Today's blog must start with yesterday evening when we went out for the Great Snipes (Tredækker) at Wester Ingklit. They had been found the night before, and we were hoping to see them display and maybe even try to ring them if the situation allowed it. When we arrived at the location, it didn't take long until we heard the first song notes, and when it got darker, we had a full hour of display with five birds singing and dancing. It was a lifer for many of us, and what a show!

Thermal image video

This morning also started early for me and Alvin when we got up after three hours of sleep to try our luck nightcatching again. We walked over the Sandormentracks, the new ponds at Sandklit, and to the tip at Grenen. We got close to a Short-eared Owl (Mosehornugle) and a few Common Sandpipers (Mudderklire) and Ringed Plovers (Stor Præstekrave). Not only that, but we also tested opening nets at Kabeltrommlen, but the strong winds made it impossible to ring this morning, unfortunately.

It was sadly also the last day of the visit of my brother Mika, who stayed here at the station for a week. It was very nice to see him again, and I think he really enjoyed his stay at the station and learned a lot of new things about birds. 

As there was no ringing this morning we were quite a few observers this morning at Sandklit, where we also went down the dunes a bit to be better sheltered from the strong southerly winds. It was one of the best migration counts we had so far, with several Great Northern Divers (Islom), Shags (Topskarv) and Temminck's Stint (Temmincksryle) migrating and resting at the beach.

Temminck's Stint (Temmincksryle)

Great Northern Divers (Islom)

A highlight was also a 2nd CY Arctic Tern (Havterne) resting and feeding close to the shore. This is a very rare plumage in spring in Europe and is not annually recorded in Skagen, as most immature birds spend their first years south of the equator.The best bird of the morning, however, was a light morph Pomarine Skua (Mellem Kjove) giving prolonged views at a medium distance. Again, a lifer for many and for me the first light morph adult.

Pomarine Skua (Mellem Kjove)

After the count we immediately went to Storsig to look for raptors, where we also saw an adult male Montagu's Harrier (Hedehøg) but not much else. We took a nap on the hill before we went back to have lunch.

Napping volunteers at Storsig

There were also two talks in the afternoon, one about GPS tagging of Common Buzzards (Musvåge) and one about the raptor migration in Batumi (Georgia), a major bottleneck for bird migration in eastern Europe. Beside that, it was raining again, so we used the time to get the office work done and have some rest.  

Talk about GPS tagging of Common Buzzards (Musvåge)

I was planning to go see the Great Snipes (Tredækker) again and was already thinking of biking there, when Jørgen offered to take us. While Alvin, Dylan, and Saxe went out to Vester Engklit to look for them, Julian, Jørgen and I had an amazing time with the Snipes again. Although there were many more people than the day before (probably over a hundred), the birds did not seem to be disturbed by that.

I also managed to get some good recordings of the song, and we got lucky seeing a bird sitting well before sunset and got good views of it.

Great Snipes (Tredækker) display song

Amazing views of a resting Great Snipe (Tredækker)

Link to today’s observations in DOFbasen from observers in the area

Summary of today's raptor migration in DOFbasen

People: Alvin Johansson, János Schadl, Mika Schadl, Julian Helbig, Dylan Daunt, Simon S. Christiansen, Lisa Vergin, Sverre Dahl Porsgaard, Anton, Ole, Olga Fernández Enríquez, Karen Marie & Søren, Jørgen Hulbeck, Saxe, Gustav

The day couldn’t have started better. János and Dylan had decided to go on night catching at 2 am, as the weather was going to be cloudy, rainy and windy, which is perfect for night catching. They went to the beach and walked for around an hour. No birds in sight, everything seemed too quiet. It was raining heavily and they ended up completely wet so they decided that it may be better to come back to the station. And on their way back they saw it, a dark shadow sitting on the floor. It was a short-eared owl (Mosehornugle)!! Dylan walked slowly towards it, very carefully, step by step, holding the torch. The owl looked at him and then looked away several times, as if it were about to fly away at any moment. But it didn’t, and when they were close enough János was able to trap it with the net.

At around 3:15 Alvin’s phone started to ring. “We have got a short-eared owl!” All of us were waken up and went down with high excitement to the lab. There, the owl was waiting for us. It was a 2cy male, as we could tell from the white colour under the wings and the pattern of the feathers on the chest. We know it was born last year because the white spots on the tip of the central feathers of the tail (in adults they have black spots). The poor owl was so wet because of the rain that Simon used a hair drier to dry it. After the hairdressing session (or featherdressing session), came the photo session to capture the details and beauty of this bird. Some of us could hold it in our hands, one of those was me and it was a very special moment for me. Finally, it was released.

Underside of the wing. It is very white, what tells us it's a male.

 Juvenile tail.

János and Alvin wanted to keep on trying to find more birds so they went outside again. The rest of us went to sleep again, the rain was still heavy, which meant that the ringing was cancelled for today. János and Alvin didn’t catch anything else, but Alvin decided to go to do the migration counting although it didn’t stop to rain in the whole morning. He could see some waders like oystercatchers (Strandskade), redshanks (Rødben), dunlins (Almindelig Ryle), 4 Temminck’s stints (Temmincksryle), 1 bar-tailed godwit (Lille Kobbersneppe) and 1 red knot (Islandsk Ryle).

Apart from that, today it was the first day of the Skagen Fuglefestival. The weather may not have been the best, but that didn’t stop most of the activities to go as planned. We set up the stands and at 10:00 Simon and Oluf gave a speech to inaugurate the festival.

After that, people conversated, bird merchandising and birdwatching equipment was sold and coffee and food were served. In the afternoon, we could enjoy two presentations: Tårnfalke og ICARUS projektet, by Lars Bo Jacobsen; and Fugle i Ny Natur (FiNN), et levende laboratorium for fugle og biodiversitet, by Jacob Jensen from DOF.

In general it was a calm day that let us rest, recover and do other activities. Julian baked cookies to offer them to the public tomorrow and designed a sign for donations.

However, the rain didn’t take away the enthusiasm for birdwatching. Ole and Anton went to the harbour and saw eiders (Ederfugl) and common sandpipers (Mudderklire), János and Mika saw a flock of one hundred oystercatchers (Strandskade) and Dylan watched 1 great snipe (Tredækker) and a male red-backed shrike (Rødrygget Tornskade). After dinner, Janos, Mika, Dylan, and Alvin saw three Arctic Skuas (Almindelig Kjove), one of them was a light morph that was very close to the beach. They also had very close fulmars (Mallemuk). We will end the day going to Kandestederne, where we will try to look for great snipes (Tredækker). Wish us luck!

 Link to today’s observations in DOFbasen from observers in the area

Summary of today's raptor migration in DOFbasen

People: Alvin Johansson, János Schadl, Mika Schadl, Julian Helbig, Dylan Daunt, Simon S. Christiansen, Lisa Vergin, Sverre Dahl Porsgaard, Anton, Ole, Olga Fernández Enríquez, Karen Marie & Søren

This morning I got up earlier to open up a net on the beach at Grenen to hopefully catch some more wagtails and pipits. Our hopes weren’t too high as the wind was coming from the North/West throughout the night and morning which would reduce the number of migrating birds drastically. We unfortunately didn’t catch any birds today, but it will not be our last attempt.

This morning’s migration count team was composed of János, Sverre, Ole and myself. It was a generally quiet morning count, but we had a period in the middle of the morning that was excellent. In twenty minutes, we found a Lapland Bunting (Lapværling) migrating east, saw two Shags (Topskarv) and 2 Arctic Skuas (Almindelig Kjove) as well as hundreds of Barnacle Geese (Bramgås). Lapland Buntings (Lapværling ) are becoming scarcer in Denmark, so it was a real highlight for us. In the last hour I left because it got really quiet to make some cake for everyone. During that time the observation team saw a Montagu’s Harrier (Hedehøg). Hopefully the first of a few that will turn up in the coming week.

Alvin, Julian, Olga and Anton were at the ringing this morning. The first two rounds were very quiet so their hopes for a good session were diminished. That quickly changed when they caught several birds in the next couple rounds including some Bullfinches (Dompap) and Lesser Whitethroats (Gærdesanger). The weather does not look good for ringing tomorrow because of rain so some of us may be getting some much needed rest.

One of the Bullfinches (Dompap) caught in the nets this morning

In the morning a Yellow-headed Wagtail was spotted at Buttervej so a few of us decided to go to try and see it. Yellow-headed Wagtails (Gulhovedet Gul Vipstjert) breed in the United Kingdom and Skagen only has a few individuals each spring. We did not see it, but we did get some really nice views of the more common Grey-headed Wagtails (Nordlig Gul Vipstjert). Søren and Karen Marie also went to Batteriskoven to look at some butterflies. They had great success and saw a Glanville Fritillary (Okkergul Pletvinge) which is the first one seen in Skagen this spring.

Glanville Fritillary (Okkergul Pletvinge)

The afternoon was a bit quieter which was nice as well will have a busy few days during the bird festival. We look forward to seeing everyone, learning more and meeting lots of new people. We also have our fingers crossed for some good birds!

Good evening to all of you. Today János, Dylan, Mika, Ole and I did the morning observation from sandklitten. It was a very quiet morning, with very limited movement due to the northwestern wind. We had three nice arctic skuas (almindelig kjove), two light and dark morph as well as a great northern diver (Islom). Quiet does not mean boring though, and Dylan spend some time building a woody sort of statue (I think?), whilst listening for migrating passerines.

- Dylans stick artwork

Afterward we went to saftevandsbakken to look for raptors and butterflies. No dice, but some of us enjoyed a nice nap in the sun. Mika took the bike to the big city of Skagen to see the art museum. Sounds like he thoroughly enjoyed it:)

The ringers (Julian, Alvin, Anton, Simon and Karen Marie) caught 13 birds today of six different species. From what I hear they took great pleasure in catching an adult male pied flycatcher (broget fluesnapper), they are truly stunning with their black and white color palette. In between rounds they also enjoyed watching Dylans architectural skills unfold.

In the afternoon Karen Marie drove to Råbjerg hede to look for the Marsh Fritillary (Hede pletvinge). A rare and extremely beautiful species of butterfly. They saw five freshly hatched specimens and were kind enough to show me on a map where I might see them as well. Congratulations on the find to them.

The team is also working on a sound analysis on an Iberian chiffchaff (Iberisk gransanger) that Dylan heard at kabeltromlen two days ago, luckily Alvins recorder caught a lot of good calls. It is looking quite good, but we will wait for a final confirmation of this extremely rare species, before we pop the champagne.

János had made a tasty berry brownie with whipped cream today, we had a massive piece each and still have plenty for the coming days.

This is unfortunately my last full day at Skagen bird observatory. I have really enjoyed my stay here, and I have learned a lot about aging passerines and sound ID. I particularly enjoyed walking around in waders, and the outdoorsy ringing at kabeltromlen and staying with all of the nice people at the station. I will still be in the area until Sunday, as I join DOF-Ung for their upcoming trip. So if you see a young birder with a ponytail wearing a red spiderman hat, do not hesitate to say hi. I will be back at Skagen bird observatory again someday:)
- Sverre

Highlights from the observation:

Three arctic skuas (almindelig kjove)

Great northern diver (Islom)

Wonderful gannets (fabelagtigt smukke suler)

Ringing Kabeltromlen:

Gærdesanger – 3

Løvsanger – 6

Broget fluesnapper – 1

Munk – 1

Tornsanger – 1

Solsort – 1

Total: 13

Link to today’s observations in DOFbasen from observers in the area

Summary of today's raptor migration in DOFbasen

People: Alvin Johansson, János Schadl, Mika Schadl, Julian Helbig, Dylan Daunt, Simon S. Christiansen, Sverre Dahl Porsgaard, Anton, Ole, Olga Fernández Enríquez, Karen Marie & Søren

Today we started very early in the morning at 3am for the CES ringing at Skarvsøn. Luckily our new guests Søren and Karen offered to drive us there in the morning, which saved us the exhausting bike ride and made it easier to transport everything we needed for the ringing. So, thank you for that! Because we were a large group, and we had a steady amount of birds each round, there was plenty of time for everyone to ring a few birds and for Janos and Dylan to explain things. Some highlights have been two Reed Buntings (Rørspurv) and several Reed and Sedge Warblers ((Rørsanger and Sivsanger).

male Reed Bunting (Rørspurv)

For me it was a great opportunity to learn, as it is my first stay in Skagen. It was also the first day for Olga, she will stay at the station for a month as part of a Scandinavian triple. Earlier this spring she already visited the Ottenby and Gedser Bird Observatory.

Group picture of the ringing team this morning

In the meantime, Alvin and Julian were busy with the migration count at Sandklit. Although it was very cold and the numbers were not overwhelming, they could see a close Arctic Skua (Almindelig Kjove), some Shags (Topskarv) and Fulmars (Mallemuk).

After 8 hours of ringing and observing, we got together again for lunch.

While some of us were already very tired from the day and were resting, Julian and Alvin decided to drive to Frederikshavn to witness Denmark's first sighting of a Dartford Warbler (Provencesanger).

Unfortunately, they had very bad luck, and even though there were many people looking for it, they could not relocate the bird during their 2-hour stay. Nevertheless, the trip was not entirely in vain for them, as they could see some waders at the beach, including a Spoonbill (Skestork) and a Whimbrel (Småspove).

Dylan, Simon and Olga decided to go to the industrial area for birding and ended their trip with some shopping in Skagen.

Søren and Karen went to Troldkaer, a promising area for butterflies. Unfortunately, the area is very dry this year, which also has an effect on the number of butterflies.

We had a delicious dinner by Dylan and afterward János and Dylan went out to do some evening birding without noteworthy sightings, though.

Link to today’s observations in DOFbasen from observers in the area

Summary of today's raptor migration in DOFbasen

People: Alvin Johansson, János Schadl, Mika Schadl, Julian Helbig, Dylan Daunt, Simon S. Christiansen, Lisa Vergin, Sverre Dahl Porsgaard, Anton, Ole, Olga Fernández Enríquez, Karen Marie & Søren

The day began with an early first highlight: On their way to Kabeltromlen Alvin and Dylan saw a Nightjar (Natravn) fly off from the Sandormentracks just in front of them – they are only rarely seen this far out at Grenen. Dylan took the opportunity to wake everyone up with a 03:56 Zello call. Soon after, they also heard the first Cuckoo (Gøg) of the spring, from now on we will hear them every day. The ringing started off wonderfully with a really good first and second round. I joined them a bit later, since I’ve needed some more minutes of sleep in the morning after my very intense and restless day yesterday. We caught a nice collection of warbler species today: A Sedge, Reed, Icterine and Garden Warbler (Sivsanger, Rørsanger, Gulbug, Havesanger). The Icterine Warbler (Gulbug) was the first for Dylan to see in hand, and he really enjoyed it.

Sedge Warbler (Sivsanger) ringed at Kabeltromlen today.

The observations team also contributed to our variety at the ringing; before starting their count, János, Mika, Sverre opened the nets we’ve set up already yesterday evening at Sandklit to try and catch Yellow Wagtails (Gul Vipstjert) and Meadow Pipits (Engpiber). Anton and Ole joined them later. Their efforts were rewarded with both targeted species, and Anton brought us one beautiful male Thunbergi Yellow Wagtail (Norlig Gul Vipstjert) and two Meadow Pipits (Engpiber). Also apart from this extra mission, the team at Sandklit had a good time with some nice observations: Two Great Northern Divers (Islom), two Shags (Topskarv), five Honey Buzzards (Hvepsevåge) – the first time this spring that we had higher numbers of them – and one Arctic Skua (Almindelig Kjove) to name the highlights. Unfortunately, they missed a Citrine Wagtail (Citronvipstjert) that has been seen in the area by others. There also was a whale that was thought to be an Orca (Spækhugger) first, but turned out to be a Minke Whale (Vågehval).

Minke Whale (Vågehval)

At half past nine the breaking news spread like wildfire: A Dartford Warbler (Provencesanger) was found in Frederikshavn, just 40 kilometres south of here! This is the first ever record of the species in Denmark. Simon spoke about the sighting on Zello, and only two minutes later all the birdwatchers started moving, heading for the train station or their cars. After only ten minutes, the whole area was almost completely deserted. Simon and Lisa left as well, later Sverre also decided to catch a train. In the end, all three of them got to see the bird as a lifer, just like hundreds of other birdwatchers who came from all over Denmark (literally). That way, they got to meet a lot of friends and fellow birders, and enjoyed the time together.

Male Dartford Warbler (Provencesanger) - first for Denmark! Photo by Søren Leth-Nissen

A large crowd of twitchers at Frederikshavn.

Some happy faces! Left to right: Simon, Søren, Karen Marie, Lisa

In the meantime, we took it slowly here at the station, completing a lot of the needed data work. Alvin went for a birding walk around Grenen, almost completely alone. He got extremely close to a young White-tailed Eagle (Havørn) that was sitting in the dunes.

Young White-tailed Eagle found by Alvin in the dunes. This one even has a ring and a GPS-tracker, so maybe we'll find out some interesting information about it.

When opening the moth trap, we discovered another great surprise. A Small Lappet Moth (Phyllodesma ilicifolia, Hede-takspinder) found its way into the trap. It’s a pretty rare species in Denmark and thus a very good find, only the second ever record for Skagen on naturbasen.

Small Lappet Moth (Hede-takspinder), little rarity.

In the evening, both our new guests at the apartment, Karen Marie and Søren, as well as Olga, our new volunteer from Spain who will stay with us for one month, arrived at the station. Welcome to the team! We had an evening meeting all together and got to know each other. Afterwards we went out to Grenen again for a relaxed evening birdwatch. At the same time, we also opened some of the nets at Kabeltromlen, in which we caught one bird, a Lesser Whitethroat (Gærdesanger) that Olga got to ring as her first ringed bird here at the station. A good start! We enjoyed the beautiful sunset for a bit and got back at dawn in need of some rest after a long and exciting day.

Evening at World's End 1

Link to today’s observations in DOFbasen from observers in the area

Summary of today's raptor migration in DOFbasen

People: Alvin Johansson, János Schadl, Mika Schadl, Julian Helbig, Dylan Daunt, Simon S. Christiansen, Lisa Vergin, Sverre Dahl Porsgaard, Anton, Ole, Olga Fernández Enríquez, Karen Marie & Søren

Today was World Migratory Bird Day, so we decided as a team that we should try and see as many species as possible in Skagen as a team.

One half of the team went to Sandklit to do the migration count, and the other half went to Kabeltromlen to do the ringing.

The winds were quite calm from the southeast today, so we were very excited about what the day could potentially bring. In the standardized migration count we saw a very nice migration of Yellow Wagtails, a Great Northern Diver (Islom) migrating inland, and a Black-winged Kite (Blå Glente) straight overhead. The kite was a goal species for Jesper & Mette, and they got to see it.

Back-winged Kite (Blå Glente)

In the standardized ringing we had a Wood Warbler (Skovsanger), Spotted Flycatcher (Grå Fluesnapper), Wheatear (Stenpikker) and an Icterine Warbler (Gulbug) which were all new species for the spring.

Wood Warbler (Skovsanger) to the left, Chiffchaff (Gransanger) in the middle and Willow Warbler (Løvsanger) to the right

Wheatear (Stenpikker)

On the last net round we also caught two Yellow Wagtails of the Thunbergi subspecies (Nordlig Gul Vipstjert). This is the first time ever the station has caught this subspecies and the second time Yellow Wagtails (Gul Vipstjert) have been caught here.

Yellow Wagtail (Gul Vipstjert) of the Thunbergi subspecies

Wing picture of Yellow Wagtail (Gul Vipstjert) of the Thunbergi subspecies

Due to the slightly cold night, we didn't have a lot of moths in the moth trap. But one of the two moths was an Emperor moth (Lille Natpåfugleøje). Quality over quantity, I guess :)

Wing picture of the Emperor moth (Lille Natpåfugleøje)

After lunch Julian went to the industrial area, and Dylan went to Flagbakken to do some birdning. Together they saw a Black Redstart (Husrødstjert) and two Honey Buzzards (Hvepsevåge).

János' brother, Mika, also arrived at the station today and will be staying with us for some days.

In the evening we went out to try and catch more Yellow Wagtails (Gul Vipstjert) by setting up nets in the reeds at the end of the sandormenspår. We didn't catch any birds, but we will try again tomorrow morning, hopefully that works better. In the meantime, Dylan also found a Red-footed Falcon (Aftenfalk) at Skarvsøen.

At the end of the day we saw 151 species in Skagen as a team which is very cool and a very high number of species :)

Highlights from the observations
Great Northern Diver (Islom) - 1
Black-winged Kite (Blå Glente) - 1
Red-footed Falcon (Aftenfalk) - 1
Shorelarks (Bjerglærke) - 2
Thrush Nightingale (Nattergal) - 1

Ringing (Kabeltromlen):
Stenpikker - 1
Havesanger - 1
Munk - 8
Tornsanger - 2
Gul Vipstjert - 2
Skovsanger - 1
Gærdesanger - 13
Løvsanger - 8
Gulbug - 1
Rødhals - 1
Grå Fluesnapper - 1
Gærdesmutte - 1
Gransanger - 2
Total: 42

Ringing (Jenne sø):
Gransanger - 4
Bogfinke - 1
Rødstjert - 1
Gærdesanger - 1
Lille Gråsisken - 1
Rørspurv - 1
Løvsanger - 1
Munk - 1
Total: 11

Ringing (Nordstjernevej):
Dompap - 1
Gærdesanger - 1
Total: 2

Link to today’s observations in DOFbasen from observers in the area

People: Alvin Johansson, János Schadl, Mika Schadl, Julian Helbig, Dylan Daunt, Simon S. Christiansen, Lisa Vergin, Sverre Dahl Porsgaard, Michael Ancher, Jesper & Mette

It was Julian and me on migration count at WE3 this morning, and Julian used the opportunity to count inland and get more confident in identifying the passerine flight calls. Little wind from the east and mild temperatures made the perfect setup for a good migration day, and it was noticeably more passerines moving than the past days, with the most numerous being the Pipits (Piber) and Yellow Wagtails (Gul Vipstjert). Also, the sea was a bit busier with good numbers of Red-throated Divers (Rødstrubet Lom), a couple of Scooters (Sortand), Fulmars (Mallemuk), and Arctic Skuas (Almindelig Kjove) migrating. The first real highlight was a Surf Scooter (Brilland) called out on Zello. It was seen at Sandklit only a few hundred meters west of us, migrating close to the beach in our direction. Unfortunately, when we saw the Scooter flock it had joined, it was already much further out and directly in front of the sun for us, which left us with little chance to pick out the bird. Dylan got a bit luckier spotting the flock from the ringing table a bit earlier when it was still close to the beach. At the end only the finder and Dylan saw the bird of the around 30 birdwatchers at Grenen this morning.

Other highlights of the morning were two Shags (Topskarv) and two Great Northern Divers (Islom), and when we just finished the count, a Tawny Pipit (Markpiber) was called out. We got the information that it had landed in the dunes at Grenen and searched the area for 30 minutes before we found out that it had actually turned inland and back westwards. Nevertheless, it was a beautiful morning with many good birds!

Alvin, Dylan, Sverre and Simon had a more calm start to the day with a little over twenty birds of a nice diversity in the net and a singing Grashopper Warbler (Græshoppersanger) during the opening round. However, they saw most of the observation highlights, and Dylan also saw the Surf Scooter (Brilland). They also started to take blood samples of species that winter in sub-Saharan Africa to find out more about the viruses they bring with them. In the late morning we also got a generous donation from Brian Kristensen to buy cake and ice cream. This is very much appreciated and will keep us fueled for the weeks of early mornings.

Reed Bunting (Rørspurv)

When we went back, we all had lunch, and Dylan and Alvin went out to Saftevandsbakken to look for raptors, where they saw a Golden Eagle (Kongeørn) and a Black Kite (Sort Glente). They also took a nap in the sun, and Dylan had forgotten to apply sun cream, so he had to hide his face from the sun not to get burned.

Dylan napping at Saftevandsbakken

We also saw the Golden Eagle (Kongeørn) from the lighthouse and it was actually a lifer for Sverre. After entering the data of the morning, I also went out for a longer walk to Grenen and from there to Skarvsøen and back over Jennes Sø. I counted the Cormorant (Skarv) colony on the way and got a new high count with 121 active nests around the lake. Other observations of note have been a Rough-legged Buzzard (Fjeldvåge) and five White-tailed Eagles (Havørn) attempting at Nordstrand. On my way back I also had lunch, which I brought out with me.

We also did the weekly cleaning today to have more time for birding tomorrow, and after a delicious dinner by Alvin, I went out to Grenen again to do an evening seawatch.

Link to today’s observations in DOFbasen from observers in the area

Summary of today's raptor migration in DOFbasen

People: Alvin Johansson, János Schadl, Julian Helbig, Dylan Daunt, Simon S. Christiansen, Sverre Dahl Porsgaard, Jesper & Mette, Brian Kristensen

Today I (Sverre) happily joined the observation post at worlds end three with Alvin and Dylan. It was slightly windy from southwest. Not a lot of migration going on today, but we did have a nice variety of species. I Particularly enjoyed some migrating black gullemots (Tejst), a bunch of fishing gannets (Sule) and two Egyptian geese (Nilgås) flying straight overhead! Jesper and Mette joined us for a couple of hours at worlds end 3, I get the feeling that they also enjoyed a good look of the gannets in the morning sun.

- Nilgæs above our heads

The ringing team, consisting of Juian and János, had a fair 36 birds today. Mostly birds from the sylvia family like blackcap (munk), lots of lesser whitethroats (gærdesanger) and common whitethroats (tornsanger). Their top bird of the day was a recap of a reed warbler (rørsanger) ringed at skarvsøen in august 2023. Nice to see that it is still around. During the ringing Simon was kind enough to swing by and help with the ringing, and he even brought cake. Peter Harris and co also visited the ringers at kabeltromlen.

In the evening all of us were invited for dinner by the kind owners of restaurant blink. Heine and Christel had invited the entire volunteer staff, Simon, Simons dad, Jens from the nature agency, Mette and Jesper and the team from the café for a wonderful dinner. We had a lovely meal and were treated to the best rumballs of my life for dessert. It was a pleasure dining with everyone from the lighthouse area. Thanks a lot for hosting us:)

-Family dinner at restaurant Blink

Link to today’s observations in DOFbasen from observers in the area

Summary of today's raptor migration in DOFbasen

People: Alvin Johansson, János Schadl, Julian Helbig, Dylan Daunt, Simon S. Christiansen, Sverre Dahl Porsgaard, Jesper & Mette

Today János, Sverre and I were at the morning ringing. We were pleasantly surprised to feel the wind coming from the South rather than from the Northwest. This means that the birds can get pushed up from further south to the tip at Grenen where we ring. Our first round was really nice with quite a few birds like Redwing (Vindrossel) and Lesser Whitethroats (Gærdesanger). We were pleased to catch a higher number of birds compared to previous days with these weather conditions.

The morning migration team today was Julian and Alvin. They had a nice time with some good seabirds like Great Skua (Storkjove) and Fulmars (Mallemuk). There was also a sighting of a White-billed Diver (Hvidnæbbet Lom) but no one from the station saw it. Hopefully more will come in the next week. They also had some nice passerines including a Waxwing (Silkehale) and the hihgest count of Yellow Wagtails (Gul Vipstjert) so far this spring.

Nice morning sunrise

We then all headed back to the station and then heard news of an unidentified raptor. It was difficult to know what the people were looking at so we waited for an identification. We then saw a picture of the bird and could immediately tell that it was a 2K Bonelli’s Eagle (Høgeørn) which are really rare in Skagen. We then headed south very quickly on our bikes. By the time we arrived at Saftevandsbakken where the eagle had been seen it had headed South. We really hope that it returns to Skagen again in the next couple days for all of us to see.

During the rest of the afternoon, we completed daily tasks like the day’s data entry. During this time, we also had the garden net open which caught a female Redstart (Rødstjert) and a Lesser Whitethroat (Gærdesanger). At 3pm I gave my seabird session on the breeding and scarcer species of seabirds seen in Northern Europe. I really enjoyed sharing what I know about my favourite group of birds. After, we had a lovely made by Mette and Jespe which was delicious! In the early evening János took a trip out to Grenen to look for some seabirds moving and he saw over 200 Fulmars (Mallemuk) which is the highemeal count so far this spring.

Me giving my seabird session

In the late evening after sunset, we decided to go out looking for displaying Great Snipes (Tredækker). Sometimes they stop in Skagen in early May but tonight we did not hear any. The next few nights also look good, so we hope to hear some of them soon. During our late outing we also saw a Great White Egret (Sølvhejre) and a Short-eared Owl (Mosehornugle).