Today we had a really calm and sunny day at Skagen bird observatoy, a good chance to go out after the snowstorm we had yesterday and expole the snowy area. 

Dante and Lauren went to try and do some sea watching, but as with almost no wind at all, and a very calm sea, not many sea birds we present.

meanwhile i (Yehonatan) went for walk around the staion are, where there is a feeding station for deer, but also many passerines came there to feed and fatten up to handle the cold weather, mostly Yellowhammers (Gulspurv)

Later on Joana Lauren and Yehonatan, went for a trip with simon to look for some raptors in the snow, but unfortunately, did not find any that are roosting at the area.

at that time Dante went to the harbor to look for some special gulls, but had no succes aswell.

we all had a nice evening meeting back at the station, and Johanna made a lovely dinner.

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

Today's raptor summary can be found here.

People:  Yehonatan ben aroia, Johanna Veentjer, Dante Shepherd and Lauren Evans.

Hi everyone!

Today, an immense snowstorm reached Skagen, such an incredible weather phenomenon!

Due to the heavy snowing, storm and fog we could not go for the morning observation, so we started the day a bit later. Dante and Lauren went out in the snow to see if they can spot any birds and check if the nets didn’t got loose from the storm. I met them later on their way back, while I was walking to Verdens Ende. It was incredible, the snow came nearly horizontally in my face while I was walking. It were around 28 knots, which is more than 50 km/h and I was astonished by the big waves from the Baltic Sea as well. I really liked walking at the beach in the stormy and cold weather, its just important to stay save and have the fitting equipment of course! Would have been cool to see some more birds, but there were only a few gulls and some Sanderlings at the beach.

When I came back to the station, I made some cookies (thanks to Solenn for the recipe!). We were sitting in the living room, doing some tasks on our laptops in the afternoon. Dante was out trying to see some more birds, but unfortunately he did not see anything special. I went for a second walk as well, this time over the Tractor Track to the beach. Almost the complete beach was flooded so I had to go threw the dunes and snowdrifts. It was very special to be there, just seeing how powerful nature can be. The pictures can not really represent the experience, but you might get an impression of how it was out there.

Beach covered by snow and water

Snowdrifts at Grenen

People at the station: Lauren Evans, Johanna Veentjer, Dante Shepherd, Yehonatan ben aroia

Hanelie left early this morning for Gedser Fuglestation, good luck Hanelie! Yehonatan and I had spent the morning making migration observations at Grenen. It was ideal weather conditions to see Shag (Topskarv), calm winds and sun, but they never came. Both the sea and overland migration were very quiet. The slow days make the good days even better though! Johanna, Lauren and Michael went ringing at Jenne Sø whilst we were counting, a Swedish controlled Common Redpoll (Nordlig Gråsisken) being their highlight. Yehonatan and Lauren enjoyed their first ever Northern Long-tailed Tit (Nordlig Halemejse) shortly after the mornings activities. In the afternoon I decided to walk along Nordstrand. My first Danish Caspian Gull (Kaspisk Måge) was nice to see, it has been a record winter for this species at Skagen with 5-10 individuals.

Caspian Gull by Dante

Meanwhile Yehonatan, Johanna and Lauren went to look for woodland birds and found several Waxwing (Silkehale) and Parrot Crossbill (Stor Korsnæb). Forecast snow and strong winds over the next few days should mix things up a bit…

Waxwing by Yehonatan

Skagen Fulfillment: Yehonatan ben aroia, Hanelie Sidhu, Johanna Veentjer, Dante Shepherd and Lauren Evans.

Jenne sø ringing totals (Michael Anker):

• Blue Tit (Blåmejse) 1
• Common Redpoll (Nordlig Gråsisken) 9

We started the morning going to do sea observation, Yehonatan, Hanelie, Joana and had a pretty slow morning with still not that many birds and alot of wind with some sand in the eyes.

Later we joined Michael Ancher, to ring at Jenne sø, all together. we had a few birds, but the wind was quite strong so we closed the nets early and went back to the station to eat a late breakfest 

In the after noon Simon came by to say hey and brought us some new wine glasses that we will surely use, and Joana made us a great pizza for dinner.

People-Yehonatan ben aroia, Eric Scheuering, Hanelie Sidhu, Johanna Veentjer, Dante Shepherd and Lauren Evens

Ringing at Jenne sø

Gråsisken-13

Grønsisken-1

Dear Blog Reader,

This morning was quiet. The rising sun put the and the sky in shing redish colors while Yehonatan, Eric and I went to Verdens Ende 3 for morning observations.

But we had a rather quiet morning. Some Whooper Svans “Sangsvane” were migrating, and again we had several Skylarks “Sanglærke” migrating, and although soon, we will hear their siongs from every Calluna field, it is always a pleasure to listen to their calls and songs. Besides big numbers of Gulls “Måge” also Oystercatcher “Strandskade” and Ringed Plover “Stør Præstekrave were resting at the tip and we saw a flock of 20 Snowbuntings “Snespurv” resting near Verdens Ende 3, which is more than we saw the last days, which gives us hope for our next attempt to catch them with Yehonathans nets in the weekend.

Did you already see the Black-throated Divers “Sørtstrubet Lom” at Grenen? There are two resting in the area, which we could observe several times already, also today.

Johanna went for a walk this morning. At Batteriskoven, she could observe one of the two Green Woodpeckers “Grønspætte” which are at Skagen for quite some time now.

Michael was ringing at Jennes Sø today and caught a Arctic Redpoll "Hvidsisken"!

Gulspurv: 1

Hvidsisken: 1

Lille Gråsisken: 1

Nordlig Gråsisken: 16

Total: 19

After lunch, we all went to Cormorant Lake to see, if the some Cormorants “Skarv” come to the nests already. But there were just a lot of Gulls “Måge”, having a bath at Cormorant Lake. On the way back, we could observe two Cranes “Trane” at Storsig very close.

We had a big shopping list, so after Cormorant Lake, Johanna, Yehonatan and I went grocery shopping. Now, Yehonatan is cooking for us and soon, Lauren and Dante will arrive, who will stay here for the rest of the year!

Take care!

Hanelie

Dagens observationer kan ses her

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

People:  Yehonatan ben aroia, Eric Scheuering, Hanelie Sidhu, Johanna Veentjer, Dante Shepherd and Lauren Evens

Hi everyone!
Today Hanelie, Eric and I went for morning observations while Yehonatan was looking for Snowbuntings.

The day started with clear sky, almost no wind and a beautiful sunrise. Beside the usual migrating seabirds, we also saw thousands of Jackdaws (Allike) migrating, as well as seven Buzzards (Musvåge).
After finishing the 4th hour, we went back to the station where Jørgen would pick us up (thanks a lot to Jørgen!).  Together we drove to different places in the area while the weather was brilliant. First we made a stop at Flagbakken and saw a Red Kite (Rød Glente) there. Afterwards we headed to Råbjerg Mile. There we got to see a pair of Cranes (Trane) at the small lakes next to the giant dune.

While walking back to the parking space, Hanelie discovered these interesting tracks. We weren’t really able to tell from what kind of animal they are.

On the way back to the station, we made a short stop near Hulsig, where we saw another pair of Cranes and a Sparrowhawk (Spurvehøg).

We spend the evening entering data and Eric made a delicious meal for us.

 Today's observations of observers in the area

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

People at the station: Yehonatan ben aroia, Eric Scheuering, Hanelie Sidhu, Johanna Veentjer, Jørgen Kabel and Igor

There was a little frost on the ground this morning as we walked to Verdens Ende 3 to start our morning observation and we knew that with the wind picking up again we would not enjoy the same calm and balmy conditions as we did yesterday when it almost felt like summer for a few minutes. With the return of some moderate wind out of the north we also noticed that the very visible migration we observed yesterday had all but stopped.

As the counting was quite slow, Yehonatan investigated two seals out at the point, one living and one dead. Two Common Ravens (Ravn) had already found the dead seal and were making breakfast out of it.

A sleepy, but alive, Harbor Seal pup. (Photo: Yehonatan ben aroia)

After our observations I walked back along the tractor track to look for any new birds that might have arrived there. While I didn't see anything new I did once again find the small flock of Reed Buntings (Rørspurv) that has been there for several weeks, if not longer.

Hanelie had noticed earlier that a Eurasian Green Woodpecker (Grønspætte) had been sighted yesterday near Batteriskoven so she and Yehonatan went in search of it and also for the Common Firecrest (Rødtoppet Fuglekonge) that had been found recently at Ellekrattet. They were able to easily find the Grønspætte and I met up with them after for the continued search for Rødtoppet Fuglekonge. Although we did not find it we did hear a Eurasian Bullfinch (Dompap) calling.

Grønspætte at Batteriskoven

While I have seen many Grønspætte and Rødtoppet Fuglekonge while living in Spain and Germany, I have not seen either species in Denmark and I know that they are both quite uncommon in the Skagen area. One of the resources I used to learn about the status and distribution of species is by looking at eBird (ebird.org). This is a great tool for finding out information on species and it also allows me to easily manage my sightings.

I am not much of a lister, at least a hardcore one, but eBird makes it so easy for me to know what species I've seen where, I can't help but keep track of things. For example, I know I've seen 88 species since I arrived in the Nordjylland region just over three weeks ago. It's also how I so easily knew I had not seen these two species in Denmark yet and that provided a little incentive for me to go and tick them even though I have seen many of them in other places over the last few years. I know there are a lot of other great resources and databases, particularly in Europe, DOFbasen being the obvious example, but it is a great resource for birders around the world and I encourage people to check it out if you've not already.

This afternoon we had a Zoom planning meeting with Simon and learned some more about the things that we will be working on in the coming days and weeks. It's amazing to learn about the diversity of projects that happen here and also impressive to think about the logistics and planning it takes to make all of these things happen. This evening Johanna has joined us, coming from Germany. She volunteered at Skagen in 2022 for a couple of weeks in September and will be here for the month of March. We're happy to have her here to help us out as things continue to get busier each day!

End-of-the-day UPDATE: I finally learned to play Wingspan! Thanks to Hanelie and Johanna for teaching me and Yehonatan how to play this very fun game.

Link to observations from today from observers in the area

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

People: Yehonatan ben aroia, Eric Scheuering, Hanelie Sidhu, Johanna Veentjer

I arrived back in Skagen on Sunday the 26th, after being here first in 2019, and what an amazing start to the season we had here at the station the last few days.

Monday morning we went to do the Fulmar survey, looking for dead birds, we didn't find any Fulmars but we came back with 1 Puffin and 1 Common gull after a really nice morning walk.

After we arrived back to the station, Hanelie told us someone saw Parrot crossbill (Stor Korsnæb) so we went there all together with Rie and right when we arrived we could see them quite easily resting on the top of the trees, what a cool bird!

Later that day everyone was talking about the Aurora and how it should be visible tonight, so even after the long day that we all had we decided to go out to try and see it. we left the house at around 22:00 at that time we could already see the aurora from the kitchen window, so we rushed to Kabbeltrummel Krattet to try and have a better view. by the time we arrived there the light were already kinda fainted and starting to disappear. we met there Jørgen Kabel, and looked at what left of the Aurora, then went back to sleep after a very long day

Photo: Jørgen Kabel

This morning (The 28th) we went early for sea observations together with Knud, the morning was quite slow, we really wanted to see some Shags (Topskarv) but they didn't want to show up. Later we went to try and see the Fircecrest thats hanging around Ellekrattet but with no succes.

We saw a few Goldcrest but not the Firecrest. (Fuglekonge)

Link to 26-28.2 observations-https://dofbasen.dk/search/result.php?design=table&soeg=soeg&periode=mellemdato&dato_first=26-02-2023&dato_second=28-02-2023&omraade=stor&stor=588&obstype=observationer&species=alle&sortering=dato

People: Yehonatan ben aroia, Eric Scheuering, Hanelie Sidhu, Jørgen Kabel, Knud Pedersen, Rie

Dear Blog-Reader,

Here we are again! The weather of the last days has not been the best, so there did not happen that many exciting things, but we were around and busy still, which I won´t deprive you of:

On Thursday morning, I went out to Verdens Ende 3 for Morning Observations.

Snow Buntings "Snespurv" at Verdens Ende 3

It was a grey day and the sight wasn´t very good. The hightlights of the first hour were very few Kittiwakes “Ride” migrating South-east. In the second hour, Eric joined me. This hour, we could observe a nice Velvet Scoter “Fløjlsand”. The numbers were very low that day but in the second hour even lower! So we decided to go home then.

At noon, Lisa, Simon, and his mom Karin came for a short while. Together, we had some coffee and cake, that Karin brought. Thanks!

Simon gave us some new tasks and helped me to update my ringing license. It was just a short visit for this time, as Simon and Lisa went to Germany the same day. In the afternoon, Eric and I went to town. We checked for the Waxwings “Silkehale” but did not see them in their apple tree near LIDL. We also checked the harbour, where we just saw very little Gulls “Måge”. While I did some office work and started preparing dinner, Eric went for a short evening walk, without seeing much. Where were just the birds?

The next day, the weather looked pretty much the same, just that it started raining a bit later the day. After getting up and checking the weather, we decided not to go observing that day. My bed looked much more comfortable than the university reports I had to write, so was it wrong to choose that alternative? Eric went for a morning walk at the tractor trac and so some Stonechats “Sortstrubet Bynkefugl”, Fieldfares “Sjagger” and Reed Buntings “Rørspurv”. The last Stonechat “Sortstrubet Bynkefugl”, I had seen was in autumn, that was to long ago, so I also needed to go. A very pretty male did me the pleasure to land on top of a bush for a bit and also Fieldfares “Sjagger” and Reed Buntings “Rørspurv” were still there for me. I also checked Kabeltrommle, which looked a bit sad and empty without nets. But maybe we will put up some soon. Afterwards, I fixed the oven at the station and then it was really time for my reports. Eric sorted the recapture letters of 2022, a pre-work for the year report.

This morning was windy but sunny. I went out for observations again. At least, there were birds again, the over 300 Auks “Lomvie/Alk” I counted in the first hour were not bad. But the wind was even colder then the last days. When I went back, I met Jørgen and Igor, sitting in the sun, in front of the bunker. This place was more sheltered and after sitting and talking with Jørgen for some time, and warming my hands in Igors warm fur, I was warm again. Maybe also because our conversation ended with warm butterfly days.

In the meantime, Eric had been in town, grocery shopping and checking the harbor. He had some Starlings “Stær” in town. We did the big Skagen cleaning today. As we spent the rest of the day inside, I needed a walk in the evening. The sunset looked very nice, but the wind was still icy.

Sunset behind the lighthouse

We had already seen three resting Red-breasted Merganser “Topped Skallesluger” out of the window and when I went out, I saw some more flying south-east, as well as some Rock Pipits “Skærpiber” and a little flock of Oystercatcher “Strandskade”. Eric had started preparing dinner, a new recipe, which I think was very good.

Tomorrow, we are looking forward to welcoming the third volunteer, Yehonatan.

Observations from 23.02. to 25.02.2023 from Observers in the area

See you, 

Hanelie

People: Simon Christiansen, Lisa Vergin, Karin Christiansen, Jørgen Kabel and Igor, Eric Scheuering, Hanelie Sidhu