This morning, Rose and I went out the earliest to open the nets at Kabeltromle. It was a bit windy and the nets in the reeds were quite exposed so we only had 140 netmeters open. 

When we came back from the first round, Simon was already waiting for birds at the Cable drum, but unfortunately, we did not have any birds, so he decided to go for a walk a bit and visit Emma and Markus at the Morning Observations. 

That´s how he missed the Great Spotted Woodpecker “Stor Flagspætte”, that we had in the second round. It was another juvenile.

Stor Flagspætte. Picture: Rosemary Fricke

We did not catch many birds today, only twelve, but of ten different species. Other nice species were a White Wagtail “Hvid Vipstjert” and a Lesser Redpoll “Lille Gråsisken”. 

Hvid Vipstjert. Picture: Rosemary Fricke.

Ringing totals

Gransanger 2

Gærdesanger 1

Rørsanger 1

Lille Gråsisken 1

Jernspurv 1

Kærsanger 1

Munk 1

Tornsanger 2

Hvid Vipstjert 1

Stor Flagspætte 1

Total 12

Emma and Markus did not have many birds migrating but they had a flock of about 95 Common Terns “Fjordterne” and 8 Sandwich Terns “Splitterne” resting on the beach. And there was also a highlight among the resting birds, they found a Slavonian Grebe “Nordisk Lappedykker” resting on the water! 

Nordisk Lappedykker. Picture: Markus Clement

Highlights Ringing Kabletromle:

Stor Flagspætte

Hvid Vipstjert

Highlights Morning Observations:

Nordisk Lappedykker

Today´s observations by observers in the area typed into DOFbasn can be seen here.

After ringing, Rose and I tried to see it but either we did not find it or it left. So we went back to the station. I checked my moth trap, it was not so many moths, only 15 different ones but one was new, Lycophotia porphyrea “Spættet lyngugle”, which has a quite interesting English name, True Lover´s Knot. I also had the Small Wainscot - Denticucullus pygmina in Danish Lille starugle. It is my favorite of the Wainscots and the first one that I caught this year and I was quite happy to see that species again after a year. 

After data work and a meeting with Simon in the afternoon, we went swimming all together. 

Tonight, we will try for Storm Petrels “Lille Stormsvale” and Nightjars “Natravn”. We will keep you updated in tomorrow´s blog.

At the station: Emma Fabre, Markus Clement, Rosemary Fricke, Simon S. Christiansen and our guests Jesper and Mette.

This morning, I went to the migration count. There were some migrating birds during the first two hours, including terns and Kittiwakes (Ride). I spotted a Fulmar (Mallemuk) far away heading southeast. Then I saw a group of waders land and disappear along the shore, so I went down to check if they were Sanderlings (Sandløber).

On my way back to the dunes, an immature Arctic Skua (Almindelig Kjove) flew over me for a few seconds—it was very close. I also observed an adult Black Guillemot (Tejst) in summer plumage resting quite far out at sea. The last two hours were very slow, with almost no birds migrating, but some were resting on the beach. There was a nice resting flock of Common Terns (Fjordterne), Sandwich Terns (Splitterne), and Kittiwakes (Ride).

Arctic Skua (Almindelig Kjove)

At the end of the four hours, I joined the ringing.
Hanelie and Rose woke up early for the ringing. They found a Black Redstart (Husrødstjert) at the entrance. They tried to catch it, but it went into the broom closet and hid beside some cables and pipes. So they left it inside and opened the front door so it could leave. Apparently, it flew out during the morning, as we didn’t see it again afterward.

young Yellowhammers (Gulspurv)

Otherwise, it was quite windy for ringing, so they didn’t open the reed net side. They caught 25 birds, including 3 Yellowhammers (Gulspurv), 2 young Bullfinches (Dompap), and 2 Icterine Warblers (Gulbug). They also saw two Jays (Skovskade) and one Lapwing (Vibe) flying around. When I arrived, I ringed one of the young Bullfinches (Dompap).

young Bullfinche (Dompap)

Afterward, we went back to the lighthouse, and Hanelie cooked a nice pasta sauce. Simon brought us a new volunteer, Markus. Then we spent the afternoon entering data and taking naps. In the evening, we sewed one net and threw away another one that had too many big holes.

Ringing totals:
Gransanger 4
Tornsanger 5
Gulbug 2
Gærdesanger 3
Munk 4
Rørspurv 1
Blåmejse 1
Dompap 2
Gulspurv 3

Highlights:

Fulmar (Mallemuk) 

Arctic Skua (Almindelig Kjove)

At the station: Rosemary Fricke, Emma Fabre, Simon S. Christiansen, Hanelie Sidhu, Markus Clement

Link to todays observations in DOFbasen from Observers in the area.

Hanlie and I were off to Kabeltrommeln this morning for ringing, though the wind meant we kept exposed nets shut today. There was a brief shower as we finished opening nets, which produced an incredible rainbow with about the highest arc possible this time of year since it happened almost exactly at sunrise time.

Rainbow sunrise over the lighthouse.

Though we didn’t get a high volume of birds today, as usual we had some brilliant specimens, including juveniles of several species - Lesser Redpoll (Lille Gråsisken), a Blue Tit (Blåmejse), and a Great Spotted woodpecker (Stor Flagspætte), which Erik turned up at the ringing just in time to see. You can find more pictures of our woodpecker this morning on our Instagram and Facebook. We also had some Crossbills (Lille Korsnæb) flying south over us as we were ringing, as well as more Lesser Redpoll (Lille Gråsisken) flying around.

Lesser Redpoll (Lille Gråsisken)

Great Spotted Woodpecker (Stor Flagspætte)

Meanwhile Emma started on the migration count this morning, seeing plenty of the usuals for this time of year, even having around 50 Common Tern (Fjordterne) resting on the beach with a few Kittiwake (Ride) and an Arctic Tern (Havterne) mixed in, as well as a resting Lapwing (Vibe), and some Golden Plover (Hjejle).  Erik and Knud joined her for some observing, meaning she could leave early to join us for the last hours of ringing. They spotted and photographed a ringed 1st calendar year Meditteranean Gull (Sorthovedet Måge)!

Meditteranean Gull (Sorthovedet Måge) colour-ringed 1st calendar year individual - Photo by Erik

This afternoon, along with standard data entry of our morning work, we have been doing some quality assurance on the backlog of ringing data, making sure there are no errors in our reporting!

Ringing totals:

Gransanger 5
Tornsanger 6
Blåmejse 1
Gærdesanger 1
Kærsanger 1
Lille Gråsisken 1
Stor Flagspætte 1
Total 16

Highlights:
Great Spotted Woodpecker (Sotr Fagspætte)
Mediterranean Gull (Sorthovedet Måge)

Link to todays observations in DOFbasen from Observers in the area.

At the station: Emma Fabre, Hanelie Sidhu, Rosemary Fricke, Knud Pedersen, Erik Christophersen.

This morning started very windy, I got up two times in the early morning, one time at normal waking up time for opening the nets but as it was too windy for ringing, I turned the alarm off again. The second time it woke me up was was a bit later for going to the morning obs. Rose and Emma were already up and Rose proposed I could also sleep in today. I did not mind that and went to bed again. Outside, the wind was still howling and after some more hours in my warm and comfortable bed I did office work which meant the picture archive for me, I was quite behind… After, I started reporting gull rings that we had read in the field.

The others returned from the morning observations; Knud joined them a bit later. They had some Arctic Terns “Havterne”, an Arctic Skua “Almidelig Kjove” and Knud saw a Fulmar “Mallemuk” very far out. A Grey Plover “Strandhjeile” was resting at the beach very close to the observers.

Grey Plover. Picture: Rosemary Fricke

Highlights

Arctic Scua - Almindelig Kjove

Fulmar - Mallemuk

Arctic Tern - Havterne

Today´s observations of obervers in the area typed into DOFbasn can be seen here.

While Rose and Emma took a nap and I still did office work, Simon came by for an hour to also do some work.

Saturday is cleaning day so we cleaned the station today and after, Emma and I went grocery shopping while Rose took a swim in the sea.

Tomorrow looks a little less windy, so we hope to be ringing again.

At the station: Rosemary Fricke, Emma Fabre, Simon S. Christiansen, Knud Pedersen, Hanelie Sidhu

Yesterday evening we installed the nets to catch Storm-petrels (Stormsvale) on the beach and Nightjars (Natravn) in the lighthouse garden. Simon and the others took the rounds during the night, while Rose, Hanelie, and I went to sleep to be ready the next morning for the migration count and the ringing.

This morning I went to the migration count. In the first hour, I had four Red-throated Divers (Rødstrubet Lom) resting together quite close to the shore, and I had some migrating terns. While I was watching the sea, I suddenly saw all the resting gulls fly away. There was a young Goshawk (Duehøg) flying over them, then it landed for a couple of minutes before leaving World’s End III.

Sunrise

During the second hour, Knud joined me. We had a really nice flock of 23 Arctic Terns (Havterne) flying northwest. On the land side, we had two nice resting birds: one Whinchat (Bynkefugl) and one Cuckoo (Gøg) being chased by starlings (Stære).

Two birders said they saw a flock of five Penduline Tits (Pungmejser) close by, so I tried to find them, but I didn’t. In the last hour, we had some raptors coming through — some Honey-buzzards (Hvepsevåge) and Common Buzzards (Musvåge).

young Bluethroat (Blåhals)

The ringers had a good number of species, with 11 species caught. In the first round, they got a young female Bluethroat (Blåhals). They also had a Willow Warbler (Løvsanger) with active molt, the first young Marsh Warbler (Kærsanger) and a Sedge Warbler (Sivanger). During the round, Hanelie heard a Bee-eater (Biæder); unfortunately, we didn’t see it from WEIII. They almost caught a Water Rail (Vandrikse), but it escaped from the net before they reached it.

Sedge Warbler (Sivanger)

After the morning in the field, Rose and I took a nap while Hanelie checked some data with Simon, then she checked her moth traps. In the evening, I went for a walk.

Ringing totals
Gransanger 2
Blåhals 1
Gærdesmutte 1
Rødhals 1
Løvsanger 1
Gærdesanger 1
Topmejse 1
Sivsanger 1
Kærsanger 1
Munk 2
Tornsanger 7
 Total 20

Highlights

Sedge Warbler (Sivanger) : 1

Bluethroat (Blåhals) : 1

Arctic Terns (Havterne) : 23

At the station: Emma Fabre, Rosemary Fricke, Hanelie Sidhu,Simon S. Christiansen, Lars Askholm, Andreas, Mikkel, Knud Pedersen, Jørgen Kabel

Link to todays observations in DOFbasen from Observers in the area.

Today we snagged up the opportunity of good weather to get the ringing at our constant effort site done for the week. For this, Hanlie and I cycled out to Cormorant Lake instead of to Kabeltrummeln. This was my first time there, and the namesake was no disappointment! When we arrived we had plenty of Cormorants (Skarv) to see on the lake, as well as a roost of Starlings (Stær), and a few Bearded Reedlings (Skægmejse) amongst the reeds of the lake. I got lost in the dark (oops), but after that it was smooth sailing. We were expecting a rain shower in the last hour and were vigilant of the visible rain coming our way. However, it split in two around us, raining mostly only north and south of us. We luckily only caught a small part of the rain for about ten minutes, meaning we could keep the nets open. Winner in numbers by far today were our Reed Warblers (Rørsanger). They breed here in the reedbeds so we caught a decent mix of adults and juveniles. This was punctuated with a singles of other species (see ringing totals). We also saw four Greenshank (Hvidklire) flying East over the lake, and while closing the nets heard some Cranes (Trane) behind the reeds.

Reed Warbler (Rørsanger)

Reed Bunting (Rørspurv)

Meanwhile Emma was out again at World End III for the morning count. Along with the regulars, Sandwich Terns (Splitterne) and Common Terns (Fjordterne), she saw a couple of Razorbill (Alk) resting, a young Black Guillemot (Tejst), some Oystercatcher (Strandskade), and a Great White Egret (Sølvhejre). Afterwards she went out to read some rings off the gulls sitting on the beach.

The afternoon was spent on our daily paperwork, as well as some much needed catch up on sleep, especially since tonight we will be trying for Storm Petrels (Lille Stormsvale) and Nightjars (Natravn)! Simon will be coming tonight for the night watch, as well as Lars and Andreas, letting us volunteers sleep. But we have hopes of being woken up to a catch! In preparation we will be cleaning up a bit around the laboratory and cutting some overgrown grass around the Nightjar (Natravn) nets and setting up the nets on the beach.

We also said goodbye to Mikkel, Louise and Nor Østergaard, our guests in the apartment, we hope they had a lovely stay!

Ringing totals Skarvsøen, CES

Gransanger 1
Rørsanger 12
Blåmejse 1
Tornsanger 1
Rørspurv 1
Total 16

Highlights ringing:
Lots of reed warblers! (Rørsanger)

Highlights in the field:
Great White Egret (Sølvherje)
Black Guilemot (Tejst)

At the station: Emma Fabre, Rosemary Fricke, Hanelie Sidhu, Simon S. Christiansen, Lars Askholm, Andreas, Mikkel, Louise and Nor Østergaard.

While the wind was very low the last days, this morning started more windy. Nevertheless, Rose and I went out to Kabeltrommle. Some nets in the reeds were to exposed but we could still have half of the nets open. The birds did not seem to like the weather to much (or they slept in today ;), however, we caught the first birds after 06:00. It was a rather slow ringing day, with few birds, I used the time between the rounds to start on a social media post on Barn Owls „Slørugle” and Rose read a book. After ringing, we exchanged a net and then went back to the station.

Ringing totals
Rørsanger 2
Tornsanger 2
Munk 1
Gærdesanger 1
Gransanger 4
Total 10

Net exchange. Picture: Rose Fricke.

I had the UV light on last night and went straight to my moths trap. I had some new species and I would like to show you some highlights from the last nights when I had the UV light on.

Moths highlights of the last days. Picture: Hanelie Sidhu.

In the meantime, Emma had already returned to the station after morning observations. There were some more birds than the last days, the highlight was a lightmorph Arctic Scua ”Almindelig Kjove”.

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

Highlights:

Arctic Scua - Almindelig Kjove

Peter came to the station with his dog Olga and he and Simon exchanged a cable of the radiotelemetry receiver. Now it is functioning again.

Peter at the radiomast. Picture: Simon S. Christiansen

In the afternoon, we had a meeting, after Rose and I went outside to repair a net while Emma was cooking.

Tomorrow we will be out for observations and ringing at the CES site Skarvsøen.

At the station: Emma Fabre, Rosemary Fricke, Hanelie Sidhu, Simon S. Christiansen, Peter Kristensen and Olga, Louise, Nor and Mikkel Østergaard.

This mornig I went to the migration. I was welcomed by a nice little flock of Arctic Terns (Havterne). Apart from that, migration over the sea was quite slow. Still, there were some resting birds, including a beautiful Razorbill (Alk) in breeding plumage close to the shore, along with a young Black Guillemot (Tejst) and three Red-throated Divers (Rødstrubet Lom). Later, another Black Guillemot (Tejst) joined them.
On the wader side, there weren’t many individuals, but I had a good diversity: Sanderling (Sandløber), Dunlin (Almindelig Ryle), Bar-tailed Godwit (Lille Kobbersneppe), Grey Plover (Strandhjejle), Curlew (Storspove)... I also spotted a migrating Red-necked Grebe (Gråstrubet Lappedykker).
For the first time, I saw the two baby Ringed Plovers (Stor Præstekrave) from the pair that’s nesting right in front of where I was sitting.

Sunrise from World's End III

Knud and Erik joined me during the second hour and then took care of the last two hours, which allowed me to go to the ringing. They had only caught a few birds. When I arrived, I ringed an angry young Reed Bunting (Rørspurv). In the last round, we had a Crested Tit (Topmejse) that didn’t want to let go of my finger.

Crested Tit - Topmejse

After that, we went back to the lighthouse and left directly to ring the Barn Owl (Slørugle) in the southwestern Vendsyssel. We stopped along the road because we heard that the Long-legged Buzzard (Ørnevåge) was on our route. But by the time we arrived, it had already flown back north — exactly where we had come from. So, we continued on to the Barn Owls (Slørugle).
We started with the farm we had visited before, but the adult owl had already escaped. We were ready now: Rose and I were holding the mist net in front of the exit, and the others placed a telescopic net in front of the owl box — but it was empty.
Then we went to another farm. Simon climbed up to take four chicks from a nest box, so each of us could ring one. They were already quite big.

Barn Owl  (Slørugle) 

The last farm had four chicks as well, but they were younger and still fluffy. All the farmers were very nice and offered us something to eat and drink.

A break between the Barn Owl ringing

On our way back, we stopped at the dunes south of Skagen, where the Long-legged Buzzard (Ørnevåge) had last been seen — but unfortunately, we didn’t see it, so we returned to the lighthouse.

Highlights from the field:

Long-legged Buzzard (Ørnevåge). 4th day. Seen by others at Hulsig

Black Guillemot (Tejst) : 2

Arctic Terns (Havterne) : 5

Ringing (Kabeltromlen):

Gransanger (Chiffchaff) - 5

Gærdesanger (Lesser Whitethroat) - 2

Kærsanger (Marsh Warbler) - 3

Rørsanger (Reed Warbler) - 2

Topmejse (Crested Tit) - 1

Tornsanger (Common Whitethroat) - 8

Rørspurv (Reed Bunting) - 1

Total: 22

Ringing (Vendsyssel):

Slørugle (Barn Owl) - 8 

At the station: Emma Fabre, Hanelie Sidhu, Rosemary Fricke, Simon S. Christiansen, Knud Pedersen, Erik Christophersen,  William Aarestrup, Andreas Bennetsen Boe the guests in the apartment Louise, Nor and Mikkel Østergaard, and the farmer Hans, Peter, Erik and their families.

Link to todays observations in DOFbasen from Observers in the area.

We are welcoming clouds and a bit of wind back to Skagen after a few hot days recently. This meant working today was a much less sweaty affair! Hanelie and I opened the nets at Kabeltromlen half an hour before sunrise, and were joined by a number of people throughout the session. Simon was there early morning, followed by Daniele who helped with the rounds, Emma later on, as well as Mikkel, Erik, Ornella, and Gino who came to watch some of the action.

Hanelie giving Gino a good cuddle!

The morning was dominated by Common Whitethroats (Tornsanger) on the rounds. We had an early highlight - this stunning male Lesser Redpoll (Lille Gråsisken).

Lesser Redpoll – Lille Gråsisken

Meanwhile, Emma started the migration count this morning, seeing a Whimbrel (Småspove), a couple of Wigeon (Pibeand), and a Velvet Scoter (Fjølsand). Knud came to assist the monitoring and together they saw a fourth calendar year Caspian Gull (Kaspisk Måge)! He took over for the latter half so that Emma could join us for the last few rounds of ringing, where we bookended the day with a juvenile Dunnock (Jernspurv), which was showing a nice set of contrasting spots on its greater coverts.

Juvenile Dunnock – Jernspurv

Ringing totals

Musvit 2
Rødhals 1
Kærsanger 2
Gærdesanger 1
Rørsanger 1
Blåmejse 1
Jernspurv 1
Tornsanger 10
Rørspurv 1
Munk 1
Gransanger 3

 Total 25

After the ringing session Hanlie and I took garden tools to some shrubbery growing too near the nets, to prevent them catching on vegetation Wihle simon had the task to try changing a cable of the station’s radio tracking receiver, which is used to pick up signals from radio tagged birds. Despite a good effort, and help from Mikkel the problem seems to be with the antenna, which will have to be replaced in the near future instead.

Our radio tracking receiver

We volunteers have still had no luck with the Long-legged Buzzard (Ørnevåge) yet, but we have been hearing reports of it resting on the ground near Hulsig, so maybe we still have a chance!

Link to todays observations in DOFbasen from Observers in the area.

Highlights at the ringing:

Lille Gråsisken
Kærsanger
Jernspurv

Highlights for morning observation:

Kaspisk Måge
Småspove
Fjølsand
Pibeand

At the station: Emma Fabre, Hanelie Sidhu, Rosemary Fricke, Simon S. Christiansen, Knud Pedersen, Erik Christophersen, our Italian guests Daniele Lavicoli and Ornella Cobianchi,  and the guests in the apartment Louise, Nor and Mikkel Østergaard.

From today on it is early mornings for all of us every day, as also the autumn ringing season started. Rose and I went to Kabletrommle for ringing while Emma went to Verdens Ende III for the migration count.

While opening we heard the Grashopper Warbler “Grasshoppersanger” again. It was very active this morning. For the first round, we were joined by Daniele, an Italian ringer and Simon.

It was a nice morning and Roses first full ringing morning of passerine ringing, she has mainly ringed seabirds before. In total we caught 56 new birds, mainly first calendar year birds. Highlights were an Icterine Warbler “Gulbug”, a partially leucistic Lesser Whitethroat “Gærdesanger”, which had some white feathers on its head.

Lesser Whitethroat "Gærdesanger" with white on its head.

Also a juvenile Willow Warbler “Løvsanger”. It is mainly juvenile Chiffchaffs “Gransanger”, that we catch, so it is important to be careful and always check the emarginations on the primaries, only five in the Willow Warbler and six in the Chiffchaff “Gransanger”. This should always be a routine in these two species, but especially at that time of year it is very important, as the juvenile Willow Warblers “Løvsanger” can have Chiffchaff-like dark legs, which will get lighter when the bird gets older.

Juvenile Willow Warbler "Løvsanger".

Ringing Kabeltrommle

After ringing, Rose and I fixed the wader hanger and then went back to the station.

Emma had a very slow sea migration count today. Very few birds were migrating but there was still one highlight, a Black Guillemot “Tjeist”! And she had some passerine highlights: She saw a Kingfisher “Isfugl” and there was a bird with a weird call. Emmas guess was Penduline Tit “Pungmejse” and luckily, she had a recording of the call. It was indeed a Penduline Tit “Pungmejse”, which is quite rare out here, it is not seen yearly in Skagen.  I wish we would have it in the net!

While we were still at Kabletrommle and Emma took a nap after the count, the Long-legged Buzzard “Ørnevåge” had been seen again. It was the same bird as yesterday, Knud again managed to take very good pictures. Also Simon saw it today, yesterday he had missed it.

When we all met at the station, we decided to look for it together and went to North beach on top of the bunker. We saw some raptors but did not manage to find the Long-legged Buzzard Ørnevåge”.

At the end we decided to explore the inside of the bunker and after going back to the station. While it was very hot outside today and the last days, it was refreshingly cool inside the bunker.

Juvenile Løvsanger

Highlights Morning Observations:

Pungmejse

Isfugl

Tjeist

Highlights in the field:

Ørnevåge

Today´s observations by obsers in te area can be seen here.

Later in the afternoon, our new guests, Louise, Nor and Mikkel arrived at the station. Mikkel is working for Ørneclubben, the kids group of DOF.

After data entry we had the evening meeting with Simon. Now we are looking forward to another exciting day in the field, hopefully this time with Long-legged Buzzard “Ørnevåge” for us.

At the station: Rosemary Frikke, Emma Fabre, Hanelie Sidhu, Simon S. Christiansen, our Italian guests Daniele Lavicoli and Ornella Cobianchi and the guests in the apartment Louise, Nor and Mikkel Østergaard