A short recap today as we will soon be leaving to go to … tonight in our first attempt of the season to ring Great Snipe (Tredækker)!

It will be the second night shift in a row for me, as last night I was up for another try at attracting Storm Petrels (Stormsvale) and Nightjars (Natravn). We had a very early juvenile Nightjar, but other than that it was a quiet and clear night, and I was joined for most of it with visitor Julius (thanks for your company!)

Natravn 1K 

While I slept in this morning the others were busy as usual. Sarah and Louise went to World’s End III for observations. With a calm sea there was not much activity in the way of seabirds, but they had a nice selection of wader flocks coming through, and individual Golden Plover (Hjejle) and Redshank (Rødben). A Great Spotted Woodpecker (Stor Flagpætte) also came by for a rest.

Today was also the final CES visit to Skarvsøen for the season. Led today by Simon, Cora and Markus, and joined by Julius, they caught a whopping 72 new birds today, the majority of which (32) were Reed Warblers (Rørsanger). Also, overhead they were graced with a Goshawk (Duehøg), Coal Tits (Sortmejse), and Common Snipes (Dobbeltbekkasin), as well as Bearded Tits (Skægmejse) in the netting area.

Whats better than this? Cake and birds at the CES!

No rest for the wicked today though as we spent time after work to prepare for a potential royal visit from the King of Denmark (otherwise known as Fred) to our apartment’s premium lavatory suite. Alas, his toilet break was abandoned, which is more unfortunate for him since the team caught a Goldcrest (Fuglekonge, i.e. “King of the birds”) in the garden net this afternoon instead - close enough, eh?

Now for a little nap for some and a dinner fit for a king (thanks Sarah), before heading out to Volsted shortly!

All observations for the area can be seen in DOFBasen.

Ringing totals CES:

Rørsanger 32
Gransanger 11
Løvsanger 3
Solsort 2
Rødhals 1
Munk 7
Gulbug 2
Tornsanger 5
Blåmejse 2
Gærdesanger 4
Rørspurv 2
Bogfinke 1

Total: 72

Highlights at Skarvsøen:
Goshawk - Duehøg
Bearded Tits - Skægmejse

Highlights at World’s End III:
Golden Plover – Hjejle
Redshank – Rødben

People at the station:
Markus Kemp Clément, Rosemary Fricke, Simon Kiesé, Louise Buksti-Ladefoged, Sarah Fartridge, Cora Köberle, Lars Bo Jacobsen, Simon S. Christiansen.

Today was a fairly sane Sunday for Skagen Fuglestation. I started the day opening nets at Kabletromeln with Simon, and then Cora joined us for the first round. It was a steady stream of birds today with four or five in the nets at every round, with a good range of species. I was pleased to see two Muskvit and always very excited to see the Fuglekonge. The closing round brought a highlight for everyone with one very sweet Træløber. There were few quiet moments between ringing but Cora managed to find time to capture several sand lizards (Markfirben) that we admired together. There was one Stor Flagspætte flying around but despite Cora’s encouragement did not want to come down into the nets. We also saw some Redpolls (Gråsisken), Linnets (Tornirisk), and a couple of Whimbrels (Småspove) flying overhead.

A Handsome young Gransanger

An adder feasting on a sand lizard

Rosemary and Markus went to Wrold’s End 3 for observing, enjoying a luxurious lie-in with the later sunrise of 05:59. There they did not see any rarities or much migration, but had a nice time counting the regular suspects and saw one arctic skua (Almindelig Kjove), which we were also able to see from Kabletromeln. Rosemary joined us for the last couple of rounds of ringing, and Markus stopped by after a chat with Eric. Louise did not join us today as she was at the wedding of her best friend, which she greatly enjoyed.

After a swim and lunch together, we all had naps this afternoon to stockpile some sleep for the next couple of nights out ringing.

Ringing Totals:

Solsort 1
Musvit 2
Løvsanger 6
Gærdesanger 2
Rødstjert 1
Jernspurv 1
Rørsanger 1
Tornsanger 9
Munk 8
Rørspurv 1
Dompap 1
Gransanger 9
Træløber 1
Total 44

Highlights:

Whimbrel (Småspove)

Arctic skua (Almindelig Kjove)

Today's observations from observers in the area can be found here. 

People:  Markus Kemp Clément, Rosemary Freaky, Simon Kiesé, Louise Buksti-Ladefoged, Sarah Partridge, Cora Köberle, Lars Bo Jacobsen, Eric Christophersen.

Last night we went to Jerup, a place half an hour south of Skagen, to try to catch and ring some waders. Luckily, Lars took most of us including the equipment with him in his car. Rose and I took the train, so we met around 11 pm at the beach. There was a thunderstorm over the Kattegat giving the night a nice atmosphere. When the nets were set up, we walked along the beach and I spotted birds in the thermal. It did not take long until this beautiful Oystercatcher (Strandskade) was under Cora’s hand net. We measured it, it got a shiny ring and we released it soon after.

Markus having the Oystercatcher (Strandskade) under control.

In the next round we got pretty close to a Greenshank (Hvidklire), but it walked so quickly, that we could barely keep up. A Redshank (Rødben) was more relaxed, so we took the opportunity to grab it. A new species in hand for most of us!

Long red legs: not the only feature to identify a Redshank (Rødben).

One more: this young Red Knot (Islandsk Ryle) was the third wader species tonight. Super cute Red Knot (Islandsk Ryle) accepting us as his friends.

The wind picked up, so we had to take down our wader net. Fortunately, there was one more Redshank (Rødben) and Red Knot (Islandsk Ryle). What a nice night!

Kindergarden: young Red Knot (Islandsk Ryle) on the left and young Redshank (Rødben) on the right.

Back at the station, I really appreciated the long nap. It was very windy, so we could not open our nets at Kabeltromlen. Standing the storm, Sarah and Markus headed out to WE3. The northerly winds killed migration once more, but the birds that fly in this wind are good ones. It started with a Manx Shearwater (Almindelig Skråpe) which came in a nice distance, always a great bird. Even though the observation was a bit more tricky, the next bird was even better: a Sabine’s Gull (Sabinemåge) headed northwest. Markus made a nice drawing of it documenting the most important features – congrats!

After waking up, Cora and I started packing the nightcatching stuff back in order. We also opened the net in our garden, when suddenly Johanna and MHL (Magnus) showed up. It was very nice to see them again and we had a nice chat. Then we also caught a House Sparrow (Gråspurv) and a Tree Sparrow (Skovspurv). It was the first bird ringed by Magnus since spring 2024 at the station, but his measurements were on the spot!

Sometimes I wonder if I should mention everything that we did today. There is so much stuff that repeats, much of them is fun. That includes swimming, shopping, data entry, eating etc. Louise was on a wedding, so she was not at the station, but we look forward to having her back here tomorrow. Saturday is cleaning day, that also had to be done. In the afternoon, Rose, Cora and I headed to “Sandormspurv” (how I call it). Few birds but good snacks and good talks were really refreshing. Best bird was a young Black Guillemot (Tejst) though.

The wind will finally die down the next days, so we are looking forward to some birds in the ringing and hopefully our first attempt on the Great Snipes (Trædekker) soon.

Ringing (Det Grå Fyr: Fyrhaverne): 

Tree Sparrow (Skovspurv) 1

House Sparrow (Gråspurv) 1

Total: 2

Ringing (Jerup):

Oystercatcher (Strandskade) 1

Redshank (Rødben) 2

Red Knot (Islandsk Ryle) 2

Total: 5

Highlight of the observations:

Sabine's Gull (Sabinemåge) - 1 K2+

Manx Shearwater (Almindelig Skråpe)

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

People: Rosemary Frikke, Markus Kemp Clément, Simon Kiesé, Louise Buksti-Ladefoged, Sarah Partrige, Cora Köberle, Lars Bo Jacobsen, Johanna Veentjer and Magnus Houen Lauritsen (better known as MHL).

This morning we were woken up by a Zello message. Louise and Sarah, who did the night watch, had caught a Nightjar (Natraven). While taking down the nets in the end of the night they could also observe a Stormpetrel (Stormsvale) flying in front of the nets. Unfortunately it did not go in.

Later Markus and I went to world’s  end 3 to do the migration count. It was not as windy as yesterday but still quite  cold out there. At the end of the first hour Knud joined us. Not much later markus spotted a Skua flying to NW. After watching it a bit we were sure it was a Pomarie Skua (Mellemkjove)! We could follow it over several minutes and also see it chasing some gulls. That was a very nice observation and the first Pomarine Skua (Mellem Kjove) for Markus!

Apart from this there was not much migrating. But there were many Gannets (Sule) flying around and some Waders like a Ruddy Turnstone (Stenvender) resting on the beach.

Because of the wind the ringers did not expect to catch much today but they could have most of the nets opened and caught some very nice species.

1K Whinchat (Bynkefugl) 

Like a Whinchat (Bynekugl), a Pied Flycatcher (Broget Fluesnapper) and a Great Spotted Woodpecker (Stor Flagspætte) who knew exactly how to defend himself against the ringers.

1K Great Spotted Woodpecker (Stor Flagspætte) 

They had a good variety with 13 different species today and also caught the first bird in the new net they set up yesterday.

After coming back and doing the data we all had some very long naps and some of us also went for a swim.

Now we are preparing everything for going Wader catching together with Lars Bo at Jerup Strand tonight.

Ringing Kabeltrommlen: 

Munk 1

Gærdesanger  2

Tornsanger 2

Rørsanger 1

Broget Fluesnapper 1

Dompap 2

Løvsanger 3

Jernspurv 1

Rødhals 1

Lille Gråsisken 1

Bynkefugl 1

Stor Flagspætte 1

Total: 21

Ringing Det Grå Fyr:

Natraven 1

Highlight of the observations:

Pomarie Skua - Mellemkjove!

arround 400 Gannets (Sule)

Today’s observations in Dofbasen from observers in the area

People: Rosemary Frikke, Markus Kemp Clément, Simon Kiesé, Louise Buksti-Ladefoged, Sarah Partrige, Cora Köberle, Simon S. Christiansen, Lars Bo Jacobsen.

Today Cora, rosemary and Sarah started their day at the morning count. Here thay saw gannets (suler) feasting, ruddy turnstones (stenvendere), red knots (islandske ryler), grey herons (fiskehejrer), and a sooty shearwater (sodfarvet skråpe). the weather was really nice and quiet, when all of a sudden, they spotted a big dark cloud in the horizon. Rose just had time to say "I hope that it is not gonna rain" before they got blasted by wind. It was so sudden an dintense that all the gulls flew up on the beach.

Sunrise at Grenen

At Kabeltrommle, Markus, Simon, and I had two great rounds where we caught 13 birds. Mio joined us for the first round to ring one last bird before leaving to go back home to Germany (we are gonna miss you Mio. Hope to see you again soon). Just while on the third round, the wind hit. All of a sudden, we became really busy closing most of the nets. For the next two rounds we caught no birds. However, that was okay because that then gave us plenty of time setting up a new net, whivh turned out pretty good (if I should say so myself). Lets hope it is going to catch a lot of birds. 

Simon with the new net at Kabeltrommlen

After coming back to the lighthouse and putting in today's data, we all had different activities planned for ourselves. Markus anf Simon were so kind as to go grocery shopping. On their way ack they passed the bakery to buy us a cake. meanwhile, Rose had also discovered that we were low on snacks, so she decided to bake us a chocolate cake, so now we have two (oh well none of us are complaining). then Markus, Simon, and Cora also went out for a walk around Grenen. Here Cora managed to catch a sand lizard (markfirben). Rose and Sarah both had a swim. hey also created a bookclub for us. Currently we are reading "The Yellow Wall-paper", which we will discuss in the following days. 

the two cakes (delicious!)

I also went on a little evening walj. However, I managed to forget both my camera and my binoculars (I grabbed the wrong bag before heading out), so I am not entirely sure of what I saw. I did see a beatiful emperior moth (natpåfugleøje) larvea and two roedeers (rådyr). I think I also saw some whinchats, but due to the lack of binoculars it was a little hard to tell. 

Emperior moth larvea (natpåfugleøje larve) 

Now Sarah and I have just put up the nets for nightjar (natravn) and storm petrel (lilel stormsvale) catching and are getting ready for the first round. We just brewed our fist liter f coffe and are enjoying the company of Lars Bo, Jeppe, and Simon. Wish us luck!

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

Ringing at KAB: 

6 Tornsanger 

4 Munk 

1 Rørsanger

1 Løvsanger

3 Gærdesanger 

Total: 13 

At the station: Markus Kemp Clément, Simon Kiesé, Louise Buksti-Ladefoged, Sarah Partridge, Mio Brix, Cora Köberle, Rosemary Fricke, Ragnar Smith, Simon Sigaard Christiansen

Rose and Sarah blitzed out to Kabeltrommeln to open the nets today. At sunrise Simon Jr. and I joined them. Because of the wind we did not open all nets, but we got a nice variety of species today. To our surprise, we caught 4 very cute Goldcrests (Fuglekonge) today and on our last round we caught a nice Pied Flycatcher (Broget Fluesnapper). We also saw the young Goshawk (Duehøg) again and after we ringed the last bird a Temminck's Stint (Temmincksryle) flew over us. 

cute Goldcrest (Fuglekonge)

The Observation Team today, consisting of Cora, Markus, Louise and Knud, had to brave the strong wind at the beginning of the day. A bit later the wind slowed down and they briefly saw a first calendar year Mediterranean Gull (Sorthovedet måge) and some close Fulmars (Mallemuk).

After we all headed back, all except for Rose, Sarah and me had a nap directly or after lunch. Rose and Sarah went for their daily swim and meanwhile I showed my family, who were here today for a small break before they’ll continue their way to Sweden, the station, the Lighthouse and the area a bit, and we ate hotdogs at the parking place. Afterwards I went back to the station and started to prepare all my stuff, so that I have time in the evening and night to do some nightcatching and spend the last hours with all the nice volunteers I met here. With time all other volunteers got up from their nap and we did data entry. Cora and Simon cleaned the apartment, before we get a new guest tomorrow. In the late afternoon Simon Sr. arrived at the station, and we had the evening meeting to plan the next days. After that Simon Jr. and Sarah sewed a bird net and Cora prepared a delicious dinner.

sewing a net in the lighthouse garden

In the evening, two hours before sunset, we decided to open the nets at Kabeltrommeln again and tried to catch wagtails and swallows. Unfortunately we didn’t succeed but I was still motivated to catch something, therefore we left the nets open the whole night and I controlled the nets, with the hope to catch Water Rails (Vandrikse). But also the Water Rails didn’t want to come in our nets. But it was still a nice night.
Now its time for me to say goodbye to Skagen, but only for this year! I’ll come again next year. Once Skagen, always Skagen! I look back to three wonderful weeks here with many highlights: Storm Petrel catching and nightcatching in general, Worlds End migration count, Kabeltrommeln ringing and of course the awesome station team, with whom I have experienced so many great things! And with that another short stay for me at one of the best places in the world comes to an end.
Vi ses i 2026!

Highlights Observations:

1K Mediterranean Gull (Sorthovedet måge)

Temminck's Stint (Temmincksryle)

1K Goshawk (Duehøg)

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

Ringing Kabeltromlen:

Gransanger 1

Fuglekonge 4

Jeg vågnede tidligt i morges, da jeg ville nå at tage afsked med Hannelie, inden hendes rejse hjem mod Tyskland. Det har været 3 gode, lærerige og sjove uger. Hanelie har især lært mig meget om kunsten at håndtere fugle i hånden! I sandhed en fornøjelse. 

Da jeg alligevel var vågen, drog jeg tidligt afsted mod Verdens Ende 3 på Grenen. De første af solens farvestrålende tunger begyndte samtidig at sprede sig over himlen. Temperaturen i dag var en smule lavere end i de seneste uger, og ligeså i Norge og Sverige. Derfor tror jeg på at vi vil opleve flere trækkende småfugle i den kommende tid. På morgenobsen havde Rose, Sarah og jeg selskab af Ragnar og Knud.

Solopgang fra Verdens Ende 3

I første omgang var der ikke gang i det store træk, men ved 7:30 tiden vendte vinden, og der var pludselig en snes Mallemukker der bevægede sig i Skagerrak. Kort tid efter stod jeg og spejdede indlands efter en ung Hede/Steppehøg, som jeg tilfældigvis havde fået et ultrakort glimt af, inden den gik lavt i terrænet. Desværre dukkede den ikke op igen.. Men! Alt imens jeg kiggede mod sydvest, hører jeg bag mig at Ragnar udbryder; ”Kjove!” i et tonefald der straks fik mig til at dreje teleskopet 180 grader. Hurtigt finder jeg fuglen, der et par hundrede meter væk er ved at passere nordvest om spidsen af Grenen. Jeg lægger mærke til at fuglen virker klejn. Kort tid efter konstaterer Knud at det da er en Lille Kjove!

Jeg får skudt et par dokubilleder, hvorefter der er tid til for alvor at ”opleve” kjoven i den håndfuld minutter vi endnu kan se den fra VE3.

Lille Kjove 1K trækker nordvest om Grenen kl. 8:03. Foto: Markus Kemp Clément

En snes minutter senere passerer en Storkjove ligeledes mod nordvest, og to Almindelige Kjover flyver lige hen over hovedet på os. Alle tre arter indenfor 20 minutter!

Ringmærkningsholdet havde ligeledes en ganske fin dag, med 25 nye fugle, fordelt på 8 arter. Heriblandt var 9 Løvsangere. At de små Løvsangere for alvor er begyndt at trække, taler godt for at vi kan få besøg af en Lundsanger inden længe. Jeg tror på at det kan lykkes os at kratluske sådan en frem!

Eftermiddagen blev ligeledes brugt på Grenen, i dagens anledning til en længere aftenobs. Vi havde solen i ryggen, og horisonten stod skarpt tegnet. Altså ganske udmærkede vejrforhold til havobs. Der var noget mere gang i trækket på havet, og i løbet af et par timer talte vi i omegnen af 250 Mallemukker. Derudover passerede én Almindelig Kjove og én Storkjove også forbi os.

Aftenobs på Grenen.

Ragnar stod for dagens aftensmad, en lækker pastaret med hjemmelavet tomatsovs, alt imens Sarah og Rose havde bagt en kage til dessert.

Highlights Observations:

1 Lille Kjove 

1 Storkjove

250+ Mallemuk

3 Almindelig Kjove

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

Ringing Kabeltromlen:

Solsort 1

Lille Gråsisken 2

Gransanger 1

Rørsanger 1

Gærdesanger 1

Løvsanger 9

Munk 5

Tornsanger 5

Total: 25

At the station:
Markus Kemp Clément, Simon Kiesé, Louise Buksti-Ladefoged, Sarah Partridge, Mio Brix, Cora Köberle, Rosemary Fricke, Ragnar Smith, Simon Sigaard Christiansen.

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