A light southeasterly wind and clear blue sky meant we all had high hopes for the day to come as we headed out for sunrise. Dante and I, headed to Verdens Endes 1 for morning observations, while Yehonatan, Michael, Lisa and Simon opened the nets at Kabeltromlen. The ringing team had a brilliant catch of 84 new birds including an incredible 32 Goldcrest (Fuglekonge), and 26 Robins (Rødhals).

Meanwhile at Verdens Endes 1, the highlights of 8 hours observing include: 2 Black Kite (Sort Glente), 8 Rough-legged Buzzards (Fjeldvåge), 12 Hen Harriers (Blå Kærhøg), 1 Golden Eagle (Kongeørn) and 1 Serin (Gulirisk) which represents the first of the year and 3 Great Grey Shrike (Stor Tornskade), as well as plenty of finches and thrushes. I had such an incredible day, as we simply do not have migration like this anywhere in the UK.

Mid-afternoon we received the news that the GPS-tagged, third-calendar-year, female Bonelli’s Eagle (Høgeørn) had been spotted further south and was heading our way. Dante and I were just leaving Verdens Endes 1 at this point, and raced for high dune. Unfortunately, the bird turned around and headed south at Flagbakken, not quite making it as far as where we were eagerly scanning. It did, however, give wonderful views to those who were already at Flagbakken and Simon happened to be at the right place at the right time and saw it.

An incredible photo by Erik Christophersen of the Bonelli's Eagle (Høgeørn) over Flagbakken. See more of Erik's photo's here: https://ecskagen.blogspot.com/

Esben, a former volunteer from 2019 and 2020, arrived at the station in the evening and will be staying with us for the weekend.

An excellent day for both ringers and observers at Skagen Fuglestation!

People: Yehonatan Ben aroia, Micheal Colley, Dante Shepherd, Esben Hansen, Lauren Evans, Lisa Vergin, Simon S. Christiansen, Uffe Damm Andersen, Jørn & Marianne.

A full list of observations in the area can be found here.

Sum of the Raptors in the area based on observations typed into Dofbasen the same day

Kabeltromlen Ringing Totals:

Solsort (Blackbird)- 4

Gærdesmutte (Wren)- 10            

Fuglekonge (Goldcrest)- 32

Gransanger (Chiffchaff)- 6

Rødhals (Robin)- 26

Jernspurv (Dunnock)- 1

Bogfinke (Chaffinch)- 1

Rørspurv (Reed Bunting)- 1

Musvit (Great Tit)- 1

Vindrossel (Redwing)- 1

Total: 84

Dear Blog Reader

This morning was a bit wet because it was raining, which makes us of not ringing .I was out this this morning for Birdwatching which am trying to familiar myself with some the birds here, which are new to me, I meet with some of the locals who happen to be Erik Christophersen and Rolf Christensen, they help me in Identifying some of the birds like, Sparrowhawk (Spurvehøg), Bittern (Rørdrum), Great Black-backed Gull (Svartbag), Herring Gull (Sølvmåge) and Cranes (Trane).

Lauren Evans and Dante Shepherd were out on birds migration count in which they have recorded good  numbers of birds species like, 1 Great Gray Shrike (Stor Tornskade), 5 Hen harrier (Blå Kærhøg), 4 Ring Ouzel (Ringdrossel) and thousands of finches.

Female Hen Harrier (Blå Kærhøg). Photo: Erik Christophersen. https://ecskagen.blogspot.com/

Yehonatan Ben Aroia was busy on the data, which was on entering data from the past ringing and that took a while before it was finish.

In the afternoon, I went with Simon to check the Raptor traps which was a good experience for me because I get to lean a bit how to set a Raptor traps, because back at home in The Gambia we try to set a trap which will be good for vulture catching but now that I have the idea now. I can then take it back to Kartong Bird observatory in which will help the observatory in catching vultures.

For my colleges in the afternoon, Dante went back on birds migration count and Lauren and Yehonatan where also fixing the waders that has holes on them.

But to round it up it was a great day for me to lean something that will benefit my observatory and have a pleasant day. This is Michael colley from kartong bird observatory The Gambia.

A full list of today's observations can be found here.

Sum of the Raptors in the area based on observations typed into Dofbasen the same day

Skagen Fuglestation: Dante Shepherd, Michael Colley, Yehonatan Ben aroia & Lauren Evans

A cold, crisp start to the day saw Yehonatan, Michael, Simon and myself, headed to Kabeltromlen to open the nets for sunrise. We had a diverse catch of 10 different species, including 2 Gulspurv (Yellowhammers) which is the first time I’ve seen this species in the hand. We also caught a control Gransanger (Chiffchaff) which was ringed elsewhere in Denmark. Michael had his first experience of Danish ringing and enjoyed seeing plenty of new species. We also were joined by plenty of visitors and a tour group throughout the morning, which was a great opportunity to explain the importance of ringing and collecting valuable data.

Two Yellowhammers (Gulspurv) caught at Kabeltromlen today- female (left) and male (right).

Dante headed to Verdens Endes 1 for morning observation which produced 4 Shags (Topskarv), 4 Rough-legged Buzzards (Fjeldvåge), the first Coal Tit (Sortmejse) of the year and the first Great Spotted Woodpecker (Stor Flagspætte) of the year. Undoubtedly, his highlight was finding a Short-toed Treecreeper (Korttået Træløber)- only the fourth Skagen record and a new species for him. He first picked it up on call, which is diagnostic in this species, and is described as sounding like a Coal Tit (Sortmejse). Another excellent find by Dante! 

Short-toed Treecreeper photographed at Verdens Endes 1 today. This photo shows the even steps along the wing bar with obvious pointed tips, as well as the distinctive small white tips to the primaries. Photo: Erik Christophersen. https://ecskagen.blogspot.com/

We also received the original ringing data of the British-ringed Blackbird we caught last week; the bird was originally ringed in Kilnsea, Yorkshire, UK on the 13^th October 2020.

Map showing the original ringing location (Kilnsea, UK) and the recapture site (Skagen, Denmark).

A full list of today's observations can be found here.

Today's raptor summary can be found here.

Skagen Fuglestation: Yehonatan Ben aoria, Dante Shepherd, Lauren Evans & Michael Colley

Kabeltromlen Ringing Totals:

Gærdesmutte (Wren)- 7

Gransanger (Chiffchaff)- 3

Fuglekonge (Goldcrest)- 2

Rødhals (Robin)- 3

Solsort (Blackbird)- 1

Bogfinke (Chaffinch)- 1

Jernspurv (Dunnock)- 2

Rørspurv (Reed Bunting)- 1

Dompap (Bullfinch)- 2

Gulspurv (Yellowhammer)- 2

Total: 24

We started our day as usual, Dante and Lauren went out to worlds end counting migating birds, while me Yehonatan and Lisa went out ringing in kabeltromlen. Weather was fabulous, might be the warmest day we've had this spring so far, sun was shining and close to non winds. The ringing was quite busy with many (23) goldcrests (Fuglekonge) in the nets, and a total of 60 birds. Highlight from observtions are Black kite (Sort glente) Short-eared owl( Mosehornugle). 4 Rough legged buzzards (Fjeldvåge), 4 Arctic skua (Mellemkjove), 2 Peregrines (Vanderfalk) and many more great birds.

After a long morning for all of the volunteers, we all had to have a nap so we could continue our day with renewed energy. In the after noon we tried to put a net right outside the lighthouse to try and catch the Grey wagtails (Bjergvipstjert) that has been feeding on the rock, and we were very lucky to catch one of them! it is not so we catch one of theese out here, and it was really cool to see one in hand.

Later that evening, our new volunteer Michael arrived from The Gambia and we are all very excited to have here for the next 3 months.

Observations from today could be found here

Raptor summary can be found here

People: People: Yehonatan Ben aroia, Lauren Evans, Dante Shepherd, , Simon S. Christiansen, Lisa Vergin, Michael Colley.

Alex Sand Frich and I had a nice morning counting birds at Verdens Ende. Highlights were the first Great Grey Shrike (Stor Tornskade) of the year up here, 2 Shags (Topskarv), 2 Rough-legged Buzzard (Fjeldvåge), 2 White-tailed Eagle (Havorn), 200 Mistle Thrush (Mistledrossel), 6400 Chaffinch (Bogfinke), a Wheatear (Stenpikker), a Hawfinch (Kernebider) and 2 Parrot Crossbill (Stor Korsnaeb). Meanwhile Lauren, Lisa and Yehonatan ringed 40 birds at Kabletromlen, their highlight being 2 Brambling (Kvækerfinke).

DS counting from Verdens Ende

The King Eider remains off the Grey Lighthouse, I wonder how long will he stay with us for? Raptor migration is slowly picking up, the first Pallid Harrier (Steppehøg) is bound to grace our presence soon.

Brambling (Kvækerfinke)

Ringing totals from Kabletromlen:

Blackbird (Solsort)- 5

Robin (Rødhals)- 5

Wren (Gærdesmutte)-  5

Bullfinch (Dompap)- 1

Chaffinch (Dompap) - 1

Brambling (Kvækerfinke) - 2

Goldcrest (Fuglekonge)- 15

Great Tit (Musvit) - 1

Blue Tit (Blåmejse)- 2

Total: 39

Raptor totals

Todays observations

A beautiful calm and sunny morning meant Yehonatan, Lisa and I had the nets open at Kabeltromlen for sunrise. We had a good catch of 33 birds including plenty of Wrens (Gærdesmutte) and Robins (Rødhals). Meanwhile, Dante headed to Verdens Endes for morning observation with a small crowd of other birders. His highlights included one Golden Eagle (Kongeørn), three Osprey (Fiskeørn), one Hen Harrier (Blå Kærhøg), one Puffin (Lunde), 11 Shags (Topskarv) and thousands of migrating finches.

In the afternoon, Lisa and Yehonatan set up the raptor net with the stuffed Eagle Owl (Stor Hornugle) in the hope of catching a migrating raptor. The stuffed owl acts to lure to birds towards the net and then when we catch the raptors, we hope to fit them with a GPS as part of the project we are undertaking with Aarhus University. Although we didn’t manage to catch any raptors today, an adult Black-headed Gull (Hættemåge) ended up in the net, and was swiftly ringed and released. We had lots of interest in our owl and net from visitors to Skagen, and so it made for a great opportunity to engage the public in the projects we’re currently working on.

Yehonatan with the raptor net and stuffed Eagle Owl.

Adult Black-headed Gull ringed today at the station.

To end the day, Yehonatan and I set up a few more nets in some reeds in Kabeltromlen and we’re looking forward to seeing what this slightly different habitat will produce.

We also said goodbye to Emilia, who has been staying in our guest apartment for the week- you’ll be sorely missed!

A full list of today's observations can be found here.

Today's raptor summary can be found here.

Skagen Fuglestation: Yehonatan Ben aroia, Dante Shepherd & Lauren Evans

Kabeltromlen Ringing Totals:

Blackbird (Solsort)- 8

Robin (Rødhals)- 8

Wren (Gærdesmutte)- 9

Bullfinch (Dompap)- 1

Goldcrest (Fuglekonge)- 3

Dunnock (Jernspurv)- 1

Blackcap (Munk)- 2

Blue Tit (Blåmejse)- 1

Total: 33

First day of April, sunny and freezing outside, Dante and Lauren had a really good day observing after two days of nonstop rain and very strong winds, while i (Yehonatan) stayed in the station to do some tasks, and attend the opening of the new exhibition in the lighthouse, and the opening of Blink aswell.  many people attended and it was wonderful, both the exhibition and the cafe are a most go for anyone who is visiting Skagen!

Later Mitte gave the volunteers a tour around the new exhibition, which was really nice and intresting, and afterwards, we all went up the lighthouse for the first time this season.

We came back to a mistery suprise left outside our door, a lovely bad filled with easter\passover gifts and a heart warming card from Rita, wishing us all happy holidays in 4(!) diffrent languages, English, Gernman, Danish, Hebrew. this defenetly made our day and put a smile on our faces.

In the afternoon Lisa came to the station and we made our plans for tomorow together, we expect a good day of ringing after a few days of bad weather, when suddenly we got a phone call from Simon, he tols us there he can see there is a gps tagged bat in the north side of the attic, and we should try see if its there and try to catch it. For our suprise, we found the bat and succesfully trapped it and after having a close look, we set him free back to his roosting place in the attic.

After dinner we visited the top of the lighthouse again, and got to see the light turns on which was really cool, and also alot of stairs for day.

Observations from today can be found here

People: Yehonatan Ben aroia, Dante Shepherd, Lauren Evans, Lisa vergin, Rita, Emilia. 

Another wet and extremely windy day here in Skagen! In the morning, Dante and I attempted some seawatching from the Kattegak bunker. Visibility was poor, and an hour produced only 59 Gannets (Sule), 2 Red-throated Divers (Rødstrubet Lom) and 3 Oystercatchers (Strandskade) migrating east. On a more positive note, the King Eider (Kongeederfugl) is still present off the lighthouse (Det Grå Fyr), seeming closer inshore due to the strong easterly winds. We’re really looking forward to the better weather forecast for next week!

In the afternoon, Yehonatan attended the opening of the Home Bodies art exhibition in town. We also said goodbye to Johanna and her friend Bjarne, whose time at Skagen Fuglestation has come to an end. We all wish you the best of luck with your next term at university.

A full list of today's observations can be found here.

Today's raptor summary can be found here.

Skagen Fuglestation: Yehonatan Ben aroia, Dante Shepherd, Lauren Evans & Emilia.

Heavy rain and strong winds meant morning observations and ringing were not possible this morning. Instead, we used the time productively to finish ringing data entry and get on with general Fuglestation admin.

Dante finished writing an article for Netfugle.dk about his experiences birding Skagen in March, especially finding the adult, drake King Eider (Kongeederfugl) and the male Rustic Bunting (Pileværling) on the same day. It is a really entertaining read and you can find the full article here: https://www.netfugl.dk/artikler/2878/kings-and-a-bunting-late-march-in-skagen

Dante and I birded the harbour in the afternoon although, unfortunately, there was nothing of note among the resting Eider (Ederfugl) and Herring Gulls (Sølvmåge). The highlight was a male Stonechat (Sortstrubet Bynkefugl) outside the station.

In the evening, Johanna gave an excellent and informative presentation on the ‘Developments in protection of the high seas’. She illustrated some of the methods currently employed to improve seabird protection, such as mitigating longline bycatch and identification of foraging hotspots, as well as highlighted the long way we still have to go in order to fully protect our oceans and seabirds. This topic was especially relevant for us this year given our collaboration on an OSPAR project (The Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic) through the Fulmar (Mallemuk) transects we have been undertaking.

Johanna giving her presentation on the 'Development of protection of the high seas'.

A full list of today's observations can be found here.

Today's raptor summary can be found here.

Skagen Fuglestation: Johanna Veentjer, Yehonatan Ben aoia, Dante Shepherd, Lauren Evans, Bjarne & Amelia.

Dante and I headed for Verdens Endes 1 at first light for morning observations. There were good numbers of finches moving, including 400 Siskin (Grønsisken) and 323 Redpolls (Gråsisken). Out at sea, there was a high number of Gannets (Sule), moving both Northwest (970) and Southeast (294), two adult, dark-morph Arctic Skua (Almindelig Kjove) and one Great Skua (Storkjove)- the first seen in Denmark this year.

Dante observing at World's End 1.

After morning observation, I headed out to World’s End 3 to meet the group of scientists from Aarhus University at their temporary research station. Throughout the season we’ll be helping the team collect data on the flight height of large migrating birds (such as geese, swans, seabirds and raptors) using laser binoculars and radar. I had a practice with the binoculars and managed to register a few passing divers, including one 1167m away.

Yehonatan, Johanna, Bjarne, and Simon had the nets open at Kabeltromlen and had another diverse catch of 26 birds including two Chiffchaffs (Gransanger) and one Northern Bullfinch (Stor Dompap). The undoubted highlight was a British-ringed Blackbird and, being from the UK myself, I am particularly excited to receive the recovery information.

The ringing team also welcomed a group of 50 school children to Kabeltromlen as part of a tour led by Simon. It was brilliant to be able to engage them in the work we do here, show them some birds in the hand, and hopefully inspire the next generation of ringers and Skagen Fuglestation volunteers.

After yesterday’s busy day, Yehonatan, Dante and myself spent the afternoon catching up on some all-important ringing and observation data entry. Meanwhile, Johanna and Bjarne conducted another Fulmar survey, walking a 12km transect along the northwest coast to collect dead seabirds for Aarhus University. Although this survey they didn’t find any deceased birds, they collected multiple bags of litter from the coast and managed to save a crab from a fishing net, so it was still an extremely good effort!

Today, we also received the ringing data from the Norwegian-ringed Blue Tit we caught at Kabeltromlen last week. The bird was originally ringed as a first calendar year on 03/11/2021 in Mølen, Vestfold, Norway.

Map showing the original ringing location and subsequent recapture location of the Norwegian-ringed Blue Tit.

A full list of today's observations can be found here.

Today's raptor summary can be found here.

Skagen Fuglestation: Johanna Veentjer, Yehonatan Ben aroia, Dante Shepherd, Lauren Evans, Amelia & Bjarne.

Kabeltromlen Ringing Totals:

Robin (Rødhals)- 4

Blackbird (Sølsort)- 8

Lille Dompap (Bullfinch)- 3

Stor Dompap (Northern Bullfinch)- 1

Chaffinch (Bogfinke)- 2

Goldcrest (Fuglekonge)- 2

Chiffchaff (Gransanger)- 2

Wren (Gærdesmutte)- 3

Dunnock (Jernspurv)- 1

Total: 26