Before I start this Blog I want to let you know that we are going to do a Bird race tomorrow!!!

Which means that we try to find as many species as possible by birding 24 hours nonstop in the Skagen Community Area! In combnation with this bird race, we started a fundraiser for needed materials and supplies for our station. 

The way it works: For each bird the team finds, a patron pledges a set amount per bird or a set amount total to support Skagen Fuglestation! We will later send each patron our MobilePay after the final tally has been counted!

Link to the fundraise 

Today Rasmus and I went out to Worlds End 3 to do the obs. On our way biking out there we saw around ten Weathears (Stenpikker). There must have been many of them migrating tonight. It was very cold this morning so it was a good idea to bring the warm suits. Rasmus' father and his friends Jan and Carsten joined us, which was very hyggeligt. Bird Number wise there was not too much going on out there. But we had two nice Great Northern Divers (Islom) and an Arctic Skua (Almindelig Kjove) passing by. Also the Little Tern (Dværgterne) was there again searching for food.

female Weathear (Stenpikker)

The ringers had a good morning today. They did not catch so many birds but they had 11 different species in total. Among them was a beautiful female Weathear (Stenpikker), the first we caught this year. They also caught a Wood Warbler (Skovsanger) and a Garden Warbler (Havesanger),  also first of the season. It was the first time Tue saw a Garden Warbler (Havesanger) so it became species number 800 on his Worldlist!

Wood Warbler (Skovsanger)

In the afternoon we went out to do some scouting for our Birdrace tomorrow, which we all are really looking forward to. We checked some places around Skagen. Like some horsefields where we met some friendly horses and more Weathears (Stenpikker).

We ended up at Skarvsøen. On our way there we heard two calls which sounded really good for Hoopoe (Hærfugl). Unfortunately it didn't say more so we cant be hundred percent sure but maybe someone can find it tomorrow again.

Now we are preparing some food for tomorrow and going to bed early to be well prepared for our Birdrace.

Ringmærkning: Kabeltromlen

Gransanger 2 

Rødstjert 1

Skovsanger 1

Gærdesanger 2

Løvsanger 3

Tornsanger 2

Havesanger 1

Stenpikker 1

Dompap 1

Bogfink 1

Rørspurv 1

Total: 16

Highlights from the observations: 

Great Northern Diver (Islom) 2

Arctic Skua (Almindelig Kjove) 1

Little Tern (Dværgterne) 1

many Weathears (Stenpikker)

first Montagu's Harrier (Hedehøg) of the season

 Raptor migration in Skagen today

Today’s observations in Dofbasen from observers in the area

People: Tue Baaner, Cora Köberle, Simon Sigaard Christiansen, Lucas Corneliussen, Andrew Jacobs, Rasmus Matthiesen-Juhl, Viggo Larsen,  Anders Rasmussen, Jan and Carsten.

Cora og Tue klarede det hårde arbejde tidligt i morges, så jeg kunne sove en time ekstra og møde op til første netrunde ved Kabeltromlen 05.15. Vi havde et godt flow med fugle igennem hele morgenen, hvor flotte arter som Rørspurve, Rødstjerter og en Sivsanger fandt vej til nettene:) Simon tog med ud på runden sammen med Cora og jeg, og gav os nogle tips og tricks, det var virkelig fedt! Ved Kabeltromlen fik vi igen i dag besøg af den tidligere frivillige Jeppe Overgaard, og det er altid en fornøjelse at se ham! Derudover havde vi besøg af Holger, som havde fået fri fra skole af sin far, for at se ringmærkning. Respekt!

Trækket blev i dag dækket af Andrew og Lucas, der i dagens anledning havde fået fri fra ringmærkningen. De fik et par fede Islommer, og årets første Dværgterne! Det var ikke en dag for de store antal, men med en god diversitet af arter. Da obsen var slut, kom de ned til Kabeltromlen og hjalp os med at lukke nettene, hvilket var virkelig dejligt:)

Jeg havde et opkald med mit (forhåbentlige) kommende arbejde ved 15.00 tiden, og besluttede mig for at tage det ude i naturen. Lidt i 15.00 bliver der dog meldt Blå Glente på Grenen! Da jeg befandt mig på KapGadagung, blev jeg der. Jeg kunne desværre ikke finde den derfra, så da opkaldet var færdigt, gik jeg i raskt trav ud på Grenen hvor vi så den virkelig godt! Jeg mødte Tue og Cora derude, som også virkelig nød fuglen:)

Foto af Tue:)

I dag starter FÆL (Fasan Æder Ligaen) weekenden, og det har jeg glædet mig meget til! Jeg er derfor ikke fysisk at finde på stationen de næste par dage, men vil bo i et sommerhus på Strandklit:) Jeg vil dog stadig tage mig af den standardiserede morgenobs, og være i felten:)

Vi ses derude!

Ringmærkning: Kabeltromlen

Gransanger (2)

Løvsanger (15)

Gærdesanger (11)

Rødstjert (4)

Rødhals (1)

Sivsanger (1)

Tornsanger (5)

Rørspurv (3)

Munk (1)

Bogfinke (1)

Highlights fra Skagen:

Amerikansk Sortand

Blå Glente

Dværgterne (ankomst)

Raptor migration in Skagen today

Today’s observations in Dofbasen from observers in the area

People: Lucas Corneliussen, Cora Köberle, Tue Baaner, Simon Sigaard Christiansen, Andrew Jacobs, Rasmus Matthiesen-Juhl, Viggo Larsen, Jeppe Overgaard

Today we woke up to the first calm day in a while, heading out to do observations at world’s end 3. Today had some new migrants like our first Common Cuckoo (Gøg) for the season. In the mixed Scoter raft today there was a third species; the Black Scoter (Amerikansk Sortand) from North America. There were several species of wader and a good push of migrating pipits and wagtails. One of the European Shags (Topskarv) landed and was feeding offshore briefly giving glimpses between dives.

A distant Black Scoter (Amerikansk Sortand) - Note the large bright yellow knob on the bill. Photo Andrew Jacobs

There was a call about a Black-shouldered Kite (Blå Glente) flying over, however from where we were at obs the heat shimmer was immense and we couldn’t pick out the proper bird, luckily a little later the team at ringing got to see it fly over. The ringers today had a school class that they demonstrated the research procedures that we follow to.

We decided to go to Flagbakken as the day seemed good for raptors and we had a good turnout of birds including a Lesser Spotted Eagle (Lille Skirgeørn) and a Golden Eagle (Kongeørn) mixed in with the other raptors on the move.

After having been at Flagbakken for awhile we got yet another call of an interesting bird; this one of the easter egg painted by Cora, a Woodchat Shrike (Rødhovedet Tornskade). With the shrike’sannouncement we rushed off to Damsted where we saw the shrike bathed in a hazy heat shimmer in the distance, even so the colouration was very bright and bold and we got good looks at the bird as it came a little closer for some attempts of photos through the shimmer, a very nice cooperative bird.

Woodchat Shrike (Rødhovedet Tornskade) - Hanging out in the heat shimmer of the afternoon.  Photo Andrew Jacobs

After the shrike we headed back to Flagbakken for a little while before heading back to the lighthouse, we stopped on the way back at the shrike but it seemed to have already gone to bed, we’ll see if it migrates tonight and what migrants will come in for tomorrow.

Ringing (Kabeltromlen):
To be added

Highlights from the observations:
Woodchat Shrike (Rødhovedet Tornskade)
Black-shouldered Kite (Blå Glente)
Lesser Spotted Eagle (Lille Skirgeørn)
Black Scoter (Amerikansk Sortand)
Golden Eagle (Kongeørn)
European Shag (Topskarv)- 2
Common Cuckoo (Gøg) - first of the season

Raptor migration in Skagen today

People: Lucas Corneliussen, Cora Köberle, Tue Baaner, Simon Sigaard Christiansen, Andrew Jacobs, Rasmus Matthiesen-Juhl, Vigo Larsen, Hans, Jeppe Overgaard and Jørgen Hulbæk

Hejsa folkens.

I dag tog Cora, Rasmus, Viggo og jeg afsted på træk optælling og Andrew og Lucas ringmærkede. I ringmærkningen skete der desværre ikke det helt store. Faktisk fangede de kun en enkelt fugl, som var en lille gransanger. De endte også med at lukke nettene en smule tidligere grundet kraftig vind og få fugle. Vi regner heldigvis med, at det bliver bedre igen i morgen. 

På træk optællingen stod det heldigvis lidt bedre til. Vi havde kraftigt vind, hvilket gjorde det en smule koldt, men heldigvis så vi en masse fugle, som gjorde op for det. Højdepunktet var helt klart da en Stor Kjove fløj forbi, tæt nok på til at vi virkelig kunne få et godt kig, på den efterhånden ret sjældne fugl. Engang var det en art, der ellers havde stor forekomst her i Skagen, men over det seneste år er de desværre blevet mere og mere fåtallige. Derfor var det virkelig dejligt at se en i dag, som for os også var den første i denne sæson. Vi krydser selvfølgelig fingre for, at der kommer flere, og at denne fantastiske art klarer den store nedgang som den oplever. Derudover havde vi også en flot islom, som kom trækkende tæt ved land i det flotte morgenlys. De sidste par dage har budt på mange Mallemukker, og det var også tilfældet i dag. Rasmus, som stod for optællingen, endte på hele 453 individer. Vi oplever især mange af netop disse fugle, når vi har længere perioder med hård vind, som vi har haft det sidste stykke tid. Vinden blæser fuglene længere ind mod land, hvilket gør det muligt for os at se dem, så selv det dårlige vejr bringer ofte gode fugle med sig.

Henover eftermiddagen tog Cora, Rasmus og Simon ned for at handle, på vej hjem kiggede det også lige forbi hestemarkerne, hvor de fandt en fin Sortrygget Hvid Vipstjert. En underart af Hvid Vipstjert, der ellers normalt findes i England og Irland, så det var en super fin observation at slutte dagen af på. 

Rasmus og Cora er netop nu taget ud på en lille aften spadseretur, vi krydser fingre for at de finder noget fedt. 

Vi takker af for i dag, og glæder os til i morgen, vi ses derude!  

Ringing (Kabeltromlen)

Gransanger 1

Total: 1

Observation Highlights

Stor Kjove 1

Islom 1 

Mallemuk 453

Today’s observations in Dofbasen from observers in the area

People: Lucas Corneliussen, Cora Köberle, Tue Baaner, Simon Sigaard Christiansen, Andrew Jacobs,  Rasmus Matthiesen-Juhl, Vigo Larsen.

Today started off as days usually do in Skagen. Cora and I blasted off early to open the nets at Kabeltromelen and later Tue joined us. Soon thereafter, the observers headed out to Worlds End 3 with high hopes of finding a migrating shearwater (skråpe sp.) but they did not have much luck. 

The observers were fortunate enough to have good luck with several Great Northern Divers (Islom).They didn’t see all the much else despite lots of effort other than a few Fulmars (Mallemuk). 

At the ringing site, we were joined by a French film crew which were filming a travel program about Skagen. It was not the busiest day, but we still managed to catch 16 birds. Among them were two Hawfinch (Kernebider). They were both caught right at the last round of the day and the female had a brood patch! Hopefully they will breed nearby!

In the afternoon we were supposed to go to Aalborg with Jørgen Hulbæk to go try and see the Dotterels (Pomeransfugl) that were found the day before. Unfortunately, they were not found again today so we decided that it was best that we not go. Fortunately! At 4 PM we got a message that one had been found in Jerup by Eric Christophersen. Jørgen immediately came over and picked Cora, Rasmus and I up and we bolted down there to see it. It was standing only 50 meters from the road! The rest of the team joined shortly thereafter. A fantastic bird to end a nice day.

And so, another day passes at Skagen Fuglestation. What will tomorrow bring? We will have to wait and see. 

Highlights:

Kernebirder 2

Pomeransfugl 1

Islom 3

Ringing:

Vandriske 1

Gærdesanger 5

Broget Fluesnapper 1

Gærdesmutte 1

Munk 2

Rørspurv 1

Tornsanger 1

Total: 16

Today’s observations in Dofbasen from observers in the area

People: Lucas Corneliussen, Cora Köberle, Tue Baaner, Simon Sigaard Christiansen, Andrew Jacobs,  Rasmus Matthiesen-Juhl, Vigo Larsen and Jørgen Hulbæk

Today was a day we at the station have been waiting for. The Battle of the Towers. A semi-formal competition between the different Scandinavian bird observatories to do a “big sit” every year on May 3rd. The observers headed out to Worlds End 1 earlier than normal to meet Simon and Lars for the 5:00 AM start time. Meanwhile, Tue and I decided that the first hour of ringing would be too windy to justify having the nets open, so we opted to wait an hour. 

The Battle of the Tours commenced at precisely 5 AM with the first bird being a singing Reed Bunting (Rørspurv). Over the next 8 hours the observers tallied 81 species. While this is not a high count by any means, it was quite an impressive count given the extreme westerly winds. The best species of the day were Black Redstart (Husrødstjert), Peregrine Falcon (Vandrefalk) and many Fulmars (Mallemuk). 

During the ringing, Tue and I had a nice relatively productive morning with decent numbers of Willow Warblers (Løvsanger) and a nice male European Bullfinch (Dompap). We were also joined by a tour group of the local college professors which Simon brought over to us. 

 After the ringing was complete at the nets closed, Tue and I wandered up to Worlds End to get some of the Kanelstang that Jørgen Hulbæk brought us. Thank you once again Uncle Jørgen!

Shortly thereafter; Simon, Tue and I made a quick trip down to the Sandworm track ams relocated the Flavissima Yellow Wagtail. A very nice look which got some nice looks. 

Between 5am. - 1 pm a total of 81 species were seen by the team at The Battle of the Towers. Will hopefully be enough to be in top of the competition in Denmark at least.

In the afternoon, the wind picked up drastically beyond what it was in the morning. We spent the afternoon cleaning and completing data for the last several days.

Tomorrow will be very windy and we will not be able to ring, but we look forward to our observations! You never know what you’re going to find. 

And so, another day passes at Skagen Fuglestation. What will tomorrow bring? We will have to wait and see!

Highlights:

Flavissima Yellow Wagtail 1 (Gulvipstjert)

Battle of the Tours! 

Ringing:

Kabeltromelen:

Rødstjert 1

Løvsanger 9

Munk 5

Dompap 1

Tornsanger 2

Total: 18

Raptor Migration in Skagen Today

Today’s observations in Dofbasen from observers in the area

People: Lucas Corneliussen, Tue Baaner, Cora Köberle, Andrew Jacobs, Olli Lilja, Simon Sigaard Christiansen, Lars Grøn, Gunnar Simonsen, Jørgen Hulbæk Christensen, Anton Kvarnbäck. 

Hej derude.

Denne morgen startede lidt anderledes end håbet, da vi vågnede til både regn og blæst. Det var jo ikke optimalt, så der var ikke andet for end at kravle under dynen igen og se tiden an. Heldigvis stoppede regnen, hvilket gjorde, at vi lige kunne nå at få de sidste timer af det daglige feltarbejde. Cora og Andrew cyklede derfor af sted på træk optælling og Lucas og ja cyklede ud for at åbne nettene. Ringmærkningen var ret stille i dag. Vi fik et par af de sædvanlige ansigter, som gærdesanger, munk og rødhals. Derudover havde vi en enkelt vindrossel, hvilket var super dejligt, da vi ikke har set en af dem ved bordet i det sidste stykke tid. Dog viste det sig, at det ikke var helt nok, at regnen havde stoppet, da vi det svære også blev nødt til at lukke nettene ret hurtigt igen grundet den kraftige vind. Det var lidt ærgerligt. Dog vendte dagen hurtigt rundt da vi fik en opringning fra Cora og Andrew der havde gode nyheder.

Træk optællingen havde også været til den stille side i dag, dog med nogle enkelte højdepunkter, da der fløj et par islom forbi. Dog havde Andrew taget et billede af, hvad han på daværende troede var en gul vipstjert, men under nærmer eftersyn af billedet kunne de hurtigt afgøre, at det var en citronvipstjert der var tale om, og så gik jagten i gang. De styrtede ned af klitten efter fuglen, og heldigvis landede den og rastede i et lille stykke tid foran dem, hvor Andrew fik et smukt billede af den fantastiske fugl. Det var også her de ringede til os, og jeg lover jer for at der ikke gik længe før der stod to meget forpustede ringmærker på stranden, for også at se fuglen. Dog havde den i mellemtiden flyttet sig, så vi brugte et par minutter på at lave en organiseret søgning, og til sidst var vi alle i stand til at se den, fantastisk oplevelse, og godt spottet Andrew!

Citron vipstjert - Andrew 

Med denne succes i tasken, tog vi alle hjem med højt humør. Da vi kom hjem, bagte Cora citronkage for at fejre det nye kryds på bedste maner. Efter vi havde slappet lidt af og nydt Coras køkkenkunst tog Cora, Andrew og jeg ud for at kigge efter rovfugle, Dette gav dog ikke det store, og vi måtte nok erkende, at vinden var lige til den kraftige side, både for os og fuglene. Da vi kom hjem igen, passede det med at Olli ankom, han kommer til at være ude i felten med os et par dage, så det glæder vi os meget til! ‘

Her til aften besluttede Andrew og Olli sig for at de ikke havde fået helt nok af de gule vipstjerter, så de begav sig ud igen. Med Andrews tidligere succes i tasken, var han godt forberedt, og de fandt også endnu en sjælden vipstjert, nemlig en gul vipstjert flavissima, som normalt hører til i England. En bedre måde at slutte dagen af på Findes der nok, vil jeg mene.

Gul vipstjert (falvissima) - Adrew 

Nu må vi se hvad i morgen bringer, når vi har Battle of the Towers, som er en dag hvor en masse forskellige fugle Observationssteder dyster om hvem der kan finde flest arter. Vi regner bestemt med at hapse førstepladsen!

Vi ses derude!

Ringing (Kabeltromlen)
Rødhals 1
Gærdesanger 3
Rødstjert 1
Munk 1
Vindrossel 1

Total: 7

Observation Highlights
Sortstrubet lom 3
Citron vipstjert 1
Gul vipstjert (flavissima) 1

Raptor Summary in Skagen today

Today’s observations in Dofbasen from observers in the area

People: Lucas Corneliussen, Tue Baaner, Cora Köberle, Andrew Jacobs, Simon Sigaard Christiansen, Olli Lilja

Before I'll go through what happend today we will start with a story in Danish from Magnus who was the only one of us that got to experience the biggest highlight today - the Oriental Honey Buzzard:

"Mindre kunne have reddet dagen, men nuvel. Man må tage, hvad man kan få. Her er min (MHL) version af oplevelsen, berettet så objektivt som muligt. Jeg havde i sidste uge udset mig denne dag (torsdag d. 1. maj 2025), som værende den sidste dag, med morgenobs i Skagen i foråret 2025, da eksamenerne står for døren. Fredag d. 25. april ville skæbnen, at SSC ringede til mig, da han godt kunne bruge en ekstra hjælper til mogenobsen i ugen 28. april-4. maj. Jeg ville først og fremmest passe min skole, hvilket han også havde fuld forståelse for. Men vi blev enige om, at torsdag d. 1. maj vil passe os begge ganske glimrende. Vejrudsigten var på daværende tidspunkt også god for netop denne dag, da det så ud til at skulle blive den varmeste for perioden. Onsdag d. 30. april bekræftede jeg min aftale med Simon pr. telefon, selvom han mente de måske godt kunne klare skærerne uden min hjælp, da vejrudsigten på daværende tidspunkt var skiftet fra at ligne en fremragende træk dag, nogle dage forinden, så vejrudsigten nu væsentligt anderledes ud med tåge og syd-vestenvind. Jeg insisterede på at hjælpe ved morgendagens morgenobs, til trods for vejret, og aftalte at jeg skulle samle Cora Köberle op ved Det Grå Fyr kl. 05.05, og derefter fortsætte til Nordstrand, for at klare dagens morgenobs.

Om morgenen ringede vækkeuret kl. 04.05. Nu havde jeg omtrent en time til at få pakket og nå til Skagen. Google maps sagde det vil tage omtrent 39 minutter at tilbagelægge de 42,6 kilometer til Skagen, hvilket efterlod mig med 21 minutter til morgenmad og pakning. Alt lykkedes heldigvis, og jeg parkerede bilen ved Det Grå Fyr kl. 05.07, i samme nu, som Cora kom til syne i plankeværkets åbning fra haven til Det Grå Fyr. Alt var perfekt timet. Det tegnede godt.

En håndfuld minutter senere var vi på Nordstrand. Cora var glad for liftet, så hun ikke skulle endnu tidligere op, for at cykle distancen. Nu var scenen sat, og vi havde alle høje forhåbninger. Forhåbninger der varede lige indtil at vi startede morgenobsen kl. 05.20, omtrent 5-10 minutter før solopgang, og indså hvor tæt havgusen var. Jørgen Hulbæk og vist nok Jimmy Skat, var på plads omtrent samtidigt med os. Langsom kom flere kendte ansigter til, herunder blandt andet Jan Eske Schmidt og senere endnu de to lokale Erik Christophersen og Karsten Klausen (KK/Fluks), hvoraf sidstnævnte skulle vise sig at blive dagens helt.

De første timer gik på Nordstrand, og folk jokede med at de sagtens kunne have sovet længe i dag, men den havgus og relativt kraftige vind. Laila Neermann var en af dem, der tog konsekvensen af vejret, og ankom som den sidste af de birdere jeg kunne kende. Til trods for at det virkede til, at den velkendte og frygtede “prop” i den grad var sat i, var der fuld koncentration fra min side, hvilket også resulterede i at jeg fandt dagens fugl - en almindelig kjove, mørk form - der kom relativt langt ude, ligesom jeg også fandt dagens første blå kærhøg. Da morgenobsen var overstået kl. 09.20, efter de fire obligatoriske timer, begyndte jeg at fundere over hvilke “klassiske forårs-subhits”, der endnu ikke var set i Skagen i 2025, heriblandt eksempelvis citronvipstjert. Flere forlod et næsten fugletomt Nordstrand i skuffelse over dagens mavepuster på dette tidspunkt.

Cora takkede for hjælpen, og besluttede sig efter morgenobsen at tilslutte sig de øvrige fra fuglestationen ved Skarvsøen, hvor der i dag tilfældigvis var CES-mærkning. Coras beslutning skulle vise sig at blive skæbnesvangert for ikke alene hende, men flere på Nordstrand. På vejen til Skarvsøen fandt hun nemlig en vendehals, som SSC meldte ud på Zello-gruppen “Skagen Birding” kl. 09.45. Dette fik omtrent 10-15 birdere til at forlade Nordstrand, til fordel for vendehalsen. Jimmy Skat og jeg var selv i tvivl om, hvorvidt vi skulle tilslutte os folkevandringen eller ej, for at få en ny årsart. Til vores held besluttede vi at blive. Efter at have konstateret, at vendehalsen ikke længere var pp., vendte de fleste tilbage til Nordstrand, lige tids nok til at nå, hvad der egentligt skulle vise sig at blive dagens fugl. Jeg havde omkring kl. 10.00 skiftet plads fra havobs/indlandsposition, til nu at sidde i EC’s stol ved siden af KK og Hulbæk, da EC var gået ned for at se vendehals. Jeg på KK’s venstre side, og Hulbæk på KK’s højre side - kiggende mod syd. Pludselig kom der - velsagtens dagens største hul i havgusen og skydækket, hvilket resulterede i at flere rovfugle dukkede op. Heriblandt også “årets første hvepsevåge”.

Efter at have klikket, kigget og talt koncentreret i fire timer, tog jeg en times tid i “pause-mode”. Jeg kiggede ikke så intensivt efter fuglene, som i de første fire timer, men fulgte naturligvis fortsat med i, hvad der skete.

Pludselig meldte KK: “Jeg tror årets første hvepsevåge kommer her, i en skrue med musvåger.” Stort set alle på Nordstrand ville gerne se årets første hvepsevåge - til deres senere held. Efter KK’s udmelding fandt jeg hurtigt skruen på omtrent otte våger i cirka 100 meters højde, hvori især én virkede tydeligt større end de andre. Jeg var derfor hurtigt på fuglen i håndkikkert, ligesom Jimmy Skat, og vistnok også Hulbæk. Fuglen skruede et par gange, inden den fortsatte i noget der mindede om glideflugt mod ØØN. Jeg havde året forinden (2024) fået et kursus i hvepsevåger af Henrik Böhmer ved Kabeltromlen, da han allerede da var opmærksom på den østlige art. Dette kursus skulle vise sig at gøre godt et års tid senere, så derfor en tak til ham herfra.

Jeg lagde med det samme mærke til vingens bredde, mere end jeg bed mærke i fuglens størrelse og hale. En af de fire jeg stod sammen med, fik fremstammet “den ser da bredvinget ud, gør den ikke?” I samme nu slog realiteten ned i mig, om hvad det potentiel var vi havde med at gøre. KK var handlekraftig og fattede hurtigt sit kamera og fik adskillige billeder af fuglen. Hulbæk foreslog hurtigt at melde den ud på Zello som en “bredvinget hvepsevåge”, hvilket vi andre blev enige om, at han skulle. Jeg fik til opgave at følge fuglen i teleskop så længe muligt.

Hulbæk lykkedes ikke med at få Zello til at fungere, og Alex Sand Frich nåede derfor at melde den ud som den første, som den forventede “høgeørn”. Os på Nordstrand undrede os over, at høgeørnen skulle have passeret os, men konkluderede hurtigt, at der måtte være tale om samme fugl. I samme nu kom EC tilbage fra sin mislykkedes tur efter vendehals. - En meget dyr vendehals. Han fik stukket to kamera’er op i snotten af KK og Anne Marie Sloth, og nærmest afhørt af os andre, om ikke han synes det lignede en tophvepsevåge/østlig hvepsevåge (Pernis ptilorhynchus).

Erik meldte hurtigt tilbage til Alex, at han nok lige havde misset en tophvepsevåge/østlig hvepsevåge (Pernis ptilorhynchus) fra Nordstrand. Alex var noget overrasket, men tjekkede billeder, og meldte derefter tilbage, at han var enig i bestemmelsen.

Jeg tabte fuglen i varmeflimmer som den sidste fra Nordstrand i ØNØ-retning. I løbet af ti minutter kom mange af de lokale til, men da var løbet kørt. Stemningen var meget splittet på Nordstrand. Glæde, magtesløshed, skuffelse, jubel og desperation. Der var fuld plade, hvad angår følelser."

Se Karsten Klausens billeder af fuglen nedenfor.

Adult female Oriental Honey-buzzard (Østlig Hvepsevåge/Tophvepsevåge). Photo: Karsten Klausen

Back to what else happend today... We went for our first constant effort site monitoring project ringing at the cormorant lake Skarvsøen. The Skarvsøen nets have three areas with some nets in the reed bed, a couple on the edge of the lake and a couple in a drier marshy area allowing us to have some habitat variation for the birds we sample. We will be doing the CES ringing project around once every 10 days monitoring the breeding conditions and recently fledged offspring of the birds here throughout the season.

Today had 3 first of the season birds for our ringing with a Barn Swallow (Landsvale) as the first bird of the day setting us off to a good start. Another new bird was the Wood Warbler (Skovsanger) a very bright warbler with an extremely long wing length for its size at 80 mm indicating that it is quite the long distance migrant. The third new bird for the season was a Common Reed Warbler (Rørsanger) where we learned how to do the wing measurements to tell it from other similar looking Acrocephalus warblers. In the field around the station the Wood Warbler (Skovsanger) that we had previously ringed was calling and flitting through the bushes. The European Pied Flycatcher (Broget Fluesnapper) had places to be and seemed to migrate off to Sweden as we released it. On the lake the Great Cormorants (Skarv) were still busy adding sticks to their nests, the Red-necked Grebes (Gråstrubet Lappedykker) were dancing along the water and some Garganey (Atlingand) flew along the lake. In the swirling gull flock an interesting looking 2k bird that looked like a candidate for Great Black-backed Gull x Glaucous Gull (Svartbag x Gråmåge) hybrid was briefly on the lake with a flock of Great Black-backed Gulls (Svartbag).

Nearby Cora found an extremely camouflaged Eurasian Wryneck (Vendehals) after she ended the rather slow morning observations with Magnus. We saw the Wryneck peering through the bushes before it flitted away. It was 

At the end of ringing for the day there was a commotion of trying to close nets and look for a Bonelli's Eagle that was called out on Zello. Soon after it was gone the eagle turned out to be an Oriental Honey-buzzard (Østlig Hvepsevåge)! We were looking for a big bird where we saw a flock of three raptors one with a striped tail and ran for the cameras and focused on one of the Common Buzzards (Musvåge) checking what it was and then the other two birds had gone, some of the observers at both Nordstrand and Grenen managed to spot it before as it passed and get an identification to add a new bird for both Skagen and Denmark. Of us only Magnus managed to see the Oriental Honey Buzzard since he still was at Nordstrand at that point. Simon left only 10 min. before it passed by... The bird was pointed out by both Alex Sand Frich at Grenen and at Nordstrand by Karsten Klausen simultaneusly.

Later we went to Flagbakken to watch some raptor migration where today there was a high number of Eurasian Hobbies (Lærkefalk) on migration and a handful of other raptor species moving with the bulk of the birds that were Common Buzzards (Musvåge). Then we headed back to the station to prepare for tomorrows migration spectacle.

In the evening Simon and Jørgen Hulbæk went to do some listening for norcturnal species and had at Gyvelmarkerne both a Spotted Crake (first of the year) and Tawny owl which is uncommon in Skagen.

Garganey (Atlingand) photo Andrew Jacobs

Wood Warbler (Skovsanger). Photo Andrew Jacobs

Red-necked Grebes (Gråstrubet Lappedykker) photo Søren Leth Nissen

Observers looking around just after the Oriental Honey-buzzard passed. photo Søren Leth Nissen

Ringing (Skarvsøen):
Common Chiffchaff (Gransanger) 2
Barn Swallow (Landsvale) 1
Willow Warbler (Løvsanger) 4
Sedge Warbler (Sivsanger) 1
Wood Warbler (Skovsanger) 1
Common Reed Warbler (Rørsanger) 1
Common Redstart (Rødstjert) 1
European Pied Flycatcher (Broget Fluesnapper) 1
Reed Bunting (Rørspurv) 5
Eurasian Blackcap (Munk) 1

Total: 18

Highlights from the observations:
Oriental Honey-buzzard (Østlig Hvepsevåge) 1
Eurasian Wryneck (Vendenhals) 1
Garganey (Atlingand) 3
Red-necked Grebes (Gråstrubet Lappedykker) dancing 2
Putative candidate Great Black-backed Gull x Glaucous Gull Spotted Crake (Plettet Rørvagtel) 1 singing

Raptor summary for Skagen today with a new raptor

Today’s observations in Dofbasen from observers in the area

People: Lucas Corneliussen, Tue Baaner, Cora Köberle, Andrew Jacobs, Søren Leth Nissen, Simon Sigaard Christiansen, Magnus Houen Lauritsen, Jørgen Hulbæk

Today started off like any other day in Skagen. We woke up early as always, as the sun is continuously getting up earlier as we progress into spring. Heading out to Kabeltromlen to open the nets, Tue and I recognized it was too windy to open the north side nuts so we in total were able to open 16 of 22. Unsurprisingly, it was a slow morning, and we caught a total of eight new birds including a nice 2k male Redstart (Rødstjert). We were also joined by one of our celebrity guests Søren Leth Nissen. Because of wind and low numbers we close in that early and headed back to the station to catch up on data and prepare ourselves for tomorrow. 

In Rasmus’ absence, Cora and Andrew headed out to Grenen to do the days observations, joined by Jørgen Hulbæk Christiansen. Highlight was a White-billed Diver but also the long-staying 3k Glaucous Gull (Gråmåge) and a new ‘Viking Gull’ (Gråmåge x Sølvmåge) gave someinteresting observations. Arriving back at the station during the mid morning, one of our board members Very kindly dropped off a cake for us! Thank you! 

The rest of the day was fairly slow and due to the wind we opted to have a quiet afternoon and catch up on some much-needed rest. Tomorrow we head out to Skarvsøen to open our CES nets for the first time this season and we hope for a very nice day. The weather is looking good so we are quite hopeful! 

Gråmåge

In the mid afternoon, the crew went with Søren to go towards town and bird in the vicinity of Batteriskoven. They had a nice walk around albeit quiet, but still managed to pull several Ring Ouzels (Ringdrossel) and a few Western Yellow Wagtails (Gulvipstjert). 

Right as we were about to sit down for our evening meeting, we recieved a Zello message of a Long-eared Owl (Skovhornugle) at Batteriskoven and we quickly went down to see it before the meeting. A very nice bird enjoyed by many.

 Skovhornugle

We also recieved word that one of the Common Buzzards we ringed in 2023 was resighted and photographed at Tversted. A very local bird that has stayed near the site it was captured. Nice to see a good picture of this individual and that it's doing well.

 Musvåge med tracker. Foto: Henrik Pedersen

And so another day passes at Skagen Fuglestation. What will tomorrow bring? We will have to wait and see.

Highlights:  

White-billed Diver 1

Gråmåge 1

Viking Gull 1

Skovhornugle 1

Ringing Data

Kabeltromelen:

Munk 1

Gransanger 2

Løvsanger 2

Bogfinke 1

Total: 6

Raptor migration in Skagen today

 Today’s observations in Dofbasen from observers in the area

People: Lucas Corneliussen, Tue Baaner, Cora Köberle, Andrew Jacobs, Søren Leth Nissen, Simon Sigaard Christiansen, Niels Eriksen, Jørgen Hulbæk Christiansen

Today Rasmus and I were supported in counting the birds from Worlds End 3 by Jørgen Hulbæk. When we just started the counting we heard a Zello message from Simon at Kabeltrommeln. They had caught a Ring Ouzel (Ringdrossel)! So I quickly biked over to Kabeltrommeln to see this beautiful bird in hand. 

Ring Ouzel (Ringdrossel) 2k Male

A bit later there was another Zello about Orcas (Spækhugger) coming just in our direction. Just a few minutes later those fantastic animals appeared right in front of us. It was really nice to observe them. Moreover we saw six Arctic Skuas  (Almindelig Kjove) and also a Black-throated Diver (Sortstrubet Lom) this morning. In the last minutes of our count also the well-known 3K Glaucous Gull (Gråmage) passed by. I'm curious to see how long it will stay here in Skagen.

The ringers had not too many birds today but some interesting ones. Apart from the  Ring Ouzel (Ringdrossel) I already mentioned they caught a Chiffchaff (Gransanger) which was ringed somewhere in France.

In the afternoon Andrew and I went to the Cormorant lake to check the nets at our ringing site over there so they are ready to be opened on thursday. Later we also counted the Cormorants and their nests. While we were there Simon went to the horsfields to find some nice birds. There he was surprised by three very early Bee-eaters (Biæder). He even managed to take some recordings of their calls which is very cool.

link to the recording of the  Bee-eater (Biæder) calls

After he picked us up at the Cormorant lake we tried to find them again but they were already gone.

In the evening our new guest Søren arrived and also Lucas came back again.

Ringing (Kabeltromlen):

Gransanger 4

Rødhals  1

Løvsanger 2

Gærdesanger 1

Munk 2

Lille Dompap 1

Ringdrossel 1

Solsort 1

Total: 13

Highlights from the observations: 

Orcas (Spækhugger) 4

Arctic Skua (Almindelig Kjove) 6

Glaucous Gull (Gråmage) 1

Bee-eater (Biæder) 3

Raptor migration in Skagen today

Today’s observations in Dofbasen from observers in the area

People: Rasmus Matthiesen-Juhl, Cora Köberle, Tue Baaner, Simon Sigaard Christiansen, Lucas Corneliussen, Andrew Jacobs, ??Jørgen Hulbæk and our guest Søren.