dog en Nordisk Lappedykker ret tæt på kysten som dog var lidt svær at se pga. de høje bølger, så heller ingen fotos af den, men den er også altid fed at se:)

Efter frokost gik Aksel ud en tur, mens Jeg og Jørgen hver for sig prøvede på at finde den Brilleand som blev fundet nord for grenen tidligere på dage, lyset var dog meget mørkt og blandet med de høje bølger det ikke de bedste forhold, og der var desværre heller ikke nogen af os der så den, men mon ikke vi vil prøve igen senere:)

Der kigges efter Brilleand:)

Observationer fra idag kan ses her

Folk på stationen: Aksel Y. Munkholm, Louis Kristoffer Poulsen, Diana Sciandra, Prescillia Lemesle, Simon Christiansen, Knud Pedersen og Jørgen Hulbæk

Hello!

I am writing this blog with the belly really happy: Lisa just brought us a wonderful cake (made by Simon’s mum) and we still have the Halloween cake that me and Prescillia did yesterday. This morning me and Aksel woke up, ready to go to Kabeltromlen to open the nets but the radar was clearly against our wills so we stayed home. I worked all the morning at the computer to check some things for the station, while Aksel was working at his computer too. He also took pictures of the bill of the Puffin (Londe) we found dead yesterday night. Looking at the beak and taking measurements is the best way to assess a precise age to this species. In the morning Simon and Prescillia checked some ringing sheets from the past days. When I finished part of the work on the computer I went out to take a walk to Ellekrattet area and it was really nice to stay outside: 18 Whooper Swans (Sangsvane) passed really low, above my head (picture below, took with my mobile phone) and I enjoyed looking at some Waxwings (Silkehale) staying around.

Aksel went to Cormorant Lake and while he was going he saw 5 Great Egret (Sølvhejre). He also saw up to 5 Pallid swifts together with Alek Sand Frich, which took really beautiful pictures and was also really kind because brought Aksel back to the Lighthouse before the rain came.

Our guest Jørgen went to North Beach at the beginning of the morning but the weather was really bad and Knud wasn’t there so he decided to go to Grenen, where he observed some divers roosting. At World End 1 with Alek Sand Frich and Rolf Christenses he saw one of the Red-rumped swallow.

When all of us were back home we decided to go to see the Red-rumped swallows (Rødrygget Svale) and also Jørgen joined. We observed them very close, at the North Beach Parking and Simon was excited because he never saw this species here in autumn! 

In the late afternoon we looked all together, while eating cake, through some pictures we took in the past days of some birds we ringed and we studied again with Simon and Lisa the best things to look at for the most tricky species we use to catch in this period of the year. 

We can't wait to practice what we learnt! 

Dagens observationer kan ses her

Nocturnal recording of the night between 13th October and 14th October

People at the station: Knud Pedersen, Aksel Y. Munkholm, Diana Sciandra, Prescillia Lemesle, Simon Christiansen, Lisa Vergin and our guest Jørgen Hulbæk

Hello everyone,

This morning I went to open the nets with Aksel in Kabeltromle but only a part of it because of the wind. Only 7 birds were caught and 1 recapture including one brambling - Kvækerfinke-, and the traditional species like bullfinch – Dompap - , Goldcrest – Fuglekonge - . But the birds deserted the nets to leave the place to many ... leaves! A nightmare removed from the net despite their beautiful fall colors.

Nets full of ... leaves!

After closing, we went to Buttervej near where we spotted the Pallas’s Leaf Warbler – Fuglekongesanger - to make some observations, nothing special but always nice to see the birds in their environment and not always in hand.

Meanwhile, Diana and our guest went with the traps for snow buntings, which are Diana's dream! Unfortunately, no success but Diana, Jørgen Hulbæk and Knud did nice observations of Ping-footed geese (Kortnæbbet Gås), whooper swams (Sangsvane), red-breasted mergansers (Toppet skallesluger), Canada geese (Canadagås) and a red-throated diver (Rødstrubet lom) very close!

Ping-footed geese (Kortnæbbet Gås)

Simon also had a meeting in the morning to discuss activities for the Bird Festival next year.

At the end of the morning, Diana, Aksel, Simon and I had a meeting to plan the month to come, new volunteers, next guests, upcoming field activities (exciting things and captures are coming, I am excited!) but also to plan the end of the season which is coming soon...

This afternoon, operation shopping with Aksel but also purchase of a new backpack for me, it was time! Diana checked some data with Simon.

Aksel and Diana did a little night walk for night captures but without success. Now, to warm up the heart but also to celebrate Halloween, we prepared a Halloween cake (with chocolate of course!). Like you can see, we are better to eat the cake than to make it!

Ringing at kabeltromle:

Gærdesmutte: 1

Gråsisken, stor: 1

Dompap Lille: 1

Kvækerfinke: 1

Vindrossel: 1

Songdrossel: 1

Solsort: 1

Total: 7

People at the station: Knud Pedersen, Aksel Y. Munkholm, Diana Sciandra, Prescillia Lemesle, Simon Christiansen, and our guest Jørgen Hulbæk

Today’s observations in the area on DOFBasen

Hej alle sammen

Det føles jo næsten som sommer heroppe i Skagen lige for tiden med 15 grader, ingen vind og høj sol, hvilket bestemt også har været højdepunktet i dag. Der har godt nok været stille på fuglefronten både ved kabeltromlen og verdens ende 3. I dag stod Knud og Jørgen for morgenobsen, mens Diana, Prescillia, Oluf og jeg ringmærkede ved kabeltromlen.

Det gode vejr har jo bragt nogle sjove arter til Skagen i de seneste dage, så man kunne jo håbe at der også kunne dukke noget sjovt op i nettene ved kabeltromlen. Allerede ved net åbningen virkede det dog stille og uden synderlig bevægelse i krattene, og det endte også med at være en være en rigtig stille dag, med kun 23 ringmærkede fugle, hvoraf højdepunktet var 3 skægmejser.

_{Et forsøg på et spotte de rødrygget svaler over skarvsøgen.}

Også på morgenobsen var Knud og Jørgen heller ikke travlt beskæftiget. Udover nogle exnkelte flokke af kortnæbede gæs og en ung havterne, så var der ikke meget bevægelse over vandet i dag. Knud og Jørgen begav sig derfor i gang med en af ornitologiens mindre ophidsende discipliner, nemlig at nørde måger. Det lykkedes dem her at finde 2 kaspiske måger imellem de mere end 1500 måger som rastede på stranden.

Derudover gik resten af dagen for stationens frivillige med gåture rundt i området, mens Jørgen var en tur på havnen for at inspicere mågerne.

Dagens observationer kan ses her

Ringmærket ved kabeltromlen:

Vindrossel 2
Musvit 1
Munk 2
Dompap 6
Blåmejse 1
Gærdesmutte 3
Skægmejse 3
Rødhals 2
Fuglekonge 3

Totals: 23

Folk på stationen: Olof Lou, Knud Pedersen, Aksel Y. Munkholm, Diana Sciandra, Prescillia Lemesle og vores gæst Jørgen Hulbæk

Hi everyone,

The weather today was rather mild and provided good enough observation conditions that the team at World End 3, although having a slow morning, had the surprise to see two little auks Søkonge coming from inland above their head ! And by « team », I meant everybody except Aksel, whose persistent lack of luck made little auks his new nemesis. It didn’t prevent him to see the first of his three new species today – the slavonian grebe Nordisk Lappedykker.

Soon after he was called to the Kabetromlen by the ringing team for his second new species of the day : a firecrest Rødtoppet Fuglekonge ! It was quite a surprise as this is the station’s 4th ever individual, the last one being caught in 2020. It cheered up the ringing team that also had a slow morning, apart from the first and last round which each brought up a third of all individuals caught today. A few people visited during the morning and we made the kids release some birds ; it’s always nice to see them approaching birds and being amazed by such small feathery creatures.

What about the third species, you may ask ? After lunch, Aksel and Louis, soon joined by Diana, Prescillia and our guest, went out to try and find the Pallas’s warbler Fuglekongesanger announced on Zello sooner in the morning. Much to their delight, the sharp eye of Louis had soon caught the precious little warbler. This is one of the smallest palearctic warbler, breeding at high altitudes (up to 4000m !) between Himalayas, Altai and northern China. It is highly migratory and winters in southern China, India and Indochina ; but in recent decades, increasing number have been found accidentally in Europe, « regularly » in Denmark since 1980s.

Picture courtesy of Erik Christophersen.

In the meantime, I was at home entering the data and preparing for my presentation, which I (finally !) gave at the end of the day before we all took off for a beer in town ; it was then time for me to leave for my next adventure. I feel very lucky for all precious moments spent with my amazing colleagues, and grateful for everything I’ve learned, but mostly for the lovely people I’ve met for a short or longer time, and that made my stay unforgettable. Thank you all, and take care !

People at the station : Solenn Boucher, Olof Lou, Knud Pedersen, Aksel Y. Munkholm, Louis Kristoffer Poulsen, Diana Sciandra, Prescillia Lemesle and our guest Jørgen Hulbæk

Today’s observations in the area on DOFBasen

Ringing (Kabeltromlen) :
Gærdesmutte : 6
Rødhals : 3
Solsort : 1
Munk : 4
Gransanger : 1
Fuglekonge : 2
Rødtoppet Fuglekonge : 1
Blåmejse : 8
Nordlig Træløber : 1
Bogfinke : 3
Lille Dompap : 1
Gulspurv : 1
Rørspurv : 1

Total : 34

Hello everyone!

Today me and Aksel opened the nets: not all of them because it was quite windy. Prescillia and Olof joined us and we caught some birds (36 in total). Amongst the recaptures (5 in total) there was a Lesser Whitethroat (Gærdesanger) which was ringed in Kabeltromlen in May 2022; we caught the same individual also in September and October. It seems really loving the area (it has also very high levels of fat) and it is really unusual to catch that species at the end of October here.

Fieldfare (Sjagger)

Yesterday we received an answer for another “recapture”: a Great Black Backed Gull (Svartbag, picture below) with ring read some days ago (20 October 2022) was ringed in UK in 2011.

The ringing was still fun today, despite the low number of birds ringed, because there were a lot of birdwatchers in the area: two really interesting species, Pallid Swift (Gråsejler, picture below by Erik Christophersens) and Red-rumped swallow (Rødryggede svale), came really close to our ringing point. It is really amazing for me to see those species in Denmark! In Italy the Pallid Swift (Gråsejler) breeds in my city, so it is really easy to see them but I enjoyed a lot to see them in those days and to see the excitement that they cause to the birdwatchers here.

In the morning Louis was observing with Knud at Grenen: they saw a Yellow-Billed Loon (Hvidnæbbet Lom) and a Great Northern Diver (Islom) and also some Caspian Gulls (Kaspisk Måge). In the afternoon he went again to see the two Red-rumped swallows (Rødryggede svale) close to Grenen. Aksel went to the shop with Jørgen by car and they took a good look to the gulls in the harbor; they had the chance to read many coloured rings! Meanwhile, me and Prescillia worked at home and she started cleaning the house. Later, me and Aksel cooked together the dinner and we had the pleasure to have Jørgen eating with us.

Ringing (Kabeltromlen):

Fuglekonge: 2

Gærdesmutte: 3

Gråsisken: 1

Gråsisken Lille: 4

Gråsisken Stor: 1

Rødhals: 2

Dompap: 4

Dompap Lille: 5

Dompap Stor: 1

Munk: 1

Rørspurv: 3

Blåmejse: 4

Sjagger: 1

Vindrossel: 3

Solsort: 1

Total: 36

Dagens observationer kan ses her.

Folk på stationen: Olof Lou, Knud Pedersen, Aksel Y. Munkholm, Louis Kristoffer Poulsen, Diana Sciandra, Prescillia Lemesle and our guest Jørgen Hulbæk.

Hej allesammen!

Idag var der ingen ringmærkning pga. manglende ringmærker, så alle var på havobs idag, Prescillia, Knud og jeg startede og senere kom Dianna og Aksel også derud.

Der var meget få fugle over havet, men det hjalp da på det da der blev fundet 1-2 sejlere inde over land, sansynligvis Gråsejlere, som senere også kom helt ud og vende over os ved spidsen, derudover én Søkonge som nok gik til rast på havet, og sidst men ikke mindst kom der lige pludselig ud af det blå, eller grå var det faktisk, 2 storlommer højt oppe, tæt på kysten, én Hvidnæbbet Lom og én Islom, sammen! Meget pædagogisk, og fedt at kunne sammenligne dem så godt.

Hvidnæbbet Lom (Øverst)  -  Islom (Nederst)

Efter obs gik fortsatte Dianna og Aksel lidt op ad stranden mens vi andre gik hjem, hvor de så endnu en Hvidnæbbet Lom.

Efter frokost og dataindtastning tog jeg ud til skarvsøen hvor der blev set 2 sejlere, også sansyngligvis Gråsejlere, og de lå så fint og svævede rundt lige over hovedet på os!

Gråsejler?

Kort efter blev der meldt om en Rødrygget svale fra grenen, vi stod en lille flok ude ved skarvsøen som håbede at den ville komme denne vej, og det gjorde den sørme, den lå sammen med et par Landsvaler over søen, dog lidt højt oppe, og med det meget overskyede vejr og derfor minimum af lys var det meget svært at finde den blandt de andre svaler, men det lykkedes da at få et par billeder af den. Aksel og Dianna kom også herud og fik også set både svale og sejlere.

Rødrygget Svale

Dagens observationer kan ses her

Folk på stationen: Aksel Y. Munkholm, Louis Kristoffer Poulsen, Diana Sciandra, Prescillia Lemesle, Knud Pedersen og vores gæster Aase og Lars Peter