A jaw-dropping sunrise greeted James and I on our way out to the tip for observations this morning which felt like a good omen. The pinks, yellows, purples and oranges were dazzling and really showed off Grenen at its best.

We joined Rolf and set up our scopes for some observation and although there had been many thrushes (drossels) accompanying us on the path along the dunes, the rest of the scene was pretty quiet. It turned out that the good omen was not for our observations, but for the ringing. Quite soon after we had arrived at World’s End, our phones started going off - messages from Molly in the ringing area to say that a Little Bunting (Dværgværling) had been caught in the nets. We rushed down to see it - Molly was ringing with Oluf and Jørgen (and Igor) and there was quite a lot of excitement, especially for such a little bird!

There were just a few other birds in the net today, a total of twenty two including recaptures. James and I returned to World’s End where Rolf heard 7 Parrot Crossbills (Stor Korsnæb) and on the way back to the lighthouse for lunch we came across a lonely seal pup snoozing on the beach.

Back at the lighthouse, volunteer Stine Lund joined us for the weekend. She volunteered here back in June and liked it so much she had to come back! We hope she will enjoy being back at Skagen Fuglestation - especially for European Birdwatch Day on Saturday. The afternoon was spent cleaning Birder’s Club and the Lab ready for what could be a busy few days ahead.

Birds caught: 1 Little Bunting (Dværgværling), 1 Chiffchaff (Gransanger), 1 Goldcrest (Fuglekonge), 1 Robin (Rødhals), 1 Yellowhammer (Gulspurv) 1 Wren (Gærdesmutte), 1 Coal Tit (Sortmesje), 1 Blue Tit (Blåmejse), 1 Chaffinch (Bogfinke), 2 Blackcap (Munk), 3 Reed Buning (Rorspurv), 3 Great Tits (Musvit)

People: Molly Brown, James Butcher, Sarah Bedford, Stine Lund, Oluf Lou, Rolf Christensen, Jørgen Kabel and Igor.

We started the day opening the nets in the Lighthouse garden after having a bit of a lie in till 8:30! We then took some nice pictures of all the Skagen family trying out the new T-shirts! Lisa then decided to dissect the Eider (Ederfugl), we found dead when we went night catching. She did an incredible job and has guts of steel (it was very smelly!) While this was occurring, Simon did a guided ringing tour for some Danish and Swedish folk.

Lars, Jørgen and Igor arrived to say goodbye to Lisa and Daniel as it’s their last morning!! ;( Lars bought some yummy cake for the occasion- always much appreciated and surprisingly everyone managed to eat a slice even after watching the Eider dissection!

James and Sarah also did a guided tour in the afternoon for an American lady, they found a Great Northern diver! Then it was time for Lisa and Daniel to leave and go back to Kiel, which was really sad, they’ll be sorely missed here! Simon also left for a couple of days to go to a meeting and Aalborg, so the station suddenly feels very empty with only 3 of us!

I showed Sarah and James a bit of Skagen in the evening and on the way back James found a harrier, which we only got a glimpse of so couldn’t identify. We were caught out but next time we go shopping I wouldn’t put it past James to take a telescope! Sarah and James cooked a great meal of chilli in the evening.

Birds caught: 2 Blue Tits (Blåmejse), 2 Great tits (Musvit), 1 Goldcrest (Fuglekonge) and a Redwing (Vindrossel)

People: Molly Brown, Sarah Bedford, James Butcher, Lisa Vergin, Daniel Bloche, Simon S. Christiansen, Lars Morsten, Jørgen Kabel and Igor.

Today, we (the volunteers) took a day off and drove with the ferry from Frederikshavn to Gothenburg. It takes about 3 1/2 hours with the ferry per drive and we had 3 1/2 hours in the city, but it was totally worth it! On the ferry, we observed a few birds, but it was quite rainy. Mostly, we saw Fulmars (Mallemuk), Great Skuas (Storkjove) and Gannets (Sule). In Gothenburg, we visited the Haga-district and ate very delicious cake! At first, we went to a café which is famous for their big cinnamon buns and we weren't disappointed - the buns had the same size as my hand! Warmed up and with a full cinnamon-bun-stomach, we searched for the swedish supermarket ICA. I`m kind of obsessed with the swedish food, especially with the sweets, so I needed to buy a lot of stuff. When I´m in Sweden, it`s like a tradition, that I buy "soft bröd" and "punschrollar", but the most important part of my tradition is to eat Kladdkaka. That`s definitely my favorite cake! And even though we were`t that hungry anymore, there was still place for a nice gooey Kladdkaka (there always is).

However, we thought we couldn't eat anything more during this day, but the hunger came back quite quickly on the fairy. Fortunately, Simon was waiting for us at the observatory with pizza. I think especially James couldn`t wait for that - I`ve never seen someone walking so fast! ;-P And because the lovely Rita cleaned our flat this day, we had a very nice coming back (and she brought us Gnocchi - thank you for that!!) The day ended with a shuffle ball tournament in which Molly won against Simon!

All in all it was a very nice day and I`m sad that Daniel and I have to leave tomorrow - it was such a nice time at the observatory!

People: Molly Brown, Sarah Bedford, James Butcher, Daniel Bloche, Simon S. Christiansen, Rita and Lisa Vergin

Opening the nets at Grenen early this morning was definitely worth it. We ringed exactly 100 birds this day. It was a busy morning with mainly Blue Tits (Blåmejse). Totally we rang 78 new Blue Tits. In the second round we had a the largest number of Tits, due to a net with a giant flock of these birds. Luckily Simon came in the right moment to help us processing the birds. Otherwise we would have to close the nets and wouldn´t catch the Yellow-browed Warbler (Hvidbrynet Løvsanger). That was great to have this Warbler flying into the net finally, after local birders reported this bird several times the last month. Besides Simon we got help from Jørgen, constructing the tent for us, to protect us against the rain.

 Net full of Blue Tits

While Molly, Lisa, Simon and I were ringing the birds, James and Sarah went out to observe the seabirds and passerines together with Rolf. As well as we they had a very successful morning and saw a lot of passerines. One of their Highlights is a Great Grey Shrike (Stor Tornskade) and Stonechat (Storstrubet Brynkefugl). But besides these birds they came to see the Yellow-browed Warbler we catched, too.

Yellow-browed Warbler (Hvidbrynet Løvsanger)

In the afternoon the Pacific Diver (Stillehavsolm) was swimming very close to the coast at the Lighthouse together with a Razorbill (Alk). It was great to see this Diver and to take pictures of the bird. The day was not only great, because of the successful ringing and observation morning. Moreover we had also a lot of culinary Highlights, like very often the last month. Firstly Simon bought me an Ice cream due to a won against him playing Shuffle Ball. It takes us the whole September to beat him in this game. The Ice cream was outdone by Sarahs Apple Crumble we eat together with Christel, Flemming und Gidde. It means a lot that this Crumble can stick with the cake of Christel in her Café.

Birds we rang: 3 Chiffchaff (Gransanger), 1 Yellow-browed Warbler (Hvidbrynet Løvsanger), 4 Wren (Gærdesmutte), 3 Robin (Rødhals), 4 Jernspurv (Dunnock), 78 Blue Tits (Blåmejse), 2 Blackcap (Munk), 2 Gardenwarbler (Havesanger), 1 Chaffinch (Bogfinke), 2 Songthrush (Sangdrossel)

People: Simon S. Christiansen, Jørgen Kabel, Rolf Christensen, Christel, Flemming, Gidde, James Butcher, Sarah Bradford, Molly Brown, Lisa Vergin and Daniel Bloche

Today was mine and Sarah’s first day out in the field, and we couldn’t have asked for a better way to start our month here! The wind was too strong for ringing, so the whole team joined Rolf for early morning observation from the “End of the World”.

Photo: Observations from the beach

Early action was focused on the sea, where eagle-eyed Rolf quickly picked up a large diver in flight. After a quick dash across the dunes the diver was relocated on the sea and confirmed to be a Great Northern (Islom)...but to our amazement we realised it had landed alongside last week’s Pacific Diver (Stillehavslom), giving us a great opportunity for comparisons! With large numbers of Red-throated Divers (Rødstrubet Lom) on the sea and a couple of Black-throated Divers (Sortstrubet Lom) also seen in flight, it was definitely a good day for divers.

Photo: Pacific Diver (Stillehavslom) showing its distinctive "chin strap" on the Kattegat

Passerine highlight was a single Parrot Crossbill (Stor Korsnæb) calling overhead, while 3 Great White Egrets (Sølvhejre) seen in flight and landing in the direction of the nature reserve were an unexpected bonus. A quick check of some resting large gulls on the beach revealed a smart adult Caspian Gull (Kaspisk måge), giving Asger a chance to give us a Caspian masterclass.

After successfully dazzling and ringing two dunlin (Almindelig ryle) the night before, hopes were high for a repeat performance tonight. However the skies cleared in the evening and this time the birds definitely saw us coming, and were up in the air before we could even get close. A delicious Italian-English fusion meal of lasagne followed by apple crumble ended a great first full day at Skagen...we can’t wait for the rest of the month to come!

People: James Butcher, Sarah Bedford, Molly Brown, Daniel Bloche, Lisa Vergin, Asger Lykkegaard Møldrupand and Simon S. Christiansen

Dagen startede med forholdsvist rolige vindforhold og let overskyet vejr, så det var fint vejr til ringmærkning. Molly, Lisa og undertegnede drog derfor ud og åbnede nettene på Grenen, mens Daniel tog en morgenobs ved Verdens Ende sammen med Rolf. Vi havde en god morgen med pænt med fugle i nettene og en god artsvariation. Det blev til i alt 44 ringmærkede fugle godt hjulpet på vej af en enkelt runde, hvor der sad 23 Blåmejser i et net. Ellers skal en småsen Havesanger nævnes. Lisa fik besøg af sine forældre, der er på ferie i Danmark, og de fik også set, hvordan ringmærkningen foregår. Simon og Jørgen Kabel var også forbi ringmærkningen, og Jørgen kunne bl.a. berette om efterårets første Rødstrubet Piber, som han havde fundet ved Sandormesporet om morgenen. Morgenobsen bød bl.a. på efterårets anden Hvidbrynet Løvsanger, der blev hørt og set ved Verdens Ende samt Fjeldvåge og 2 Bjerglærker.
I løbet af formiddagen blæste det en del op og resten af dagen var der en hård vind ind over odden. Daniel og jeg tog en længere gåtur og havobs. på Grenen. Vi havde bl.a. en meget tillidsfuld Lapværling ved Grenen-søen (ny art for Daniel), en Almindelig Kjove og lidt Storkjover. Sidst på eftermiddagen ankom vores to nye, engelske frivillige, Sarah og James, der skal være en del af fuglestationsholdet den kommende måned. Aftenen bød på hygge og velkomst af Sarah og James, mens vi nød resterne fra fredagens festmåltid.

Ringmærkning: 44 fugle af 11 arter
Gærdesmutte 1, Rødhals 1, Sangdrossel 2, Havesanger 1, Munk 5, Gransanger 6, Fuglekonge 1, Sortmejse 1, Blåmejse 22, Musvit 3 og Rørspurv 1

Folk: Molly Brown, Daniel Bloche, Lisa Vergin, James, Sarah, Simon S. Christiansen og Asger Lykkegaard Møldrup

We opened the net at Grenen this morning, and were accompanied by Oluf, a local ringer who will hopefully join us more often in the future and by Jørgen and Igor, who bought us cake!!!!! It was quite a quiet morning with 26 birds, the highlights included Bullfinches (Dompap) and a Brambling (Kvækerfinke)- a real sign of autumn! Daniel also joined Knud for an hour and a half while we were ringing and saw lots of Fulmars (over 300!) (Mallemuk), Great Skua’s (Storkjove) and many red throated divers (Rødstrubet Lom).

We also held a dinner for Jørgen, Knud, Inger, Lars and Martin so we spent the afternoon preparing- Daniel and I did all the chopping under Lisa and Simon’s instructions. We played the Viking game and boules, which we learned Knud is very good at, however Simon still won when they went head to head! The meal was very successful and a real treat! Also, Asger arrived yesterday and is staying for the weekend which is great to have another ringer and a very skilled observer with us!

Birds caught: 4 Great tits (Musvit), 5 Robins (Rødhals), 1 Dunnock (Jernspurv),2 Wrens (Gærdesmutte), 2 Bullfinches (Dompap), 4 Blackcaps (Munk), 2 Blue tits (Blåmejse), 2 Chiffchaffs (Gransanger), 3 Goldcrests (Fuglekonge) and 1 Brambling (Kvækerfinke).

People: Molly Brown, Daniel Bloche, Lisa Vergin, Simon S. Christiansen, Oluf Lou, Asger Lyhhegaard Møldrup, Knud and Inger Pedersen, Jørgen Kabel, Lars and Martin Mortensen.

Due to strong wind we didn´t open nets today. Instead of catching Passerines all of us went out to observe the migration of seabirds together with Knud. Besides the Gannets (Sule) fishing in the sunrise, we saw great numbers of red-throated Divers (Rødstrubet Lom) migrating to the West. It was a good observation morning. On the way back to the Lighthouse we saw additionally to the Eiders (Ederfugle) another animal also resting on the beach of Grenen. We saw a Harbor Seal together with two Seal pups at close range. It was a very nice moment and soon I wasn´t the only person taking pictures of the pups. I´m every time again surprised, that you can observe so many animals at close range here at Grenen. Besides much new knowledge and memories, I´ll take a lot of picture back home.

Pic. 1: Seal pup

During the day local birders found a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker (Lille Flagspætte) at Ellekrattet. It would be great, if it will fly into our nets the next days. Although it was too windy to catch birds in the morning, the day didn´t ended without a ringed bird. After dinner and evening meeting Molly, Lisa and I went out for night catching. It didn´t take us long to catch a bird. It was a Lesser black-backed Gull (Sildemåge). It was quite easy to catch the Gull but during the ringing measurements the big bill of the Gull tried to bite everyone around him.

Pic. 2: ringing the Gull

Birds we ringed: 1 Lesser black-backed Gull (Sildemåge)

People: Simon S. Christiansen, Knud Pedersen, Molly Brown, Lisa Vergin and Daniel Bloche

Today, the morning started rainy and windy, so we didn`t go out ringing. Instead, we had a very nice brunch during which we were able to watch gannets, which were flying very close to the beach. Overall, it was pretty much an indoor day. We cleaned the flat, finished data entries and had again a very good moult session with Simon. He also told us a lot about skull ossification which we`re hopefully able to make use of during the next ringing mornings.

In the evening I tried to make gnocchi by myself (I really can`t believe that you`re not able to buy them here in town). Normally, gnocchis are a quick meal, but these were such a kind of work! I think all in all, it took me about two hours to made them and in the end they were just okay. However, they were all eaten, so at least they weren`t too bad. :-P

After the evening meeting, Daniel and Molly went out for night catching but they weren`t successful, again. Maybe we`ll be more lucky during the next nights.  

People: Simon S. Christiansen, Daniel Bloche, Molly Brown and Lisa Vergin

We started off the morning opening the nets at 0630 at Grenen accompanied by the lovely Lars, the first couple of rounds we caught surprising numbers of birds, in particular Blue Tits (Blåmejse). It appears that most observatories have also experienced this in Scandinavia and there’s currently quite a large fall of them. We also had 5 Wrens (Gædesmutte) in the first round- great extraction practice for Lisa and Daniel! Jørgen and Igor also joined in the morning however both Lars and Jørgen had left when we caught the Great Spotted Woodpecker, always a nice but painful bird to catch!

After shutting the nets at 12:45 we met Jørgen at Grenen carpark and went on a search for a Glaucous Gull (Gråmåge)- a bird that usually makes an appearance every winter here in Skagen but something Daniel, Lisa and I haven’t seen. However, we were unsuccessful although we did get to see how big the harbour is here in Skagen- I never realised!

When we arrived back at the Station hungry and tired we came across Fleming above the ringing lab with a Treecreeper (Traeløber) that had flown in through the door, we caught and rung it successfully! Then we did a quick blitz clean of the apartment for the Real Dania who own the buildings here and came to look round the station. After their visit we all went and slept, recently I’ve got into the bad habit of sleeping through the alarm. So I was woken at 1700 by Simon telling me to get changed we’re going swimming. So I very grumpily joined everyone for a quick dip in the Baltic Sea- it was absolutely freezing and woke me up very quickly!!! We also attempted to catch a pink footed goose that landed surprisingly close to us when we were swimming, although we didn't succeed!

I was then introduced to the Viking Game- Kubb, which we learned quickly Simon is very good at! It seems to be a running theme here that the only games we play Simon is always skilled at!

There was a book signing in the evening for Jocob Hyttel releasing De Brændemærkede and we met Oluf Lou who bought us beer as a thank you for catching the Red Flanked Blue Tail and is a fellow ringer!

We then finished off the evening with a delicious meal cooked by Daniel and Shuffle ball- surprise surprise Simon won! 

People: Lars Mortensen, Jørgen Kabel (and Igor), Daniel Bloche, Lisa Vergin, Simon S. Christiansen, Molly Brown and Oluf Lou

Birds caught: 1 Redwing (Vindrossel), 1 Great Spotted Woodpecker (Stor Flagspaette), 1 Blackbird (Solsort), 1 Song Thrush (Sangdrossel), 4 Great Tits (Musvit), 1 Yellow Hammer (Gulspurv), 2 Dunnocks (Jernspurv), 25 Blue Tits (Blåmejse), 5 Robins (Rødhals), 4 Goldcrests (Fuglekonge), 5 Wrens (Gædesmutte), 1 Coal Tit (Sortmejse), 3 Blackcaps (Munk), 1 Reed Bunting (Rørspurv), 6 Chiffchaffs (Gransanger) and 1 Treecreeper (Traeløver).