Last night’s night catching wasn’t able to take place because of the great weather: cloudless and windless night. This changed in the morning where the wind was strong and rain clouds were coming in. The bad weather meant we all got to sleep in. The rest of the morning was filled with admin work: sorting out the picture archive, analysing the sound recording and sorting out data inputting errors. Saturday also meant cleaning day: the lab and flat. Augustin and Ulysse went out each to cut the reed and shrubs around the nets and paths at Jennes Sø and Kabeltrommlen. I went out to the tip to try and photograph some of the waders present.

In the evening, Augustin and I went out to see if we could find some lesser black-backed gulls. We tried to see  if any of them had rings but most were sitting or the flowers blocked the view. We did manage to catch one of the previous ringed plover chicks. It was nice to see them doing well. While we were out, Ulysses prepared dinner: pizzas. Two of Augustin's friends arrived to stay the night.

Folk på stationen: Mathilde Ducroz, Simon S Christiansen, Ulysse Reverre og Augustin Sticksel.

Klik her for at se dagens observationer fra Dofbasen af fugle i Skagen

Today we… went ringing again!! Augustin and Mathilde opened the nets, and we all found a beautiful surprise in the first rounds: a juvenile barred warbler (høgesanger), the first of the season. Sadly, even though the cloudy weather was supposedly very adequate, the ringing was very slow placed: only 14 birds found their way to our nets.  

Simon animated a ringing tour for 2 families in the beginning of the afternoon to demonstrate and explain ringing techniques to the public. The nets of the old Lighthouse Garden were opened, and a single whitethroat (tornsanger) was ringed over the hour.

It rained for most of the afternoon, so we were not able to go out to Kabeltromlen to trim the growing vegetation around some of the mist nets and make way for a new net in the reed area.

If the weather doesn’t clear too much, Augustin and I will probably go night-catching around the tip of Grenen, looking for waders (vadefugle) or terns (terner).

Ringmærkninge – Kabeltrommlen

Høgesanger – 1

Tornsanger – 3

Munk – 1

Rørsanger – 3

Løvsanger – 5

Kærsanger – 1

Solsort – 1

Gærdesanger – 1

Ringmærkning - Fyrhaven

Tornsanger - 1

Total – 17

Folk på stationen: Mathilde Ducroz, Simon S Christiansen, Ulysse Reverre og Augustin Sticksel.

Klik her for at se dagens observationer fra Dofbasen af fugle i Skagen 

The day started slightly later for Augustin and me as Ulysse volunteered to open all the nets by himself. The morning started off well with half a dozen birds at each round but it was sadly cut short because of rain coming in. No special birds but the first pied flycatcher (broget fluesnapper) was seen close to the nets! We also got very excited about a Norwegian ringed reed warbler (rørsanger).

As it was raining, this meant nap time for us! The after was spent entering data, analysing the night recording, checking data and sorting out the photo archive. In the evening we opened the nets and so far have had 3 birds. The guests were kind enough to make us diner: corn on the cob, tortilla and pancakes.

Ringmærkninge – Kabeltrommlen

Havesanger – 2

Tornsanger – 6

Munk – 2

Rørsanger – 2

Løsanger – 4

Kærsanger – 4

Gærdesmutte – 1

Gulspurv – 1

Ringmærkninge – Fyrhaven

Tornsanger – 2

Gulspurv – 1

Total – 25

Folk på stationen: Mathilde Ducroz, Simon S Christiansen, Ulysse Reverre og Augustin Sticksel.

Klik her for at se dagens observationer fra Dofbasen af fugle i Skagen

All the volunteers went out observing with Simon today. On our way to worlds end 2 we saw a spotted flycatcher (Grå Fleusnapper) we heard it yesterday but couldn’t see it. So Simon quickly set up his scope and we were able to take a look at this beautiful bird before it leaves Grenen and flies off to Afrika. We set our observing post at worlds end 2 for the first hour so we could get a better look at the marsh fields and take a better look at some passerines, but we weren’t too lucky with that. At the end of the first hour Simon saw a Orca and we decided to move nearer to the shore so we could get a better look at it. This tuned out to be a perfect place to see a harbour porpoise (Marsvin) near the shoreline. We continued our observations until 9:30 o’clock after that we returned and entered the data from this morning.

In the afternoon me and Mathilde went to skagen to do some grocery shopping and some birdwatching at the harbor while Ulysses was catching up on some sleep. After that i helped Simon with a ringing tour in the old lighthouse garden, unfortunately, we didn't catch any birds.

Havfugletælling – Grenen, Worlds End 1&2

Total 3046

Folk på stationen: Mathilde Ducroz, Simon S Christiansen, Ulysse Reverre og Augustin Sticksel.

Klik her for at se dagens observationer fra Dofbasen af fugle i Skagen

Today was a good day for ringing, with the northern winds and the recent rains, we caught several Willow warblers (løvsanger) and chiffchaffs (gransanger). Mathilde and Augustin opened the nets for a first round around 5h30. The threat of rain sadly cut our session short around 9h30. This left us plenty of time to catch up on sleep, clean around the flat and log in data.

Simon held an open freezer presentation, showing off the impressive collection of birds that we accumulate over the years (falcons, owls, blackbirds, finches, etc./falk, ugler, solsort, finke, etc.). A small crowd gathered in the courtyard of the lighthouse for over 45 minutes.

We welcome Niels Eriksen, head of the board of the Skagen Bird Observatory, who will join us until tomorrow to attend a Friends of the Observatory meeting here in Skagen.

Ringmærkninge – Kabeltrommlen

Tornsanger – 5

Gærdesanger – 3

Kærsanger – 1

Gransanger – 2

Munk – 2

Løvsanger – 5

Rørsanger – 3

Gulbug – 1                                         

Total - 22

Folk på stationen: Mathilde Ducroz, Simon S Christiansen, Ulysse Reverre og Augustin Sticksel.

Klik her for at se dagens observationer fra Dofbasen af fugle i Skagen

Ulysse and I headed to Jennes Sø for a CES (Constant effort site) ringing session. This meant an early morning with the nets to be opened by 4:45. The mosquitos were also very present. However, although we only caught 12 birds, we did catch quite a few different species. I was able to ring my first robin (rødhals) and Ulysse was lucky to ringed the bird of the session: a greater spotted woodpecker (stor flagspætte).

While we were ringing, Augustin got to sleep in a bit more, until 5! He went to world’s end 3 to observe with Knud. There were the usual species such as the hundreds of common scoters (sortand). Kestrels were out in numbers today. Notable species seen were the manx’s shearwater (almindelig skråpe), the red backed shrike (rødrygget tornskade) and the spotted redshank (sortklire). They also spotted a grey seal (grå sæl) out at sea.

After ringing and observations, we came back to the lighthouse for a short break before going out to open the nets in the old lighthouse garden. This was for the ringing tour organized in the context of the Kattegat week. When we thought the tour would be empty, the last net had a yellowhammer (gulspurv). The rest of the day was spent doing admin and shopping.

Ringmærkninge – Jennes Sø

Tornsanger – 2

Gærdesanger – 1

Kærsanger – 1

Solsort – 1

Gransanger – 3

Rørspurv – 1

Rødhals – 1

Gærdesmutte – 1

Stor Flagspætte – 1

Ringmærkninge – Fyrhaven

Gulspurv – 1

Total - 13

Folk på stationen: Mathilde Ducroz, Simon S Christiansen, Ulysse Reverre og Augustin Sticksel.

Klik her for at se dagens observationer fra Dofbasen af fugle i Skagen

We have been able to go ringing at Kabeltromlen today again fortunately. Me an Ulysses opened the nets at half past 4. We were joined by Simon, Erik, Oluf and Fleming. We caught a Rørspurv today, we didn’t catch one of these for a while.

It’s Ulysses birthday today so Mathilde made some delicious peanutbutter chocolate cookies. In the afternoon we did some cleaning at the station and took a nap. The guests of last week, Thomas and Pia, sadly had to leave today in the morning you will be missed it was great having you here. Bodile and Ole, our new guests joined our evening meeting today, and they will join our CES ringing at Jennes Sø tomorrow as well.                 

Ringmærkninge – Kabeltrommlen

Tornsanger – 10

Munk – 1

Musvit – 1

Rørsanger – 3

Gærdesanger – 2

Kærsanger – 3

Gulbug – 1

Gransanger – 1

Rørspurv – 1

Total - 23

Folk på stationen: Mathilde Ducroz, Simon S Christiansen, Ulysse Reverre og Augustin Sticksel.

Klik her for at se dagens observationer fra Dofbasen af fugle i Skagen

Today was a quiet day. It was too windy to go ringing with over 12 m/s for the maximum velocity. Saturday is the day for cleaning, data entry checking and catching up on any unfinished tasks. It was also an emotional goodbye for Frank, we wish him the best for his upcoming degree in Plymouth. The afternoon was calm, and the three of us left, Augustin, Mathilde and I (Ulysse), went for observations. We counted more than a thousand gulls (svartbag, sildemåge & sølvmåge) with a few black-headed gulls (hættemåge) and sanderlings amongst the roosting birds.

We also welcome our new guests staying with us for a week (they arrived a bit early!) : Bodile and Ole.

We could sadly not open the nets in the courtyard as the rain started and the clouds did not seem to want to leave, even with the strong winds.

Let’s hope for better conditions tomorrow.

Folk på stationen: Mathilde Ducroz, Simon S Christiansen, Ulysse Reverre og Augustin Sticksel.

Klik her for at se dagens observationer fra Dofbasen af fugle i Skagen

Frank and Augustin opened the nets this morning and we joined later for first round around half five. The morning was quiet with only a few birds each round. It was nice to see an increase in black caps (munk). On16 birds were caught but everyone was able to ring a few each. Hopefully today will be more tomorrow for Frank’s last ringing session!

Due to a power cut yesterday, our wifi went down which explains the late blog entry. This also meant that we had two days of data to enter in today. The rest of the afternoon was spent napping, reading and walking by the beach. Augustin and Ulysse went out to check on the seal carcass. In the late afternoon, Frank opened the nets downstairs and so far we have caught one great tit (musvit). As it was Frank’s last evening, we all decided to go out for diner by the harbour at one of the fish huts and then had ice cream in town.

Ringmærkninge – Kabeltrommlen

Tornsanger – 3

Munk – 5

Musvit – 1

Rørsanger – 1

Gærdesanger – 1

Kærsanger – 1

Ringmærkninge – Fyrhaven

Musvit – 1

Total - 13

Folk på stationen: Mathilde Ducroz, Frank Osterberg, Simon S Christiansen, Ulysse Reverre, Sander Knud Pedersen og Augustin Sticksel.

Klik her for at se dagens observationer fra Dofbasen af fugle i Skagen 

We had another usual day at Kabeltromlen all the volunteers from the station went out ringing today. Mathilde and Ulysses opened the nets, and we began our ringing with some help from Knud. We caught some more willow warblers (Løvsanger) and chifchafs (Gransanger) than usual. Erik, Fleming, Thomas and Pia were also at Kabeltromlen. The surprise of the day was found in the nets at 9 o’clock by Frank, a male juvenile bluethroat (Blåhals)! It’s the first one I ever saw so definitely the highlight of my day and I’m hoping to see some more of these beautiful birds in the next three months at the fuglestation.

In the afternoon me and Ulysses went for a swim in the see behind the lighthouse and found dead harbor seal floating towards the shore. Sander prepared some delicious Pasta for the volunteers on his last evening here and we played a round of wingspan, a board game about birds, in the evening.  

Ringmærkninge – Kabeltrommlen

Tornsanger – 6

Munk – 2

Blåhals – 1

Gulspurv – 1

Musvit – 2

Gærdesanger – 2

Bogfinke – 3

Løvesanger - 5

Kærsanger – 2

Gransanger – 5

Total 29

Folk på stationen: Mathilde Ducroz, Frank Osterberg, Simon S Christiansen, Ulysse Reverre, Sander Knud Pedersen og Augustin.

Klik her for at se dagens observationer fra Dofbasen af fugle i Skagen