Den roterende lyskegle fra fyrtårnet bød mig velkommen hjem da jeg nærmede mig. I morges, før solopgang, tjekkede jeg ind på Fuglestationen efter en uges fravær fra Skagen, hvor jeg havde været afsted til forskellige gøremål og vennebesøg øst for Storebælt. Esben er stadig i Aalborg men kommer herop igen mandag, men det betød dog langt fra at jeg var alene i dag.

Om formiddagen kom Mette, som er lærerstuderende fra Aalborg. Hun havde fået en opgave fra Seminariet som bl.a. indebar at hun skulle fordybe sig lidt i nogle af de faglige aktiviteter vi udfører. Meget belejligt gik ringmærkningen, med de kun to net i den lille Fyrhave rigtig godt. Vi fangede således hele 15 grønirisker og en musvit på kun en lille times fangst (14 mærkninger og 2 aflæsninger). Desuden viste jeg hende lidt omkring vores monitering af nattrækket med lydoptagere. Hvordan vi analyserede lydfilerne og registrerede trækkaldende. Inde i udstillingen mødte jeg vores pattedyr-ekspert Annelise, som var ved at få forevist Flemmings store fugle-frimærkesamling.

Over middag ankom Stine fra Skagen Skole, som havde sidste praktikdag inden juleferien. Efter at have spist pebernødder og brunkager fik hun skiftet avispapir i vores transportkasser til fuglene, og sammen tastede vi dagens ringmærkning ind og kontrollerede nogle protokoller. Til aften havde jeg en aftale med Christian fra Hirtshals, som er meget interesseret i skovsnepper. Så til aften tog jeg ham og Knud med til ud og lede snepper til ringmærkningen. Vi var desværre lidt udfordret med fuldmånen, som lyste landskabet op og vi fangede derfor ingen, men vi så et par stykker. Mens vi gik på Storsig lyste vi dog pludselig en Mosehornugle op som sad på en lav gren og spejdede efter føde. Vi nærmede os roligt fuglen, men den fløj desværre da vi var få meter fra den, men altid en meget stemningsfuld oplevelse når man kommer tæt på en ugle i natten!

I morgen skal jeg et smut til søndenfjords, men vender tilbage med forstærkning mandag, hvor Esben følger med herop igen.

Slørede fangstmænd på vej ud i natten 

Ringmærkning (Fyrhaven)

Grønirisk: 15

Sum: 15

Folk: Knud Pedersen, Mette Pedersen, Christian Thorsmark Østerby, Annelise Jensen, Stine & Simon S. Christiansen

Efter Aftensmad var der julehygge med fyrets venneforening. Her var underholdning med billeder fra årets gang, samt rigeligt gløgg og godt humør.

Da arrangementet var afsluttet stod den på natfangst af skovsnepper. Det lykkedes for Simon og Jeg at fange en enkelt skovsneppe!

Skovsneppe (1k køn ukendt) som får sin vinge målt til 207mm, hvorefter den blev vejet til en kampvægt på 359.6 gram.

Ringmærket skovsneppe lige før den flyver sin vej. Fjerdragten camouflerer sneppen så den næsten ikke er til at se hvis ikke den bevæger sig.

Dette vil være den sidste blog denne uge, da både Simon og jeg drager sønderfjords. I morgen vil vi forsøge med lidt ringmærkning i Fyrhaven. Før vi tager af afsted om formiddagen. Vi vender dog stærkt tilbage næste uge!

Ringmærkning (grenen):

Skovsneppe - Woodcock - 1

Folk: Simon S. Christiansen, Esben E. Hansen og Venneforeningen

Efter en blæsende nat på Det Grå Fyr åbnede vi nettene i Fyrhaven kl. 8.00. Trods fuglekald og foder udeblev fuglene i dag, så vi lukkede nettene igen allerede ved 9.30-tiden.

Da Rita kom for at gøre rent ved 10-tiden – tusinde tak for det, Rita! – bestemte vi os for at tage en tur ind til Skagen Havn for at kigge på fugle. Vi fik hurtigt pakket vores kikkerter og teleskopet ned, og så tog vi afsted. Da vi kørte fra fyret, var vi så heldige at se et par gulspurve, der sad i en busk på parkeringspladsen.

Det blæste ret meget på havnen, så noget af fuglekiggeriet foregik fra bilen.

Det blev til en spændende tur på havnen, hvor vi blandet andet fik set Svartbag, Edderfugle, Sølvmåger, Stormmåger, Skarv og en enkelt Stor Skallesluger.

Da vi kom tilbage til fyret, gik Esben igang med at reparere de sidste net, så de er klar til forårets ringmærkninger. Jeg gav mig til at at pakke de sidste ting, og klokken halv tre kørte jeg tilbage til Aalborg og min normale hverdag. Dog først efter et besøg hos Flemming i Caféen, hvor jeg fik købt lidt souvenirs - blandt andet nogle meget fine Jule fugle flet bøger, så jeg kan flette fugle til juletræet. De er ret flotte, men nogle af dem er virkelig svære at lave! Til min store glæde forærede Flemming mig en meget fin Fasan-bakke - Tusind tak Flemming, den er jeg meget glad for!

Jeg vil gerne slutte min sidste dag på Skagen Fuglestation i denne omgang af med at sige tusind tak for nogle gode og lærerige dage blandt nogle dygtige, søde, tålmodige og “villige til at lære fra sig” frivillige og stationsleder! I gør en forskel - både for fugle og mennesker! 

Og så glæder jeg mig til at komme op til jer igen, så jeg kan blive oplært i at ringmærke fugle! 

Folk: Simon S. Christiansen, Esben E. Hansen og Pernille Roed.

I dag stod vi alle tidligt op, da vi desværre skulle tage afsked med Laia, som rejste hjem til bjergene i Catalonien. Vi håber, du er kommet godt hjem, Laia!

Imens Simon kørte Laia til togstationen, åbnede Esben nettene i Fyrhaven, og jeg gik en tur langs stranden for at nyde solopgangen. Vi ringmærkede 5 grønirisker og havde en enkelt aflæsning inden regnen kom ved ti-tiden. Jeg fik endda lært, hvordan de kønsbestemmes!

Regnen fortsatte resten af dagen, så Esben og jeg gav os til at reparere nettene. Det tog lang tid, for der var mange huller. Imens vi reparerede nettene, læste Simon ansøgninger fra frivillige til næste år igennem, sendte bilag til økonomiafdelingen i DOF, og derefter begyndte han at se på årsrapportering.

Sidst på eftermiddagen tastede Simon og jeg dagens ringmærkninger ind, og bagefter læste vi afsluttende korrektur på de indtastede ringmærkninger fra efteråret. Esben lavede lækker aftensmad imens.

Jeg nåede også at få et smugkig på den flotte nye udstilling om Det Grå Fyrs historie, som er ved indgangen op til fyrtårnet. Den indvies med en reception fredag den 6. december kl. 15.00-16.00, hvor alle er velkomne! Den er bestemt et besøg værd!

Efter aftensmaden var vi ude på natfangst. Vi fangede desværre ikke noget, selvom vi så en del Skovsnepper. Natfangst er i øvrigt noget af en krævende disciplin, kan jeg fortælle! Udover at holde øje med hvor man selv går, skal man altså også lige huske at følge lige i hælene af den, der går med lygten. Og så skal man naturligvis være opmærksom på, om der er en fugl, så man lynhurtigt kan fange den med nettet. Det må være multitasking på højt plan, når man færdes i et ukendt terræn.

Da vi kom hjem igen, underholdt Esben os med billeder og historier fra sin rejse til Nepal for noget tid tilbage. Det var ret spændende – især fordi han, udover at have set adskillige smukke fugle, også havde været tæt på både tiger og krybdyr. Hermed en stor opfordring til et foredrag om dette i Birder’s Club til foråret!

Ringmærkning (Fyrhaven):

Grønirisk – 5

Total: 5

Folk: Simon S. Christiansen, Esben Hansen, Laia Soler Iglesias, Pernille Roed.

Today I opened the nets in the garden and Judith and Esben were ready to start ringing for the first round. We unfortunately had to say goodbye to Judith a little bit after that because she has a long journey before she reaches home. So, I hope you have a nice way back home! She had a nice goodbye by a Yellowhammer (Gulspurv) that she was able to ring just before leaving (it was a new species for her).

After that, Esben and I continued with the ringing mostly Greenfinches (Grønirisk) as usual those days. And Simon drove Judith to the train station and he went through the applications of next year volunteers. A while later, we had to start deep cleaning the lab (that took us more than half of the morning but now is all shining).

In the afternoon we closed the nets and we got ready to go to the harbour to look at the gulls (and we found a ringed gull!).

Then we went back to the Bird Observatory to get ready for dinner. Pernille joined us just before dinner and she will stay here with Esben and Simon during this week. It was really nice to see her before I'm going home tomorrow with the first lights.

Thank you for this amazing stay here in Skagen! I hope to see you all again!

Ringmærkning (Fyrhaven):

Grønirisk - 14

Gulspurv - 1

Total: 15

People: Simon S. Christiansen, Judith Kloibhofer, Laia Soler Iglesias, Esben Hansen and Pernille Roed.

Actually this day started already in the night with the christmasdinner of the birders from Northjytland (Julefrokost Nordjyske Birdere) which lasted till the early morning. We had a great time and it was interesting to meet so many birders.

Before we went up Michael was already active to catch some birds in Jennes Sø. Unfortunately the birds were not very active and only three found their way into the nets.  

We woke up in a little bit of chaos and had to clean everything up. After finishing Birders’ Club we continued cleaning upstairs. It was time to do the final cleaning for the closing of the station, that included sorting all the left food and cleaning every little part of the bird observatory. After 5 hours everything is shining and I would say it is impossible now to to find any dust (Nullermand) in the apartment! During the cleaning Jørgen and Igor came by to say goodbye to me as I have my last day today.

Cleeeeeaning, cleeeeeeeaning and cleeeeeeaning

In the afternoon Laia and me went down to the shop to buy some ‘bird souvenirs’ for bringing home. The have a Christmas sale at the moment and offer many really beautiful things – so we had some difficulties to decide what to buy that it doesn’t get too much. It was also time to say goodbye to Christl and Flemming as they have their day off tomorrow. It was really nice to meet you and we wish you just the best for your future! Flemming even gave us a T-Shirt for free – thanks a lot for that! It will always remind us on you and on the nice time we had up here :)

In the meantime Simon was bringing all the bottles and cans to the supermarket to get the pledge back. But the “pledge-machines” and Simon were not really friends – after the first machine stopped working he had to continue to another supermarket. And even there the machine gave up after some bottles, but with the help of one of the workers he managed to get rid of all of them.

Simon's best friend ;)

While I am writing this blog entry Laia is making a hairwrap (yarn around a hair strand). I am already curious how it will look like. Thanks for making that for me Laia!

In the evening it was time to pack all my stuff and prepare my journey back home. Thank you Skagen for this amazing time! It was a pleasure to be here and I will never forget all the fun, the knowledge, the love to birds etc. I hope to come back again!

Ringing (Jennes Sø):

Redpoll – Lille Gråsisken – 1
Yellowhammer – Gulspurv – 1
Blue Tit – Blåmejse – 1

Total: 3

People: Simon S. Christiansen, Judith Kloibhofer, Laia Soler Iglesias, Esben Hansen, Michael Ancher, Jørgen and Igor, Nullermand, Nissemand.

Today has been a different day as yesterday during the evening meeting we agreed to start ringing at Simon's garden due to he saw a flock of Waxwings (Silkehale) flying around the neighbourhood.

So we woke up quite earlier than we did the last days and took all the equipment we needed to ring the birds in that area. We put up a net, we feed the birds and we patiently waited for the Waxwings to come and get caught in our net.

Anders also came to Simon's home and ringed with us. Unfortunately, only a flock of them was sitting on the top of the tree and were flashed by a Robin (Rødhals). So we were a bit upset about that... But we ringed Great Tits (Musvit) and Blue Tits (Blåmejse).
After the ringing, we went back to the Bird Observatory because of the feeding of the birds that kids could do today at 13:00h.
They really enjoyed putting the food and also had the opportunity to look at the dead birds that we have at the moment.

Michael Anker was ringing at Jennes Sø and he caught some Mealy Redpoll (Nordlig Gråsisken).

Then we took a look at the Christmas Sale at the Shop and prepared ourselves for the Christmas dinner.

As you can see, we had a lot of fun during dinner and the quizzes after eating. It was really nice to share the evening with you all.

Ringmærkning (Skagen By, Jennes Sø):

Blåmejse - 2
Musvit - 7
Gransanger - 1
Gærdesmutte - 1
Nordlig Gråsisken - 6
Lille Gråsisken - 10
Grønsisken - 1

Total: 28

People: Simon S. Christiansen, Judith Kloibhofer, Laia Soler Iglesias, Esben Hansen, Michael Ancher and the friends of the Christmas dinner.

I dag var vinden for stærk til at åbne de få net vi har tilbage. Vi prøvede med nogle få fælder, men intet gik i. Det blev en dag uden ringmærkede fugle.

Som dagene går, bliver vi mere og mere klar til at lukke ned for vinteren og afslutte 2019. Judith sorterede i morges billeder til billedarkivet. Laia havde check på fælderne i haven samtidig med at hun gjorde klar til at tage den radio modtager ned som opfanger de fugle mærket med en sender som flyver forbi.

Jeg har gik alt papir med ringmærkningsdata fra 2019 igennem så det er sorteret som det skal.

Om eftermiddagen tog vi alle ud for at afmontere radiomodtageren, det gik som det skulle. De mange dage uden sol på det sidste i Skagen betød dog at batteriet var løbet tør for strøm.

Simon har i dag ordnet kontorarbejdet. Heriblandt registreret de guidede ture han har holdt i løbet af året, 65 er det blevet til.

Today Judith opened the nets in the garden and we both had breakfast together with Esben (that joined a bit later). Then Judith and Esben went for the first round at the same time as I was starting the observations from the beach next to Det Grå Fyr. The morning in the observations started quite busy but after an hour and a half slowed down (with some big flocks of Common Scoters (Sortand) and Eiders (Ederfugl).

Christian also joined ringing for a while this morning before he left Skagen in his way back home (we hope you a nice and safe trip back home!). Jorgen and Igor also visited us while ringing.

Simon's morning was bringing Christian to the train station and checking us in the ringing. Also, he was busy with the board meeting Christmas dinner during the noon.

In the ringing, they had mostly Greenfinches (Grønirisk) as the previous days.
I joined ringing after the observations as well and in between the rounds we were sewing nets from the other ringing sites.

We had a nice Twite (Bjergirisk) in the nets that you can see in the picture below.

When we closed the nets in the garden, we continued sewing nets during the afternoon. We entered the data of today and Esben helped with the Christmas lights and Christmas trees downstairs.

After a while, we planned the following day and we started to get ready for dinner.

And now we are starting a movie night!

Ringmærkning (Fyrhavene):

Grønirisk - 21

Bjergirisk - 1

Total: 22

People: Simon S. Christiansen, Christian Stolz, Judith Kloibhofer, Laia Soler Iglesias, Esben Hansen, Jorgen Kabel & Igor and the Board of the Friends.

We had a surprise when we looked out of the window this morning – it was not raining! Only a little bit of drizzle and Chris decided immediately to open our two nets in the garden. We continued the ringing the whole morning and had some Greenfinches (Grønsisken) and as a highlight a Chiffchaff (Gransanger). It’s already very late for this species, but it had a high fatscore and seems to be ready for migrating further south.

Furthermore we caught an adult male Great Tit (Musvit), which was a recapture.

Over midday we had to close the nets because it was raining to much but we continued with some traps in the garden. Unfortunately they didn’t catch any bird. Chris wanted to enjoy his last day up here with doing as much ringing as possible. Therefore, we opened the nets in the afternoon once more. But only one Greenfinch was following Chris wish.

In the morning we had to say goodbye to Yotam. He was just here for a short time of 10 days but it was nice to have him around and we learnt a lot from his long ringing-experiences. We wish you a good journey home!

During the ringing breaks we used some time to do indoor stuff. That included sewing nets (juhuu more than half of them are done!), cleaning some draws and shelfs in the apartment and counting ring series. This activities shows us that the season is going to the end and the winter is coming. Also the volunteers around the station are getting less and less due to the end of the season. Chris is already leaving tomorrow, for that he had his final evaluation with Simon in the afternoon. Before this meeting Simon was in town to meet with Lene, Kurt and Rie. They are planning to open a family-nature-club in spring and it sounds like families around and tourist families can already look forward to it.

After analysing some night recordings, which was done by Yotam in the last days, Chris was today sitting down to extract some bat-sounds out of the recordings. They are going to be sent to the University in Lund.

Ringing (Fyrhaven):

Greenfinches – Grønsisken - 6
Chiffchaff – Gransanger - 1

Total: 7

People: Simon S. Christiansen, Christian Stolz, Judith Kloibhofer, Laia Soler Iglesias, Esben Hansen, Yotam Lehnardt.