Hello everyone!

We went to sleep yesterday with high hopes for today. Not for the Morning obs, though, as heavy fog was forecasted and we weren't sure we'd see much. Rather, we were hoping to see a walrus "hvalros" because one was seen some kilometers away from Skagen. After thinking about how best to get there, by train or hitchhiking, a much easier solution was found: we told our guests, Elin and Jens, who we have already taken to our hearts, about the walrus "hvalros". They were immediately enthusiastic and offered to take three of us with them, there was no more room in the car. But Robbe was confident, hitchhiking was an exciting alternative for the rest of us. For this morning, it was agreed that two of us would check the weather to see if the fog allowed a morning obs. Marion and I got up early and looked out the window. But we didn't see much because of the fog, only a few lights very close in the yard. This did not improve in the following hours. So for some of us, it was longer sleep, for others an earlier breakfast and meditate/ office work/ laundry. When everyone was out of bed, Robbe took part in an online university course, the highlight of which was when Marion came in and Robbe, with the microphone on, asked whether she had slept well. Meanwhile, Alice and I were in the attic sewing nets. Marion joined Robbe with work for the university for her master thesis and started to sort ringing data from Blåvand and Gedser. Robbe meanwhile also prepared a bird quiz for tomorrow, there should even be a prize, we are already curious. Sarah-Lou made a morning walk to the harbor and, despite the fog, she enjoyed the also somewhat eerie atmosphere on the coast. Then, she visited the Skagen Museum and was impressed by the paintings. Jens and Elin also biked in the morning to town and to the harbor, where they saw many Eiders "Ederfugle" and also Snow Buntings "Snespurv" and left the fish stores deterred by the high prices again.

At noon it was then really enough with the university work and the attic unfortunately was once again a little cold. But Marion made us pasta with delicious zucchini sauce. The plan was originally afterwards to drive with the guests to the place where the walrus "hvalros" was seen. But unfortunately, it turned out already in the morning that it had gone on the way again. Perhaps in the direction of Skagen? Hope dies last...

Nevertheless, we made a trip with Elin and Jens. They drove us to Råbjerg Mile and took Marion and me in the car, while Robbe and Alice confidently went hitchhiking. At the train station, we met Sarah-Lou, who also went with us to the moving sand dune. When we arrived there, Alice and Robbe were still walking and looking for a car to take them. Jens and Elin offered to pick them up as well, but the two were determined to make their plan work. So the five of us climbed the sandhills of Råbjerg Mile.

We saw Whooper Swans "Sangsvane", eight Cranes "Trane" flying over as well as three cute Snow Buntings "Snespurv" that were taking a bath.

Finally, Robbe and Alice called, two Italians who had the same destination had kindly given them a ride. Now, we just had to find each other in the sand dunes but that worked out. So the group was happily reunited. Together we discovered two resting cranes, to which we also came reasonably close so that we could see them well through binoculars.

We were all satisfied with our trip, Jens, Elin, Marion, Sarah-Lou and I got back into the car comfortably, while Alice and Robbe had to look for a ride again. However, they did see Coal Tits "Sortmejse", Blue Tits "Blåmejse", Crested Tits "Topmejse", Goldcrests "Fuglekonge", Whopper Swans "Sangsvane", Buzzards "Musvåge" and Crossbills "Lille Kornsnæb" along the way, so it had been worth it.

And this time it didn't take so long until two drivers offered to give them a ride and even drove them to Det Grå Fyr. After the Evening Meeting, there was a real feast today, Elin and Jens had cooked for us and it was like in a Michelin Restaurant.

There were several incredibly delicious courses and afterwards we were all full and satisfied. Then had an online meeting with Simon. Now, I´m sitting here, it´s quiet at the station, you can only hear the dishwasher, it´s late again with the blog. In this sense, good night, see you tomorrow!

Hanelie

People: Robbe Cool, Hanelie Sidhu, Alice Scalzo, Marion L'Huillier-Hunsinger, Elin and Jens Vrang, and Sarah-Lou.

Hello there !

Marrion, Hanelie and I left for Grenen early this morning.

People : Knud Pedersen, Robbe Cool, Hanelie Sidhu, Jørgen Kabel & Igor, Alice Scalzo, Marion L'Huillier-Hunsinger, Elin and Jens Vrang, and Sarah-Lou.

Hello everyone,

First I want to start this blog with very exciting news: Esben, Hanelie and I saw the northern lights while being out for night captures yesterday evening! They were faint but as it was our first time that did not limit our happiness. Forecasts predict that there might be some again today and maybe even brighter, so I advise all of you to have at least a quick look outside tonight, so you don’t miss them. After this nice sighting, we went to bed to then wake up to some amazing sunrise colours once again.

Today’s observation team consisted of Alice, Robbe and me. The wind was coming straight towards us, so it was quite chilly. Most of the birds did not seem to appreciate it much either as they were very few passing by, especially regarding sea migration. Even Northern Gannets (Sule) and Common Scoters (Sortand) were not present in many numbers or were just resting. The horizon was also pretty empty without the impressive flocks of Common Guillemots (Lomvie) and Razorbills (Alk). We did see more Whooper Swans (Sangsvane) than the previous day and so we might be seeing more from now on. Hopefully, the wind conditions will be better this coming week and we will get to see more individuals and species although it might mean having to be out on windier days. But this observation session was nonetheless enjoyable as we also were joined by other birders including Jørgen and Erik. We always enjoy having some company so if you ever see a couple of people with telescopes at Grenen in the morning don’t hesitate to come and say hello. One of the important birders that were also here this morning is already a famous representative of this blog who is capable of intensely staring at all birds passing by but also raising everyone’s mood. I am of course talking about Igor the beloved dog whose skills can be proved by the following photo.

As the migration was really slow apart from land migration, Alice and I ended up leaving a bit earlier while Robbe stayed until 11 am to finish the count with the locals. Once we were back, we started entering the observations on DOFbasen which you can check with the link below alongside records made by other local observers. We also cooked a mushroom risotto for lunch and decided to eat it outside to enjoy the sun and be ready in case a flock of raptors or other uncommon birds would appear. Hanelie and Esben could not join us for this meal as they were still busy planning the raptor GPS project for which we hope to share results in the coming weeks.

Observations of the day in DOFbasn from observers in the area

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

With a full belly, all three of us felt quite sleepy and we enjoyed a chill afternoon. Then, we got the chance to meet our two new guests Elin and Jens Vrang. They are from Frederiksberg, Copenhagen, but actually drove from Funen today. They even saw a White-tailed Eagle (Havørn) on the way while we were waiting to see one in Skagen! They already stayed at the station last year and we are looking forwards to spending time with them throughout evening meetings and some dinners among other things.

Tonight, we are going to be planning the coming week, but we also want to go for a night walk in the hope of seeing the northern lights. And the dinner of the day was an Asian turn on couscous with broccoli and peanut butter sauce cooked by Robbe. And tomorrow we will see Knud again for part of the migration count.

We hope you are looking forward to the new week like we are and hopefully we will meet more of you in the coming days.

Marion

People : Esben E. Hansen, Robbe Cool, Hanelie Sidhu, Alice Scalzo, Marion L'Huillier-Hunsinger, Elin and Jens Vrang.

Dear birdwatchers,

As usual, Alice, Hanelie, and I woke up early again to be at Worlds end 3 before sunset. This was the first time for the team to count without Knud. But with all the training we got from him, we worked like a well-oiled machine with Hanelie and Alice focusing on the sea and me on the land. The day started again with big flocks of jackdaws “allike” but today the hooded crows “gråkrage” were present too with almost 1000 individuals migrating to Sweden. The weather was cloudier and colder than the previous days and that was clearly not appreciated by the siskins. As many siskins “Grønsisken” migrated northeast last week, they started to return today. After three hours, the migration stopped almost completely and we decided to call it a day. We took an alternative route to return to the station and visited the ringing spot where we will spend many hours next months.

In the meantime, Marion had a relaxing start of her day. She helped us with entering the data and continued working on her Masterthesis. As lunch, we first had some tasty banana bread and then an alternative version of chili sin carne with salt chips which was actually much better than nachos. Thereafter, we replaced our birding skills with cleaning skills and made the lighthouse bright and shiny again. Everyone needed some rest after this intense week and we decided to have a chill afternoon. I took a nap and then went to my cameratrap to upload the videos. It was already evening when I arrived and many water rails “vandrikse” made their last calls of the day. I had no less than 450 videos in two days! Unfortunately, the wind pretended to be an animal and triggered the trap every minute.

When I came back at the station, Esben had arrived after working a whole day for the Raptor GPS project. Because he is still here, Marion and Hanelie could go nightcatching with him. They didn’t catch anything but a fake pigeon. We had a nice dinner prepared by Alice and prepared our plans for tomorrow.

Next week, it’s going to be the four of us most of the time because Simon went to Germany for a week. Luckily, we can welcome some new guests tomorrow and Monday, a (new) friend of mine is joining the team for three days. No day is dull here!

I hope you all had a lovely Saturday with better birding weather than we had.

Observations of the day in DOFbasn from observers in the area

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

Robbe

People : Esben E. Hansen, Robbe Cool, Hanelie Sidhu, Marion L'Huillier-Hunsinger and Alice Scalzo

Good evening dear blog readers!

Now, there is finally some variety in the blog and other volunteers whose texts you can enjoy. But today it is my turn again to tell you about our adventures. Simon and Esben came yesterday in the late evening to the station, we were waiting for them after one after the other went to bed.

This morning, Marion and Robbe went to Grenen to the Morning Obs with Knud. Alice and I meanwhile stayed here and opened the nets in the lighthouse garden. We sacrificed a pack of our breakfast oats and pumpkin seeds to feed the birds at the nets. We also set our little trap with the worms on the beach again and used sound to attract the Rock Pipits "Skærpiber". Today we also prepared a bigger trap and hung worms in it, Esben helped us a bit. We also used sound on the nets but caught nothing. But when we checked the Pipit Trap for the second time, we were very excited: The trap was closed and a Rock Pipit "Skærpiber" was jumping around in it, it had eaten our two worms. It was already ringed, with a colour ring from Norway. We took it to the lab and called Simon, who came to take the measurements with Alice and explain how to age a Rock pipit. it was a 3K+ bird. Afterwards there was a photo session before I released the little guy.

The morning brought no more birds and at 11 o´clock,  Alice and I closed the nets and took the traps back to the lab. Afterwards the lab was swept and soon Marion and Robbe arrived from Grenen. Their highlights were the Glaucous Gull "Gråmåge" and some Cranes "Trane" in the distance. And again, the Snow Buntings "Snespurv" pleased our observers.

The weather was good and today also Marion got the chance to meet Jørgen and Igor.  When we went upstairs to the station, we planned the afternoon with Simon, because there was still a lot planned for today. We had lunch together and soon Esben, Simon, and Alice left to prepare practical work for the Raptor GPS project. This is a project to find out more about the offshore migration of raptors to Norway and Sweden.

However, the three had to set off twice, the second time Marion came with them as well. But that was not so bad, because so they could buy a few things and Simon could drive Robbe and me in the afternoon to the parking lot at Nordstrand. Karin also came with us, because her stay in Skagen was now finally over and Simon drove her afterwards to the train station from where the journey now goes back to Germany. Robbe and I met Knud at the parking lot and went to the Cormorant Lake to cut reeds. At the lake, we put on the waders and went into the lake with the hedge cutters. It almost seemed as if we had already practised this scene in a light version yesterday on our wet walk back to the station. And again I was the one who stayed with dry feed, yesterday because I was the only one wearing rubber boots, today because Robbes waders had a hole in them. So I waded to the deeper parts of the lake to cut the reeds, while Robbe stayed rather in the shallower water and did the work there. Knud cheered us on from the edge of the lake and directed us where to cut.

Foto: Knud Pedersen

Now you all have a great view of the lake again and soon hopefully many breeding cormorants. After all the reeds were cut we went for a short walk where Knud showed us the whole lake and explained how the land changes and also how the lake was formed. He took us back to the lighthouse but the others were not there yet. After some time Simon, Esben, Alice, and Marion came back, who were on the way for the Raptor GPS project and did some shopping for us. We had quite a long evening meeting today and then we had super delicious vegetarian nutchos that Marion had cooked for us today.

Today’s observations in Dofbasen from observers in the area

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

From the oven, it smells just besides delicious after banana bread, which Esben makes for us.  With this delicious smell in the nose, we´re now slowly going to bed, see you tomorrow!

Hanelie

People: Esben E. Hansen, Simon S. Christiansen, Knud Pedersen, Robbe Cool, Hanelie Sidhu, Marion L'Huillier-Hunsinger,  Alice Scalzo and Karin

Hi there !

People : Simon S. Christiansen, Robbe Cool, Hanelie Sidhu, Knud Pedersen, Marion L'Huillier-Hunsinger, Alice Scalzo, and Karin.

Hello fellow birders and bird enthusiasts,

I hope some of you had the chance to catch the lovely sunrise this morning and enjoyed the clear sky and sunny weather. From our side, we were already on our way to Grenen and during our walk there we got to admire the sky painting in bright colors and the sun slowly rising. This morning was particularly nice to go bird watching as there was very limited wind and the warmth of the sun. It was under these nice conditions that Alice, Robbe and I met Knud for the first time during our walk and we all settled down with our telescopes ready to observe the daily migration.

For any of you that have the time, the next two days should hopefully also be sunny with very little wind so it could be a nice opportunity to watch the sunrise. From the beginning, all of us appreciated the golden lighting turning some of the majestic birds into silhouettes carved out in the sky. Knud explained to us how we count and record these numerous birds and spread out the task. The observations then started with all five of us ready. We especially appreciated seeing all these birds flying past after seeing so many dead ones yesterday. For some of us, we had our first sightings of some sea birds, for others it was a chance to see more individuals than they had in the past.

Some of the species that granted us the pleasure of their presence today include numerous Common Eiders (Edderfugl), Northern Gannets (Sule), Common Scoters (Sortand). In lesser numbers, but nevertheless, interesting sightings, included Eurasian Wigeons (Pibeand) and Light-Bellied Brent Geese (Lysbuget Knortegås). The highlights was a young Iceland Gull (Hvidvinget måge) and a Shag (Topskarv). The latter quite far away though, migrating out of Kattegat. On the other hand, we are still waiting to see our first living Atlantic Puffin (Lunde). This session was also truly useful to get used to the species commonly seen at this time of year and the communication within the group as well as Knud's expertise promoted a great learning experience.

Today's observations in Dofbasen from observers in the area

From now on, we will also summarize all the raptor observations made in Skagen the previous day and add the link to that summary. Today's summary is very short as only one observation was entered.

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

When we came back to Skagen Bird Station, we got to enjoy a fresh and yummy meal to refuel our bodies. This food was offered to us by lovely people who met up yesterday at the station to have a discussion session around the theme of the sea. Their goal was to raise questions and give their opinions on what the sea inspires them on a poetic level but also the economic and ecological aspects that come with it. We had the chance to get introduced to some of them while unknowingly attempting to catch mice as mentioned in yesterday's blog by Robbe. Around this meal, we also learn more about each other and the joyful atmosphere in these moments shows great promise for the future and the team cohesion.

For a short digestive walk, Hanelie, Alice and Robbe climbed up the lighthouse to see the view from the top. Later on, we tried to capture some European Rock Pipits (Skærpiber) using traps and audio recordings on the beach. We had previously spotted individuals with rings and were hopeful to trap one of these. As soon as the trap was in place and the call was playing, a ringed individual approached it! Unfortunately, dogs and people enjoying a nice walk passing by scared it away a couple of times. In the end, even with no distractions, it got close to the trap again but did not end up going in. So, this mission is postponed to another day so look out for future updates on it.

Meanwhile, Simon also had multiple meetings, one of which was around the idea of ??building an educational platform around birds. While this project is still far away, you should keep an eye out for it as it could be a great tool and more accessible than regular written guides. He also got his car back thanks to Rie Voertmann again who gave him a lift. He will then be off to Aalborg tomorrow. Karin discovered more of Skagen today and enjoyed a visit to the art museum which she has now recommended to all of us.

Afterwards, Simon introduced us to multiple guidelines and in particular the ones used to conduct night recordings. He then went to place a recorder outside, in Skagen, which will record sounds from 18:30 to 6:30 in the hope of hearing some special or rare birds. To this night-time activity, we added night captures. For this, we use audio recordings and nets as well as thermal binoculars to locate and capture species that can otherwise be very cryptic and discrete. While birds were quite absent tonight, we saw a couple of deer. Cloudy conditions might help for the next time.

However, even before we did these night captures, we got a really exciting capture at the station: a Gray Partridge (Agerhøne)! After yesterday's failed attempt and subsequent time spent chasing mice, a partridge granted us to pleasure to fall into the trap we had set up. Simon was the one who found it and then invited us to the lab to ring the first individual of this species by Skagen Fuglestation. Hanelie was in charge of putting the steel ring on the bird and managed to do it perfectly. After that, we spent quite a while trying to figure out the age and sex of this individual. We established it was a young 2k partridge, but we could not determine the sex. Luckily, we had the time to take photos of the different elements that can help sexing which include: primary feather and primary covers, the belly area, and the head. We will further investigate these photos to determine the sex and keep you updated if we manage to reach a conclusion. Alice then released the bird which ran away in its characteristic, and quite funny, walking style.

It is quite likely that this partridge alongside numerous others was released last July by a local hunter close to Grenen Camping. But this does not take away from the fact that it is a beautiful bird and we hope to ring more in the future.

One new addition we thought could be nice is to add the meals we make in the evening as we all have different cooking skills and recipes.

Dinner of the day: Volcano, for the recipe contact chef Robbe

We will now also be posting on social media and you can go check the first Facebook post on the account “Skagen Fuglestation”.

Tomorrow, you will discover Alice's first blog which will give all the interesting details on the observations at Grenen but also information on any bird we might catch and ring tomorrow at the station's garden.

Ringing (Fyrhaven):

Partridge: 1

Total: 1

People: Alice Scalzo, Robbe Cool, Simon S. Christiansen, Hanelie Sidhu, Knud Pedersen, Marion L´Huillier-Hunsinger and Karin.

Hey blogreaders!

Today was the first full day at the station of me and Marion and we immediately started with the Fulmar survey at Gammel Skagen. It took us only some minutes before we found our first dead guillemot "lomvie", but it wouldn’t be our last.  While walking along the beach, Hanelie explained to us how we had to write down the dead birds and which we had to collect. Meanwhile, we taught Marion about the common seabirds in the area. Surprisingly, we found the first (and second) ringed plover "stor præstekrave" for the season, accompanied by some sanderlings "sandløber".

While searching for dead birds, I was really focused on the gulls on the beach because there would be an Iceland gull "hvidvinget Måge" and glaucous gull "gråmåge" present around Skagen. Unfortunately, we couldn’t find any of those beautiful gulls. Nevertheless, I paid special attention to the subspecies of herring gull "sølvmåge": argentatus/argenteus and we found a nice pair of wings of the latter.

At the tip in Grenen, more snow buntings "snespurv" than the days before were present (around 40), which makes us hopeful to catch some of them later this week. Our survey took longer than expected because we found no less than 62 dead birds which is a sad record. We mainly found guillemots "lomvie" but also five puffins "lunde" and a fulmar "mallemuk". We were glad we could closely observe a young male common scoter "sortand" at the end of the survey.

After seeing two dead seals, I could finally see a living one here. We were all adored by this creature and Marion could take some nice pictures.

Back at the station, we put the collected birds in the freezer and filled our hungry stomachs with some delicious food from yesterday. We continued our afternoon by completing the excel sheets. Meanwhile, Simon got a lift from Rie Voertmann to the station. Back at the station, he prepared an exciting project for later in the spring. Karin made a walk and found some nice seals on the beach.

We interrupted our computer work with an excursion to the grocery store. We met Alice Scalzo, our fourth volunteer, at the parking. She had had a long day with waking up at 1 AM, taking two plains and a train. Thomas Mose, a local birdwatcher, was so kind to bring her to the birding station. The four of us will be the team for the next two weeks, then a Danish volunteer will join us for the rest of the weeks.

When we arrived back from the shop, Hanelie was thrilled to catch the partridges "agerhøne" that are foraging around the station. She thought of a master plan to catch them, involving the four of us. We immediately found them with the thermal camera and tried to chase them in the nets. Unfortunately, after many attempts, we couldn’t catch or find them. After looking with the thermal camera again, I realized there were no partridges "agerhøne" but we were tricked by mice! We had a good laugh at ourselves and called it a day.

In the evening, we split the tasks to gain time. We cooked and we continued with entering the data. Our chef, Marion, thought about a great meal and all of us were eating together.

Observations during the Fulmar survey

Today’s observations in Dofbasen from observers in the area

Tomorrow, the four of us are going to Grenen to observe the migrating seabirds helped by the skills of Knud.

Keep updated on our posts because next days, some exciting tasks are waiting for us!

Robbe

People: Alice Scalzo, Marion L´Huiller-Hunsinger, Robbe Cool, Simon S. Christiansen, Hanelie Sidhu and Karin

Hello everybody!

Today was really an eventful day. Knud is back from his skiing vacation and we were at Verdens Ende 3 today since sunrise. It was again very good to have an experienced observer at my side. So you see much more birds and do not have to concentrate on so many different species. It was very sunny but also very windy and the observing was a very sandy affair. But it was worth it, we saw an adult female Marsh Harrier "Rørhøg", it looks like it was the first one this year, and it is really quite early for it. There was also a White-tailed Eagle "Havørn" and several Buzzards "Musvåge", one of them very tuff so it even migrated across the sea. There were also Lapwings "Vibe" - and, the month started and ended with a young Iceland Gull "Hvidvinget Måge".

Returning to the station, I met Robbe, who had arrived late at night yesterday due to problems with the train and therefore was not with us at sunrise. He comes from Ghent in Belgium and will work at the bird station for three months. He was on his way to a Corona test in town and so I had time for a few words with Simon and Karin. Simon had a lot of office work to do today, but hopefully, the result of his work will be a new thermal binocular and a new assistant, who will take some of his tasks, so that Simon can be more at the station. Karin went to Skagen and for a walk in the surrounding of Det Grå Fyr. Robbe and I also took a little walk to Grenen and I taught Robbe how to sew nets in the attic afterwards. When we looked down again Simon had just picked up Marion, who will stay here for two months. She is from Nice and had a long journey from France, two different planes plus train and bus. And then we went to the first real evening Meeting in 2022! After the meeting, Simon left and we four, Marion, Robbe, Karin, and me were cooking together, Flammkuchen today. And it was very nice to have a full table with lots of conversation and nice company.

The team is growing: Hanelie, Robbe, and Marion

Tomorrow, there will be a Fulmar "Mallemuk" survey and we are looking forward to welcoming the fourth volunteer in 2022!

Today’s observations in Dofbasen from observers in the area

See you tomorrow, from now on, there will be Blog articles for every day.

Take care,

Hanelie

People: Marion L´Huiller-Hunsinger, Robbe Cool, Simon S. Christiansen, Knud Pedersen, Hanelie Sidhu and Karin

Good evening everybody!

And then it came, the last day where I had the place to myself. Simon had gone away for the weekend and saw a super cool Walrus "Hvalros". But I also had a nice Saturday. On Friday evening Simon had pointed out to me that a Golden Eagle "Kongeørn" had been seen south of Skagen and might show up here tomorrow. Maybe it could show up in Hulsig or Flagbakken, he typed for me. That suited me very well because that was on the way to Råbjerg Mile, where I wanted to go since my arrival. So I fell asleep on Friday evening expectantly. The weather on Saturday was just perfect for a bike ride, sunny and with very little wind. Yes, the spring seems to come slowly to Skagen, probably thought the Skylarks "Sanglærke", who welcomed me in Hulsig Hede with a real concert. On my way to Råbjerg Mile I stopped often to check the trees and bushes. It was a nice day for me to practice bird songs, because besides the Skylarks "Sanglærke" also Crested Tit "Topmejse", Coal Tit "Sortmejse", Great Tit "Musvit" Grønirisk", Yellowhammer "Gulspurv" and Greenfinch "Grønirisk" were singing. I also saw two Redpolls "Gråsisken" and passed a pretty little lake and despite the spring-like day, there was still a thin layer of ice on it.

At the Råbjerg Mile I was already quite impressed, such a moving sand dune is for me from southern Germany but already what special. After an exploration tour on the Råbjerg Mile I made my way back.

Also this time no Golden Eagle "Kongeørn" in Hulsig but it had been nevertheless a worthwhile trip, I thought to myself. The lighthouse was already in sight and then - an Eagle, in Storsig, very close to the road where I was cycling. I had really not expected that today anymore and I was already a little excited. It was really the Golden Eagle "Kongeørn", I could really watch him for quite a long time and see the white tail base with the black band at the end and the white patches on the underwings and the golden brown breast and belly. It was still a young bird and it flew partial circles and turns, maybe looking for food. I stayed until I couldn't see it anymore and sometimes ran along the road a bit when it changed direction. Thus this last day alone had become nevertheless actually still something special and I have even more knowledge of Skagen to share with the new volunteers and guests.

Today’s observations in Dofbasen from observers in the area (26.02.2022)

Today I was then again in the morning at the world´s end observing. It was quite busy because many large swarms of Guillemots were on the way. Also, I saw two Oystercatchers "Strandskade" and I was happy about that because I had already missed them in winter at the beach. But now they come back!

Oystercatcher "Strandskade" at Grenen

Jørgen and Igor also stopped by at the world´s end and we talked a bit, also about the Golden Eagle "Kongeørn".

Today’s observations in Dofbasen from observers in the area (27.02.2022)

At noon Simon also came back to the station and soon it was time to go to the train station, because from today on for almost a week my mother, Karin, is visiting. In the afternoon we both went for a little walk which unfortunately ended a bit sad because we found an exhausted Guillemot "Lomvie", that wouldn't have made it much longer and therefore I had to euthanize it back at the station.

For dinner we had delicious lentil-bolognese and tonight, the second volunteer in 2022 will arrive and the third will follow tomorrow. So there will be lots of innovations at the station and I am curious.

Take care and see you soon!

Hanelie

People: Simon S. Christiansen, Hanelie Sidhu and Karin