Today, Solenn and I went to Grenen to observe, in addition to the common passerine species seen these last days: Goldfinch (Stillits), Redpoll (Gråsisken), Reed bunting (Rørspurv), Starlings (Stær), snow buntings (Snespurv) accompanied by 3 horned larks (bjerglærke) completed the count.

Aksel and Hanelie opened the nets at Kabeltromlen, joined by Diana. The morning was fruitful with the capture of birds including two great spotted woodpeckers (Stor Flagspætte), two brambling (Kvækerfinke) and two treecreepers (Træløber). Yannick and Sabine, Lisa's friends, joined the team again for part of the morning before leaving for Germany, we thank them for their precious help and wish them a safe return.

At the end of the morning, in the last round, many blue tits (Blåmejse) were also ringed. It is always a pleasure to have this common species in our nets in spite of its aversion to prick the fingers of the ringer!

Early this morning, the team also had the opportunity to see hen Harrier (Blå Kærhøg) fly over the area around Kabeltromlen. After in the morning, the team had also the chance to hear and sneak a glimpse of the Siberian Chiffchaff (Sibirisk gransanger), a subspecies of the Chiffchaff (Gransanger). This subspecies breeds in coniferous forests in Siberia and winters near the Himalayas. However, it is only occasionally seen in Western Europe during the winter. Its higher pitched and more melodious song distinguishes it from other subspecies. Enchanted, the team of the station hopes to capture one soon in the nets, let's cross our fingers.

The afternoon was devoted to data entry and verification for Lisa and me, a nap and the preparation of their presentations for Aksel and Solenn, while Diana went to the North beach to try to capture snow buntings (Snespurv) with seeds to attract them in a trap. In the next few days, the team hopes to capture a few of the 30 snow buntings (Snespurv) counted this morning. Thus, the team is working on the design of new traps so that at each observation session, traps are set to attract them.

Footprints of Snow buntings!

In the late afternoon, Diana saw a flock of several hundred grey gooses (Greylag goose) flying in the direction of the light house and Aksel went for a late walk where he captured this pretty moon.

By the way, the whole team is busy tonight setting up the nets in the hope of catching Boreal owl (Perleugle)!

Observations of the day in DOFbasen from observers in the area

People at the station: Diana Sciandra, Hanelie Sidhu, Solenn Boucher, Prescillia Lemesle, Aksel Munkholm, Simon S. Christiansen, Lisa Vergin and our guests Stig and Grethe

Hello everyone!

What a day full of emotions today, for all of us!  

This morning me and Prescillia went ringing at Kabeltromlen; we ringed 67 birds (without counting recaptures). It was quite a good day considering that it rained (rain wasn’t expected according to the weather forecast): we caught the first Fieldfare (Sjagger) of the autumn, a very beautiful juvenile bird. We weren’t alone enjoying all the beautiful birds caught in the nets: a family with 3 children stayed with us all the morning and also Lisa’s colleagues, Sabina and Jannick, helped a lot. I was really impressed about the knowledge of the children of the birds! I hope they will keep this passion since adulthood.

Fieldfare (Sjagger) and a rainbow.

At the same time we were ringing at Kabeltromlen, Solenn was ringing at Jennes Sø with Michael: they had a wonderful morning with 135 birds ringed! The observations today were done at Nordstrand by Aksel and Hanelie; they saw some birds, like Razorbills (Alk) migrating, Gannets (Sule) and a Bar-tailed godwit (Lille kobbersneppe), but the most exciting moment (certainly for Axsel, who spotted them) was the appearance of 20 Horned lark (Bjerglærke).

After the observations they went to Jennes Sø and helped Michael and Solenn closing the nets. Afterwards Hanelie came to Kabeltromlen and told us a little bit about the morning observations: I was really excited hearing about the Horned larks (Bjerglærke) because I have never seen one. They told us that the 20 individuals were feeding at the beach and that probably they were still there. So, after closing the nets at Kabeltromlen, me and Prescillia had a quick lunch and then we ran to Nordstrand. I arrived some minutes before her and I spotted those gorgeus birds, which were a little bit disturbed by people, but were very easy to be found. Prescilla came and took some pictures, then we shared our sighting with other birdwatchers at the beach.

After a while I needed to come back, to go to the grocery shop with Aksel and Hanelie. Prescillia returned home late, because she enjoyed a lot some rest at the beach. When all of us were home we decided (ok, not all together) to go to the beach in front of the lighthouse to bath in the sea; it is really a powerful feeling to be in the cold water of the Baltic Sea in a evening of October.

That bath regenerated us, so we are already recharged to begin a new day tomorrow!

Ringing (Kabeltromlen):

Fuglekonge: 31

Gransanger: 7

Trælober: 2

Gærdesmutte: 4

Grønsisken: 1

Rødhals: 7

Jernspurv: 2

Lille Gråsisken: 1

Rørspurv: 3

Munk: 6

Blåmejse: 4

Sangdrossel: 1

Sjagger: 1

Bongfinke: 1

Total: 71

Ringing Jennes Sø:

Gærdesmutte: 2

Rødhals: 7

Rødstjert: 1

Munk: 1

Gransanger: 2

Fuglekonge: 4

Blåmejse: 6

Musvit: 1

Træløber, Nordlig (ssp. familiaris): 1

Nordlig Gråsisken: 11

Lille Gråsisken: 98

Rørspurv: 1

Total: 135

Observations of the day in DOFbasen from observers in the area

People at the station: Diana Sciandra, Hanelie Sidhu, Solenn Boucher, Prescillia Lemesle, Aksel Munkholm, Simon S. Christiansen, Lisa Vergin, Michael Anker, Sabine Urban, Jannik Beninde our guests Stig and Grethe 

Hi everybody,

Today is the first day of the 30th Eurobirdwatch, an annual event held on the first weekend of October and set to provide a snapshot of Europe's birdlife at a time when most of the birds are in motion. Eurobirdwatch is the largest event of the BirdLife partnership in Europe and Asia, aiming at raising awareness of the need to save migratory birds, and how important it is to protect bird habitats, breeding areas, stopover sites and flyways. Today, 60 birdwatchers located in Denmark have turned their scopes and binoculars to the migratory birds, providing detailed bird counts to be compared with other places as well as with previous years. Between 9am and 12am, 8600 birds of 34 species have been detected. Here is our contribution!

Braving the wind, Diana and Hanelie went observing at Nordstrand while Prescillia stayed at Cormorant Lake ; both had visitors for EuroBirdWatch event, who seemed very enthusiastic about bird watching with us. Aksel & I went to World End 3, starting the day with a beautiful pink sunrise; we were quite successful at protecting ourselves from the wind, but our stuff ended up being buried beneath a good pile of sand by the end of the morning. On her way back, Hanelie also quickly went by Stald Grenen. Although no rarities were detected, nor any record number of migrating species, we still enjoyed watching 19 migrating species including tufted ducks Troldand and crossbills Korsnæb, but also many resting species such as pintails Spidsand as well as the 36 snowbuntings Snespurv feeding at World End 3 !

Back home we cleaned the flat and took a well-deserved nap after these last intense days, while Prescillia cooked crepes for dinner. Simon had a productive meeting about the “Birds for all” project, a socio-scientific transgenerational project during which grandparents would take children out on nature tour, with help of provided media support; let’s hope some of these kids will someday volunteer here at the station !

We also had news from a robin Rødhals ringed at Kabeltromlen on the 12^th of September, that traveled all the way to Lopik in Holland, more than 700 km away, within 12 days! Although we are happy that this recapture makes us learn more about bird migration, the bird was sadly recovered dead after it flew into a window; to all those reading our blog, this is a good reminder that you, too, can make your home safer to local and migrant birds by placing stickers on your windows.

Tomorrow morning Aksel and Hanelie will go observing at World End 3 while Diana, Prescillia, Simon, Lisa and their friends Sabina and Jannick will ring at Kabeltromlen; you are welcome to join!

Cheers,

People at the station: Diana Sciandra, Hanelie Sidhu, Solenn Boucher, Prescillia Lemesle, Aksel Munkholm, Lisa Vergin, Simon S. Christiansen, their friends Sabina and Jannick and our guests Bent and Åse.

Today’s Observations in the area on DOFBasen

Hi everyone!

As it was a long and full day and a short night, I´ll try to keep this Blog short but with many pictures. Maybe you could imagine it already as I am mentioning the short night, in the night from yesterday to today, we went out nightcatching at Skarvsøen. We split up in two teams, Prescillia and me, as we were such a god team the night bevore and Solenn and Johanna. But as we had clear sky with no clouds, the birds were much more alert and flighty and there were also less at the lake than the nights before. But nevertheless, Johanna and Solenn turned the night into a great success: They caught a Little Stint “Dværgryle”.

Apart from that, three new captured Jacksnipes and Prescillia and I had one recapture. It was a great last night for Johanna and unfortunately, we also had to say goodbye to her as she went back to Germany this morning because soon, the next big adventure will start, Johanna will begin her first Semester at university! All the best for that Johanna! It was a great and ay to short time with you but we already heart, that you will come again next summer!

This morning then, Solenn, Aksel and Johanna, went to Kabeltrommle Johanna joined for the first round bevor she had to catch her train. It was a very good autumn ringing day with record numbers of Redpolls “Gråsisken” migrating, Stor as well as Lille.

But as it was so busy, they did not have time to count, as they had 152 birds today at Kabeltromle! The nets were open until two o´clock so that also Diana and Prescillia could join. They were observing at Verdens Ende 3 today. They had many passerines, Goldfinches “Stillits”, Reed Buntings “Rørspurv” and also a lot of Redpolls “Gråsisken”. Diana was very happy about 36 Snowbuntings “Snespurv” at the beach near the dunes. On the sea there was not so much going on, but they had again some nice Razorbills “Alk” migrating.

I joined Michael and so I was ringing at Jennes Sø for the first time which was a great Experience especially on such a good ringing day. We also had many birds, 126, and mainly Redpolls “Gråsisken”. But also one Treecreeper “Treløber” and a nice Crested Tit “Topmejse”.

Bent and Åse also joined for the ringing at Jennes Sø. Afterwards we met Poul Jenne himself who invited for some drinks.

Back at the station, I entered all the Kabeltrommle Data while Solenn was cooking, Diana and Aksel were repairing bird boxes and Prescillia was cleaning the dirty waders we used at the cormorant lake.

Tomorrow it will rain, but in the morning, we will be out observing, especially as it is the European Bird Watch Day tomorrow!

See you, Hanelie

Ringing Cormorant Lake (yesterday, 29.09.2022 night)

Enkeltbekkasin : 3

Dværgryle : 1

Ringing (Kabeltromlen) :

Dompap : 3

Lille Domap : 3

Stor Dompap : 3

Rørspurv : 12

Munk : 8

Blåmjese : 5

Bogfinke : 3

Rødhals : 26

Gærdesmutte : 11

Jernspurv : 3

Rødstjert : 1

Gråsisken : 3

Lille Gråsisken : 12

Stor gråsisken : 8

Gransanger : 18

Fuglekonge : 24

Musvit : 1

Vindrossel : 1

Solsort : 1

Sangdrossel : 2

Ringing Jennes Sø:

Gærdesmutte: 2

Rødhals: 12

Solsort: 2

Munk: 2

Gransanger: 4

Fuglekonge: 13

Topmejse: 2

Blåmejse: 5

Musvit: 2

Nordlig Træløber: 1

Gønsisken: 13

Lille Gråsisken: 68

Total: 282

Observations of the day in DOFbasn from observers in the area

NocMig 22./23.09.2022 by Lars Mogensen

People at the station: Diana Sciandra, Hanelie Sidhu, Solenn Boucher, Johanna Veentjer, Prescillia Lemesle, Aksel Munkholm, Michael Anker, Lisa Vergin, Simon S. Christiansen and our guests Bent and Åse

Hi everyone!

After some stormy and rainy days the sun finally came out today. Solenn and I were out with Knud for morning observation at Nordstranden. Our guests Åse and Bent joined us as well. We saw for example velvet scoters (Fløjlsand), teals (Krikant), wigeons (Pibeand), red-breasted Merganser (Toppet skallesluger) and the usual other species.

Diana and Prescillia spend the morning at the Cormorant Lake, where they saw different species of ducks, for example Pintails (Spidsand), waders and gulls. There was also a Sparrowhawk (Spurvehøg) who came for several times and chased most of the birds away.

Aksels day started really good too, as he saw a Great Grey Shrike (Stor Tornskade) in the lighthouse garden just after he went out of the door.  He also took some pictures of it – you can see one of them below.

Afterwards he went to Grenen and spotted six Snow Buntings (Snespurv)!  We were all exited about the Snow Buntings (Snespurv ) and luckily all of us managed to see them. I have never seen some before! Aksel also observed waders and gulls there and took some pictures, like the one of the Grey Plover (Strandhjejle) below.

In the afternoon we entered the data and checked equipment. Soon four of us will be out at the Cormorant Lake to go night-catching. Let’s hope we will be successful!

Unfortunately this was my last day at the ringing station this year. I really enjoyed my time here in Skagen, surrounded by beautiful nature and amazing people, sharing their knowledge with me. I’m very grateful for all the experiences I made here and I’m looking forward to come back!

NocMig 21.09.-22.09.2022

Observations of the day from Observers in the area

People at the station: Diana Sciandra, Hanelie Sidhu, Solenn Boucher, Johanna Veentjer, Prescillia Lemesle, Aksel Munkholm, Knud Pedersen, Simon S. Christiansen and our guests Bent and Åse

Hej alle sammen

Jeg vil starte med at fortælle lidt omkring nattens strabadser. Vi forsøgte os igen med natfangst ved skarvsøgen ved brug af håndnet og lommelygter. Vi gik all in i forsøget på at fange lige så mange fugle som natten til tirsdag, og var derfor i gang fra 20 til 24 med skiftende hold.

Trods længere tid og flere personer blev det dog ikke nemmere at fange fuglene. Vadefuglene er nemlig ikke så dumme igen som deres kluntet udseende ellers kan mislede én til at tro. Som aftenen skred frem, lugtede de efterhånden lunten, og blev mere bevidste omkring lyset og vores tilstedeværelse. De fløj derfor hurtigere væk når lyskeglen fra lommelygten ramte dem, hvilket gjorde fangsten noget mere besværlig. Til trods for dette endte fangsten dog med at være en succes. Vi fangede 13 fugle i alt; 11 enkeltbekkasiner, 1 almindelig ryle og 1 stor præstekrave, hvoraf en enkeltbekkasin var en genfangst fra dagen før. I kan lige få et billede af den meget tykke og velnæret Stor præstekrave.

Inden vi havde få ringmærket de sidste fugle og pakket sammen, var klokken næsten 02. Det var derfor et par trætte observatører i form af mig og Johanna, som sammen med Knud stod for den første del af obsen i dag. I løbet af morgenen fik vi også tilslutning fra resten af fuglestationens frivillige. Der var kraftig vind fra øst i dag, så vi byttede derfor vores faste obs-post (verdens ende 3) ud med Nordstranden. Her var det nemlig muligt at sidde i læ for vinden, samtidig med at fuglene blev presset tæt ind mod kysten. Highlight fra obsen var helt klar en trækkende islom som kom flyvende pænt forbi. Derudover var der en del trækkende alke i dag, som kom flyvende tæt forbi stranden.

En trist observation fra i dag var dog, at der kom en sule flyvende med et større stykke plastik hængende ud af munden. Ligeså havde vores gæster (Bent og Åse) også samlet en større mængde plastik på deres gåtur langs stranden.

Skarvsøen havde også flere gaver at byde på efter nattens fangster. Efter obsen tog Knud et smut forbi søen, hvor han spottede en sortrygget hvid vipstjert, som også Hanalie og Prescillia fik fornøjelsen af at se.

Resten af dagen blev for os alle brugt på at indhente den manglende søvn fra natten samt nogle praktiske opgaver på stationen.

Se dagens observationer her

Ringmærkede fugle:

Enkeltbekkasin: 10

Almindelig ryle: 1

Stor præstekrave: 1

Total: 12

Personer på stationen: Diana Sciandra, Hanelie Sidhu, Solenn Boucher, Johanna Veentjer, Prescillia Lemesle, Aksel Munkholm, Simon S. Christiansen, Lisa Vergin og vores gæster (Bent og Åse)

Hello everyone,

After a rainy day, the night was much more conclusive!

Optimistically, at nightfall, Aksel, Diana, Solenn and Hanelie headed to Cormorant Lake to try to net some waterfowl.

Armed with our flashlights and nets, in the silence of the night, the team then completed by Johannah and Prescillia worked from 9pm to 11:30pm to capture a beautifull results of 9 waders.

Back at the station, with Simon and Lisa, the captured birds were ringed:

- 1 Common snipe (Dobbeltbekkasin)

- 1 Ring-plover (Stor præstekrave)

- 7 Jack snipe (Enkeltbekkasin)

 Total: 9 birds

The team began aging the snipes, a not-so-simple task that requires looking at certain patterns on the tertiary remiges that are difficult to discern if the feathers are wet.

This night capture also gave Diana's "best moment in a banding station", seeing with pleasure her first short-eared owl (Mosehornugle) which unfortunately was not captured.

The whole team went back to their beds in the night but happy with these captures, which for some volunteers were their first shorebirds!

The team recuperated during this rainy day, each one working to enter, verify the data and prepare the future presentations. Solenn, Aksel, Hannelie, Diana and Johannah played Wingspan this afternoon, while I did some work on my computer.

Now, everyone is already ready and enthusiastic for potential new captures this evening...!

Observations of the day in DOFbasn from observers in the area

People at the station: Diana Sciandra, Hanelie Sidhu, Solenn Boucher, Johanna Veentjer, Prescillia Lemesle, Aksel Munkholm, Lisa Vergin, Simon S. Christiansen and our guests Bent and Åse

Hello everyone!

Today has been a slow day for everyone: it rained a lot, so in the morning we stayed at home. We used the time to check the sheets, entering data on DOFbasen and introducing Prescillia on every activities of the station. We had lunch all together and in the afternoon we kept working at home; Hanelie and I started looking for information about our future presentations and we chose our main themes. Solenn continued analyzing the recordings made during two nights of the last week and Johanna and Prescillia worked with their computer at other projects.

Some drawing I started this morning: do you recognize the species? 

Aksel went outside and tried to spot the Black woodpecker (Sortspætte) which was seen in the past days in the area, but he didn’t see it. He didn’t found not even some cool mushrooms he was looking for in the area, but he enjoyed spending some time outside and when he came home he took a nap. Meanwhile, all of us were energized because with Simon we decided to try tonight waders night-catching at the Cormorant Lake, despite the cold and the rain (actually it helps a lot during this kind of catching). After Simon left we started playing Wingspan; Solenn won, and we believe that she made the record (114 points!!!) for the station! Later Johanna went outside to take some fresh air and she loved the sighting of the sea, with the clouds full of rain just above it.

Now we are ready to go outside: we will be two groups (me & Hanelie and Solenn & Aksel), we had no dinner but we are super ready! 

Solutions about the drawings: there are a European storm petrel (Lille stormsvale) and a Little stint (Dværgryle). 

People at the station: Diana Sciandra, Hanelie Sidhu, Solenn Boucher, Johanna Veentjer, Prescillia Lemesle, Aksel Munkholm, Simon S. Christiansen, Lisa Vergin

Observations of the day in DOFbasen from observers in the area

Hi everyone,

This morning, we split up in three teams: Solenn an I went to Verdens Ende 3 to do the morning observations. The sea was very flat and there was not much migration going on. But apart from resting Gannets „Sule“ and Common Scoters „Sortand“ we had some Razorbills „Alk“ migrationg and quite a lot resting on the water. There was also a Great Scua „Storkjove“ and a lightmorph Arctic Scua „Almindelig Kjove“ and it was nice to see them together. There were also a lot of passerines over Land, bur they were not really migrating: Goldfinches „Stillits“, Reed Buntings „Rørspurv” Chaffinches ”Bogfinke”, Starlings ”Stær”, I even saw one Fieldfare ”Sjagger” and the Goldcrests ”Fuglekonge” were coming our dune and sitting in the high grass on the dunes! Later, Solenn went to the tip to cout the waders and read some Gull Rings. She was very succesfull with reading rings and there was even a Great-Black-Backed Gull ”Svartbag” with a orange ring! Later, Solenn found out, that it ringed in Sussex in Great Britain. But the ring has been read in Skagen already in 2019. In the flock of Gulls, there was also a Great Scua ”Storkjove” resting and Solenn took a very cute picture.

Great Skua "Storkjove"

In the meantime, Diana and Prescillia went to the Cormorant Lake. There were many waders as Little Stint ”Dværgryle”, Ruff ”Brushane” Grey Plover ”Strandhjeile”, Lapwing ”Vibe”, Dunlin ”Almindelig Ryle” and they even saw a Jack Snipe ”Enkelbekassin”.

Jack Snipe "Enkelbekassin"

Johanna took the train to Jerup, she had to bike very fast, as she left the staton quite late. But she managed to catch the train and arrived at a very foggy Jerup.

But she had a very nice morning there, she saw 17 Bar-tailed Godwits ”Lille Kobbersneppe”, a lot of Dunlins ”Almindelig Ryle”, also Sanderlings ”Sandløber”, Ringed Plover ”Stor Præstekrave”, Oystercatchers ”Strandskade” and impressingly big flocks of Greylegs ”Grågas”.

When we were all back from our mornig activities, we hanged the bird bags, that we had washed, to dry. It was not as easy as it sound as all the strings of the bags were tangelt, so we had to entangel them first, which took some time. Finally, when we managed, we went to town all together because Johanna wanted to eat with us at her favorite Fish and Chips restaurant at the harbour.

Afterwards, we went quickly to the backery for a little dessert, then we headed back to the station.

We welcomed our new guests Åse and Bent, who I knew already from their visit in March! Then Diana, Johanna and Prescillia went tho the Radar mast as we needes to cut some bushes there to put up the solar pannel soon. Solenn and I went to Kabeltromlen to moove some nets to another place. While we were working, Simon called. He was back in Skagen from his weekend at Aggertange and proposed us to go wader-nightcatching at Jerup. That was a very spontaneous plan an when we went back to the bird observatory, we had less then one hour to prepare all necessary things for nightchatching: Rings, Poles, nets, speakes, USB-Sticks with wader-sounds … But we managed, it was very good team work and when Simon arrived at 19 o´clock, he admitted to be a bit surprised, that we were ready. But when we arrived at Jerup, there were hunters hunting ducks and geese and nearly no wades on the beach. We were a bit annoyed and drove back because like that, nightcatching would not make sense. When we were back and having dinner, Aksel also came back from his weekend that he spent at his grandmas birthday.

Tomorrow it will probably rain but we will check if we can still go out in the morning, otherwise we will maybe be out in the field later, depending on the weather.

Observations of the day in DOFbasn from observers in the area

So lets hope that the waether the next days will be better than the forcarst.

See you soon!

Hanelie

People at the station: Diana Sciandra, Hanelie Sidhu, Solenn Boucher, Johanna Veentjer, Prescillia Lemesle, Aksel Munkholm, Simon S. Christiansen

Today's observations in the area on DOFBasen

Hi everyone!

We weren’t ringing today and unfortunately the weather was also too wet and foggy to do the morning observation. So we spend the morning painting, playing Wingspan and enjoying our time together. We also cleaned up our flat. These beautiful paintings are from Diana:

In the afternoon all of us decided to go birding in different places. I went to Stokmilen and the forest around the “Tilsandede Kirke”. I was amazed by a Crested Tit (Topmejse) I spotted on a branch and I also saw some Coal Tits (Sortmejse), two Great Spotted Woodpeckers (Stor Flagspætte), an Eurasian Jay (Skovskade) and some other common birds. Furthermore I saw some Sanderlings (Sandløber) and a Ringed Plover (Stor Præstekrave) on the beach.

Diana went to the Cormorant Lake where she saw two Grey Plovers (Strandhjejle), Ringed Plovers (Stor Præstekrave), Ruffs (Brushane) and some other species as well while Solenn went to the tip where she saw for example Eiders (Ederfugl), Cormorants (Skarv), Razor Bills (Alk), Red Knots (Islandsk Ryle ; see below) and a Golden Plover (Hjejle). Hanelie went to the Harbour but there were not so many birds today, apart from a Rock Pipit (Skærpiper) and some Eiders (Ederfugl).

In the evening we were happy to meet our new french volunteer Prescillia, who will stay at the bird observatory until December. Welcome to the team !

People at the station: Diana Sciandra, Hanelie Sidhu, Solenn Boucher, Johanna Veentjer, Prescillia Lemesle