Cora, Sarah, Louise and I were up at World's End III today for migration watch, with lovely sunshine and calm seas. This meant very few seabirds, including a single Razorbill (Alk) resting near the shore, and four or less fulmars  (Mallemuk) per hour. Even the Gannets (Sule)were relaxed, with over 100 paddling around off the tip. To compensate for little seabird activity, there were over a thousand gulls resting on the beach, and we had regular appearances of waders, including first ever curlew sandpiper (Krumnæbbet Ryle)! We were also visited by a couple of Great Spotted Woodpeckers (Stor Flagspætte) and a troupe of sparrows. Louise also saw a couple of breaching porpoises in the calm waters.

Meanwhile, this morning was Markus’ first time opening nets at Kabeltromlen, with seasoned expert Hanlie on her last(!) time opening (until we convince her to abandon her holiday plans and come back to the observatory…). Joined by Simon and Mio for the first round, they had a nice array of species today, starting off strong with a Lesser Redpoll (Lille gråsisken), and a fine example of a 1k male bluethroat (Blåhals).

Blåhals juvenile Male. 

Along with a Eurasian treecreeper (Træløber) in the hand there was another very exciting moment for them, sighting a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker (Lille Flagspætte)! This was a first Skagen species for everyone there, and the first recorded up here since 2020. They also had some Tree Pipit (Skovpiber) and Yellow Wagtail (Gul Vipstjert) migration and Common Buzzards (Musvåge).

Ringing totals from KAB:
Blåhals 1
Rørsanger 2
Kærsanger 1
Rørspurv 2
Tornsanger 11
Gærdesanger 3
Munk 1
Løvsanger 1
Lille Gråsisken 1
Træløber 1
Blåmejse 1
Solsort 2
Jernspurv 1
Gransanger 1
total: 29 ringed (+ 3 recaptures)

After data entry and a swim (for some), and food shopping (for the others), Simon arrived with Ragner, who successfully defended his bachelor thesis today, congratulations. We had the pleasure of our own academic session today from Hanlie, who gave a meticulously researched presentation on identifying Curruca warblers this evening, before leaving in the early hours tomorrow morning. Thanks to her for all her hard work here this summer, and for teaching us all so much (enjoy your holiday, Hanlie!!).

Curruca presentation by Hanelie.

This evening Simon, Mio and Ragnar went to World's End III, and saw much more activity in terms of seabirds than this morning. Not only with hundreds of fulmar (Mallemuk), 5 Arctic Skua (Almendelig Kjove), one Great Skua (Storkjove) but also a Baleen whale (unidentified but possibly Minke or Humpback) that was seen breaching three times going northwest!

All observations in the area from today can be seen here on DOFbasen.

Highlights from Kabeltromlen:
Eurasian Treecreeper (Træløber)
Bluethroat (Blåhals)
Lesser Spotted Woodpecker (Lille Flagspætte)

Highlights from Worlds End III:
Curlew Sandpiper (Krumnæbbet Ryle)
Baleen Whale unidentified

At the station:
Markus Kemp Clément, Simon Kiesé, Louise Buksti-Ladefoged, Sarah Partridge, Mio Brix, Cora Köberle, Hanelie Sidhu, Rosemary Fricke.

The first ones who got up today were Hanelie, Sarah, Rose and Louise, who started their day at Kabeltrommeln for ringing. They enjoyed this calm day a lot, and they caught a total of 22 birds today, so more than the days before. A very beautiful Coal Tit (Sortmejse) was caught in the last round, and all were happy about this nice bird. They were also happy to see the Adder (Hugorm) again, who is at the same place every day.

Coal Tit (Sortmejse) at KAB

Cora, Simon, Markus and I started our day a bit later for the migration count at World's End 3. There was not so much migration today, but we also enjoyed the day here completely. Even though the numbers were rather low today compared to the previous days, we had very nice species. In the second hour, Simon Jr. spotted a Manx Shearwater (Almindelig Skråpe), which was quite far out, but we all managed to see it. Especially for Cora this was the best bird of the day, because that was a new species for her congratulations! She mentioned directly after we saw the bird that we can look forward to something baked! What she baked, you’ll find out when you continue reading.
The other highlights of the morning obs were one Great Skua (Storkjove) and one Temminck’s Stint (Temmincksryle), which flew over us twice!

After this successful ringing and migration count morning, we all headed back to the station to have something to eat or to go to bed for a short, or sometimes when needed, longer nap. Cora, Simon Jr. and I decided to open the garden net, and by the second net check we recaptured a Whitethroat (Tornsanger), which Simon Jr. and I had caught two weeks ago at 1 AM by nightcatching.
Because the weather was so good, we played some ball games in the Lighthouse Garden in the afternoon and afterwards we went for a swim, which was very refreshing!

flexible datawork in the Lighthouse garden

In the late afternoon, Simon Jr., Sarah, Louise, Markus and Rose went to town to taste some Danish beers in a bar, and they had nice talks about everything there. Meanwhile, Cora started to bake a delicious milk bread at the station, which we can eat the next day at Kabeltrommeln or World's End 3.
After the others came back from their town trip, Markus started cooking, and we had a lovely dinner.
But the day was still not at its end. Simon, Cora and I changed the net size of the Nightjar net in the Old Lighthouse Garden and opened it afterwards.
Unfortunately, we didn’t catch a Nightjar today, but we will try again the next days.

KAB ringing totals:

Kærsanger 3

Løvsanger 3

Gærdesanger 1

Sortmejse 1

Tornsanger 9

Munk 2

Bogfinke 1

Gransanger 2

Total: 22

Highlight of the observations:

Manx Shearwater (Almindeling Skråpe)

Great Skua (Storkjove)

Temmincks Stint (Temmincksryle)

Today´s observations of observers in the area can be seen here.

People: Rosemary Frikke, Markus Kemp Clément, Simon Kiesé, Louise Buksti-Ladefoged, Sarah Partrige, Mio Brix, Cora Köberle, Hanelie Sidhu

Today we enjoyed a clear sunny day over Skagen. The excitement began last night when Mio and Cora captured two Dunlins (almindelig ryle) on their night walk to Grenen, and the rest of us were woken up around midnight for the ringing. They then completed another round to Grenen and caught one more Dunlin. These were all juvenile birds, and were given steel rings to last the wear and tear of life on the beach. We got to see up close the flexible bill tip characteristic of many waders, which is packed with nerve endings to locate food items while probing in the sand.

This morning, myself, Rosemary, Markus, and Simon were joined at World’s end III by Ragnar, and we spent a windy morning counting. We saw many fulmars (mallemuk) migrating, over 400 during the count. We were also happy to see a long-eared owl (Skorvhornugle) flying over the sea fairly close to us. We also saw some nice waders including  oystercatchers (strandskade), redshanks (rødben), Hjejle, Dobbeltbekkasin, and one brushane. Simon, Markus, and Ragnar continued counting after the standardized hours, while Rosemary and I went to read some colour rings in the gull flock.

Hanelie, Louise, Mio, and Cora went out ringing today at Kabletromeln, where it was a bit breezy but they could open most of the nets for the morning, and then opened the rest as the wind died down. They had some highlights including a fuglekonge, grå fluesnapper, and jernspurv. They also got to see some young adders resting in the bushes near the ringing table.

The afternoon was warm; some of us went swimming and most of us had long naps after lunch. We tidied up the apartment together, completed data entry for the day, and feasted on Rosemary’s Famous mac n cheese, which fueled Mio’s current cheese obsession. Louise went out with her mum and kindly brought us back some delicious pastries. I went for a small walk with Mio and Simon, and Rosemary went up the lighthouse tower where she happened to catch a swift (mursejler) and brought it back down to the lab for ringing, where we got to see its amazingly long flight feathers and charming little face.  

Just now the others have caught two natravn and are bringing them back to the lab for ringing; it is already the start of another exciting night!

Today’s observations in Dofbasen from observers in the area.

Ringing totals:

Ringing KAB today:
Gærdesanger 1
Kærsanger 1
Rødhals 1
Jernspurv 1
Grå Fluesnapper 1
Munk 1
Tornsanger 3
Rørspurv 1
Fuglekonge 1
Gransanger 2
Total: 13

No wind and sunshine accompanied us this morning at Grenen. The lack of bird migration was compensated for by good conversation and company. It was the first morning Ragnar joined, who will be here for a couple of days. But we still managed to see some nice birds including a young Goshawk (Duehøg) and a Arctic Skua (Almindelig Kjove).

Counting at World's End 3

A yellow legged gull took our attention, but a more detailed look into the primaries revealed its identity as a Herring Gull (Sølvmåge) – the yellow legged omissus-type. 

Herring Gull (Sølvmåge) omissus type

After finishing the count, we headed to Kabeltromlen. The ringers had a very satisfying day, that started with a young Bluethroat (Blåhals). This species was quite rare in the ringing, but numbers increased this year. Some new birds including a Pied Flycatcher (Broget Fluesnapper) gave some of the volunteers the nice opportunity to gain ringing experience and get a new bird species in the hand. While the ringers closed the nets we counters saw several Adders (Hugorm) and I caught this nice Heath Grashopper Chortippus vagans (Steppegræshoppe), that is just spread in Skagen area up to Ålbæk in Denmark.

Heath Grashopper Chortippus vagans (Steppegræshoppe)

Ragnar found a Silver Spotted Skipper Hesperia comma (Kommabredpande) just south of the lighthouse. That is a very nice record, since this species is usually just seen south of Skagen By. A good day for SKAF entomology!

Back at the station we enjoyed a variety of food including a tasty and spicy soup Sarah made.

In the afternoon we watched the Danish award winning movie Another Round (2020), which is about the both positive and negative affect of alcohol. We celebrated the midday movie with a wine. Just kidding, but it was a chill group activity.

In the evening we headed out again and Ragnar found a Black-thorated Diver (Sortstrubet Lom) and Mio a Little Gull (Dværgmåge). The wind is picking up now and – like always – we are looking very forward to the next days. We will be ready to welcome some new birds in Skagen!

Ringing (Kabeltromlen):

Blåhals (Bluethroat) 1

Kærsanger (Marsh Warbler) 2

Løvsanger (Willow Warbler) 1

Gærdesanger (Lesser Whitethroat) 2

Broget Fluesnapper (Pied Flycatcher) 1

Gulbug (Icterine Warbler) 1

Munk (Blackcap) 3

Tornsanger (Common Whitethroat) 9

Rørspurv (Reed Bunting) 2

Gransanger (Chiffchaff) 3

Total: 25

Highlight of the observations:

Little Gull (Dværgmåge) 1

Arctic Skua (Almindelig Kjove) 1

Today’s observations in Dofbasen from observers in the area.

People: Rosemary Frikke, Markus Kemp Clément, Simon Kiesé, Louise Buksti-Ladefoged, Sarah Partrige, Mio Brix, Cora Köberle, Hanelie Sidhu, Ragnar Smith.

My day started at 2 AM  because we woke up to see the young Nightjar (Natravn) which was catched in the old lighthouse garden. After seeing this beautiful bird I went back to bed to get some more sleep before opening the nets at Kabeltromeln. 

1K Nightjar (Natravn)

Today Mio and I went to open the nets at Kabeltromeln and Simon JR.joined us for the first round. We had a really good day of ringing today. We already caught good numbers of birds onthe first rounds. On the third round we caught a nice 1K Treepipit (Skovpiber) and a very beautiful 1K Pied Flycatcher (Broget Fluesnapper), the first one of the autumn ringing season. We also caught two young Yellow Hammers (Gulspurv), a Blue Tit (Blåmejse),  a Great Tit (Musvit) and many Marsh Warblers (Kærsanger).

1K Pied Flycatcher (Boget Fluesnapper)

In total we ringed 39 birds and almost all of them were young birds which hatched this year. This morning also Jørgen Kabel and Igor visited us at Kabeltrommeln, it was very nice to see them again. 

On our way back to the station we saw six Great White Egrets (Sølvhejre) flying out to Grenen. 

Back at the station we met the observers who had a bit of a slower day. Their highlight was a resting Little Gull (Dværgmåge). Another highlight was two Arctic Skuas (Almingdelig Kjove). 

After lunch the most of us took a good long nap.

Later Hanelie, Markus, Sarah and Rosemary went out to change the position of some nets at Kabeltrommeln. They did a great job and now the reed nets will maybe catch a bit more than before.

While they were out Simon Sr. and Ragnar passed by the station before they went out to do some seawatching at Nordstrand. Ragnar will stay at Simon's place the next few days and will help us with some migration counts.

Simon also told us that one of the Kestrels we ringed an tagged near Tårs in July made it up to Skagen, which you can see in the data points below. The tags are from the Max Planck Insitute of Animal Behavior in Radolfzell and are distributed out to danish Ringers by The Natural History Museum of Denmark. Hundreds of juvenile Kestrels has this summer been equipped with tags all around Denmark. 

Map with signals from of one of the tagged Kestrels (Tårnfalk)

Later Simon Jr. and I did some datawork and Mio prepared us a delicious dinner.

Ringing Kabeltrommlen: 

Munk 2

Gærdesanger  4

Gransanger 11

Tornsanger 8

Rørsanger 2

Kærsanger 7

Blåmejse 1

Skovpiber 1

Gulspurv 2

Broget Fluesnapper 1

Total: 39

Ringing Det Grå Fyr:

Natraven 1

Highlight of the observations:

Little Gull (Dværgmåge) 1

Arctic Skua (Almindelig Kjove)

Today’s observations in Dofbasen from observers in the area

People: Rosemary Frikke, Markus Kemp Clément, Simon Kiesé, Louise Buksti-Ladefoged, Sarah Partrige, Mio Brix, Cora Köberle, Simon S. Christiansen, Hanelie Sidhu, Ragnar Smith.

As is often the case here at the Observatory, last night brough a very special guest. A storm  petrel (lille stormsvale) was caught in our nets and it was ringed just before midnight. Between net checks, Simon, Mio, and Cora also spotted two bitterns (rørdrum) migrating southwest. What a fantastic surprise! After such a successful evening, both Simon and Cora could head to bed.

The storm petrel ringed last night. 

This morning was a CES day, so Hanelie, Mio, and I made out way to Skarvsø. We had an absolutely brilliant session, ringing a total of 48 birds and catching 2 recaptures. This was especially exciting for me, as I’ve never had a ringing day with more than 15 birds before. It was so busy I didn’t even have time to finish my breakfast/lunch. The day ended on a high note when the last bird of the session turned out to be a stunning adult male bearded reeding (skægmejse).

bearded reedling

Meanwhile, Makus, Rosemary, and Sarah headed out for morning observations. The calm weather made for some pleasant views with the highlights from their watch included several yellow wagtails (gul vipstjert), 1 great white egret (sølvhejre), 2 arctic skuas (almindelig kjove), and 1 bloated dead seal. While chatting with curious tourists they also noted plenty of redshanks (rødben) and some guillemots (lomvie).

In the afternoon, while some of us enjoyed a well-earned nap, Makus, Mio, Simon, and Cora explored reservatet, looking for both birds and insects before making their way back via Nordstrand. Reservatet was bustling with life. Among the many birds, they spotted another great white egret (sølvhejre), a honey buzzard (vepsevåge), and a goshawk (duehøg).

A few brave souls even attempted a swim, though the waters were full of jellyfish (after all, what’s a swim without a little risk?) hopefully, we’ll see fewer of them over the coming days.

Tonight’s dinner duty fell to Simon, who treated us to a delicious vegetarian curry with homemade naan bread, served in the lighthouse garden. We shared the meal with plenty of good stories and laughter. Others went up in the lighthouse to see the sunset and do some birding. Here they saw a great skua (stor kjove).

Dinner in the lighthouse garden with all the volunteers

The evening wound down with data entry from the day’s activities and preparations for another round of storm petrel (lille stormsvale) and nightjar (natravn) netting. Tonight, Rosemary and Sarah are on watch. Wish them luck.  

Here is a little video of the storm petrel from last night, where you can see it flying around just before it flies into the net!

Ringing at Skarvsø: 

1 Musvit

5 Kærsanger

27 Rørsanger

1 Rørspurv

3 Gærdesanger

1 Skæjmejse

3 Munk

4 Tornsanger

3 Gransanger 

Total: 48 birds

Ringing at the Grey Lighthouse: 

1 lille stormsvale

At the Station: Hanelie Sidhum Rosemary Fricke, Sarah Partrige, Mio Brix, Louise Buksti-Ladefoged, Markus Kemp Clément, Simon Kiesé, Cora Kørberle, Simon S. Christiansen. 

This morning, Rose and I went out to open the nets at Kabeltromle. We were joined by Markus for the first round. It was his first day in the ringing and he got to extract and ring his first birds. We did not have many birds in the nets. The first round only brought one bird, but it was a nice one: A juvenile Tree Pipit “Skovpiber”. Simon also came by for a bit at the ringing and saw the Pipit.

 Tree Pipit "Skovpiber".

Ringing totals Kabeltromle:

Løvsanger 1

Gransanger 1

Skovpiber 1

Jernspurv 2

Tornsanger 3

Kærsanger 1

Total 9 

Then he went to the observers at Verdens Ende 3, where he found some Orcas “Spækhugger”.

Orcas on the sea, observed from Verdens Ende 3.

The observers saw them for quite a while but unfortunately we did not see them from Kabeltromle. But it sounded like a really nice observation day with Little Gull “Dværgmåge” and three Great Scuas “Stor Kjove”. 

In the afternoon Sarah and Rose went for the Fulmar survey. They did not find any dead Fulmars “Mallemuk”and also no dead birds in good condition to put in the freezer.  But they found a tooth from an animal, probably a deer. Also a little statue of a Santa Claus. But the highlight was definitely a fossilized banana. We did not expect a banana to fossilize and are wondering how long it took so it looked like that. 

Treasures from the beach.

This evening we are trying for Nightjars and Stormpetrels “Stormsvale”. 

 High expectations for tonight at Det Grå Fyr.

Highlights Observations

Stor Kjove

Spækhugger

Mallemuk > 300

Dværgmåge

Highlights Ringing

Skovpiber

Today´s observations of observers in the area can be seen here.

At the station: Rosemary Frikke, Markus Kemp Clément, Simon Kiesé, Louise Buksti-Ladefoged, Sarah Partrige, Mio Brix, Cora Kørberle, Simon S. Christiansen, Hanelie Sidhu

Førend vi når til dagens begivenheder, vil jeg lige slå et slag for Kiesé og Cora’s succesfulde natfangst i går. Efter solnedgang begav de sig ud på en runde om Grenen, hvor det, ved brug af den termiske kikkert, lykkedes at fange hele 2 fugle: 1 ung Fjordterne og 1 ung Sanglærke.

De to fugle blev, under påsyn af samtlige frivillige, ringmærket i laboratoriet.

1k Sanglærke ringmærket ved Det Grå Fyr. 

1k Fjordterne ringmærket ved Det Grå Fyr. 

I morges cyklede jeg, til synet af en utrolig lyserød solopgang, ud ad Sandormsporet til min hidtil køligste morgenobs ved Verdens Ende 3. I selskab med Cora, Rose, Kiesé, Mio og Knud holdt jeg opsyn med Skagerrak og Kattegat. Der var færre fugle end i går, men alligevel nok til at holde os underholdt gennem alle fire timer.

Blandt andet talte vi 165 Mallemukker der trak mod NV, samt 3 Storkjover. Det er virkelig en fornøjelse at have mulighed for at opnå erfaring med havfugle jeg sjældent har set på Sjællands nordkyst, hvor jeg indtil nu har kigget på havfugle. I den seneste uge har jeg set ca. 1.000 Mallemukker! Derudover havde vi efterårssæsonens første indtrækkende Fiskeørn, en gammel hun der kæmpede sig ind fra havet på trods af en hård modvind.

I de tidligste timer af morgenobsen lagde jeg desuden mærke til en specielt udseende sejlbåd der rundede Grenen ude i horisonten. Det lignede en båd der var bygget til kapsejlads, og den havde ganske vidst også virkelig meget fart på. Efter lidt research viser det sig, at det var en af de både der deltager i det netop igangsatte The Ocean Race Europe, hvor første etape går fra Kiel til Portsmouth. Det var sjovt lige at få synet af en sådan båd med på morgenobsen.

Kapsejladsbåden Team Amaala, der deltager i The Ocean Race Europe, rundede Grenen i de tidlige morgentimer.

Grundet megen vind havde vi blot 120 net meter åbne ved Kabeltromlen. Derfor var fangsten begrænset til 6 ringmærkede fugle, fordelt på Gransanger, Munk og Løvsanger. Kiesé, Cora, Mio og jeg brugte efter morgenobsen lidt tid omkring Kabeltromlekrattet på at eftersøge græshopper og spiselige bær. Der er fortsat en del velsmagende Havtorn, Hindbær og Brombær i området!

Tilbage i haven ved Det Grå Fyr havde vi nettet åbent i løbet af eftermiddagen. Det viste sig spøjst nok at være mere frugtbart end at have nettene åbne ved Kabeltromlen. Vi fangede nemlig 7 fugle, herunder en smuk ung Skovsanger. Det er i min optik den fineste hjemmehørende Phylloscopus-sanger vi har i Danmark og jeg er glad for at have set den i hånden.

Da ældre fugle gennemgår deres komplette fældning i løbet af deres overvintring i Vestafrika, syd for Sahel-regionen, vil disse forventeligt have en slidt fjerdragt på dette tidspunkt af året. Da vores ringmærkede fugl havde en frisk fjerdragt, kunne den bestemmes til en 1K.

1k Skovsanger ringmærket ved Det Grå Fyr.

Highlights Morning Observations:

165 Mallemuk

3 Storkjove

3 Almindelig Kjove

1 Fiskeørn

Highlights Ringing Det Grå Fyr:

1 Skovsanger

1 Sanglærke

1 Fjordterne

Eftermiddagen blev brugt på at spille brætspillet Klask, samt på at studere lidt fugle.

I morgen skal jeg for første gang for alvor give mig i kast med ringmærkning ved Kabeltromlen, det ser jeg frem til.

Inden da må jeg dog se mig nødsaget til at hoppe en tur i bølgen blå, her kl. kvart over ti. Jeg har nemlig endnu ikke har været i vandet i dag. Da jeg har sat mig for at skulle en tur i havet hver eneste dag i løbet af mit ophold på stationen, må jeg nu en tur ud i mørket inden sengetid.

Today’s observations by observers in the area of Skagen typed into DOFbasen can be found here.

Ringing totals Kabeltromlen:

Gransanger 4

Løvsanger 1

Munk 1

Total 6

Ringing totals Det Grå Fyr

Gråspurv 3

Skovsanger 1

Havesanger 1

Tornsanger 1

Fjordterne 1

Sanglærke 1

Total 8

Hanelie and I were today the first ones who got up to open the nets at Kabeltrommeln. Cora joined us for the first round. Because of the quite strong wind, we weren’t able to open all the nets. That was also why we only caught 4 new birds today. But we had a nice Garden Warbler (Havesanger) recapture and for me it was also nice to be back for the first time during my stay here in August at Kabeltrommeln.

Garden Warbler (Havesanger) at KAB

We used the time between the rounds to watch a bit to the sea and also inland. We had some passerines and 2 close Arctic Skuas (Almindelig Kjove), which were chasing a Grey Heron (Fiskehejre). We also used the time to look a bit at other species groups, and we caught some nice grasshoppers like the Steppe Grasshopper (Chorthippus vagans / Steppegræshoppe). At the closing round we found a Golden-dimpeled Ground Beetle/Dyndløber (Carabus clatratus), a very nice and beautiful beetle.

Golden-dimpeled Ground Beetle (Dyndløber/Carabus clatratus)

To come back to birds – the observers, Simon Jr., Markus, Louisa, Rose and Sarah started the count from sunrise, and Knud and Erik joined them. They were very successful and got 246 Fulmars (Mallemuk) in total and a Great Skua as their highlight. Both were lifers for Louisa, congrats!

After ringing and observing we all headed back to the station, some ate something, others went directly to bed for a nap. But Hanelie, Rose and Sarah were so nice and went to the shop in town to buy all the stuff we need for the next days. And they did a huge shopping, because many people eat a lot of stuff in few days.

Cora and I used the afternoon to collect a dead Eider (Ederfugl), which was found by Louisa, Sarah and Rose at Grenen at the morning, and on our way back we found a dead Cormorant (Skav) near the beach by Det Grå Fyr. We put them in the freezer, so that they can be used for scientific purposes.
Meanwhile, Markus and Simon (Lille Simån) decided to go to World's End 3 and they saw a Great Skua (Storkjove) and 6 Arctic Skuas (Almindelig Kjove), so it was a good decision from them to go out again.
Rose and Sarah went out again as well to the top of Det Grå Fyr to have an awesome look over the landscape around Skagen.

view form Det Grå Fyr

After our activities at noon and in the afternoon we were all a bit exhausted, and it came at the perfect moment when Hanelie called us that dinner was ready. She cooked a delicious pumpkin soup and after that awesome dinner we weren’t finished with eating, because Rose baked a very nice cake as a dessert. It’s always nice to be with all the other volunteers at the table and have such nice and funny talks as we had today.
Now Simon Jr. and Cora are out for night-catching and we all hope that they will have success and bring some nice birds back to the station, so that we can ring them to know more about their migration and roosting places. We’ll let you know in the next blog if they caught something!

Update!

During the morning obs on this 10th of august 2025, Simon Kiesé noticed a rather pale looking tern resting for a few minutes on the beach in front of Worlds End 3. In the beginning, we were unsure if enough documentation had been acquired. However, after analyzing the digiscoped video by Simon Kiesé, it truly does look like a Roseate Tern (Rosenterne) Adult 3K+ individual. 
If accepted by the danish rarity committee (SU) it would be the 2nd record for Skagen, and 6th record for Denmark of this species. 

Collage of the 3K+ Roseate Tern(Rosenterne) resting at Grenen between 6:30-6:36. Screenshots from a video by Simon Kiesé

Ringing totals KAB:

Munk 1

Solsort 1

Kærsanger 1

Gulspurv 1

Total 4

Observation Highlights:

1 Rosenterne 

246 Fulmars (Mallemuk)

14 Arctic Skua (Almindeling Kjove)

Great Skua (Storkjove)

Little Stint (Dværgryle)

Today's observations by observers in the area typed into DOFbasen can be seen here

At the station: Hanelie Sidhu, Rosemary Fricke, Sarah Partrige, Mio Brix, Louise Buksti-Ladefoged, Markus Kemp Clément, Simon Kiesé, Cora Köberle 

Today Cora arrived so we are a full house with eight! Louise, Mio, Markus and I began our day with the observation, which was nice and calm. Highlights included some arctic skuas (almindelig kjove), fulmars (mallemuk), razorbills (alk), yellow wagtails (gul vipsjert), and lots of migrating European golden plovers (hjejle). We also had a spectacle of a Gannet (sule) feast, with over 300 individuals feeding together, which was captivating to watch. After this Mio went to search for gull colour rings and was happy to report seven ringed kittiwakes (ride).

Rosemary, Hanelie and Simon went ringing at Kabletromlen, where they had a successful day of ringing. They were excited to see a rosefinch (karmindompap) and a green sandpiper (Svalekire), and to hear a penduline tit (pungmejse). When they called it over the radio we also searched for the pungmejse at Wrold’s End III but did not see it either.

When we got back to the lighthouse, Hanelie, Markus and I opened Hanelie’s moth traps. Among other lovey creatures there was a glorious garden tiger, a pale prominent, and several fine Archer’s darts.

Pale prominent from the moth trap

We all met for lunch at the lighthouse where we were joined by Cora and we all had some lovely chats together. Then we split up to complete the quarterly waterbird count. Markus and Mio enjoyed their trip to Nordstrand where they saw a little stint (dværgyle) and a little tern (dværgterne). Rosemary, Simon and Cora went up to the top of the lighthouse where they saw over 200 cormorants (skarv) and Mio and Markus on the beach.

Waterbird count from the lighthouse tower

Markus photographing during the waterbird count

Hanelie, Louise, and myself went to Cormorant Lake. There we were thrilled to see an adder and Louise was nearly in tears of happiness. We spent some time touching up the nets, making sure everything is secure in the wind, and enjoying some stories about Danish bog bodies from Louise.

We concluded our day with a family swim in the waves which was quite bracing and very fun!

Today's observations by observers in the area typed into DOFbasen can be seen here.

At the station: Hanelie Sidhu, Rosemary Fricke, Sarah Partrige, Mio Brix, Louise Buksti-Ladefoged, Markus Kemp Clément, Simon Kiesé, Cora Köberle, Simon S. Christiansen.