Blue Tit with a Russian ring!

After some rainy mornings, it was a nice change to have a good sunrise today as we opened the nets at Kabeltromlen. We (Mara, Sarah and I) were a little nervous and excited that we would again catch lots of Great Tit (Musvit), but only caught one today, and instead there were lots of Blue Tits (Blåmejse), almost 50 in total! Normally, we would find this a bit annoying because Blue Tits especially love to bite our fingers in exactly the places that hurt the most, but today we were joined by an extra special visitor, a Russian Blue Tit! It had a ring inscribed with MOSKVA, meaning it was first ringed somewhere in Russia. We’re looking forward to finding out exactly where it’s come from, but also a bit suspicious that it arrived in the nets on its own (whereas most Blue Tits arrive in flocks). Could it be a Russian Spy?! The rest of the ringing morning was quite quiet except for a Firecrest (Rødtoppet Fuglekonge) during the last net check, a very handsome male bird.

A stunning male Firecrest

The observers (Florian and Miles) had a strong start to their morning with over four Great Northern Divers (Islom), a little Auk (Søkonge), a flock of over Coal Tits (Sortmejse), and 4000 Razorbills (Alk), as well as some good numbers of Snow Bunting (Snespurv) on the beach, and five Whooper Swans (Sangsvane) passing overhead. Migration slowed down later on in the morning and they were glad to escape the cold and wind and come home to a delicious cake gifted to us by our guest Lars (thank you!). It was so delicious that it’s almost disappeared completely already. We then visited the lighthouse shop to peruse the selection of bird-themed bits and bobs, and Mara bought some beautiful bird posters.

Miles observing at World's End 3

After a laughter-filled group lunch, we all parted ways for a couple of hours. Florian went out birdwatching in town and spotted a Hawfinch and a flock of Brambling, and then bumped into Miles in the industrial area, so they joined forces to bird their way around the area. Janna also returned to the observatory this afternoon, only four weeks after she left! It’s brilliant to have her back and she was so excited to be here again that she immediately went out birdwatching too!

Meanwhile Mara, Sarah and I received a call from Simon that our new Kabeltromlen (ringing table) had been delivered and that we should take it to the ringing site. With rain forecast to arrive in the next hour, we hurried out to find it and, surprisingly, had a lot of fun rolling it down the track. We tried to recruit Florian and Miles to help us by pretending that we’d seen a mystery pipit, but they didn’t fall for it. We were asked if it had a red rump and when we said yes, Florian sneakily exclaimed that there wasn’t any pipit that fitted that description. Oops.

Rolling the new Kabeltromlen to the ringing site

After our evening meeting, Mara cooked us a delicious dinner of potato and broccoli tray bake whilst Mara, Janna and Florian educated me on the best German pop music. Now, we’re getting ready for a movie night; we’re watching the second Pirates of the Caribbean movie!

Ringing (Kabeltromlen):

Highlights from World’s End 3:

Today’s observations from the area can be found here.

People: Mara Glane, Florian Hatt, Sarah Partridge, Amira Nuseibeh, Miles Scheuering, Knud Pedersen, and our guest Lars.

The weather has been unsettled all week and yet again it was too rainy to start the count or the ringing at the usual times. We enjoyed having some extra time, but the rain let up around 9 and Florian and I were able to head to World’s End 3. There had been some discussion about whether to count at Nordstrand, where Knud was going, or back to World’s End 3. Nordstrand is very good in southeastern winds, as it provides good shelter and birds migrate very close to the shore. World’s End 3 is much more exposed, so you can see more but there is more wind. It does provide better opportunities to count passerines and there are more birds resting on the shoreline.

We were also interested to see how the two sites would compare in the same conditions. Just as we were getting on our bikes, we heard Knud call out White-billed Diver (Dansk: Hvidnæbbet Lom, American English: Yellow-billed Loon). This is quite a nice bird, though we have seen a couple recently. Activity was good as soon as we arrived at World’s End 3, and we saw a large loon that could have been a Great Northern Diver (Dansk: Islom, American English: Common Loon), though we didn’t see it well enough to be sure. However, in the next hour another large diver (lom) flew by and we were able to identify it as a Great Northern (Islom)! There were also many Snow Buntings (Snespurv) flying around and resting on the beach. With so many around we were both carefully checking the flock for Lapland Buntings (Dansk: Lapværling, American English: Lapland Longspur). While they were flying we noticed an all-brown bird, but unfortunately the flock was flying out over the sea and we lost sight of it. A bit later, Florian pointed out a scoter (sortand) that had a lot of orange on the bill, like a Black Scoter (Amerikansk Sortand). Right after, I noticed the flock of Snow Buntings had returned to the beach. I quickly scanned them and was able to find the brown one, it was a Lapland Bunting! They used to be quite common here, but have gotten increasingly rare in recent years, so it is quite exciting to see one!

Lapland Bunting (Dansk: Lapværling, American English: Lapland Longspur) at Grenen. Photo by Florian

The ringers (Sarah, Mara, and Amira) had a slow start to the morning. They tried to open nets a bit before 9, but it was still raining and they turned back before they reached the bikes. Despite thinking they would not catch very much, they went back out later and were able to open most of the nets. It ended up being very worthwhile, as the weather held for most of the day and they caught a crazy number of Great Tits (Musvit)! There were 63 in total, perhaps the best day for them since the start of the station. They also caught 49 Blue Tits (Blåmejse) including one that had a fat score of 8! This is exceptionally high, because the more fat birds amass, the more they have to carry around, potentially affecting their flight and making predation more likely.

One of many Great Tits (Musvit) ringed at Kabeltromlen today. Photo by Mara

During the count, Florian and I saw a strange-looking pipit fly by, so afterward, we went to look for it in the brush west of World’s End 3. We were just looping back when we got a call from the ringers that they could use some extra help and that they had caught a Siberian Chiffchaff (Sibirisk Gransanger). This is a subspecies of Common Chiffchaff (Gransanger), which breeds in Taiga from the Ural Mountains eastward in Russia. The station generally catches at least one per year and they are maybe the least interesting of the ‘Siberian birds’ but still cool to see!

Siberan Chiffchaff (Sibirisk Gransanger) ringed at Kabeltromlen today. Photo by Mara

After getting back from the ringing in late afternoon, Amira cooked us a tasty gnocchi dinner, while Sarah and I took a refreshing dip in the sea. Later in the evening, Sarah and I went out night catching and had several close run-ins with Snow Buntings before eventually catching a Jack Snipe (Enkeltbekkasin). The Snow Buntings were quite flighty, but it was exciting to see them and gives us hope of catching one in the coming days.

Sarah ringing a Fieldfare (Sjagger) this afternoon. Photo by Miles

Ringing (Kabeltromlen):

Highlights from World’s End 3:

People: Mara Glane, Florian Hatt, Sarah Partridge, Amira Nuseibeh, Miles Scheuering, Knud Pedersen, Simon S. Christiansen and our guest Lars

When my alarm clock rang today, the first thing I did was check the weather radar. As it would rain a while longer, I lay down again for a short while. Later, however, we were all awake and raindrops were still falling outside. A relaxed brunch then prepared us for the day ahead. Amira, Sarah and I went again to the migration count at Nordstrand. Knud had arrived a little earlier and had already counted the first birds. There weren't too many birds migrating, but an adult Little Gull (Dværgmåge), some Auks (Alkefugle) and Kittiwakes (Ride) were of course great to see. Suddenly, a big Diver (Lom) approached from the west. I immediately focused on identifying the colour of its bill. However, I had difficulties even seeing the bill, what was already a very strong indication of a White-billed Diver (Hvidnæbbet Lom). It was so pale that it blended into the background. Only when the bird came close enough, we could see the white-yellow bill and the colouration of the neck to be sure it was one indeed! En fantastisk fugl! We also discussed whether the name Yellow-billed Loon or White-billed Diver makes more sense in terms of bill color. Or how about Ivory-billed Diver? It would certainly sound cool!

In the meantime, Miles, Mara and Simon had brought new pallets to Kabeltromlen. In just a few days we will receive a new cable drum and we want to put it on pallets so that it doesn't get weather-beaten as quickly as the old one!

In the afternoon, we all drove to the harbour together to see if we can find some rare gulls. What about an Ivory Gull (Ismåge) for example? Simon told us about one that showed up several years ago in Denmark together with a Snowy Owl (Sneugle). We would of course take this combination in the harbour of Skagen! But for today no Snowy Owls or Ivory Gulls showed up, but we were still able to observe a Red-throated diver (Rødstrubet Lom), a few Guillemots (Lomvie) and a Rock pipit (Skærpiber) from up close!


Feeding gulls in the harbour

In the evening we were doing various indoor tasks and enjoyed a tasty dinner, that Miles made for us!

No ringing today

Highlights from Nordstrand
Hvidnæbbet Lom 1

Today’s observations from the area can be found here

People: Mara Glane, Florian Hatt, Sarah Partridge, Amira Nuseibeh, Miles Scheuering, Knud Pedersen, Simon S. Christiansen and our guest Lars

This morning was rather windy and cold, but under orders from the boss we went to Kabeltromlen to try to net. After much hemming and hawing in the dark, we ended up with only three nets open, and we weren’t happy with how they looked in the wind. We immediately closed the nets and headed back to the lighthouse against gale-force winds, feeling good about our decision to quit netting today. No ringing meant that Mara had some time to work on her Master’s dissertation, while Amira and I cycled out to join the others at Nordstrand. I was the last to arrive and approached a very hygge scene of Amira, Miles, Florian, Simon, Knud, and a wee German tourist all huddled up together in some shelter under a dune.

It was a very pleasant morning in our cozy nook, sharing coffee and cookies and light banter. Seawatching from Nordstrand was very fun, and there was much to see today with plenty of eyes to spot things. There were again many auks (alkefugle) today, and a bit easier to see from our spot today a little closer to the sea. We also saw two peregrines (vandrefalk) coming in from the sea, flying close over our heads. Other highlights included a Goosander (Stor skellesluger) flying together with some red-breasted mergansers (toppet skallesluger), both red-necked and great-crested grebes (gråstrubet og toppet lappedykker), and an adorable flock of snow buntings (snespurv) resting on the beach. Florian had a busy morning clicking large flocks of hundreds of Allike (Jackdaws), which were cool to see coming straight at us from the sea in haphazard flocks.

Allike, possibly the cutest of the corvids, always bouncing along merrily with their jaunty little calls, also have a vicious side. They have strong social hierarchies within the group, and when an individual is ousted for whatever reason, they can be violently pecked to death by the rest of the group. A terrifying example of mob mentality. Jackdaws are famous for being shrewd and observant, able to recognize human faces and interpret expressions. They can be a good friend or a formidable enemy, so beware how you treat these clever beasts. I also learned a fun idiom from Simon today: “fuld som en allike,” meaning “drunk as a jackdaw” (although the reason for this jackdaw slander is not particularly clear). Being a lover of both birds and words, I am very fond of bird-based idioms, and although we have many in English, I know of none that are so wonderfully species-specific.

After the end of the count, Florian, Amira and I went to visit Skarvsøen since we were already halfway there. We saw a wonderful flock of scrumptious halemejser, very busy foraging and being round and delicious, among a few other passerine species, and we stopped at the lake to admire some dabbling Krikand (teals), but there wasn’t too much happening in the wind (although Florian did see some Waxwings (silkehale) after we left). After this we all tucked ourselves away in the lighthouse for some office tasks and various meetings and other bits (with snacks).

 

In other news, a goldcrest (fuglekonge) that we ringed on OCTOBER SIXTH 2025 (a historical day indeed) was retrapped on October 13^th in Keldsnor in the south of Denmark. What a long journey for our sweet little puffball and we are so happy to hear of his safe travels so far!

After dinner, Simon took Amira, Miles and me out night catching at Ellekrattet and Storsig. We needed a lesson from the master because we are not so good at this on our own. We walked at breakneck speed through the wind, and in classic Simon fasion, trapped one enkeltbekkasin (Jack snipe) and one Woodcock (Skovsneppe) almost immediately. Very efficient indeed. This was very exciting, especially with the woodcock, to see this true beauty up close under the light. The white undertail feathers are the most brilliant titanium! They both flew away happily and we went to sleep feeling very satisfied.

People: Mara Glane, Florian Hatt, Sarah Partridge, Amira Nuseibeh, Miles Scheuering, Knud Pedersen, Simon S. Christiansen, Tiago.

Today's observations from the area can be seen here. 

This morning, as I was cycling out to the migration count at Worlds End 3, I flushed a raptor from the edge of the dunes. It was large and looked quite accipitrine-like, which made me think Eurasian Goshawk (Duehøg) but I wasn’t sure how likely that was. Knud was just behind me and I suggested it could be a common buzzard (Musvåge), which he thought was likely. However, when we approached, we saw that the raptor had been feeding on a pink-footed goose (Kortnæbbet Gås). This ruled out buzzard, as they wouldn’t be able to take even a relatively small goose like pink footed. We continued on to allow the goshawk to return to its breakfast, though Knud was able to get some looks at it later in the morning, confirming it was a young bird.

Pink-footed Goose (Kortnæbbet Gås) partially consumed by a Eurasian Goshawk (Duehøg). Photo by Miles

The goshawk sighting turned out to be a good omen, as we had several other good species during the count. I spotted a small alcid (alkefugle) flying northwest, which turned out to be an Atlantic Puffin (Lunde)! This was a lifer for me, and the third (and final) puffin species I have seen after Tufted Puffin (Toplunde) and Horned Puffin (Hornet Lunde) in the United States. Tufted Puffin has been recorded a handful of times in Europe, though never in Denmark, and Horned Puffin has never been recorded in Europe. Later, Florian had just commented on how it had been a good morning and I had see two lifers when he spotted a Eurasian Woodcock (Skovsneppe) migrating in over the beach. It had come in from the sea and flew directly past us before landing in the brush behind World’s End 3. I have not seen American Woodcock (Amerikansk Skovsneppe) either, so it was extra exciting to see this one!

It was a very good morning for interesting species, but also good to have Knud there to help identify some of the common species. There have been many Guillemots (Lomvie) or Razorvills (Alk) migrating southeast in recent days and we have not been sure how to identify most of them. Knud said nearly all alcids migrating southeast at this time of year are Razorbills and they are going to a large wintering area, further south in Kattegat. He also said that if we see flocks larger than 10, the majority will almost always be Razorbills. This was all really useful to learn, as it allows us to make more accurate counts.

Sunrise from Grenen. Photo by Miles

The ringing started out quite cold and it was hard for Sarah, Amira, and Mara to keep their fingers nimble but they were rewarded for their effort as the activity increased throughout the morning. They had many blue tits (Blåmejse) and three more Bearded Reedlings (Skægmejse)! It is Mette’s birthday (Happy birthday Mette!) and she visited Kabeltromlen got to ring several birds!

The restaurant at the lighthouse, Blink, is closing permanently. This evening, they had a sausage party to celebrate the time they have been open. Maciek prepared some delicious sausages, and the crew and Simon hung out for a bit. Later in the evening Sarah baked some delicious cookies! We are always happy to have more cookies, and these are especially tasty.

Ringing Kabeltromlen:

Highlights from World’s End 3:

People: Mara Glane, Florian Hatt, Sarah Partridge, Amira Nuseibeh, Miles Scheuering, Knud Pedersen, Simon S. Christiansen, and Mette Møller Christiensen.

Today’s observations from the area can be found here

Hej! I am really happy to be back at the station! It's now my third stay here, and I can tell you it is not getting any less exciting. After spending almost a week here, it feels like I never left.

About the day, prepared for a day full of birds, Sahra, Amira and I headed out to Kabeltromlen this morning. We were welcomed by flocks of Lomg-Tailed Tits (Halemejser) calling from the bushes. In the hurry out to the nets, Amira forgot to pack her apple and it was sadly left on the table in the kitchen. But no worries - Miles and his apple delivery service made sure that Amira would survive the big ringing day we had ahead of us! How nice! 

The weather was perfect for ringing today and we were able to ring 107 birds. It was so busy that we had to strategically plan our ringing procedures and split up the ringing and the net rounds. We had great help though from Jeppe, Linda and Jesper! Highlights from the ringing did not go unnoticed in the constant stream of Wrens (Gærdesmutte) and Blue Tits (Blåmejse) to ring. We caught four new Twites (Bjergirisk), Yellowhammers (Gulspurv), a Coal Tit (Sortmejse) - especially cute - and my personal highlight a Fieldfare (Sjagger)!

Fieldfare (Sjagger)

Coal Tit (Sortmejse)

While Simon was at Kabeltromlen to tell the guests of the guided tour about the ringing, he spottet a flock of geese flying together with swans. But what kind of swans? 3 Bewick's Swans (Pibesvane)! They were only a little bigger than the geese and had a lot of black in the beak and a relatively short neck. 

Bewick's Swans (Pibesvane) in a flock of geese

Over at the Obs, Miles and Florian had a rather calm morning. Miles counted 1150 Auks (Alkefugle) and later in the morning they had some big flocks of Fieldfare (Sjagger). Pretty far away, but still nice, Florian was able to spot some Waxwings (Silkehale). As nice as the boys are they came over to us ringers after the obs, to help us finish the ringing and close the nets. 

We came home pretty late from our extended morning duties and had a late lunch. Miles, Amira and Sahra went into town for some shopping and data was entered in a group effort later. Now cleaning day is succesfully completed and we are all excited what tomorrow will bring. 

Ringing Kabeltromlen:

Sjagger 1
Sangdrossel 1
Gulspurv 3
Grønirisk 1
Musvit 3
Gærdesmutte 14
Jernspurv 1
Stillits 2
Bjergirisk 4
Rødhals 2
Skægmejse 7
Sortmejse 1
Kvækerfinke 6
Blåmejse 19
Lille Dompap 7
Stor Dompap 5
Dompap 1
Munk 2
Rørspurv 2
Gransanger 1
Fuglekonge 18
Sydlig halemejse 2
Halemejse 2
Træløber 2
Total 107

Ringing Jennes Sø (Michael Ancher):

Gærdesmutte 2
Rødhals 1
Fuglekonge 4
Topmejse 1
Sortmejse 9
Blåmejse 12
Musvit 4
Træløber 3
Skovspurv 2
Bogfinke 1
Lille Gråsisken 6

Total 45

Highlights from the observations:

Today’s observations from the area can be found here

People: Mara Glane, Florian Hatt, Sarah Partridge, Amira Nuseibeh, Miles Scheuering, Michael Ancher, Simon S. Christiansen, Linda & Jeppe Rørbæk and our guests Mette & Jesper.

This morning, Mara, Miles, and I opened the nets a little early, anticipating an early close due to the rain. It turned out to be fairly busy with birds today, with a good variety of species. We were very pleased to catch four twites (bjergirisk) today, which are so cute and round! We also had a redpoll (Lille gråsisken) and two siskins (Grønsisken), all very cute indeed! It was very nice to compare these similar species and get to look at the twites up close, with their handsome pink rump feathers. I was very excited on one net round to find another flock of halemejse, my very favourites!! These little sugary treats were mostly a northern flock (nordlig), with gorgeous gleaming white head feathers. The flock also included some retraps from earlier in the week, so it was nice to greet them again and nice of them to bring some new friends from the north.

A Norlig and Sydlig Halemejse together

These bjergerisk that we see here are likely coming from Norway and northern Scandinavia, to spend the winter here or carry on to central Europe, where they forage in large flocks, feasting on seeds and enjoying the winter. What tiny treasures to find in the nets today!

Twite Glorious Twite!!!! (Bjergirisk)

After Simon brought his class by Kabeltromlen to see some of the birds, we saw that rain was coming and quickly closed the nets, with quite a few birds in the closing round. We then scrambled into the tent to keep our little munchkins dry while they waited their turns to get rings.

In other bird ringing news, today Michael Ancher retrapped a treecreeper from Finland! Welcome little friend. 

Meanwhile, Florian and Amira went to migration count at World’s End III. They also had to leave a bit early because of the rain, but still they managed to see over 1,000 auks (lomvie/alk), large flocks of jackdaws (Allike), and a small flock of waxwings (silkehale), which they were both very happy about.

Fabric Florian clounting 670 Allike with a clicker

We then reunited at the lighthouse for lunch and data entry, and in the afternoon went out birdwatching in the wintery sun. Mara and Florian saw a kingfisher (Isfugl) at Jennessø. Now Mara cooks us a tasty dinner and then we will cozy up for a hygge movie night together on this bitter cold night.

Ringing Kabeltromlen:

Vindrossel 1
Solsort 2
Grønirisk 4
Rødhals 4
Gærdesmutte 6
Bjergirisk 4
Grønsisken 2
Gråsisken, Lille 1
Jernspurv 1
Dompap, Stor 2
Dompap, Lille 6
Dompap 4
Bogfinke 1
Munk 1
Blåmejse 2
Fuglekonge 8
Gransanger 1
Halemejse, Nordlig 6
Halemejse, Sydlig 1
Halemejse 1

Today's observations from the area can be seen here. 

People: Mara Glane, Florian Hatt, Sarah Partridge, Amira Nuseibeh, Miles Scheuering, Michael Ancher, Simon S. Christiansen, and our guests Mette and Jesper.

Mara, Miles and I had a really lovely morning ringing at Kabeltromlen today. The sun was shining and, despite not as many birds as usual, we had an impressive variety of species, 16 in total! The highlight for me was definitely a Stonechat (Sortstrubert Bynkefugl) in the first net round; it was such a round and cute juvenile female bird! It’s also always a good day when we catch a flock of Long-tailed Tit (Halemejse)! Simon passed by for a few hours with the group from his nature education course this week, so it was great to be able to show them how we ring the birds.

Stonechat (Sortstrubert Bynkefugl) - a young female (Photo by Mara)

The observers had a much more intense (but still lovely) morning, especially Sarah who was tasked with counting the Auks (Lomvie/Alk). She had to concentrate extremely hard but was rewarded with a count of 2032 flying past in the 4 hours of observations! A group of Snow Buntings (Snespurv) sitting on the beach was also a real treat and meant they could look through the scope to study and appreciate them fully!

Once we got back to the lighthouse, we (Miles, Sarah and I) went for a fun little run to Jennes Sø and around the heathland in that area. During our run, it was a coincidence that we bumped into Michael Ancher on his cycle home from Jennes Sø where he’d been ringing today. The run was great because it warmed us up ready for our swim in the sea, where we were also joined by Florian and our guest Jesper too. I was very happy when a Razorbill (Alk) came swimming up to us; it kept diving down under and then popping back up closer to us which was exciting to watch!

Sunset from the top of the lighthouse

We then all settled down on the sofa for some data entry for the rest of the afternoon. I went up to the top of the lighthouse to watch the sunset and a few minutes later Sarah joined me. She appeared and said she could hear medieval folk tunes playing through the lighthouse speakers along with the usual bird song recordings. In reality, it was just me up there playing some tunes on the recorder, but maybe this kind of music would make the walk up all those steps more entertaining and atmospheric!

We all enjoyed a lovely stir fry dinner cooked by Miles, and he even made dessert, the most chocolatey chocolate cake ever, decorated with a Bearded Reedling (Skægmejse) created with powdered sugar. What a feast!

Chocolate cake baked by Miles and decorated by Sarah

Ringing (Kabeltromlen):

Ringing (Jennes Sø):

Highlights from World’s End 3:

Today’s observations from the area can be found here

People: Mara Glane, Florian Hatt, Sarah Partridge, Amira Nuseibeh, Miles Scheuering, Michael Ancher, Simon S. Christiansen, and our guests Mette and Jesper.

After such a good day of ringing yesterday, I (Miles) was excited to join again. It was quite foggy in the morning, but Amira, Mara, and I were still able to open the nets. It was chilly this morning, and with the fog, felt quite autumnal for the first time this season. There have been quite a lot of visitors at the ringing table this week, and though we have been a bit busy, it has been really rewarding to show the ringing process (and the cool birds) to so many people! Simon was able to join the ringing for the start, but left midmorning to teach a course for nature educators about teaching to children.

Simon's course about nature education for children. Photo by Simon

There were still many Bearded Reedlings (Skægmejse) in the area, and we caught and ringed another 4 today! Bearded Reedlings are a colonial breeder and have a highly localized breeding distribution within reedbeds. In the fall, they form large flocks and disperse to new reedbed sites. During this period, young birds pair up, which has resulted in us catching a lot of males and females together. While it is unclear if they keep these pairs into the breeding season, there is evidence these pair bonds are maintained through dispersal behavior, which may be a strategy to ensure there is an even sex ratio following dispersal.

A pair of Bearded Reedlings (Skægmejse). Photo by Amira

The fog prevented the observers (Sarah and Florian) from starting the migration count right away, so they joined us at the ringing for the first hour. Once the fog cleared, there were many auks (alkefugle), including our first Little Auk (Søkonge) of the season! This was a lifer for Florian and brought much excitement. They also saw a Great Northern Diver (Islom), also called a Common Loon and many European Golden Plovers (Hjelje). After the count, Florian searched for passerines in the sea buckthorn (havtorn) west of Worlds End 3 but unfortunately didn’t find much more than a thorn in his boot. However, when he reached the sandormen track he heard a Red-throated Pipit (Rødstrubet Piber) calling and was able to see it as it flew overhead. He was able to obtain a good recording, which can be found in the observation on DOFBasen.

Sarah and Florian enjoying danish pastries at the bakery in Skagen. Photo by Miles

Upon returning to the lighthouse, we quickly ate lunch and then headed to the bakery in town to get a cinnamon waffle (kanelvaffel) before they sold out. These are Sarah’s favorite cakes, and she has been very excited to introduce the rest of the crew to them. While in town, we visited some secondhand stores and Sarah found a very nice winter jacket, which will likely be quite useful when she goes to the Faroe Islands in a week. This evening, Amira gave us a true British cultural experience by cooking jacket potatoes with baked beans for dinner. They were delicious!

Today’s observations from the area can be found here

People: Mara Glane, Florian Hatt, Sarah Partridge, Amira Nuseibeh, Miles Scheuering, Michael Ancher, Simon S. Christiansen, and our guests Mette and Jesper.

Same as yesterday, it was another day with hardly any wind. Accordingly, Sarah and I didn't have to get very warm clothes, as it was already relatively mild in the morning. The passerine activity was actually quite good in the early hours, with several species attempting to migrate but turning back before reaching the sea. Many species of finches flew around, including Common Crossbills (Lille Korsnæb). With crossbills in particular, it is worth listening carefully and if necessary making audio recordings. Parrot crossbills (Stor Korsnæb) could soon appear over Grenen!


Calm morning at the migration count

Over the sea, several bigger groups of Guillemots (Lomvie) and Razorbills (Alk) flew by again. It was also nice to see a small flock of Purple Sandpipers. Due to the good visibility, we were also able to spot a handful of fulmars in the distance. Suddenly we heard something calling behind us. They were definitely Bearded Reedlings (Skægmejse), and shortly afterwards we discovered a flock of 15 individuals flying around! Miles, who was at the ringing, had never seen any before, so I called him on Zello and told him to keep an eye on the sky in case the flock flew over Kabeltromlen. It took less than a minute for a call to come back saying that they had just found two Bearded Reedlings (Skægmejse) in the nets. Since we observers had never seen any in the hand before, we decided to quickly cycle back to take a look at these beautiful birds. Even though the count was briefly interrupted as a result, it was a very good decision! For me, it was definitely a highlight to get to see this fascinating species up close!


Super cute pair of Bearded Reedlings (Skægmejse)!

After that, I headed back very fast and started later counting the resting Common Scoters (Sortand). Because there were so few waves, many of them were visible today, so I was motivated to count as accurately as possible. This took me quite a long time and ended up not even as accurate as I would have liked, because some of them kept flying around. However, the 1750 individuals still meant a respectable number, which was nice.

Afterwards, I went to do some birding at Skarvsøen. The bushes there have consistently proved to be a good spot for passerines over the last few weeks. In particular, I always found many chiffchaffs here. This gives me hope that I’ll maybe find a rare siberian warbler here this autumn! But it didn't happen today. Instead, I was able to observe again a nice flock of Bearded Reedlings (Skægmejse). The highlight of this small trip was not a passerine, but an adult male Hen Harrier (Blå Kærhøg) at Reservatet! What a beautiful raptor!

Back home, I heard that the ringers had caught three more Bearded Reedlings in the last net round - it really seems to be a good day for them! In the afternoon, refreshed by a swim, they checked some ringing sheets before our guests invited us to dinner with a delicious vegetarian lasagne!

Ringing (Kabeltromlen)
Skægmejse 5
Vindrossel 3
Solsort 2
Grønirisk 11
Musvit 2
Gærdesmutte 15
Rødhals 4
Stor Dompap 2
Lille Dompap 2
Bogfinke 2
Munk 2
Rørspurv 3
Fuglekonge 4
Gransanger 1
Træløber 1
Blåmejse 4
Kvækerfinke 3
Total: 66

Ringing (Jennes Sø)
Stor Flagspætte 1
Blåmejse 2
Musvit 4
Sortmejse 1
Topmejse 1
Nordlig Halemejse  4
Fuglekonge 4
Gærdesmutte 3
Lille Dompap 1
Nordlig Gråsisken 1
Lille Gråsisken 16
Grønsisken 2
Total: 40

Highlights from World's End III
Skægmejse 15

Today’s observations from the area can be found here

People: Mara Glane, Florian Hatt, Sarah Partridge, Amira Nuseibeh, Miles Scheuering, Michael Ancher, Simon S. Christiansen, and our guests Mette and Jesper.