I woke up late today. After days of minimal sleep and 3am starts, my body needed an extra few hours to correct itself. No birding was done in the morning, and instead Kalina and I focused on the admin work that needed doing. Simon then invited us to go twitching with him to see the Steppe Stor Tornskade.

Our journey to Hirtshals started at the same time as yesterday; 3pm. Simon drove Kalina and I from the station to once again try for the Steppe Stor Tornskade (Steppe Great Grey Shrike). Without detouring to see a Havørn (White-tailed Eagle) nest this time, we arrived about ten minutes ahead of our time yesterday. Those ten minutes appeared to be crucial to being able to see the bird, because not long after that the bird disappeared again behind some bushes and wasn't seen for a while. In those ten minutes, many observers got very nice views of the bird. Simon determined that it was in moult and was potentially likely to stay for an extended period.

We didn't spend as long in Hirtshals this time, considering we got to see the bird. When we got back to the station, Simon and I just focused on cheaking the ringing logs from the previous months and Kalina took a walk, and cooked dinner.

Skagen People: Seán Walsh, Kalina Siwek, Simon S. Christiansen, Jesper & Margrit

A link to today's observations from volunteers and local observers.

Today,  we began the day at 3.30 am. By 4:15, Sean and I met with Knud Pedersen at Grenen to begin the morning count. We spent about 3 hours counting migrant and resident birds. We saw arctic skuas, arctic and common terns, scoters, cormorants, gannets, a kestrel on land and two rare caspian terns. By 7.00 am a fog came in and we headed down the beach to look at roosting terns and gulls and read and record their color rings to report later. We went back to the lighthouse at 10:00 am. Sean and Simon worked on recording data from the previous weeks’ ringing.

At around 15:00 Simon, Sean and I were taken by Oluf Lou to Hirtshals to look for a stepped great shrike. It is a rare sighting and it was recorded in Hirtshals that morning. We only got a glimpse of it before it flew away. Much to Simon's dismay, the bird had disappeared while he was still taking out his optics. We spent more than two hours there, looking for the shrike on behalf of Simon, but it started raining and the search was unsuccessful. We were back at the lighthouse for 18:30. The volunteers had a meeting with Simon to debrief and make a plan for the following day.

A link to today's observations from volunteers and local observers.

Skagen People: Sean Walsh, Kalina Siwek, Simon S. Christiansen, Jesper & Margrit 

I left the station this morning early to do a morning count at Grenen. Leaving at 03:45, 45 minutes before sunrise, I thought that I might be spared of the mosqitoes. Even normally they're not usually present right outside the door all the way to the beach. My brief, 20 minute walk led to many bites and much discomfort during a usually comfortable walk/cycle.

I spent the next 4 and a bit hours standing almost in the one spot at World's End 3, Grenen. There was little wind and the sunrise made for a beautiful morning. Of course, it also made for some difficult birding. The main roost at that time was mostly sat directly in front of the sunrise. While I could mostly discern species from species by size and some colour, the silhouettes of birds made identification of one particular problem gull an issue. In the end I decided to leave it, assuming it to be the more common option, Ride (Black-legged Kittiwake). Aside from my difficulties with this bird, there was some nice migratory passage of other birds; 1 Hjejle (Golden Plover), 1 Gravand (Shelduck) and 1 Tinksmed (Wood Sandpiper). These three birds were new for me in Denmark. As I left, I also came across a 'flock' of sorts of young Kestrels who didn't seem very wary of me.

Aside from birding, Simon and I welcomed the new guests next door into our routine with the daily meeting and shared some of the delicious cake they brought. Later in the evening a new volunteer Kalina, also from Galway, joined me so I'm not alone working at the station anymore for the time being. 

Link to todays observations from observers in the area

People: Seán Walsh, Kalina Siwek, Simon S. Christiansen and our guests Jesper & Margit. 

Today we said goodbye to the guests of the past week, Lars and Janne. It was nice to have them around and I enjoyed going birdwatching and ringing with them both.

Around the afternoon at peak heat, I decided to brave the unrelenting sun to go birdwatching at Grenen. Not to anyone's surprise, there were no birds to speak of to be seen on the beach or sea at that time of day. That's not to say there weren't interesting birds seen earlier in the day, though. There was some nice wader passage and some raptors seen.

I didn't do much all day except some weekly cleaning, greeting the new guests and cooking myself dinner.

You can find a list of today's observations here.

Skagen Fuglestation: Seán Walsh.

The day started with Lars and I getting up at 4am to go roostcounting at Grenen, and the sighting of a Storkjove (Great Skua) flying along the waves. Today there was also lots of Almindelig Kjove (Arctic Skuas) both migrating west and being a menace to the local gulls and terns. Continuing our exploration, we came across a group of Rødrygget Tornskade (Red-backed Shrike) foraging and calling amidst the shrubs. One of these birds was ringed, although we couldn't make the number out the bird appeared to be ringed by Skagen Fuglestation. 

We returned home after a few hours to rest and eat (many thanks to Lars and Janne for lunch), and later went to Flagbakken to count raptors. We were blessed with a (distant) sighting of a Havørn (White-tailed Eagle) and many Hvepsevåge and Musvåge. Lars and I were also delighted to have spotted and heard some Kernebider (Hawfinch) in the forest, near some Dompap (Bullfinch) and Topmejser (Crested Tit). Although there wasn't much diversity in our raptor count, we considered our little trip south to Flagbakken a success for the little birds.

A list of today's sightings can be viewed here.

Skagen Fuglestation: Seán Walsh, Lars & Janne.

In a nice twist, the weather was very nice today. The sun showed itself for most of the day without many clouds, and the wind wasn't as strong as the last few days. It topped off at 17 degrees Celsius which made raptor watching a good choice for me as the morning warmed up. I went to Saftevandsbakken around 10am, just as the raptors seemed to be appearing. I was very lucky to spot a small gathering of Musvåge and Hvepsevåge (Common and Honey Buzzard). Among them, in the distance, was a larger bird, that I later identified as the Steppeørn (Steppe Eagle)! It was a new bird for me to see, though the other volunteers and birdwatchers in the area told me it was to be expected as it had returned consecutively with the warm weather since May. Unfortunately though, I wasn't totally blessed with the weather. After just an hour of raptor watching, the winds changed and became a bit unfavourable and most of the birds of prey I did see were actually returning south.

After finishing up watching the raptors go by, I made my way to Grenen for the first time in a couple days. I sat at one of the World's End seawatching sites on the dunes at first, where I saw a Rød Glente (Red Kite), Tårnfalk (Common Kestrel) and a Hvepsevåge. Afterwards I headed to the beach, where I came across a large, mixed roosting flock of terns and gulls. I counted over 400 total terns and gulls. Among them were some waders, such as an Almindelig Ryle (Dunlin) and a Mudderklire (Common Sandpiper). I also saw two Almindelig Kjove (Arctic Skua) from the beach.

 You can find a list of today's observations here.

Skagen Fuglestation: Seán Walsh, Lars & Janne.

It's strange to think that I have made some new great friends in just a week here at Skagen Bird Station. After having spent just one week with Lauren, Dante and Søren at the observatory, I feel like I have gained some new great friends. Today I said goodbye to all three of my new friends as they went home, leaving me alone at the bird station until Simon comes back and the new volunteer arrives on the 10th. Although my stay with them has been short, I am very grateful to Lauren for showing me all of the intricacies of ringing birds and to Dante for his knowledge of the general birding of Skagen. To Søren, I am grateful for his friendship and for him showing me all of the local birding sites nearby. In the end they have all taught me something.

The morning was slow for birding due to the poor weather and my fellow volunteers leaving the bird observatory. I went to Grenen in the afternoon to go search for some Kjove, with no luck. I was later informed by Lars that he saw an Arctic Skua from the lighthouse, but the Lille Kjove (Long-tailed Skua) seems to have left us for good. I was also blessed with a Red-throated Diver flying close to the shore. As I left Grenen, I spotted something sticking out of the dunes close to the beach. It turned out to be the skull of a dolphin, with the first vertebrae attached and missing the lower jaw. I brought it back on my bicycle to be cleaned at the laboratory at the station.

Later in the evening, Lars and Janne were very kind to invite me to join them for dinner in Skagen town and we had a great time trying local Danish food, beer and Snaps.

A list of today's observations can be viewed here.

Sean, Søren and I headed out to Skarvsøen for our seventh CES of the season. This was Sean’s first time ringing and Søren’s first time ringing as a volunteer and doing net rounds! We had a surprisingly good catch with 36 birds, dominated by Rørsanger (Reed Warblers), as well as 2 Kærsanger (Marsh Warblers) and 1 Topmejse (Crested Tit). We were also joined by our guests Lars and Janne, and we treated to excellent views of Trane (Crane), Hvepsevåge (Honey Buzzards) and Hvidklire (Greenshank).

Dante headed to Saftevandsbakken for raptor watching and his highlights included the returning Steppeørn (Steppe Eagle), 11 Rød Glente (Red Kite) and 7 Hvepsevåge (Honey Buzzards).

This is my last blog and mine and Dante’s last full day at Skagen Fuglestation. We would like to thank all the volunteers who we have spent the last 4 months with- you’ve made our time here truly special. Thank you to all the local birders for sharing their knowledge and experience with us all. And finally, thank you to Simon for having us here at Skagen Fuglestation- we’ve had an amazing 4 months, seen some fantastic birds and definitely learnt a lot.

A full list of today's observations can be found here.

Skagen Fuglestation: Sean Walsh, Søren Leth-Nissen, Dante Shepherd, Lauren Evans, Lars & Janne.

Skarvsøen CES Ringing Totals:

Torsanger (Common Whitethroat)- 5

Rørsanger (Reed Warbler)- 18

Gærdesanger (Lesser Whitethroat)- 4

Topmejse (Crested Tit)- 1

Havesanger (Garden Warbler)- 1

Munk (Blackcap)- 1

Blåmejse (Blue Tit)- 2

Solsort (Blackbird)- 2

Kærsanger (Marsh Warbler)- 2

Total: 36

Dante and Lauren headed out to World’s End and started observing at 05.00. Lars, Séan, and Søren joined the windy and showery morning around 06.45.

While a small band of bloodthirsty mosquitoes insisted on tasting our blood, Arctic Skuas spend their morning chasing gulls, terns and fellow skuas (Kjove) trying to steal their hard earned prey.

My personal highlight included a flock of 19 Black-legged Kittiwakes (Ride) blending in with 56 Sandwich Terns (Splitterner).

On the dark side of World\s end, a Common Whitethroat aggressively defended its territory by singing its lungs out.

A full list of today’s observations can be found here.

Skagen Fuglestation: Seán Walsh, Dante Shepherd, Lauren Evans, Søren Leth-Nissen, Lars & Janne.

The morning opened up with plenty of rain and wind to rival yesterday’s. Søren and I decided that the one minute drive to Grenen and walking from there was the best option rather than biking. We started our morning not long before 07:00, bracing the winds of Grenen point and managed once again to see the Lille Kjove (Long-tailed Skua) along with three Almindelig Kjove (Arctic Skua) at close range. The wind seemed to bring good waders as we were also blessed with a Hvidklire (Common Greenshank) and some Almindelig Ryle (Dunlin).

We pursued south from there, stopping off at the Nordstrand and later Jerup Strandenge. The weather at Jerup was far better than Grenen Point and the Nordstrand as it was far better sheltered than the other locations, and we were blessed with some more Almindelig Ryle and Svaleklire (Green Sandpiper) here.

Søren and I decided after a hardy, cold morning that we would visit his friends in Tolne to warm up further inland and have some coffee. Along the way, I called out a pair of Trane (Common Crane), and Søren abruptly pulled the car over to check them out. As we were parked on the side of the road, I looked away from the Trane and noticed from afar what I thought to be some herons, but was actually an immature Havørn! The bird showed no shyness at all and flew almost directly over our heads and gave us some great views as it flew north-west. The two sightings gave us some nice things to talk about with Sørens friends.

Lauren & Dante had their final meetings with Simon as they prepare to leave the observatory on Thursday. They went out seawatching in Grenen in the afternoon and also managed to catch sight of the Lille Kjove and even spotted two Almindelig Skråpe!

It also looks like the worst of the weather has passed now, and all of us at the station are looking forward to potentially going ringing later in the week. Sadly, it would also be Lauren & Dante’s last session with us.

We also learned that a Spurvehøg (Sparrowhawk) recaptured at Kabeltromlekrattet on 09-05-2023 was ringed on Fair Isle on 04-09-2022! Very far to have travelled for a Spurvehøg.

A list of todays observations can be viewed here.

Skagen Fuglestation: Seán Walsh, Dante Shepherd, Søren Leth-Nissen, Lauren Evans, Lars & Janne.