Førend vi når til dagens begivenheder, vil jeg lige slå et slag for Kiesé og Cora’s succesfulde natfangst i går. Efter solnedgang begav de sig ud på en runde om Grenen, hvor det, ved brug af den termiske kikkert, lykkedes at fange hele 2 fugle: 1 ung Fjordterne og 1 ung Sanglærke.

De to fugle blev, under påsyn af samtlige frivillige, ringmærket i laboratoriet.

1k Sanglærke ringmærket ved Det Grå Fyr. 

1k Fjordterne ringmærket ved Det Grå Fyr. 

I morges cyklede jeg, til synet af en utrolig lyserød solopgang, ud ad Sandormsporet til min hidtil køligste morgenobs ved Verdens Ende 3. I selskab med Cora, Rose, Kiesé, Mio og Knud holdt jeg opsyn med Skagerrak og Kattegat. Der var færre fugle end i går, men alligevel nok til at holde os underholdt gennem alle fire timer.

Blandt andet talte vi 165 Mallemukker der trak mod NV, samt 3 Storkjover. Det er virkelig en fornøjelse at have mulighed for at opnå erfaring med havfugle jeg sjældent har set på Sjællands nordkyst, hvor jeg indtil nu har kigget på havfugle. I den seneste uge har jeg set ca. 1.000 Mallemukker! Derudover havde vi efterårssæsonens første indtrækkende Fiskeørn, en gammel hun der kæmpede sig ind fra havet på trods af en hård modvind.

I de tidligste timer af morgenobsen lagde jeg desuden mærke til en specielt udseende sejlbåd der rundede Grenen ude i horisonten. Det lignede en båd der var bygget til kapsejlads, og den havde ganske vidst også virkelig meget fart på. Efter lidt research viser det sig, at det var en af de både der deltager i det netop igangsatte The Ocean Race Europe, hvor første etape går fra Kiel til Portsmouth. Det var sjovt lige at få synet af en sådan båd med på morgenobsen.

Kapsejladsbåden Team Amaala, der deltager i The Ocean Race Europe, rundede Grenen i de tidlige morgentimer.

Grundet megen vind havde vi blot 120 net meter åbne ved Kabeltromlen. Derfor var fangsten begrænset til 6 ringmærkede fugle, fordelt på Gransanger, Munk og Løvsanger. Kiesé, Cora, Mio og jeg brugte efter morgenobsen lidt tid omkring Kabeltromlekrattet på at eftersøge græshopper og spiselige bær. Der er fortsat en del velsmagende Havtorn, Hindbær og Brombær i området!

Tilbage i haven ved Det Grå Fyr havde vi nettet åbent i løbet af eftermiddagen. Det viste sig spøjst nok at være mere frugtbart end at have nettene åbne ved Kabeltromlen. Vi fangede nemlig 7 fugle, herunder en smuk ung Skovsanger. Det er i min optik den fineste hjemmehørende Phylloscopus-sanger vi har i Danmark og jeg er glad for at have set den i hånden.

Da ældre fugle gennemgår deres komplette fældning i løbet af deres overvintring i Vestafrika, syd for Sahel-regionen, vil disse forventeligt have en slidt fjerdragt på dette tidspunkt af året. Da vores ringmærkede fugl havde en frisk fjerdragt, kunne den bestemmes til en 1K.

1k Skovsanger ringmærket ved Det Grå Fyr.

Highlights Morning Observations:

165 Mallemuk

3 Storkjove

3 Almindelig Kjove

1 Fiskeørn

Highlights Ringing Det Grå Fyr:

1 Skovsanger

1 Sanglærke

1 Fjordterne

Eftermiddagen blev brugt på at spille brætspillet Klask, samt på at studere lidt fugle.

I morgen skal jeg for første gang for alvor give mig i kast med ringmærkning ved Kabeltromlen, det ser jeg frem til.

Inden da må jeg dog se mig nødsaget til at hoppe en tur i bølgen blå, her kl. kvart over ti. Jeg har nemlig endnu ikke har været i vandet i dag. Da jeg har sat mig for at skulle en tur i havet hver eneste dag i løbet af mit ophold på stationen, må jeg nu en tur ud i mørket inden sengetid.

Today’s observations by observers in the area of Skagen typed into DOFbasen can be found here.

Ringing totals Kabeltromlen:

Gransanger 4

Løvsanger 1

Munk 1

Total 6

Ringing totals Det Grå Fyr

Gråspurv 3

Skovsanger 1

Havesanger 1

Tornsanger 1

Fjordterne 1

Sanglærke 1

Total 8

Hanelie and I were today the first ones who got up to open the nets at Kabeltrommeln. Cora joined us for the first round. Because of the quite strong wind, we weren’t able to open all the nets. That was also why we only caught 4 new birds today. But we had a nice Garden Warbler (Havesanger) recapture and for me it was also nice to be back for the first time during my stay here in August at Kabeltrommeln.

Garden Warbler (Havesanger) at KAB

We used the time between the rounds to watch a bit to the sea and also inland. We had some passerines and 2 close Arctic Skuas (Almindelig Kjove), which were chasing a Grey Heron (Fiskehejre). We also used the time to look a bit at other species groups, and we caught some nice grasshoppers like the Steppe Grasshopper (Chorthippus vagans / Steppegræshoppe). At the closing round we found a Golden-dimpeled Ground Beetle/Dyndløber (Carabus clatratus), a very nice and beautiful beetle.

Golden-dimpeled Ground Beetle (Dyndløber/Carabus clatratus)

To come back to birds – the observers, Simon Jr., Markus, Louisa, Rose and Sarah started the count from sunrise, and Knud and Erik joined them. They were very successful and got 246 Fulmars (Mallemuk) in total and a Great Skua as their highlight. Both were lifers for Louisa, congrats!

After ringing and observing we all headed back to the station, some ate something, others went directly to bed for a nap. But Hanelie, Rose and Sarah were so nice and went to the shop in town to buy all the stuff we need for the next days. And they did a huge shopping, because many people eat a lot of stuff in few days.

Cora and I used the afternoon to collect a dead Eider (Ederfugl), which was found by Louisa, Sarah and Rose at Grenen at the morning, and on our way back we found a dead Cormorant (Skav) near the beach by Det Grå Fyr. We put them in the freezer, so that they can be used for scientific purposes.
Meanwhile, Markus and Simon (Lille Simån) decided to go to World's End 3 and they saw a Great Skua (Storkjove) and 6 Arctic Skuas (Almindelig Kjove), so it was a good decision from them to go out again.
Rose and Sarah went out again as well to the top of Det Grå Fyr to have an awesome look over the landscape around Skagen.

view form Det Grå Fyr

After our activities at noon and in the afternoon we were all a bit exhausted, and it came at the perfect moment when Hanelie called us that dinner was ready. She cooked a delicious pumpkin soup and after that awesome dinner we weren’t finished with eating, because Rose baked a very nice cake as a dessert. It’s always nice to be with all the other volunteers at the table and have such nice and funny talks as we had today.
Now Simon Jr. and Cora are out for night-catching and we all hope that they will have success and bring some nice birds back to the station, so that we can ring them to know more about their migration and roosting places. We’ll let you know in the next blog if they caught something!

Ringing totals KAB:

Munk 1

Solsort 1

Kærsanger 1

Gulspurv 1

Total 4

Observation Highlights:

246 Fulmars (Mallemuk)

14 Arctic Skua (Almindeling Kjove)

Great Skua (Storkjove)

Little Stint (Dværgryle)

Today's observations by observers in the area typed into DOFbasen can be seen here

At the station: Hanelie Sidhu, Rosemary Fricke, Sarah Partrige, Mio Brix, Louise Buksti-Ladefoged, Markus Kemp Clément, Simon Kiesé, Cora Köberle 

Today Cora arrived so we are a full house with eight! Louise, Mio, Markus and I began our day with the observation, which was nice and calm. Highlights included some arctic skuas (almindelig kjove), fulmars (mallemuk), razorbills (alk), yellow wagtails (gul vipsjert), and lots of migrating European golden plovers (hjejle). We also had a spectacle of a Gannet (sule) feast, with over 300 individuals feeding together, which was captivating to watch. After this Mio went to search for gull colour rings and was happy to report seven ringed kittiwakes (ride).

Rosemary, Hanelie and Simon went ringing at Kabletromlen, where they had a successful day of ringing. They were excited to see a rosefinch (karmindompap) and a green sandpiper (Svalekire), and to hear a penduline tit (pungmejse). When they called it over the radio we also searched for the pungmejse at Wrold’s End III but did not see it either.

When we got back to the lighthouse, Hanelie, Markus and I opened Hanelie’s moth traps. Among other lovey creatures there was a glorious garden tiger, a pale prominent, and several fine Archer’s darts.

Pale prominent from the moth trap

We all met for lunch at the lighthouse where we were joined by Cora and we all had some lovely chats together. Then we split up to complete the quarterly waterbird count. Markus and Mio enjoyed their trip to Nordstrand where they saw a little stint (dværgyle) and a little tern (dværgterne). Rosemary, Simon and Cora went up to the top of the lighthouse where they saw over 200 cormorants (skarv) and Mio and Markus on the beach.

Waterbird count from the lighthouse tower

Markus photographing during the waterbird count

Hanelie, Louise, and myself went to Cormorant Lake. There we were thrilled to see an adder and Louise was nearly in tears of happiness. We spent some time touching up the nets, making sure everything is secure in the wind, and enjoying some stories about Danish bog bodies from Louise.

We concluded our day with a family swim in the waves which was quite bracing and very fun!

Today's observations by observers in the area typed into DOFbasen can be seen here.

At the station: Hanelie Sidhu, Rosemary Fricke, Sarah Partrige, Mio Brix, Louise Buksti-Ladefoged, Markus Kemp Clément, Simon Kiesé, Cora Köberle, Simon S. Christiansen.

After the storm of the last few days, we ran to World's End 3 at 5 a.m. this morning, motivated to start the migration count. The wind dropped and we directly noticed that there were fewer seabirds. This did not stop Rose, Sarah, Markus, Mio and me from having a nice morning. One Great Skua (Storkjove) and three Arctic Skuas (Almindelig Kjove) showed us and we noticed some migration of Golden Plovers (Hjejle) and Red Knots (Islandsk Ryle) flying southwest. Even Simon Sr. tried to migrate but stopped to say Hi and join our count for a bit. The best bird was a Shag I found flying in Skagerrak. After losing sight of the bird when it quickly landed on the water, I was able to find it again and we could follow it for six minutes. A scarce bird here in summer.

Rose and Sarah on their way back to the lighthouse.

While we were standing in the dunes, Hanelie and Louise walked net rounds at Kabeltromlen. They were joined by Jeppe and Linda Rørbæk and Henrik Møller Thomsen. I‘m glad they got a Lesser Whitethroat (Gærdesanger), since I know how much Hanelie loves them. Interestingly, all birds ringed were young birds, hatched this year. In total they ringed 11 new birds and recaptured 5. One of the really interesting parts about bird ringing are recaptures, so I had a quick look at them. The most interesting one was a old Icterine Warbler (Gulbug). It was ringed here one month ago on the first of July, indicating a local breeding bird. Maybe a parent of the young one ringed today?

When we came back to the station, Mio opened nets in the lighthouse garden. That was a good idea and we quickly caught three young Tree Sparrows (Skovspurv). They were starting to moult their primaries, so soon they will look like their parents. Mio has gained experience with this species after discovering that, like Wrens (Gærdesmutte), they take every opportunity to escape.

Two juvenile Tree Sparrows (Skovspurv).

We completed our daily tasks, which include data entry, napping, and for some of us swimming in the sea. Markus went for a 70 km bike ride to see the area around Skagen and Mio went to Skarvsøen. Sarah and Rose brought some pastries from Skagen Bakery. So delicious, mange tak!

Markus during his stop at Råbjerg Mile.

On Tuesday (5^th of August) I photographed a Seabuckthorn Fruit Fly Rhagoletis batava (Havtornflue) at World’s End 1, Grenen. I first noticed how rare it is, when Ragnar texted me that it is the first record for Jutland, with the closest record in Copenhagen area. On arter there are just three records from Denmark, so this fly is a real star, even if it is only a very small one (5 mm).

Seabuckthorn Fruit Fly Rhagoleti batava (Havtornflue).

It is so nice to be back at Skagen Fuglestation. After spending the entire autumn 2023 and spring 2024 at the station I started my biology studies in Berlin, Germany. I really enjoy my studies and it's nice to get a more scientific approach to fieldwork and complex ecological relationships. To be honest, though, I missed waking up early every day to spend day in, day out with birds. But for me, it's even more important who you can share these experiences with, and I'm amazed at how quickly the ‘Skagen feeling’ has returned. We have a really great team right now!

Ringing (Kabeltromlen)

Marsh Warbler (Kærsanger): 1

Lesser Whitethroat (Gærdesanger): 1

Common Whitethroat (Tornsanger): 4

Blackcap (Munk): 2

Icterine Warbler (Gulbug): 1

Chiffchaff (Gransanger): 2  

Total: 11

Ringing (Lighthouse Garden)

Tree Sparrow (Skovspurv): 3

Common Whitethroat (Tornsanger): 2

Total: 5

Today's observations by observers in the area typed into DOFbasen can be seen here.

At the station: Hanelie Sidhu, Rosemary Fricke, Sarah Partrige, Mio Brix, Louise Buksti-Ladefoged, Markus Kemp Clément, Simon Kiesé, Linda andJeppe Rørbæk, Henrik Møller Thomsen, Simon S. Christiansen.

Sunrise at Grenen.

This morning Sarah and I walked the opening round together to decide which nets to open as conditions were not perfect, some nets were too exposed in the wind. We could open about half of the nets. Many people showed up to the first round, two more expected people, Henrik and Louise. Apart from that, we got a surprise visit from Jeppe, a former guest in the apartment and his son . We were a big group walking the rounds and unfortunately did not get many birds. In total we had eleven, two juvenile Yellowhammers “Gulspurv” found their way in the nets, we do not catch them frequently and one of them got the first bird Louise ringed.

Juvenile Gulspurv

Apart from that, we also had a juvenile Grey Wagtail “Bjergvipstert”, it is also quite uncommon, that these fly into our nets.

Bjergvipstjert 1st calender year

Ringing totals

Gransanger: 4
Gærdesanger: 2
Tornsanger: 1
Bjergvipstjert: 1
Munk: 1
Gulspurv: 2

Total: 11

While we were at Kabeltromle, we received several zello messages. The observers, 

Simon jr., Mio, Markus, Rose and Simon sr., who also went out for a bit and also said hi to us at Kabeltrommle, saw a Manx Shearwater “Almindelig Skråpe”, two Great Skuas “Stor Kjove” and there were also two Sooty Shearwater “Sodfarvet Skråpe” very far out.

Part of the team is at World´s end three again now to do some more seawatching. We saw several Arctic Scuas “Almindelig Kjove”, two resting Manx Shearwaters “Almindelig Skråpe” and a Great Skua “Stor Kjove”.

It was a good decision to go out.

Markus at the evening obs.

Highlights ringing:

Bjergvipstjert

Highlights Observations:

Almindelig Skråpe

Sodfarvet Skråpe

Stor Kjove

Todays observations from observers in the area can be seen here.

I did not catch moths the last nights, but I will turn on the light again tonight and I would like to show some nice ones from the last days to you.

At the station: Simon Kiesé, Mio Brix, Rosemary Fricke, Sarah Partrige, Simon S. Christiansen, Henrik Møller Thomsen, Markus Kemp Clément, Louise Buksti-Ladefoged, Jeppe Rørbæk and his son, Hanelie Sidhu

Today’s adventure actually began the night before when Sarah, Rosemary, Mio, and I went out night netting around Grenen. Although attemps were made on Common Sandpipers (mudderklire), Little Terns (dværgterne), Common Terns (fjordterne), and a Common Ringed Plover (stor præstekrave), we were unsuccessful. However, it was still an awesome trip. We also spotted two young Harbour Seals (spættet sæl) resting on the beach. Just before calling it a night, did manage to catch a young House Sparrow (gråspurv) right in front of the lighthouse. At around 1AM, we woe Simon so the bird could be ringed. It was totally worth it!

House Sparrow (Gråspurv).

Early the next morning, at 04:30, Marcus, Hanelie, Simon, and Mio were up for the morning observations at worlds end III. Here they saw loads of birds including 3 artic skuas (almindelig kjove), 1 Little Stint (dværgryle), 1 Red Knot (islandsk ryle), and 140 Fulmars (mallemuk)! At 08:30 Sarah, Rosemary, and I joined for the last hour of the count, and we stayed a bit longer for some extra action.

Arctic Skua (almindelig kjove). 

Afterwards, we went back to the lighthouse. Here we caught a Whitethroat (tornsanger). The bird was ringed while curious visitors watched and learned about the ringing process. The rest of the afternoon was spent on various tasks: mending bird bags, preparing for an upcoming presentation, adding the collected data into the database, and in my case, making pancakes for the team.

A giant stack of pancakes!

After dinner Marcus, Mio, Simon, Sarah, and I went birdwatching near World’s End III. Here we saw a bunch of Arctic Skuas (almindelig kjove), some Great Skua (stor kjove), and a Manx Shearwater (almindelig skråpe). Straight after that tour Marcus, Mio, Simon, Sarah, and Rosemary went night netting, rounding off a full and fantastic day.

The sunset from Grenen.

Click here for today's observations on DOFbasen. 

Highlihghts:

Arctic Skua (Almindelig Kjove)
Fulmar (Mallemuk)
Manx Shearwater (almindelig skråpe)

Ringing at the lighthouse:

1 House Sparrow (gråspurv)

1 Whitethroat (tornsanger)

At the station: Sarah Partridge, Mio Brix, Louise Buksti-Ladefoged, Hanelie Sidhu, Markus Kemp Clément, Rosemary Fricke, Simon Kiesé, and Simon S. Christiansen

Last night and this morning Skagen received the off-end of Storm Floris that hit the UK yesterday. Thankfully, the only effect of this pressure system at Skagen was that we couldn’t go ringing this morning! Instead, we braced the wind to do a large group effort migration count. Because there were six of us out, we decided to split – Markus, Sarah, and Louise taking the usual spot at World’s End III, and joined by Knud, while Simon, Mio, and I walked to World’s End I, which has a higher viewpoint but less visibility on the beach. This allowed us great coverage of anything happening out there with the birds!

Spotters getting spotted (Sarah, Markus and Louise) at World’s End III

The weather was unstable all morning, with showers intermittent so we got a great view of a double rainbow in front of Nordstrand.

The wind brought some fantastic waves to the point, as well as a speed boost for birds heading east. This included more Razorbills (Alk) than in recent days, some Fulmar (Mallemuk) far out, and a group of 7 Red-breasted Merganser (Toppet Skallesluger). Early on we also had some Red-throated Divers (Rødstrubet Lom) and a Razorbill resting close to shore, as well as some close Common Scoter (Sortand) rafts along the coast. Just after the 4 hours were up, and we had left World’s End I, the others saw a Honey Buzzard heading south, and Markus and Knud stayed an extra hour, seeing a few Arctic Skua (Almindelig Kjove).

Hanlie has been busy at the obs today, going through moth data from her recent days of moth trapping, and preparing her presentation on Curruca genus warblers for us. We are all looking forward to it!  As a treat this afternoon we all went bowling, having been invited by Simon’s dad. We were all surprisingly good, though Simon’s dad really blew us all out of the water with his stirkes!! Thanks to Kersten for the great afternoon, and for helping us with a big food shop afterwards.

Bowling!

Now some of us are preparing for an attempt at night netting some resting waders who might be making use of the puddles along the coast, while the others are resting the bowling arms and mentally preparing for some hopefully exciting days of migration watch as the winds die down.

Work is never done: Hanelie preparing her Curruca session at 10 pm. 

Click here for today’s observations on Dofbasen.

Highlihghts:
Arctic Skua (Almindelig Kjove)
Fulmar (Mallemuk)
Honey Buzzard (Hvepsevåge)

At the station: Sarah Partridge, Mio Brix, Louise Buksti-Ladefoged, Hanelie Sidhu, Markus Kemp Clément, Rosemary Fricke, Simon and Kersten Kiesé, Simon S. Christiansen

Så fik vi skudt en (hæs)blæsende uge i gang.

Nu hvor vi er 7 frivillige, er der mange hænder til at tage hånd om de daglige gøremål på stationen. I dag havde Louise og jeg derfor fået en ekstra mulighed for at være værter på en guidet tur rundt i lige netop det landskab, vi er rejst til Skagen for at boltre os i.

Turen gik forbi Storsig, Jennes Sø, Skarvsøen og sidst men ikke mindst Grenen. Formålet var at lære fra os ift. hvilke detaljer vi ligger mærke til, når vi gebærder os i naturen. Familien der bookede turen havde nemlig inden i dag gået en tur i området på egen hånd. Dagens tur skulle være en kontrast til indtrykkene fra at være i naturen på egen hånd. Forhåbentlig har vores interesse for de små detaljer i naturen været smittende :D

CES-ringmærkningen blev i dag foretaget ved Skarvsøen af Hanelie og Sarah. De fangede en ung Blåhals i første netrunde! Det var en positiv overraskelse.

1K Blåhals i forbindelse med CES-ringmærkningen ved Skarvsøen. Foto: Hanelie Sidhu

Mio, Rose og Simon tog hånd om dagens morgenobs. De havde 20+ trækkende alke, hvilket er betragteligt flere end i den seneste uge. Derudover var der nogle Mallemukker, rider og en række vadefugle. Forhåbentlig kan vi se frem til en uge med endnu flere stormfugle når vi tæller træk. Et lavtryk skal nemlig passere Danmark fra vest.

Stokmilen. Foto: Markus Kemp Clément

Jeg brugte eftermiddagen på en god gammeldags omgang kratlusk ved Damstederne og Stokmilen. Når ikke min kikkert er rettet opad, på fuglene, finder jeg det interessant at kigge nærmere på nogle af de små bestøvede væsener. Især dagsommerfugle, hvilket var hovedårsagen til at jeg begav mig lidt syd for Skagen by. Jeg håbede at finde en Kommabredpande, en lille orange sommerfugl med lyse tern i vingerne. Min søgen gav heldigvis pote da jeg fandt 4 imago individer, på trods af en del blæst.

Derudover fandt jeg også nogle ynglepar af Sortstrubet Bynkefugl og Rødrygget Tornskade.

Sortstrubet Bynkefugl adult han ved Stokmilen. Foto: Markus Kemp Clément

På stationen havde vi til stor overraskelse fået indleveret en død 1K Topskarv, fundet i vandkanten på Sønderstrand i morges. Det er første gang vi har oplevet at modtage denne art.

1k Topskarv fundet død på Sønderstrand

I løbet af aftenen er vinden for alvor taget til og med den kommer også en del regn. Men i morgen skal det blæse op mod 20 m/s fra vestlig retning, hvilket har potentiale til at kunne bringe nogle gode fugle med sig.

Today´s observations by observers in the area typed into DOFbasen can be seen here.

Highlights Morning Observations:

20+ Alk

3 Mallemuk

Highlights Ringing Kabeltromlen:

1 Blåhals

Ringing totals:

Rørsanger 6

Blåhals 1

Gærdesanger 1

Kærsanger 1

Blåmejse 3

Tornsanger 5

Rørspurv 3

Total 20

At the station:

Sarah Partridge, Rosemary Fricke, Mio Brix, Simon Kiesé, Louise Buksti-Ladefoged, Hanelie Sidhu, Markus Kemp Clément

Hanelie, Sarah and Louise were the first ones to get up today for ringing at Kabeltrommeln. It was quite windy, so they didn’t open all the nets. Because of the wind, they only caught five birds today, but they still had a nice morning with an amazing sunrise, and they had time so that Louise could learn how ringing works and how to handle a bird. Which was a great experience for her. 

Ringing at Kabeltrommeln

Meanwhile, Markus, Rose and I headed to World's End 3 and started counting at 05:16 today. We were also able to see that beautiful sunrise. The conditions for counting were much better than yesterday. We saw seven Arctic Skuas (Almindelig Kjove), some Razorbills (Alk) were swimming quite close to the beach, and there were some waders, like Grey Plovers (Strandhjejle) and Bar-tailed Godwits (Lille kobbersneppe) After that, Markus and I decided to get closer to the gull flock, and we saw five Caspian Gulls (Kaspisk måge). We managed to read 15 colour rings, one of them, a Lesser Black-backed Gull (Sildemåge), had a Spanish ring, so it had made its way all the way up here to Skagen!

After ringing and counting, most of us took a short nap or just relaxed a bit. Once we were all rested, we spent our time entering data. Around 3 PM, Simon Sr. came to the station, and a few moments later Simon Kiesé (aka Simon Jr.) arrived with his father. His father will stay here until next Wednesday, and Simon Jr. will stay until the beginning of September. It's nice to have him back at the station after his volunteer year in 2023–2024. 

Then we had the evening meeting and planned for tomorrow. After we finished, Simon Jr. wanted to take a short walk to see the area again. I joined him, and we headed to World's End 1. There were many bugs there, and on our way back we saw a Spotted Redshank (Sortklire) flying over Ellekrattet with 11 Wood Sandpipers (Tinksmed)

Common Club Grasshopper (Myrmeleotettix maculatus)

Now Sarah is cooking, and it already smells delicious!

Tonight, we will try to catch Nightjars (Natravn) and Storm Petrels (Stormsvale) again. Maybe we will even catch some waders in the Storm Petrel net. We’re all very excited to see what will happen tonight and whether we’ll be successful. We’ll let you know tomorrow in the blog!

Ringing Kabeltrommeln:

Tornsanger 3
Gærdesanger 1
Tornsanger 1
Total: 5

Highlights from our Observations:

7  Arctic Skuas (Almindelig Kjove)

Spotted Redshank (Sortklire)

Caspian Gulls (Kaspisk måge)

Today´s observations by observers in the area typed into DOFbasn can be seen here.

At the station: Sarah Partridge, Markus Kemp Clément, Rosemary Fricke, Simon S. Christiansen, Mio Brix, Simon Kiesé, Louise Buksti-Ladefoged, Hanelie Sidhu

Last night was another exciting night for ringing. Rosemary was on the nightwatch and she called everyone around midnight for two storm petrels (Stormsvale)! After ringing them we released them on the beach where Hanelie had a little Cinderella moment with her Stormsvale sitting peacefully on her palm for a couple of minutes before flying away.

European Storm Petrel

It was very exciting to see (and smell) such beautiful and mysterious birds up close. Shortly after this Lisa appeared with another 1K nightjar (Natravn) which was ringed by Mio.

Nightjar opening it's big mouth

Two nocturnal species that doe'snt meet often - European Storm Petrels and a Nightjar 

The rest of the night was quieter and Rosemary closed the nets shortly before 4, when Hanelie and I were on our way to Kabeltromle. We opened all of the nets before seeing on the radar that rain was coming, so we quickly began closing again. We left open five nets to the South for a few rounds in light rain but caught nothing and closed up as thunder began.

Markus, Louise, and Mio went to World’s end III for observation but left after one hour when the rain came.

After a short morning for everyone we had a nap and then brunch together. Afternoon was quiet with cleaning the station, some office work and net repairs. Hanelie went to do some maintenance and the CES site and Markus and Mio went to search for some Red-backed shrikes (Rødrygget Tornskade). Tonight is too windy for ringing but Simon will be leading a tour for some guests.

Checking the nets in the night

Link to today’s observations in DOFbasen from observers in the area.

Night ringing:

Natravn 1

Stormsvale 2

Highlights Observations:

Arctic Skua (Almindelig Kjove) light morph

Six Red-backed shrikes (Rødrygget Tornskade)

At the station: Sarah Partridge, Markus Kemp Clément, Rosemary Fricke, Simon S. Christiansen, Mio Brix, Louise Buksti-Ladefoged, Hanelie Sidhu, Lisa, and our guests Jesper and Mette as well as guests for the Stormpetrel catching