We had a record day for birds at Kabeltromlen with a total of 239 new birds and 35 recaptures! Michael was also busy ringing at Jennes Sø - together with his new captures, our total for today is a whopping 299 birds. Now that calls for a celebration!

We were very glad to have Kirsten there, as well as Rie, Gunnar, Erik and Jørgen who provided ringing/data entry support all morning. Jørgen also brought us a bag with delicious pastries from the bakery, which kept our engines running and our spirits high. It was great fun, and the day just flew by in no time!

A highlight of the day was a flock of Long-tailed tits (Halemejse), which are just the cutest bird species out there (in my opinion).

The two Long-tailed tits (Halemejse) shown here belong to two groups: On the left is Aegithalos caudatus europeaus (Sydlig Halemejse), which can be identified by the black and white head and occurs in western and southern Europe, north-east China, and Japan. The bird on the right has a white head, which tells us that it partly belongs to the northern subspecies Aegithalos caudatus caudatus.

I mean, what’s not to like about their button-eyes, tiny faces, and melodious call? Even if they quarrel a bit ...

Incidentally, it is also Amelie’s 22nd birthday today – her family and friends sent her gifts from Germany, which she opened with great enthusiasm this afternoon:

Kirsten made us a delicious salmon dinner tonight, and it was a delight having her here this week. We are sad to have to say goodbye to her tomorrow already. She chose a good week to come to Skagen Fuglestation because we ringed about 1000 birds during her stay! We look forward to welcoming her back here next spring when she returns to practice her bird-handling and ringing skills. 

Ringmærkning (Kabeltromlen):

Fuglekonge - Goldcrest: 75

Gransanger - Common chiffchaff: 15

Halemejse - Long-tailed tit: 8

Gæ­rdesmutte - Wren: 25

Rødhals - Robin: 24

Rødstjert - Redstart: 1

Jernspurv - Dunnock: 6

Lille Gråsisken - Lesser redpoll: 18

Sortmejse - Coal tit: 1

Lille Dompap - Western European Bullfinch: 2

Dompap - Bullfinch: 1

Rørspurv - Reed Bunting: 21

Munk - Blackcap: 14

Bogfinke - Chaffinch: 4

Kvækerfinke - Brambling: 2

Blåmejse - Blue tit: 4

Grønirisk - Greenfinch: 1

Musvit - Great tit: 4

Sangdrossel - Songthrush: 11

Vindrossel - Redwing: 1

Total KAB: 239

Ringmærkning (Jennes Sø):

Gæ­rdesmutte - Wren: 5

Jernspurv - Dunnock: 2

Rødhals - Robin: 6

Munk - Blackcap: 6

Fuglekonge - Goldcrest: 14

Blåmejse - Blue tit: 9

Musvit - Great tit: 8

Skovspurv - Tree sparrow: 1

Bogfinke - Chaffinch: 1

Lille Gråsisken - Lesser redpoll: 5

Rørspurv - Reed Bunting: 3

Total Jennes Sø: 60

Total new captures KAB + Jennes Sø: 299

Klik her for at se dagens observationer indtastet i Dofbasen af observatører i området

People:  Amelie Zeller, Simon S. Christiansen, Christina Stinn, Martin Grienenberger, Kirsten, Gunnar Simonsen, Erik Christophersen, Jørgen Kabel, Rie Voermann, Knud Pedersen, Michael Ancher

Kirsten and I spent a beautiful ringing day with Michael at Jennes Sø today. Michael showed us how to put up mist nets, as neither of us had done it before. After installing a few with us, Michael let us practice on the last net by ourselves. We spent a lot of time taking leaves and twigs out of the net (the net dropped to the ground a couple of times before we could secure it properly…), but in the end we successfully got the net up and were rewarded for our efforts when we caught a few Goldcrests (Fuglekonge) in it.

The weather was great (it only drizzled on our last round), and we had quite a few birds. Our most frequently caught birds were Goldcrests (Fuglekonge – 32 individuals) and wrens (Gæ­rdesmutte – 11 individuals). The wrens can be tricky to take out of the net because they tend to get quite tangled. However, we managed to extract all of them.

Kirsten not only got a chance to see Jennes Sø but could also spend time doing what she loves to do: practicing her bird handling skills at the nets.

There was also a Great Cormorant (Skarv) at the dock by the pond, minding its own business. I tried to catch it, but of course I wasn’t fast enough, and it got away.

Simon and Amelie went out in the late afternoon with Simon's father Gunnar to find a Spotted nutcracker (Nøddekrigen) at Skagen Klitplantation.

Unfortunately it was no longer there. But who knows, if it’s in the area, maybe we’ll get a chance to spot it over the next few days?

We are looking forward to ringing at Kabeltromlen with Gunnar tomorrow: The weather is supposed to be very nice, and we are of course hoping for more rarities, as always!

Ringmærkning (Jennes Sø):

Stor Flagspætte - Great spotted woodpecker: 2

Musvit - Great tit: 7

Gransanger - Common chiffchaff: 2

Gæ­rdesmutte - Wren: 11

Fuglekonge - Goldcrest: 32

Rødhals - Robin: 6

Lille Gråsisken - Lesser redpoll: 8

Blåmejse - Blue tit: 10

Grønirisk - Greenfinch: 1

Kvækerfinke - Brambling: 3

Bogfinke - Chaffinch: 3

Skovspurv - Tree sparrow: 6

Sortmejse - Coal tit: 2

Topmejse - Crested tit: 1

Jernspurv - Dunnock: 1

Total: 95

Klik her for at se dagens observationer indtastet i Dofbasen af observatører i området

People:  Amelie Zeller, Simon S. Christiansen, Christina Stinn, Michael Ancher, Martin Grienenberger, Kirsten

After having a long but also wonderful day yesterday with more than 200 birds, the motivation was high to get up early and open the nets. Unfortunately, a long morning rain shower prevented us from starting with the sunrise, but when the rain stopped, Martin and Christina quickly went to open the nets.

Simon, Kirsten, Laila and I then joined them for the first round, and we had another good ringing day, only affected by a few short rain showers. Christina, Martin and I worked on extracting and ringing the birds as quickly and efficiently as possible, but we were glad that Simon was able to give us a hand.

Although there were fewer birds than yesterday, we still had a lot to do. Among other things, we had a Yellow-browed Warbler (Hvidbrynet Løvsanger) that surprised us from a birdbox full of Goldcrests (Fuglekonge)!

Photo: Jørgen Kabel

Once again, we were very happy that we had such great helpers, who supported us especially in writing down the data. Kirsten also had a great day and was very happy that she could ring a few birds. Extracting and handling the birds is becoming easier and easier for her.

We hope for a few more of these long but rewarding days that are worth giving up a little sleep.

People: Simon S. Christiansen, Christina Stinn, Martin Grienenberger, Kirsten, Laila Neermann, Jørgen Kabel & Igor, Amelie Zeller.

Klik her for at se dagens observationer indtastet i Dofbasen af observatører i området

Ringmærkning (Kabeltromlen):

Fuglekonge 66

Rødhals 26

Rørspurv 22

Gærdesmutte 12

Blåmejse 12

Munk 11

Jernspurv 8

Musvit 7

Sangdrossel 4

Gråsisken 3

Hvidbrynet Løvsanger 1

Engpiber 1

Gråsisken, Nordlig 1

Dompap 1

Dompap, Lille 1

Gransanger 1

Total: 177

Der fortsætter med at være masser af småfugle i området – og ikke mindst i nettene! 224 fugle blev ringmærket i dag, hvoraf topscoren lidt usædvanligt blev rørspurv (Reed Bunting) med 63. Vi var heldige med at næsten alle byger passerede udenom os, dog var vi nødsaget til at lukke nettene kortvarigt lige omkring solopgang - kun en halv time efter de var sat op. De blev dog hurtigt aktiveret igen, da det første hold fugle var kommet igennem systemet. Herefter fortsatte fabriksarbejdet frem til kl. 17. Esben, Oluf og Kirsten var her en stor hjælp ligesom de foregående dage og deltog fra start til slut. Desuden tog både Laila, Jørgen og Kristina fat med blyanten og skrev protokol i løbet af morgentimerne.

Flittige ringmærkere tømmer net

Midt i det hele fik vi gennemført en tur for studerende på Natur– og Kulturformidlerudannelsen, som Kristina tog vel hånd om. Desuden kom en del birdere forbi i løbet af morgenen og hilste på, bl.a. Lars og Casper, som fik et godt tip til en hit-busk, hvilket resulterede i at de fandt en hvidbrynet løvsanger.

Lille Gråsisken (Lesser Redpoll) - en af de mange fugle mærket i dag

Sent på eftermiddagen ventede der brød og kage til de hjemkomne (samt kød til kødæderne), det blev dog til en lettere aftensmad i stedet. Om aftenen prioriterede vi at få det hele tastet ind – frisk og klar til i morgen, hvor vi forventer der nok skal blive tryk på igen.

Christina og Martin havde en tiltrængt fridag og tog Søndenfjords for at se på store vingefang i Lille Vildmose, hvilket lykkedes meget godt med både kongeørn (Golden Eagle) og havørn (White-tailed Eagle), men de fik også syn på bl.a. pungmejse (Penduline Tit) de udsatte elge og besøgt vores venner på Lille Vildmosecentret. De kom tilbage om aftenen.

Elg Lille Vildmose

Folk: Amelie Zeller, Oluf Lou, Esben E. Hansen, Kirsten, Kristina Sønderkjær, Laila Neermann, Jørgen Kabel + Igor, Thomas Lillelund, Lars Grøn, Casper Sylvester Jensen, Søren Skov & Simon S. Christiansen.

Ringmærkning (Kabeltromlen):

Rørspurv 63

Rødhals 58

Fuglekonge 29

Munk 20

Gærdesmutte 17

Blåmejse 7

Sangdrossel 7

Gransanger 5

Jernspurv 5

Lille Gråsisken 4

Musvit 3

Gulspurv 2

Bogfinke 1

Sortmejse 1

Vindrossel 1

Stor Flagspætte 1

Total: 224

Unusual schedule today since it was raining this morning. We still woke up at 6 to check for the weather and decide how the day would go. The weather forecast was predicting rain until 8:00 and 30 min from 09:30.

We decided not to go ringing right away in the morning so we don’t have to close the nets during our session. We therefore went birdwatching  instead until the rain stops.
We went to Buttervej and Højen Fyr to check for some migrants and we were quite happy to find a lot of birds there ! According to Simon, there never has been so many birds in that area ! Goldcrests (Fuglekonge)were calling from every bushes, Chaffinches (Bogfinke) and Greenfinches (Grønsisken) were feeding, flying over us, and a hell lot of Wrens (Gærdesmutte) “wrening” around. Simon found a odd looking brown warbler which turned out to be a classical Chiffchaff (Gransanger). It made his heart beating faster though, him being eager to find a Radde’s Warbler (Schwarzsanger). The rarest bird to be found this morning was a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker (Lille Flagspætte). Unfortunately, I was the only to see it and I couldn’t share it with Amelie and Simon. This species is really rare here in Skagen, not even yearly, with previous records being from 2020, 2018 and 2016. On our way back, we made a quick stop at Grenen Stald to look for the Turtle Dove (Turtledue) but it didn’t show up. Amelie still enjoyed that stop and made herself a new friend.

When the rain stopped at 10, Amelie and I went opening the nets, quickly joined by Kirsten, Oluf and then Simon. Even though it was already late in the morning, birds were really active and each of our rounds were super busy ! The most numerous species was the Goldcrest (Fuglekonge).
Kirsten was really happy about her session since she felt more confortable in handling and exctracting birds, nicely helped by the team.
Simon left us earlier since he had a meeting to attend with Kristina, which was dealing about a project involving yound children.
Today again, we caught another Norwegian recapture, this time a young male Blackcap (Munk).

Amelie and Simon went again to Batteriskoven to catch the 2 long staying Pink-footed Geese (Kortnæbbet Gås), and they managed to get really close to them this time, at less than 5 meters from them ! But 5 meters is not close enough and the Geese escaped. This story will go on tomorrow again and maybe our motivated catchers will find a good trick to catch them !

Esben is joining us tonight, and will go nightcatching as he always does ! Which resulted in the 3rd Jack Snipe this season

Ringmærkning (Kabeltromlen):

Blåmejse - Blue Tit – 17

Bogfinke – Chaffinch – 3

Dompap – Bullfinch - 3

Fugelkonge – Goldcrest - 13

Gærdesmutte -Wren - 17

Gransanger - Chiffchaff – 24

Lille Gråsisken – Lesser Redpoll – 1

Jernspurv - Dunnock – 3

Munk - Blackcap – 27

Musvit – Great Tit - 9

Rødhals - Robin – 35

Rødstjert – Redstart - 1

Rørspurv - Reed Bunting - 8

Sangdrossel - Song Thrush – 1

Solsort – Blackbird - 1

Sortmejse - Coal Tit – 3

Stor Flagspætte – Great Spotted Woodpecker – 2

Træløber, Nordlig – Treecreeper - 1

Total: 169

Ringmærkning (Night catching at Grenen):

Enkeltbekkasin – Jack Snipe - 1

Klik her for at se dagens observationer indtastet i Dofbasen af observatører i området

People: Martin Grienenberger, Amelie Zeller, Christina Stinn, Simon S. Christiansen, Oluf Lou, Kirsten, Kristina Sonderkjaer

Last night, Simon, Laila and I went out to Grenen Sø and some other places to try and catch some Jack Snipes (Enkeltbekkasin), Lapland Buntings (Lapland Longspur) and a Pink-footed Goose (Kortnæbbet Gås). We didn’t catch the birds, but we had lots of fun and saw some deer and this cute hedgehog on our way.

In the morning we had to wake up early again, but it was worth it. Already before the first round we had the feeling that it will be a busy day and started ringing even before sunrise.

We were happy to catch three foreign recaptures today!

Blackcap (Munk) from Stravanger, Norway:

Robin (Rødhals) from Stravanger, Norway:

Goldcrest (Fuglekonge) from Stockholm, Sweden (Picture: Jørgen Kabel):

It was good to have some friends at the ringing station: We were glad Jørgen and Laila could help us at writing today. Oluf, as always was helping us a lot for extracting and ringing so many birds today. Kirsten is also looking forward to this week and hopefully she can practise a lot of handling and extracting of birds.

Igor was also here and as usual in the spotlight at the ringing station :) after the birds, of course…

Isn’t he just the best?

Ringmærkning (Kabeltromlen):

Blåmejse - Blue Tit – 17

Bogfinke – Chaffinch – 3

Dompap – Bullfinch - 3

Fugelkonge – Goldcrest - 13

Gærdesmutte -Wren - 17

Gransanger - Chiffchaff – 24

Lille Gråsisken – Lesser Redpoll – 1

Jernspurv - Dunnock – 3

Munk - Blackcap – 27

Musvit – Great Tit - 9

Rødhals - Robin – 35

Rødstjert – Redstart - 1

Rørspurv - Reed Bunting - 8

Sangdrossel - Song Thrush – 1

Solsort – Blackbird - 1

Sortmejse - Coal Tit – 3

Stor Flagspætte – Great Spotted Woodpecker – 2

Træløber, Nordlig – Treecreeper - 1

Total: 169

Klik her for at se dagens observationer indtastet i Dofbasen af observatører i området

People: Martin Grienenberger, Amelie Zeller, Christina Stinn, Simon S. Christiansen, Oluf Lou, Jørgen & Igor, Laila, Kirsten

Today it was too rainy and windy to go ringing or migration counting. We enjoyed an indoor day and performed the ever-present administrative tasks regarding bird ringing, including checking data sheets and entering data.

Martin detected song thrushes and redwings in his nocturnal sound recordings. Hopefully, the next few days will yield more bird calls when the wind decreases. Martin also worked on the European Bird Watch (EBW) data from yesterday and sent the records from two Danish bird observatories to Slovakia. Soon we will have the results from all European bird observatories – so stay tuned, we will let you know how many millions of birds were recorded across the continent yesterday!

In the afternoon Mortne Bentzon donated a box of beer for us. Will come in handy when celebrating the next rare bird! Thank you Morten!

Esben went home today. He had come here wanting to ring a lot of birds, but the weather didn’t cooperate all week, so he had few opportunities. However, he went night catching every night during his stay with us and made everyone very happy last night when he brought back not just one, but TWO Jack Snipes (Enkeltbekkasin)! These are the first Jack Snipes (Enkeltbekkasin) caught at Skagen Fuglestation.

Tonight Simon and Amelie will go out night catching together and are hoping for more Jack Snipes (Enkeltbekkasin) or a Pink-footed Goose (Kortnæbbet Gås). Now wouldn’t that be amazing!

No Ringmærkning data today

People: Martin Grienenberger, Amelie S. Zeller, Christina Stinn, Simon S. Christiansen, Esben Elgaard Hansen, Ole Shruppeltrang, Morten Bentzon Hansen, Kirsten

For today, I’m very tempted to write you the exact same blog post as I did yesterday. It seems that the day just went in the same fashion as yesterday !

The wind remained too strong to even think about opening the nets, so we had again to cancel our session…
Amelie and I went to Nordstrand again to monitor the seabirds migration. The birds were once again in a record mood, and we witnessed a great day for Teals. We counted 248 of them, which sets a new record for a daily count in autumn in Skagen. The previous records were 200 resting birds at Skarvsøen on the 6^th of September 2014 and 162 birds migrating east, 10 west and 21 resting on the 15^th of September 1995.  The Velvet Scoters were less numerous compared to yesterday but still in good numbers with no less than 239. It’s interesting to note the significant part of males, around 60 % for today, which felt considerably lower than the previous days. Unfortunately, we didn’t make a separate count for both sexes and only our feeling will remain.

Today was the EuroBirdwatch day, and Skagen Bird Observatory was of course part of this major event. EuroBirdwatch (formerly known as the European Birdwatch) is BirdLife International’s annual festival of events which invites all citizen members from all over Europe to get out, observe, explore and enjoy birds. EuroBirdwatch is part of World Birdwatch – a global initiative established over 10 years ago. The goal is to encourage as many people as possible to go birdwatching over one weekend, and to record sightings of as many as possible of the world’s 10 000 bird species.

Since it’s the weekend, we had a few people paying us lovely visits : Michael Ancher, Pernille and Morten Bentzon (from netfugl.dk).

Ringmærkning (Nordstjernevej)

Rodhals - Robin - 2

Bogfinke - Chaffinch - 1

Total : 3

Klik her for at se dagens observationer indtastet i Dofbasen af observatører i området

People: Martin Grienenberger, Amelie Zeller, Christina Stinn, Simon S. Christiansen, Esben Elgaard Hansen, Michael Ancher, Erik Christophersen, Jørgen Kabel & Igor, Pernille Roed, Morten Bentzon Hansen

Strong easterly winds mean no ringing… Unfortunately, with no less than 14 m/s, we had to cancel our ringing session in Kabeltromlen from this morning. Esben wanted to try to catch some birds in the lighthouse garden  instead but quickly decided that it was a lost cause when he looked out of the window early this morning.

Christina and I went for migration counting, but instead of going to World’s End 3, we went to Nordstrand to get a better shelter in the dunes. As yesterday, we witnessed an amazing migration of Velvet Scoters ! We counted this morning 512 of them, added to the 662 from yesterday. This constitutes then an unprecedented passage for Skagen. The last big movements of this kind occurred in 1987, with 430 and 579 birds going east on the 17^th and 18^th of March. A more recent observation of good numbers of migrating Velvet Scoters during autumn happened on the 26^th of September 2017 with 446 birds going South-east. We’re looking forward to tomorrow to see how many more Velvet Scoters we’ll see !

Considering the weather, Amelie took a day off to get some rest and a late morning sleep (she woke up at 7 ;-). She used her day working on a document she needs to write for her University, which deals with her stay here and how she’s involved in the Bird Observatory. She also went to town and enjoyed a little shopping time, without forgetting to wear a facemask, a must-do during these corona times ...

Simon had on his side a busy administrative day with a few meetings. He also worked on a new project he will build with Kristina and will be about getting children into nature.

Esben was again working on his engineering courses and will try again to catch some cool birds tonight. Let’s hope he will be successful!

Michael Ancher was out ringing, braving the winds at Jennes Sø and caught a few birds. Results are just below.

Ringmærkning (Jennes Sø):

Musvit – Great Tit - 2

Gærdesmutte - Wren - 1

Jernspurv – Dunnock - 1

Munk - Blackcap - 1

Rødhals - Robin - 3

Solsort – Blackbird - 1

Total: 9

Klik her for at se dagens observationer indtastet i Dofbasen af observatører i området

People: Martin Grienenberger, Amelie Zeller, Christina Stinn, Simon S. Christiansen, Esben Elgaard Hansen, Kristina Sønderkjær, Mette & Sven, Michael Ancher

Simon, Christina and I had a nice morning at the ringing station at Kabeltromeln today. It wasn’t as busy as the days before, but we still caught a good number of birds. Jørgen, Igor and Lars Grøn also came by for visiting. Because we didn’t have so many visitors today, Christina and I could work on improving our ageing and sexing skills.

Igor, sleeping after some exhausting days with many birds at the ringing station:

Martin was counting seabirds at World’s End 3, which was quite difficult today because of the rather strong wind from East. But he still counted Gannets (Sule), a Little Auk (Søkonge) and over 600 Velvet Scoters (Fløjlsand)!

In the afternoon Simon and the volunteers had a little session at the office. We showed him some pictures of difficult birds we ringed last week while he was in Ottenby and discussed about the age and sex of the individuals. After that we checked and entered ringing data from today.

Our guests Mette and Sven and took a long walk (19.000 steps!) in the forest at the Tilsandede Kirke.

Esben was studying with some friends from university today and will cook dinner for us tonight. Later in the night we will go and try catch birds again at Grenen. Yesterday, Kristina, Esben and I got quite close to some Mallards (Gråand), but they unfortunately flew off, before we could put the net on them. We hope for some more luck tonight…

Ringmærkning (Kabeltromlen):

Fuglekonge – Goldcrest - 14

Gærdesmutte - Wren - 4

Jernspurv – Dunnock - 1

Sangdrossel – Songthrush - 1

Munk - Blackcap - 5

Blåmejse - Blue Tit - 2

Rødhals - Robin - 14

Rørspurv - Reed Bunting – 3

Solsort – Blackbird - 1

Total: 45

Klik her for at se dagens observationer indtastet i Dofbasen af observatører i området

People: Martin Grienenberger, Amelie Zeller, Christina Stinn, Simon S. Christiansen, Esben Elgaard Hansen, Kristina Sønderkjær, Jørgen Kabel & Igor, Mette & Sven, Lars Grøn