Hello and welcome to my first blog post. Today was my first day at Skagen and there were a lot of first birds for me as well! We started the morning off at World’s End 3 and spent the morning doing a sea-watch. I was just counting Common Eiders (Ederfugl; which was a lifer for me!) but we had lots of highlights. We had a lot of Alcids (Atlantic Puffin - Lunde, Little Auk - Søkonge, Razorbill - Alk, Black Guillemot - Tejst). We also had some other fun birds like King Eider (Kongeederfugl), Woodcock (Skovsneppe), and Great Northern Diver (aka Common Loon (Islom) aka the rightful national bird of Canada). I personally also got some potentially less interesting lifers such as Black-legged Kittiwake (Ride). By the end of the morning watch it was getting very windy so we were happy to head back and warm up.

The best hand-warmer

After a few hours of lunch and relaxing we donned our waders and headed back out to set up mist nets. There were 7 of us so we split into 2 teams and made light work of set-up. We ended up putting up 15 nets out of a possible 22. We also had a few Bitterns (Rørdrum) nearby that were keeping us company with their croaking.

Net set-up

We welcomed two visitors who will be staying with us for the coming week and said goodbye to Roman who was pleased to get his Puffin (Lunde) lifer on his last day. Tomorrow we’re looking forward to set up the rest of the mist-nets so we’ll be ready to start ringing :).

Highlights

Taffeland - 2
Kongeederfugl - 1
Skovsneppe - 1
Lunde - 1
Søkonge - 1
Islom - 1

 Link to todays observations in Dofbasen from the Skagen area

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

Today we were up early and arrived at world's end 3, 15 minutes before sunrise. It was a very clear day and the sunrise was beautiful (again)! So we saw the sun rise and the moon set in beautiful light.  The passerines passed in much larger numbers than the past few days. One species that passed in large numbers vaandaag was Jackdaw (Allike), as many as 1900 in the first hour. During the count, many saw imresionantly large groups of Jackdaws (Allike) and we saw more than 3000 in total. There was good migration of waterfowl so we saw many Whooper swans (Sangsvane), pink footed geese (Kortnæbbet gås) and a few Bewick's swans (Pibesvane). The adult male Kingeider (Kongeedderfugl) again gave a good show today. And that made it another very nice count!

A nice morning count!

In the afternoon, we went on a mission to Kabeltromlen. Where we went to cut open new netlanes in the swamp. We gathered saws, cutters and headed to Kabeltromlen. Along the way an Adder, Bearded reedlings (Skægmejse) and a Waxwing (Silkehale). We walked through the reed swamp to make way for the nets at a new spot. We sawed and hacked among the willows and reeds until we had made room for 6 new nets. It was a fun physical chore and we enjoyed the sunny day. When we got back to the station, Christopher arrived at the bird station to join us for a month. Unfortunately for me, time is merciless so this is unfortunately my last blog as I have to leave here tomorrow. On Tuesday, I will be back in class in my hometown of Ghent. If I find a gap somewhere in my schedule, I will hopefully come back again this spring;) But tonight we look forward to tomorrow's count and hope for another great migration watch.

Making new net lanes!

Link to today's observations in Dofbasen in the Skagen area

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

People: Lucas Corneliussen, Simon Sigaard Christiansen, Cora Köberle, Janna Ouedraogo, Roman Spilldooren, Mara Glane and Rasmus Matthiesen-Juhl, Christopher Moser-Purdy

Halløj derude:)

Jeg er tilbage på stationen igen!

Vækkeuret ringede 05.45, og vi kunne med det samme konkludere at vejret var meget bedre end de sidste mange dage. Jeg smurte en hurtig madpakke, og så kørte vi ellers på Grenen, hvor morgenobsen startede klokken 06.30. Roman havde et mindre cykelstyrt på/igennem isen på vej på morgenobsen, men dedikeret som han er, gennemførte han 4 timer med våde sko og handsker! Imponerende! Udover styrtet blev det en rigtig god morgen, med bla. 6 Topskarver, 2 kongeedderfugle, 12 traner, En adult havørn og masser af gæs og sangsvaner. Ude ved Verdens ende 3 fik vi besøg af Knud, Jørgen og Igor. Det var super hyggeligt lige at få sagt hej til dem igen. Efter 4 timer pakkede vi sammen og kørte tilbage til stationen, hvor Roman lavede frokost til os alle:) 

Adult Kongeedderfugl ved Grenen

Ved 14-tiden besluttede vi os for at cykle en tur mod Flagbakken og til den tilsandede kirke, både som turistattraktion og i jagten på store vingefang. Der var ikke mange fugle, men flot var det nu alligevel! På tilbagevejen fik vi handlet, tjekket måger i havnen og på Romans opfordring fik vi købt fiskefrikadeller hos fiskemanden. 

Roman nyder en adult Havørn

Simon havde fint besøg i dag, da William Aarestrup, 93-årig tidligere ringmærker i Skagen, og Peter Jürgensen var kørt til Skagen på visit.

Her til eftermiddag fik Lucas og Roman indtastet dagens data i DofBasen, vi fik rengjort hytten, og nu begynder den aftensmad, Janna laver, at dufte på hele stationen. Lækkert!

I aften forsøger et par på stationen sig med en omgang natfangst på Grenen. Jeg tror dog hellere jeg må gå tidligt i seng og få en god nats søvn, for i morgen skal vi klippe seks nye netbaner ved Kabeltromlen, det bliver hårdt:) Jeg er meget spændt på at se hvad de nye net kan fange af spændende arter.

På vej mod Flagbakken i det snebeklædte landskab

Alt i alt en rigtig dejlig dag på Skagen Fuglestation

Vi ses derude!

Link to today's observations in Dofbasen in the Skagen area

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

People: Lucas Corneliussen, Simon Sigaard Christiansen, Cora Köberle, Janna Ouedraogo, Roman Spilldooren, Mara Glane Rasmus Matthiesen-Juhl, Knud Pedersen, Jørgen Kabel and Igor, William Aarestrup and Peter Jürgensen 

Hej!
I am back at the bird observatory for three weeks and am really happy to be here again. It’s just like I never left. The weather also behaves like it did in December – lot’s of wind and snow. When we went out this morning, full of hope for good 4 hours of bird migration, we quickly realized that that was not going to happen. The snow only got stronger on our way to World’s End 3 and after we observed for 10 minutes the visibility has gotten really bad. So after 30 minutes of sitting in the snowy cold we decided that we should just head back. We did see two Greylag Geese (Grågas) and counted some Scoters (Sortand) and Eiders (Ederfugl) though.

Enjoying the snow

Back at the station we took our time to warm back up again and worked on some chores, constantly checking outside the windows in hopes of seeing the snowfall decrease a little. Around 11 it almost stopped snowing, so we headed out to Grenen again, hungry to find some birds. The gulls on the beach held no surprises but we saw a couple of Bullfinches (Dompap) flying over and calling. We took a little detour to find a secret bunker, that Thomas told me about in autumn, but that I never actually went to. After an adventourous slippery "bridge" crossing we eveually spotted the hidden etrance. Inside the bunker we found some pirate treasures and wintering moths. After returning to the surface and on our way through Elle Krattet a group of Chaffinches (Bogfinke) and Siskins (Grønsisken) fed on the ground and we could get pretty close to them. They all were round and fluffed up because of the cold – so cute.

Three ghosts in a pirate bunker

Scoliopteryx libatrix - Herald moth

The rest of the afternoon was spent resting, playing games and watching birds though the windows. Some of us went on little walks later in the eveing when it completely stopped raining. I went out on a walk around the lighthouse to see the sunset, when I spotted a dead Fulmar (Mallemuk) lying on the beach, basically right in front our doorstep. So after fetching a bag, gloves and Rasmus for help, we picked up the poor thing and put it in the freezer. It now can be used for research of the Aarhus univesity to gather information about the effects of plastic pollution on the diet and causes of death in Fulmars (Mallemuk).

Dead Fulmar (Mallemuk) on the beach in front of the lighthouse

Link to today's observations in Dofbasen in the Skagen area

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

People: Lucas Corneliussen, Simon Sigaard Christiansen, Cora Köberle, Janna Ouedraogo, Roman Spilldooren, Mara Glane and Rasmus Matthiesen-Juhl

It was raining and snowing the whole day today. On top it was also really windy. So we stayed inside most of the time today. We used these circumstances to sleep longer. Later everyone started to work a bit on some things. Janna wrote something for her university and Mara worked a bit with the ringingdata of the station. Roman prepared a presentation on determination of Harriers (Herhøge) and I started reading a book from the station's library and later made the dough for  some cinnamon rolls.

After lunch Janna and Mara took a walk to do some shopping in Skagen. And they came back with Simon who picked up Rasmus Matthiesen-Juhl, the new volunteer who arrived today from Grenaa. Rasmus was already volunteering in spring 2021 and will stay here for three months. They arrived just as I was taking the cinnamon rolls out of the oven. So we ate them. They were really delicious.

Nice Cinnamon Rolls

After that Roman presented us his presentation on the determination of Hen-, Montagu’s-, and Pallidharrier (Blå Kerhøg, Hedehøg og Steppenhøg).It was really interesting and now we are well prepared for the Harrier migration! He also made a Kahoot quiz. It was fun to be able to apply the new knowledge directly. Janna won the quiz although she didn't really like the Harriers before. But now she finds them nicer than before.

Roman explaining the fieldmarkes in the wings of the Harriers (Kerhøge)

Later we played a lot of Ping Pong and card games. 

We are looking forward to go out to the migration count tomorrow again, hopefully without rain. 

Link to today's observations in Dofbasen in the Skagen area

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

People: Lucas Corneliussen, Simon Sigaard Christiansen, Cora Köberle, Janna Ouedraogo, Roman Spilldooren, Mara Glane and Rasmus Matthiesen-Juhl

Today we went out to do our morning count for the first time in the last three days. It was not longer foggy as the wind had blown all the fog away. On the breakfast table we talked about the east wind and all the species it could bring. Especially Mara was looking forward, she was very happy to be back at Skagen. Motivated and with the cleaned bikes we headed to world´s end three. When we arrived, there was almost none passerine migration, however, the seabird migration was alright. We had hoped to see the sun today, but it was cloudy and as a result quite dark.

After an hour of counting it started to rain- but it was not too harsh, therefore we stayed outside. Later, the rain changed to snow-rain and there were almost no migrating birds. For this reason, we stopped the count. When we came back, we made some hot chocolate to get warm again. This was followed by a relaxed time with reading, compass usage and data analysis for the year report.

Our plan was to cut new lanes for the nets. At 1 o´clock it was still raining. Therefore, we decided to not fix the net lanes today. After lunch we played some matches of table tennis. That was very funny.

Table tennis is a nice occupation for rainy days

We had enough time to create a searching picture for rainy days. On this picture the nice weather of today is obvious. The sun was shining very nicely and some of today’s species are on there. You can find 11 animals on it, it is a good task for rainy days.

It was almost this sunny- searching picture with 11 animals

In the afternoon we went out for a small walk. It was still raining, not as much as in the morning though. We walked through swampy areas, watched some resting whooper swans (sangsvane) and looked at the plants that were growing there.

After the evening meal it was time for another table tennis tournament and later on for a danish quiz we found in the living room.

Highlights from today

• 1 long-tailed-duck (havlit)
• 1 stonechat (sortstrubet bynkefugl)
• 6 resting whooper swans (sangsvane)
• table tennis

Link to today’s observations in Dofbasen in the Skagen area

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

People: Lucas Corneliussen, Simon Sigaard Christiansen, Cora Köberle, Janna Ouedraogo, Roman Spilldooren, Mara Glane, Knud Pedersen

Another day, another morning of fog. We woke up this morning, prepped and ready to go out to Grenen for a morning of counting at Worlds End 3, only to find the thick fog present once again. Unfortunately, this morning it was even thicker than the previous days, to the extent where we could hardly see the lighthouse tower 10 meters outside out window. That said, we were determined to make the most out of the day. We all decided to go back to sleep and check hourly if the fog would lift during our counting hours, however, it never did in that period of the day.

Waking up around 8:30 AM, we ate a nice breakfast in the kitchen and began to plan our day. Ragnar left to return back to Copenhagen this morning, but not to fret! He will return again later in the spring. By 9 AM we realized the fog likely would not lift until late in the day, so we rather opted to catch up on chores around the station. We first took a walk out to the radio telemetry station and cut the grass underneath the tower to prevent excess vegetation from building up. On the walk home, I decided to trek through the bog in Storsig and flushed two Common Snipe (Dobbeltbekkasin). We arrived back at the station around 1 PM and got the bikes out for a much needed deep clean. By 3 PM the fog finally lifted and Roman went for a short walk up towards the seal bunker.

The The bikes are finally clean!

In the evening, we decided to do something a bit reckless and go for a swim! It was very cold as the water was approximately 3,5 C, but it was very refreshing. Later in the evening we checked the stations email and found that a Norwegian Bird Station has been documenting the same leucistic Rock Pipit (Skærpiber) that Ragnar and I documented a few days before. According to the email, it was first found in 2019 and has been recorded every year for the past 6 years! 

The Skærpiber in 2024 photographed by Store Færder Ornitologiske Stasjon

You can find a pictue from when it was here in Skagen in the blog post from the 8th March.

In the evening we welcomed Mara to the station once again! She will join us here for the next three weeks before she returns to university in Germany. Now, we are finally preparing for a morning without fog. For the first time in 4 days, fog is not forecasted to be preset in Skagen due to some north wind! We hope the big migration day we have been waiting for arrives! And so, another day passes at Skagen Fuglestation. What will tomorrow bring? We will have to wait and see! 

Highlights:

• Common Snipe (Dobbletbekkasin)
• Razorbill (Alk) flocks 
• Cleaning the bikes!

Link to today’s observations in Dofbasen in the Skagen area

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

People: Lucas Corneliussen, Simon Sigaard Christiansen, Cora Köberle, Janna Ouedraogo, Roman Spilldooren, Ragnar Smith, Mara Glane

The day started with a thick layer of fog. Most of us took the time to catch up on some extra sleep in the morning, but Janna opened the net in the garden of the lighthouse. The first catch of the day were two Common Blackbirds (Solsort), one of which had been with a radio transmitter. It was a bird that had been caught and given a transmitter in Skagen on the 14 the of January 2024. We also received response that one of the blackbirds (Solsort) which was ringed in Skagen on the 18 of November sent a signal from West Finland!

Around 11 o'clock, the fog started to lift. Ragnar and Lucas immediately headed out to Grenen and found a Rough-legged Buzzard (Fjeldvåge). So, we all set off together for World's End 1. En route to World's End 1 we found the first really good numbers of sunbathing Adders. When we arrived, the passerine migration appeared to be still going on and there were also a few dozen common buzzards (Musvåge) attempting to migrate. The sea was completely smooth, which made it perfect for scanning the seaducks and to try and find marine mammals. Among the groups of migrating Starlings (Stær), Finches (bogfinke) and Siskin's (Grønsisken), we saw remarkably many Wood Larks (Hedelærke) attempting to migrate. We saw as many as 18, migrating across the dunes to the north. After counting migration for a while, Ragnar rediscovered the adult male King Eider (Kongeedderfugl)! A lifer for Cora and for many, the first adult male they have ever seen. What an impressive species! When Lucas walked towards the King Eider (Kongeedderfugl) for closer observation, he refound the second King Eider (Kongeedderfugl)! This time a 2k male. We all grabbed our gear and ran onto the beach to admire these two beauties.

Adult male King Eider (Kongeederfugl)

When we were at the beach, the new birds kept coming. Ragnar found a nice adult Black guillemot (Tejst) and the buzzards started to migrate above us. We then found a second (this time darker) Rough-legged Buzzard (Fjeldvåge). Everyone was very happy with all these cool species and sightings and being in such a good mood, we decided to try our luck at the migration watchpoint once again. When we arrived, our luck apparently couldn't run out as we found a pod of Dolphins but unfortunately, they were too far away to make the determination to species level. In a group of Barnacle Geese (Bramgås), we found 4 Taiga bean geese (Tajgasædgås) going straight over our heads. 

We then decided to take advantage of the flat sea and do a good scan of the sea ducks. There, we found a Red-necked Grebe (Gråstrubet lappedykker) and a few Fulmars (Mallemuk). The good species apparently couldn't stop today as we suddenly heard a call of a Twite (Bjergirisk)! The first we saw this season! That was a lifer for Lucas and me. We decided to finish the day and left for Skagen to do some shopping. 

When we got back to the station Simon had arrived at the station. We decided to take advantage of the last light, and it turned out to pay off. We saw some groups of Razorbills (Alk) and Guillemots (Lomvie) migrating in the Kattegat and a Bewick's Swan (Pibesvane) came flying over our heads (a species seen only a few days a year in Skagen). Suddenly we heard Ragnar say that he might have found something very good. He pointed out to us a group of Mallards flying far over the sea. Among the Mallards there was a duck flying that had feature of American Black Duck (Sortbrun And)! Unfortunately, the bird was flying too far to take good documentation photos,  hopefully we will find it tomorrow. With that thought, we quickly crawled into our beds as it had been a long day and tomorrow looks promising. 

The Blackbird (Solsort) with tag we recaught!

The Blackbird (Solsort) transmission from Finland!

Highlights from the observations: 

• 2 King Eider (Kongeedderfugl)

• 2 Rough-legged buzzard (Fjeldvåge).

• 1 Bewick's Swan (Pibesvane)

• 18 Woodlark (Hedelærke) 

• 4 Taiga Bean geese (TajgaSædgås)

• Blackbird (Solsort) with radio transmitter

• Dolphin sp.

Ringing (Fyrhavn)

- Blackbird (Solsort) 1

- Chaffinch (Bogfinke) 2

Link to today’s observations in Dofbasen in the Skagen area

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

People: Lucas Corneliussen, Simon Sigaard Christiansen, Cora Köberle, Janna Ouedraogo, Roman Spilldooren, Ragnar Smith 

It was very foggy the whole day today. It was so foggy that we could not see the sea when looking  out of the window the whole day. So we could not do the migration count today. Instead we started the day really chilled. Later we cleaned a bit and had a fun ping pong tournament.

Palning the perfect table tennis serve

We noticed some thrushes in the garden and put some apples out. After that we opened the net in the garden to catch some birds.  When we checked the net an hour later a female Blackbird (Solsort) had flown in. Roman ringed it. It was his first time he has rung a bird.

Later Lucas and Ragnar went out for a walk. They found a nice Short-eared Owl (Mosehornugle) and more than 60 Rock Pipits (Skærpiber)! Between the Rock Pipits they found a really weird looking bird, which, as it turned out, was a leucistic Rock Pipit!

 Wierd looking leucistic Rockpipit

In the afternoon Simon came to take us to the harbour to feed the Gulls. There were not as many Gulls as last time but it was really nice again to see them so close. And we found again a Caspian Gull. Quote from Ragnar “There is no day in Skagen where you don't see a Caspian Gull”.

When we came back we played a nice round of “Wingspan”. Roman won it.

Now the plan is to go night catching later. I’m really looking forward to catching some nice birds. Unfortunately the weather forecast predicts more fog for tomorrow, but we will see. 

Ringing (Fyrhavn)

 Solsort 1 

Highlights:

Short-Eared Owl (Mosehornugle)1

Caspian Gull (Kaspik Måge)1 

Rock Pipits (Skærpiber) more than 60

leucistic Rock Pipit (Skærpiber) 1 

Link to today’s observations in Dofbasen in the Skagen area

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

People: Lucas Corneliussen, Simon Sigaard Christiansen, Cora Köberle, Janna Ouedraogo, Roman Spilldooren, Ragnar Smith

We have been hoping, planning and preparing for this day to come. For over a week the volunteers at the station have been watching the weather and noticed that for the first time in many days, the wind has slowed dramatically down from 14 m/s to 5 m/s (SW). With that we were expecting good things. 

Waking up at 6 AM with the hopes of reaching Worlds End 3 fifteen minutes before dawn, we quickly hopped on our bikes and cycled quickly out. Arriving with time to spare we waited. And not long after, it started. Passerines began to fly over us in great numbers, with nearly 2000 Jackdaw (Allike) in the first hour and lots of Reed Buntings (Rørspurv), Eurasian Siskins (Grønsiskin), European Starlings (Stær) attempting to migrate. The first hour was also quite hectic with waterfowl with many geese migrating Northeast towards Sweden. Greater White-fronted Geese (Blisgås) comprising the majority of the flocks, but also including good numbers of Barnacle (Bramgås) and Pink-footed Geese (Kortnæbbet Gås). The sea, however, was quite slow this morning as visibility was quite bad further offshore, but a nice Black Guillemot (Tejst) and a male Long-tailed Duck (Havlit) made up for it. 

Pink-footed and Barnacle Geese migrating!

By mid-morning the passerine migration was beginning to wind down, but with the light southwesterly wind, many buzzards began to attempt to migrate via Grenen. We tallied 146 total Common Buzzards (Musvåge). We also got the first Eurasian Goshawk (Duehøg) of the season, a 2cy. individual quickly flew over near Worlds End 1 attempting to migrate. Further we also had several Red Kites (Rød Glente), one of which had a GPS tag on it. It was ringed and tagged on Fyn the 26th June 2023 by Hans Rytter as a young bird in nest. Which mean it's now a 3cy. Since it was ringed it has been on a trip to northern Spain. The bird is part of the project EuroKite. On their website you can find latest positions on their tagged Kites.

We opted to stay and extra 45 mins at the observation point as the buzzard migration continued, and fortunately for us we did as a Shore Lark (Bjerglærke) attempted to migrate over our heads. A lifer for Cora. 

Red Kite, part of the raptor show!

Heading back to the station at 11:45, Ragnar and I took a small detour and decided to spend a bit of time birding in Elle Krattet in search of vagrant woodpeckers and early migrants. We ended up finding a few Crested Tits (Topmejse), two or three Eurasian Treecreepers (Træløber) and accidentally flushed a Eurasian Woodcock (Skovsneppe). We then returned to the station and right as we were walking inside a White-tailed Eagle (Havørn) flew over headed towards Grenen. 

When we finally got inside, we quickly did our morning data and then headed back out to bird around Storsig and Jennes Sø. We did not find anything too crazy, but a pair of Common Cranes (Trane) were nice as well as some lingering raptors from earlier in the day.Out on the walk to Jennes Sø

Now we are preparing to head out this evening to try and do some nocturnal ringing with the hopes of finding snipes and woodcocks! But with the weather looking even better tomorrow morning than today we may not be out all that late!

And so another day passes at Skagen Fuglestation, what will tomorrow bring? We will have to wait and see!

Highlights:

- Long-tailed Duck (Havlit)

- Horned Lark (Bjerglærke)

- Common Buzzard (Musvåge) - 150+

- White-tailed Eagle (Havørn)

- Treecreeper (Træløber)

- Glaucous Gull (Gråmåge) - same bird as the last few days

- Caspian Gull (Kaspisk Måge) - 1 (2k), 1 adult 

- Eurasian Goshawk (Duehøg)

Link to today´s observations in Dofbasen in the Skagen area

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

People: Lucas Corneliussen, Simon Sigaard Christiansen, Cora Köberle, Janna Ouedraogo, Roman Spilldooren, Ragnar Smith