Howdy!

I was at World’s End 3 today, conducting morning observation with Ragnar. The winds were light and coming from the southwest, bringing a sharp coldness to our post on top of a sand dune.  The morning started slowly, but we were happy to see two Mediterranean gulls and a juvenile Caspian gull on the beach. Barn swallows were making migration attempts, and several western yellow wagtails were flying overhead. A raven also flew overhead and said hello! This was one of our first days where zero fulmars were observed over the ocean. We observed a third calendar year of arctic skua chasing terns around the beach's edge. 

After returning from the CES site yesterday, the ringers were back out at Kabeltromlen. The highlight observation from the ringing site was a continuing Zitting Cisticola heard near the nets. A highlight bird that was ringed today was a Northern Wheatear. Willow warblers, reed warblers, and marsh warblers were among other birds that flew into the nets today. 

A Northern Wheatear was a highlight for the ringers today

After a long morning of ringing and observation, the guests, Grethe and Stig, who had prepared a lovely brunch, welcomed us back to the station. Scrambled eggs, bacon, and avocado bread filled our hungry stomachs. Thank you to the guests for that wonderful brunch!

SKAF guests enjoying brunch

Saturday is the station's weekly cleaning day, so we split up tasks and successfully brushed and scrubbed every nook and cranny of every room. The place is spotless now, and it will hopefully remain that way for a couple of days. 

We are mist netting for storm petrels and nightjars tonight, so hopefully, the winds will bring us good luck!

Ringing (Kabeltromlen)

Stenpikker (Northern Wheatear) - 1

Kærsanger (Marsh Warbler) - 2

Rørsanger (Reed Warbler) - 3

Gærdesanger (Lesser Whitethroat) - 2

Tornsanger (Common Whitethroat) - 3

Munk (Blackcap) - 1

Løvsanger (Willow Warbler) - 3

Total: 15

People at SKAF: Joe Zeno, Ragnar Smith, Lucas Corneliussen, Rosa Hicks, Andrew Commins, Simon S. Christiansen, Grethe and Stig, Rosalina Leth-Nissen

Another day, another CES visit. This was our eleventh visit of the year at our site and it was actually extremely productive today. We (Rosa, Andrew and yours truly) left the station at 04:30 AM to open the nets by 05:15 AM (we were a few minutes late, but oh well). The morning started out slow with only a few birds but we were hoping for more. Over the next few rounds we averaged around 4 birds in he nets each round but then around 08:30 during our fourth round we had a very large round of nearly 20 birds. This was one of the largest rounds in the past few months which was quite exciting. Birds are moving!!! Highlights from this morning included 4 Blåmejse (Blue Tit), 2 Rørspurv (Reed Bunting) and 13 Rørsanger (by far the most common bird at Skarvsøen). 

The day started out a bit different for Joe. He was supposed to leave today after booking a last minute flight back to California, however, our trusted and esteemed supervisor and dark night, Mr. Christiansen, overslept and forgot to pick Joe up to take him to the train station. So, Joe gets to stay at the station for a few extra days after all. Fortunately, he was able to get refunded for the majority of the ticket, so no harm no foul.

Ragnar also had a nice day on observation this morning. Despite a slow time with seabirds (havfugle), he had lots of migrating waders including Dværgeryle (Little Stint) and Temmincksryle (Temminck's Stint). Along with the waders, two Mediterranean Gulls (Sorthovedet Måge) on the beach were another nice surprise. 

Sorthovedet Måge (second from the left)

In the evening, we had our meeting and then decided to go to the beach and play volleyball. Thank god we were hired for our birding skills and not our volleyball skills because I think most of us would swiftly get fired. Tonight we are going out to Grenen to try and catch roosting waders! Wish us luck! And so, another day passes at Skagen Fuglestation. What will tomorrow bring? We will have to wait and see.

TRIGGER WARNING! (Ragnar's Sandy Toes - post Volleyball)

Vi Ses 

Ringing (Skarvsøen)

Blåmejse: 4

Rørspurv: 2

Rørsanger: 13

Kærsanger: 2

Tornsanger: 4

Havesanger: 2

Løvsanger: 2

Gransanger: 1

Gærdesanger: 1

Total: 31

Link to today's observations on Dofbasen

People at SKAF: Lucas Corneliussen, Rosa Hicks, Andrew Commins, Ragnar Smith, Simon S. Christiansen, Grethe and Stig

Hi folks,

We start todays blog with last night. As Simon, Andrew, Lucas, and I went out to the tip for some night catching of waders, dazzling two dunlin (Almendelig Ryle).

The crew started the day with the usual standardized ringing and observations. The ringing team had a good day with a total of – birds, mainly consisting of young common whitethroats (Tornsanger) and willow warblers (Løvsanger). A first-year spotted flycatcher (Grå Fluesnapper) was a first in the hand for Andrew and a lovely final bird for Asia, as she sadly left the station today – her equal passion for birds and toast will be missed by all!

Spotted Flycatcher (Grå Fluesnapper), rung at Kabeltromlen.

While most of us were busy at Kabletromlen, Ragnar was out at the Sandworn Track, desperately trying to pick out some migration from the fog. He managed some waders, including curlew sandpiper (Krumnæbbet Ryle), whimbrel (Småspove), little stint (Dværeryle), Temminck’s stint (Temmincksryle). It was nice to hear news that the zitting cisticola (Cistusanger) remained in the area too. Turning his attention to passerines, Ragnar visited Elle Krattet once the main counting was over, finding pied and spotted flycatchers (Broget Fluesnapper & Grå Fluesnapper), with additional reports of a wood warbler (Skovsanger) coming in from the area too.

After some delicious pancakes cooked by Lucas and a bit of data entry, we headed over to Buttervej to look for passerines, following Ragnars earlier successes. Spirits were high, as Joe performed back-to-back renditions of Taylor Swifts’ red album, which manifested into two juvenile red-backed shrike (Rødrygget Tornskade). Also spotted were goshawk (Duehøg), golden plover (Hjeile), and crested tit (Topmejse).

Joe and Lucas enjoyoing the view and passerines at Buttervej

We then had the exciting news of a possible lammergeier (Lammegrib) a few miles South, so we pedaled our way to Hulsig. After an hour or so of meticulously scanning the dunes, the hunger had kicked in and so we returned to the station for dinner. Fingers crossed the mystery bird gets resighted!

Ringing (Kabeltromlen)

Vandrikse 1

Kærsanger 1

Tornsanger 9

Gærdesanger 1

Gransanger 4

Løvsanger 3

Grå Fluesnapper 1

Havesanger 1

Munk 3

Total: 24

Link to today's observations on Dofbasen

People at SKAF: Lucas Corneliussen, Rosa Hicks, Simon S. Christiansen, Asia Kane, Andrew Commins, Ragnar Smith, Joe Zeno, Grethe & Stig

Today started off with a bit of a sad situation. Andrew and I woke up bright and early to check the weather forecast as we had seen the night before that there may be a thunder storm headed towards us. Unfortunately, the radar forecast was correct and we found ourselves staring at a lightning storm outside our window. And with that, we decided to delay opening the ringing nets for an hour. Then at 05:30 AM, we got up from our slumber once again only to find the radar to state that it would be torrentially raining in about an hours time. With that we called our Dark Night (Simon), and he made the executive decision to cancel ringing for the day. Ragnar, our bravest soldier, ventured off to Worlds End 3, after the heaviest rain had passed and proceeded to have a relatively slow morning. A single Northern Fulmar (Mallemuk), a few migrating waders, a migrating Garganey (Atlinand) were the highlights of the morning. By 9 AM, everyone at the station had re-arisen and we decided to open to Fyrhaven nets before the next rain storm came. Shortly thereafter, we had to close the nets after one round due to wind and rain. No birds. Saddened, we waited for the next part of our day -- but we were shocked to hear on Zello that another ZITTING CISTICOLA (Cistusanger) had been found at the Sandormentrak. All of us quickly got our gear and sped out the door. When we arrived a few minutes later, the bird took no longer than a minute before it began to sing and display in front of us. What a cool bird! This represents the 10th Country record for Denmark and the 9th in Skagen. 

Cistusanger

We then spent the next hour wandering around Grenen hoping to stumble across something else, but alas, our efforts turned up nothing else of note. Heading back to the station, we realized that we were getting very low on food, so Andrew, Joe and Ragnar commandeered Simon’s car and went and bought half of Lidl. That should last us all of 3 days! And we were delighted to received fresh havtorn marmelade made by out lovely guests.Then upon there return, we had a great session run by Simon on Skull Ossification and the process of using this method and how it is used. Tonight, we will head to Grenen with the hopes of catching waders in the night. And so, another day passes at Skagen Fuglestation, what will tomorrow bring? We will have to wait and see!

 A recent photo of the current SKAF team! ( Left -> Right: Asia, Ragnar, Andrew, Joe, Rosa, Lucas)

Vi Ses!

People at SKAF: Lucas Corneliussen, Rosa Hicks, Simon S. Christiansen, Asia Kane, Andrew Commins, Ragnar Smith, Joe Zeno, Grethe & Stig

Hello dear readers!

Late last night we received a good omen in the form of the Northern Lights: they were visible into the early hours of this morning, and some of us were able to take some incredible photos! Although the Stormsvale (Storm Petrel) catching was unsuccessful, this natural spectacle more than made up for it. A meteor shower was also passing through, and we had lots of fun wishing on shooting stars.

We had the incredible luck of seeing the Northern Lights!

Then we headed out to this morning’s ringing. We had a good amount of birds today, and were able to apply Andrew’s technique of measuring the claws of Rørsangers (Reed Warblers) to help separate them from Kærsangers (Marsh Warblers). Simon also explained how we can age birds based on skull ossification, demonstrating on a young Reed Warbler. One of the Reed Warblers caught was partially leucistic, having several white feathers on the head – I hadn't seen this on these birds before, and I found it a cute feature.

Meanwhile, Ragnar and Joe were carrying out observations and saw a Dværgfalk (Merlin) and a Temmincksryle (Temminck’s Stint), both of which were firsts for the season!

After the ringing, we took care of some chores around the station. Andrew and I both headed into town to pick up some supplies, and I also bought a bag of candy to take home to my family. Then Andrew washed the mountain bikes to keep them in good condition.

In the evening, Simon drove us over to Glyvemarkener to see what birds might be present. We saw plenty of Dobbeltbekkasin (Common Snipe), along with a Mudderklire (Common Sandpiper) and a couple of Svaleklire (Green Sandpipers).

Our outing to Glyvemarkener.

In the wet meadow, Ragnar discovered a wasp spider – we were all interested in this find, as these spiders are quite visually striking!

Ragnar's incredible find!

While we were out, Andrew cooked us a delicious dinner and we are now ready for what tomorrow will bring. This will sadly be my last blog for now, so goodbye everyone and thank you so much for reading!

Today’s Ringing Numbers (Kabeltromlen)

Gransanger (Chiffchaff): 1
Kærsanger (Marsh Warbler): 3
Løvsanger (Willow Warbler): 4
Rørsanger (Reed Warbler): 4
Tornsanger (Common Whitethroat): 6
Total: 18

People at the station: Andrew Commins, Lucas Corneliussen, Ragnar Smith, Rosa Hicks, Asia Kane, Simon Christiansen, Joe Zeno, Grethe and Stig

Link to today's observations on Dofbasen

Hey everyone, 

This is my first blog as a new volunteer at the observatory, so a perfect opportunity to start to learn the Danish names for the local birds!

Monday proved a lot busier than yesterday….! The Bangles would be proud (for those interested, search for the song 'Manic Monday' for a bit of musical nostalgia)!

The morning’s observations at World’s End 3 were strong with 2,539 Mallemuk (Fulmar), 10 Storkjove (Great skua), 4 Almindelig Kjove (Arctic skua) and the first 1K Curlew Sandpiper ( Krumnæbbet Ryle) of the year. The excellent birding was topped off with a sighting of four hunting Spaekhogger (Orca).

Check out this video of the whales in action:

The beautiful, clear sunrise brought low winds and perfect conditions for ringing, so we made the most of the opportunity. I was delighted to see my first Kærsanger (Marsh warbler), which is a rare bird in England, where I do most of my ringing. It was fantastic to compare the bird with the Rørsanger (Reed Warbler) and to test some of the methods we use at home to try and identify the elusive Kærsanger! These include the length of the notch on the second primary feather, wing length, the distance between the tips of the inner and hind toes, and the shape of the nostrils!

Me, falling in love with my first Kærsanger 

Our guests, Grethe and Stig, joined us for some of the ringing session, and they were delighted to see Havesanger (Garden Warbler) and Skovpiber (Tree Pipit) up close and in the hand!

The totals (new birds) for our morning ringing session were as follows:

Kærsanger 3

Løvsanger 4

Gærdesanger 2

Gransanger 2

Skovpiber 1

Blåmeise 1

Havesanger 2

Tornsanger 2

Rørsanger 2

Solsort 1

TOTAL = 20 (all ringed at Kabeltromlen)

In the afternoon, we travelled as a group with Simon to Jerup to an animal rescue and rehabilitation centre. The task was to ring a young (1K) Tårnflak (Kestrel) that was due to be released back into the wild after a period of recouperation. It was great to see the bird in good health, as it flew strongly and had a decent amount of stored fat for a safe return to the skies! We were also joined by a local television crew to document the ringing process, so the Wildlife Oscars should take note of this blog!

Tårnfalk being ringed, measured and weighed

After a dinner of pizza and birthday cake to celebrate one of our volunteers, Joe, striding confidently into his second decade....... we have a busy night planned. The nets will go up to try and catch and ring Lille Stormsvale (Storm Petrel) and Almindelig Skråpe (Manx Shearwater). Stay tuned for an update tomorrow to see whether the night brings success!

Link for today's DOFBasen 

Cheers for now, Andrew

People: Andrew Commins, Lucas Corneliussen, Ragnar Smith, Rosa Hicks, Asia Kane, Simon Christiansen, Joe Zeno, Magnus Houen Lauritsen, Mette Møller Christiensen and our guests, Grethe and Stig

Hello cherished readers!

This morning proved too windy to open nets, so we all headed out to World’s End 3 to do observations instead. There were good numbers of Sule (Gannets) over the sea, and we were pleased to see a couple of distant Storkjøve (Great Skuas). 3 Solstrubet Lom (Black-throated Divers) showed well and remained close by all day, which was also nice to see.

Afterwards, Andrew and I headed to Netto to get some groceries. I wasn’t looking forward to cycling in the strong wind, so we decided to conserve our energy and walk instead. On the way back, we spotted a Spurvehøg (Sparrowhawk) circling above town.

In the afternoon I went for a walk along the beach, intending to head down Nordstrand to Skagen Vest Fyr. Unfortunately, I had underestimated the strength of the wind on the exposed beach and decided to cut my odyssey short, turning back before I reached Vest Fyr.  On the walk, I was delighted to see a pair of Gul Vipstjert (Yellow Wagtails) – these charming birds are one of my favourites!

A photo of the wind-blasted landscape from my walk.

Andrew also went on a walk, where he found a lonely juniper tree and 2 Tårnfalk (Common Kestrels).

Andrew's lonely juniper tree.

Ragnar cycled out to Nordstrand to do some more birding, and was lucky enough to see 2 Sodfarvet Skråpe (Sooty Shearwaters)! He shared this photo with us.

A Sodfarvet Skråpe/Sooty Shearwater.

Lucas cooked us a delicious dinner of fried rice and we are now getting organised for tomorrow. Since we will finally be getting some calm weather after all this rain and wind, the ringing is predicted to be good and we’re all very excited. Will tomorrow be the day we catch a Vandsanger (Aquatic Warbler)? (It definitely will!)

Thank you for reading, and send us your best wishes for tomorrow when the storm ends!

People at the station: Ragnar Smith, Rosa Hicks, Lucas Corneliussen, Joe Zeno, Andrew Commins, Asia Kane

Link to today's observations on Dofbasen

The day started before it really ended with Rosa and Lucas going out in the night to try catching waders with a net and torch, they ended up with a Common Ringed Plover (Stor Præstekrave).

Social club at Worlds End 3

But for the rest of us, a repeat of yesterday, no nets were put up, so the name of the game was migration counting from Worlds End 3. I went out early, while the rest got some rest, and started the count just before sunrise, and quite early I could see that there were some movements going on. Though there were no huge numbers, it was steady throughout the morning and until 12. Later in the morning I was joined by the rest of the observatory, Eric and two other birdwatchers, so it turned into a small social club situated in the outermost dunes of Denmark. The highlights of the day were four Black Terns (Sortterne), seven Great Skuas (Storkjove), a very nice immature Arctic Skua (Almindelig Kjove) with the star being a distant but nice Manx Shearwater (Almindelig Skråpe) that blew through the waves. Otherwise, okay numbers of fulmars (Mallemuk) and terns (Terner). Most of the crew left around 10 o’clock but I stayed till 1226, before deciding that I should go back.

Black Tern 1k (Sortterne)

Arctic Skua 3k? (Almindelig Kjove)

The rest of day have been a quiet ordeal, some of the team went out for a swim, but I got a much-needed nap. Later, we got a new volunteer with Andrew Commins, he will be staying with us for a few weeks as a ringer. So warm welcomes to him! Now we are cooking dinner and will be enjoying some live music by Elias Rønnenfelt. Tomorrow the wind will grow stronger so Worlds End 3 is calling and once more unto the breach, we will go, once more.

60% of the observer-team represented here

Link to todays Observations around Skagen

People at SKAF: Ragnar Smith, Lucas Corneliussen, Rosa Hicks, Joseph Zeno, Asia Kane, Andrew Commins

Today was what can only be described as a small hurricane. We had been watching the weather forecast for the past several days anticipating this storm which has spread over most of Western Europe but we still woke up at 5 AM to check the weather. Unfortunately, it was just as bad as expected. The gail force winds howled against the lighthouse and the station, at times rocking the house a little. And so, with that, we decided to go back to bed and sleep in - For the first time in weeks. 

Black Tern 

When we finally arose from our slumber, we were all a bit decrepit and slow to say the least. It was one of those mornings where you feel more tired waking up than going to bed. Before departing for his brothers wedding(!!!), Simon dropped by the station and gave the crew a few things to do before he left. Our glorious leader then departed for Aalborg, leaving us to fend for ourselves in the raging weather. We gathered the troops (or whats left of us) and gave the station a good cleaning while we waited for the rain to pass. By the mid afternoon, the weather finally began to improve and several of us headed to Grenen to check the beach for waders and the sea for tubenoses blown in by the storm. After five hours, we had tallied a 2k Black Scoter (Amerikansk Sortand), over 600 Northern Fulmar (Mallemuk), a Mediterranean Gull (Sorthovedet Måge), two Caspian Gulls (Kaspisk Måge), two or three Black Terns (Sortterne) and a Sooty Shearwater (Sodfarvet Skråpe)! A very successful evening after a relatively slow day of cleaning and playing catch up on office work at the station. 

Common Gull (right), Mediterranean Gull (left)

Tonight, we plan on headed to Grenen to try and catch the resting waders! Wish us luck! And so, another day passes at SKAF. What will tomorrow bring? We will have to wait and see.

Vi Ses!

Link to todays Observations around Skagen

People at SKAF: Lucas Corneliussen, Ragnar Smith, Rosa Hicks, Joe Zeno, Asia Kane, Simon S. Christiansen

Hello everyone!

Today I headed out to World’s End 3 with Ragnar and Robbie to conduct our morning observation. The morning started off slow, but we were happy to observe three skuas flying against the horizon. Two of the skuas were Great Skuas, the other we were not able to identify, a possible Arctic Skua. Later in the morning Robbie and I walked down to the pond near the Sandworm track and encountered a Sparrowhawk on the ground. The bird was in perfect lighting, and we were able to observe it being harassed by nearby Hooded Crows that wanted to make the hawk feel unwelcome. The next couple days will bring in strong winds from the west which will hopefully bring in rare seabirds for us to see during observation. 

Asia, Rosa, and Lucas hard at work at Skarvsøen 

The ringers: Rosa, Asia, Simon, and Lucas, were out at Skarvsøen today conducting their Constant Effort Site (CES) ringing protocol. This day brought in more individual birds than any other day in the past couple weeks, totaling 28 new birds and 2 recapture bids. By far the most abundant bird caught was Rørsanger, with 19 birds rung today. A Slavonean Grebe was also spotted in the cormorant lake in Skarvsøen, a good bird for the Skagen area.

Ringing (Skarvsøen)

Marsh Warbler (Kærsanger) - 1

Reed Warbler (Rørsanger) - 19

Lesser Whitethroat (Gærdesanger) - 1

Blackcap (Munk) - 3

Willow Warbler (Løvsanger) - 2

Lesser Redpoll (Lille Gråsisken) - 1

Reed Bunting (Rørspurv) - 3

People at the station: Simon S. Christiansen, Lucas Corneliussen, Rosa Hicks, Ragnar Smith, Robbie Lawler, Joe Zeno, Asia Kane

Link to today’s observations from observers in the area