Today's blog is dedicated to the colour white and variants of it (bear with me, this is going somewhere...). It started looking rather gloomy under heavy clouds but ended with sunshine and two new species for me, so an unqualified success!

I took advantage of some lovely light around midday to take a walk across the moor, which was drizzled in a small helping of snow. The moor at this time of year is beautiful, with the goldeny yellow of the grass complementing the low winter sun. It rather reminds me of home in England but has the fortune of having significantly fewer dogs.

The birds however were generally very quiet. A few Crested Tits (Topmejse) betrayed themselves with their song but did not submit to being photographed, which is a shame because they are a cool bird and one I have only seen on one other occassion. 

Just as I was about to head back I spotted a white blob on top of a tree. I am used to seeing many white blobs in the corner of my eye here, I call them gulls. Gulls though, my instinct told me, do not sit on trees, so a closer look was needed. I was very excited by what appeared in my binoculars, a bird I had always wanted to see, a Great Grey Shrike (Stor Tornskade). Shrikes are particularly cool birds; their scientific family name is derived from the Latin word for "butcher". This is because of their habit of impaling prey onto spikes of branches/thorns to save for later and show the females just how good a hunter they are. They are not too commonly seen here, so this was an exciting find. Unfortunately, I was only able to get a rather distant photograph so I am hoping it stays around for a photoshoot tomorrow. 

In the afternoon, Simon and I went to Skagen harbour to feed the gulls. The gulls were very happy with our offering of white bread and quickly around 200 flocked to greet us. The Common Eiders (Ederfugl), were less impressed with our offering and stayed far away (maybe they prefer wholemeal with a few seeds....)

There was thinking to this madness and we managed to find two ringed gulls to record. When we returned to the lighthouse we recorded these and found they were originally from Norway. 

Amongst all this gull madness was the last present of the day, a Caspian Gull (Kaspisk måge) was to be found amongst the multitude of Herring Gulls (Sølvmåge). To those of you who do not know their gulls, you may ask: 'Well how did you know it was a Caspian Gull and not a Herring Gull?'. Well, the answer is; I was with Simon and Simon knows his gulls very well. On reflection, I can now see that it stands out from the others but I am indebted to Simon for first finding it. 

And so ends another day in paradise, not quite Papua New Guinea, but I think it will do all the same. 

Today’s observations in Dofbasen from observers in the area

People: James Wareing (with help from Simon Christiansen) 

This morning I spent a couple of hours observing the seabirds with the lovely Knud, who is always very generous with his time in helping volunteers like me. The weather is now not as windy, but as you can see from the birder and forecast below, it has turned ever so slightly colder. It certainly felt that way sitting in the sand dunes with the wind in our faces. Fortunately, Knud informed me that we currently have the best weather in Denmark, so I guess I should be grateful.

The birds certainly seemed to be thankful for the high winds to have stopped and we were rewarded for our commitment with over 3000 Guillemots (Lomvien) in just two hours flying through (mainly to the north-west). Along with the usual seabirds, 63 Canada Geese (Canadagåsen) were also seen flying north, perhaps escaping the Danish weather and two Mute Swans (Knopsvanen) arrived in Denmark from the north, probably regretting their decision.

One notable absentee was a Gannet (Morus), which we did not see for the entire first hour. As soon as Knud noted this to me, we saw one within the next few minutes. I optimistically then announced that we had not seen an albatross (Albatrosser) yet, but maybe the ability to call in birds is reserved only for bird-whispers like Knud.

I am glad to report that beaches do not just wash up plastic. What is without life can still be full of life, as a dead harbour porpoise (Marsvin) had provided a good feed to the gulls. We also found a dead Herring Gull (Sølvmåge) which had been ringed in the South of Norway five years ago.   

We escaped just in time before the snow started and I now write watching the snow gust past my window. This is certainly one of life’s more satisfying feelings, knowing you are warm and cosy inside (and not a bird). I think it will remain that way for the rest of today.

Link to todays observations from observers in the area

People: James Wareing

Today I went on a survey along the beach looking for dead fulmars (Mallemuk). We are assisting Aarhus University in collecting these birds which will later be examined to see how much plastic is in their stomachs. During 2022-2023, the Skagen Bird Station collected 24 dead Fulmars. Laboratory analysis showed that 79% of them had plastic in their stomachs, and 42% in an amount that was above the limit value for so-called "good environmental condition". One of the dead individuals contained so much plastic that it is considered to be the cause of the bird's death. A whopping 17.8 grams of plastic hid in the stomach of this bird. It had probably died of starvation, as there was simply no room in the stomach for actual food.

The walk was completed in what could well be a record time (Guiness book of World Records were not here to verify this) as I was aided by a 100km/h wind behind me. Searching for dead birds was made a little more challenging by the bath tub like amounts of white foam covering the beach. Finding a white bird amongst the bubbles is a comical challenge. No fulmars were un/fortunately found.

The importance of this work is underlined when walking along the beach. It is shocking how much plastic and other waste washes up here and what makes it to the beach is just a small sample size of what must be floating in the ocean. At times though, the best way to deal with this depressing scene is to find amusement and it is astounding what variety of items washes up on the shore here. There was recently a container ship in the North Sea that lost 18 containers, of which only around half have been found. This has led to a surprising amount of new black trainers (none in my size as yet), plastic ‘floral’ wreaths (in a luminous green colour unseen in nature) and a 20kg bag of rice (unfortunately inedible).

After a quick break for lunch, I was informed that there was an Iceland gull (Hvidvinget måge) in the harbour in Skagen. So it was on to the bike and this time heading into the 100km/h winds to see what I could find. Having never seen an Iceland gull before, and being admittedly sketchy on my long distance gull identifying skills, I was initially despondent to find a wall full of around 400 gulls. I was rather hoping to find a solitary gull holding a sign saying ‘I AM AN ICELAND GULL’….But, luck was with me and in the middle of my binoculars came a very silvery looking gull (quite unsure what the whole fuss was about). Unfortunately, it was too windy to take a photograph through my binoculars.

Mission accomplished, I headed back home, aided this time both by the wind and the adrenaline of my success.

Link to todays observations from observers in the area

People: James Wareing

A belated Happy New Year/February from Skagen Fuglestation! My name is James Wareing and I have joined the observatory for a short three-week spell this February. I am from near London in England, but spent the last year in Papua New Guinea. So far I can report that I am experiencing a weather and a culture shock, swapping rainforests and birds of paradise for windswept beaches and gulls. The mosquitoes are now gone, which is a relief, and have been replaced by the blight of sand storms, thanks to the near 100km/h winds we have had this week.

Being here for such a short period of time and just before the spring starts is as wonderful as it is teasing. Knowing what excitement is to come just after I leave is like going to a concert, staying for the opening acts, but being forced to leave just before the main band comes on. Nevertheless, it is a real privilege to be here, and I look forward to sharing what I experience over the next month. 

Although the 'quieter' season in Skagen, that is only a relative term, and there has been already so much to be excited by. I have done two seabird counts so far, with the highlight being a Sooty Shearwater (Sodfarvet Skråpe), which was kind enough to fly back and forth quite close to the shore showing off in the high winds. It really was a delight to watch and displayed such elegant flight. They are rarely seen here in January, generally spending the summer in the north Atlantic. 

This afternoon I was treated to bright sunshine and took the opportunity for a walk before sunset along the beach. Skagen is renowned for its wonderful light and it lived up to its reputation.

I was rewarded with beautiful views of Snow Buntings (Snespurven), Sanderlings (Sandløber) and Common Eiders (Edderfugl), all doing their best to hide from the wind and sand.

The strong winds have been around for a while now and are forecasted for a little longer. Who knows, maybe they will blow something exciting my way....I will keep you updated. 

Today’s observations in Dofbasen from observers in the area

People: James Wareing

Figure 1: Snowy Skagen

I awoke to another day of snowy Skagen, a view that I will not be forgetting anytime soon. This is my last blog today as I am the last one of the volunteers left! This morning I said goodbye to Mathilde who was packed and gone by 8am. I hope she has a great time in Copenhagen with her partner and it doesn’t rain too much. At the time of writing, she will probably be on a train right now, so hopefully it’s a bit smoother than Simon Jr’s journey yesterday. I have also been getting ready to go back home and this meant cleaning the last few things, and eating the rest of the food, though there was not too much. After completing those tasks, I set a challenge for some of the Spring team (Simon Jr knows more about this) which took a little while.

Figure 2: Christmas Kingfisher (Isfugl)

However, it did result in me seeing the Kingfisher (Isfugl) again which was very nice.

Figure 3: Simon Sr with his gull friends.

When completed, Simon Sr was keen to do one last harbour trip. Normally it is Mathilde who writes the harbour trip blogs but today it was my job. Firstly, we went to see if the Puffin (Lunde) was there again but there was no sign today. As a result, we went to our new favourite gull feeding spot in hope for some colour rings. Only the one bird had Norwegian colour rings today but unfortunately it could not be read. However, time was quickly passing and before I knew it, I was catching the train to Aalborg to start my journey back home. I came to the terminal a little earlier than planned so another train trip and I was looking round the Christmas market in the city, a lovely way to finish my Denmark trip this year! I found some nice free Wi-Fi so have decided to write the blog here today.

Figure 4: Christmas Caudatus.    

I am going to miss this place; it has been an incredible couple of months since I first arrived back in October. I have learnt a lot and made some incredible friends who I will remember forever and hopefully meet up with again soon. There is wayyy too much to summarise in one blog post but the memories, the adventures, the birds, and the people have all been phenomenal. A lot of respect for you all, it has sometimes been tough but with an amazing team it has been so rewarding and absolutely flown by. I would like to thank Simon Sr, Lisa, Simon Jr, Hayley, Mathilde, and Gustav (plus all the lovely guests I have met) for an amazing Autumn full of surprises and fun! I look forward to returning next year and in the meantime will be keeping up to date with all things going on here. I wish all the readers a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year with a Christmas Caudatus and wish the Spring team a great start to the season. For those joining, Hayley, Simon Jr and Simon Sr will form another great team and there will be a lot of fun times, I’m sure of it!

Blog posts will become a bit more infrequent over the winter as the station closes but do keep up to date and check in every so often for more updates. :)

Today’s observations on Dofbasen from observers in the area

People: Thomas Weston, Mathilde Ducroz, Simon S. Christiansen.

We started off the morning by finishing some of the smaller cleaning task that were left including cleaning kitchen windows and drawers as well as the landing with vacuuming a lot of sand! Around 10am, we headed to the harbour to give feeding the gulls another go in the hopes of attracting some different species than Herring gulls (Sølvmåge). We tried out a different spot where we saw the Caspian gull (Kaspisk måge) a few days ago. First, we looked out at sea to check for any birds on the water. And bingo! Thomas and Simon Jr. found a Puffin (Lunde) drifting close to shore. A very nice send-off present for Simon Jr. who’d only ever seen them in flight. This also meant the mission set by Simon Jr. for Thomas was succeeded: he found him a puffin!

(photo by Simon Kiese)

Once it had drifted further away, we went to feed the gulls. The birds that side of the harbour were shyer and only started fighting for the bread once we stepped back slightly. Nothing to report there, not even any colour rings.

(photo by Simon Kiese) 

As it was getting close to Simon Jr.’s train time, we headed to the station. Sad to see him go and remind both Thomas and I that we too are leaving soon and winter closure is upon us. But Simon Jr. will be back shortly though in March. Once he left, we headed back to yesterday’s feeding spot and the birds were a lot less scared and far more daring. Thomas managed to read three colour ring which was a successful trip I’d say.

Adult female Herring Gull (Sølvmåge) ringed 7 years ago. Photo: Thomas Weston

We headed back to the station for lunch with a mission to try and eat as much as the leftover food as possible. After, Simon and Thomas checked through the last remaining ringing sheets while I started on cleaning the staircase. I was later joined by Thomas to cleaning the entrance hall and we discovered that there was a lot of sand in the carpet there. The afternoon was spent packing, writing the blog and looking up places in Copenhagen for time there this weekend. Thomas went into town for Christmas shopping and souvenirs. He also went past the spot where a Kingfisher (Isfugl) has been spotted regularly in the last week and managed to get some good views of it. He also brought back cake to share which is always appreciated, especially on the last night.

Now, I still have to write in the guestbook and do a lit bit of packing. Then nachos time to finish the last of the food we have. Sad to leave but you never know I might come back again.

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

People: Thomas Weston, Mathilde Ducroz, Simon Kiesé and Simon S. Christiansen.

Our alarms woke us up at 7 and we started taking everything out of the Lab to clean even in the deepest corners. When we’ve finished cleaning the Lab, we cleanded and oiled the bikes and put them into shelter for the winter. We saw one House Mouse, which liked the warmth inside but was disturbed by our work. It’s latin name "Mus Musculus" sounds pretty funny.

Now nearly everything is ready for the winter and the volunteers in spring will enjoy the apartment and working gear.

After the hard work the fun part comes and Simon took us to the harbour, where we fed seagulls. Unfortunately, just Herring Gulls (Sølvmåge) came, but we enjoyed the close views and we were able to read one colour ring.

Then we took down the raptor trap for the winter.

We also found time to build a lazy laying Birder-Snowman.

Everything is covered in snow - thanks to MD for this nice picture!

After that we quickly went shopping and went back.Thomas and I went to Ellekrattet one last time. We cold see six Woodcocks (Skovsneppe), but we were not able to catch any. This reminded me on the first night when Thomas arrived, because we also went out to catch, but we did not get anything. So the first and the lasr night were the same. After that Simon Sr. came with the Pizzas we had ordered. They were really good and we had a nice wine and talked about entertaining topics. Then we played table tennis and shuffle ball and we showed Simon Sr., that we had practiced in the meanwhile. It was a super nice last evening at the Bird Observatory for me!

Around 136 days ago a new volunteer joined the Skagen Bird Observatory. First of all he was called "the 2nd", later "small" and in the meanwhile "Jr.", which is probably the best name- It was his first time talking englisch for longer than thirty seconds and he was curious to learn more stuff about bird migration and meet new people. Directly in his first week he was able to see two European Stormpetrels (Lille Stormsvale) in his hand, which was so nice, that he will never forget that night. He met new people and made friends all over Eruope. A stunning Cory’s Shearwater should be beaten by an selffound Eastern Yellow Wagtail (Alaskavipstjert), which should be the first for Denmark. Since the end of July he was able to see 218 bird species during his stay. His biggest love were the Pipits, so when he was able to ring a Blyth’s Pipit (Mongolsk Piber) his hear was filled with even more joy.

Hi. It’s me. And today is my last full day here.

Thanks to all the awesome people: Simon Sr. (and Lisa) for teaching so much and creating a nice atmosphere here, the volunteers for making the station life t´so awesome, the guests for their help and motivation and the locals for their experience and the good exchange! But that is not the end of the story, because I will be back in spring. I’m looking very forward to meet some of my friends again, make new ones and see a lot of nice birds! Cheers, Simon

Today’s observations on Dofbasen from observers in the area

People: Thomas Weston, Mathilde Ducroz, Simon Kiesé, Simon S. Christiansen.

Today was a cold day with a strong easterly wind blowing off Kattegat making temperatures fall below zero again. This did not matter today, as today was day 1 of the deep clean!

Figure 1: Christmas tree!

The day started when the three of us stepped into the living room where Simon Sr was sat doing some work and waiting for a visiting school group to arrive for a mini ringing demonstration. To help, Simon Jr and I went to open the two sheltered nets in the garden. We didn’t hear many birds, but Simon Jr flushed a Woodcock [Skovsneppe] which was very nice. It was also nice to see the Christmas tree the lighthouse team has put up which is very sweet so thank you! It was a bit windy today so I put it back up on our way back. On our return, it was straight to work cleaning whilst Mathilde was going to make a cake for Knud and his wife Inger who we invited to come over this afternoon. After a quick cycle to the shops to get some eggs, Mathilde was in baking mode!

Figure 2: Mathilde’s carrot cake – well part of.

No birds were caught unfortunately so Simon Sr shut the nets quite early to get on with work. Meanwhile, Simon Jr and I started cleaning and ended up deep cleaning the bedrooms and living room before lunch, a good start. Mathilde finished the cake and started cleaning the kitchen. After a quick lunch break, tough scrutiny from Simon Sr regarding the cleaning and a game of Turnstone, we were delighted to host Knud and Inger. I should have taken a photo of the cake before we all ate it but see the pic above of Mathilde’s very nice carrot cake. However, the cake, gløgg and conversation were all really lovely, and it was really nice to see Knud before we all leave for Christmas. We are all very grateful for the help and support from Knud since we have been here, as he has been a big help with the migration counts throughout the year. A big thank you from us volunteers, past and present! Knud even went out on a migration count today which was very dedicated and his sightings can be seen on the DOFbasen link below.

After Knud and Inger left, our afternoon consisted of us finishing the cleaning of the kitchen and then the final room for today: the bathroom. Simon Jr and I helped take down a couple of the garden nets and we will soon be checking ringing sheets and getting ready for The Deep Clean: Day 2!

Figure 3: Christmas tree at night!

Just for some more Christmas content, here's the Christmas tree at night. Tomorrow’s blog will hopefully feature a little more bird content than today.

Today’s observations on Dofbasen from observers in the area

People: Thomas Weston, Mathilde Ducroz, Simon Kiesé, Simon S. Christiansen, Knud & Inger Pedersen.

We woke up just before 8am to open up the nets and see if we could catch anything. Compared to the previous days, the nets were not popular with the local birds with only two Blackbirds (Solsort) recaptures during the whole morning. This meant is was time to be productive on the tasks concerning the imminent winter close. Simon Jr. was in charge of checking through the ring stock in particular gaps in series and that all rings are accounted for. Thomas went through his pictures and updated our picture archives with pictures of birds, landscapes and the station people. I started on the big clean and went through the kitchen drawers to clean them and reorganise them. Simon Jr. cleaned the oven and microwave at the same time. During the morning, Simon Sr. had a final talk with each of us.

As ringing was particularly slow, Simon Sr. suggested going to bird around the Skagen harbour. We headed out after lunch and had a successful day out. We started on the north side where Simon spotted a young Caspian gull (Kaspik måge) flying that later landed on the beach and started preening. While I was taking pictures of the bird, Simon Sr. also spotted a Water pipit (Bjergpiber) flying around the rocks of the sea breaker. After a successful first part of birding, it went a few more quiet. Simon and Thomas each spotted a Little auk (Søkonge) at different location of the harbour. Compared to my last views, these birds dived a lot more.

After birding, we went to do a shop and finally gave back the cans and bottle for pant which was a nice bonus. Once back at the station, Simon finished cleaning the oven while me and Thomas went out night catching. Sadly not the same luck as yesterday but did see a flock of Sanderling (Sandløber) and one of Purple sandpipers (Sortgrå ryle). I got a nice view through the thermal camera of 8 seals resting on the bunker rock. After getting back unsuccessfully, we held my session on North East American warblers as well as a small kahoot quiz.

Now bed time because tomorrow is big cleaning day!

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

People: Thomas Weston, Mathilde Ducroz, Simon Kiesé, Lisa Vergin and Simon S. Christiansen.

It was another cold day with some new snow settled on the frozen snow from the previous few days. The light breeze was ideal for some more ringing today, and the appearance of some sun throughout the day was most welcome by the team as our jobs involved being both outside and in.

Figure 1: EURING Age 4/Danish Age 2k+ male Common Redpoll.

With sunrise not being until 08:40, Mathilde, Simon Jr, and I had a mini lie in today but still felt tired. Simon and I opened the nets ready for a day of ringing whilst Mathilde tidied the rooms ready for our guests later in the day. The ringing was pretty constant throughout the day but there was a noticeable lull in the early afternoon. The first couple of rounds caught the highest number of Blackbirds [Solsort] coming down to all our apples and it was interested to recatch three from yesterday too. However, the overall ringing session was dominated by a flock of Long-tailed Tits [Halemejse], with some from Kabeltromlen, and the Common Redpoll [Nordlig Gråsisken] with the highest caught flock being 29 today. In total, we have now caught over 100 in just two days from two specific nets in the garden which is impressive and roughly 10%+ of the overall numbers migrating SE currently. Out of the birds caught, 95% have been aged as adults which is a complete contrast to mid-October to mid-November when a higher percentage of juveniles were caught. Where are these very snazzy looking birds coming from (see pic above)? On the other hand, there was still no luck on the Rock Pipit [Skæpiper] attempts, though we do keep trying. One day Simon Jr.

Figure 2: EURING Age 3/Danish Age 1k male Greenfinch [Grønirisk].

This was pretty nice to catch though, a Greenfinch [Grønirisk] (see pic)!

Whilst in between rounds, Mathilde and I fixed some of the broken waders ready for next year, I tried to detach some of our ‘stuck’ ringing poles without success, Simon Jr inputted our night catching totals into DOFbasen to keep all our records up to date and Simon SC and Lisa started preparing some food for the afternoon. This was followed by a nice pre-Christmas food and beverages with local birders Erik, Jørgen and Oluf. Albeit we didn’t catch too many birds during the festive celebrations, it was nice to have some bird related conversations. It was also nice to have some of the homemade marmalade and mulled wine too. Thank you for a lovely couple of hours and happy birding!

Figure 3: Simon and I out nightcatching...

Time seems to be flowing by quite quickly at the moment and once the sun set and our guests had left, Simon Jr and I went out to see if we could get close to the flocks of waders that have appeared near the bunker because of the snow.

Figure 4&5: EURING Age 3/Danish Age 1K Purple Sandpiper [Sortgrå ryle] profile and wing photos.

After wading in the inlets, sometimes up to chest deep, we successfully caught a juvenile Purple Sandpiper [Sortgrå ryle] which was nice. A random side note but for anyone interested and know the area, the sunken underwater bunker absolutely stinks of fish and guano, a weird smell you don’t get the pleasure of smelling from the beach! Back to the main part, the Purple Sandpiper [Sortgrå ryle] was the first of the year caught at the station which was a slight surprise. They have though been absent for most of October/November but good to see 20 this evening out on the rocks. Once processed and released, it was back to the inside jobs again. Inputting ringing data and sorting out some office jobs was broken by a nice curry cooked by Simon. Everyone was pretty tired this evening so an earlyish night for the others whilst I write the blog. How is it midnight already!?

Ringing totals

Ringing (Fyrhaven)

Total: 47

Ringing (Grenen)

Total: 1

Overall Total: 48

Today’s observations on Dofbasen from observers in the area

People: Thomas Weston, Mathilde Ducroz, Simon Kiesé, Lisa Vergin, Simon S. Christiansen, Erik, Jørgen (and Egor) and Oluf Lou.