Dear blog Readers

Today my morning started with ringing, with a lot of expectation which were high because it cloudy most of the birds move that time nets where open 5:45 and it was 18 nets of 10 meters each.

The first round was so positive because we caught 12 birds which was good that I was hoping for that to continue, but the ringing could not continue as I Tod because later in the morning was so windy and there were a bit of rain which proud us to close our nets early because the nets were so visible. We had 9 species

The people who were at the ringing site were Simon, Yehonatan , Loran and Michael, there were some gest that include HANS CHRISTOPHERSEN who is a bored member of Skagen bird observatory .

The migration observation Dante was there and he has seen good number of different species the less follow

Grater Spotted Eagle / Stor Skireorn  1

White Billed Diver / Hvidnabbet Lom 2

Pallid Harrier / Steppe Høg 1

Wryneck / Vendchals 1

Fulmar / Mallemuk 2

In the afternoon we had a big shopping because it was loran birthday ,  when we return from there Dante and Loran were busy cooking for our dinner. I went with Yehonatan for bird witching because we told the Short-Eared Own has been seen around the beach yesterday and today, yesterday night we went for lamping for about two hour but we not see any. I was has happy this evening we were able to see about 7 of them which make me so happy because I have seen this bird for first time in my life.

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

Skagen Fuglestation: Yehonatan Ben Aroia, Michael Colley, Dante Shepherd, Lauren Evans, Hans & Birthe.

Plenty of rain in the early hours and the promised switch to strong westerly winds had us all up and raring to head out. As soon as the drizzle stopped, Yehonatan and Michael, later joined again by Oluf, headed to Kabletromlen and managed to open all the nets by 8am. In just a short session, they managed a respectable catch of 18 birds, including more 3 Løvsanger (Willow Warbler).

Meanwhile, Lauren and I headed to the outer dunes adjacent to World’s End 3 for what ended up being 8 hours counting! We had a brilliant day for raptors including four Pallid Harriers (Steppehøg), two 2cy, one adult female and one adult male, one adult Greater Spotted Eagle (Stor Skrigeørn), three White-tailed Eagles (Havørn), one immature Golden Eagle (Kongeørn), one Hobby (Lærkefalk) and at least nine Rough-legged Buzzards (Fjeldvåge). It was also a great day for Hirundines with at least 46 Swallows (Landsvale), 7 Sand Martin (Digesvale) and 6 House Martin (Bysvale).

The most dramatic sighting of the day was near the end of our 8-hour observations when at 15:19, I spotted a distant raptor I didn’t immediately recognise. Here is my official description of the bird and my sighting.

"1516-1519 Possible Booted Eagle. Viewed from Grenen. First picked up very high up above Kattergat gliding south-west with a large group of buzzards and kites. Immediately felt ‘alien’ to me. Always silhouetted. First seen quite side on though already going somewhat away from me. Views continually got worse as it started getting further and further away from me to the south-west. About the same size as a kite. Seen gliding alongside a Black Kite briefly. Long tail, about as long as the width of the base of the wings, with sharp corners and no fork. Long, broad wings held down at the arm. Rather large and broad looking head. It did not flap its wings very often. The wingbeats felt stiffer and more powerful compared to a kite which I feel have more bouncy and elastic wingbeats. It circled only once, though very far away, probably between the Grey and White Lighthouses over Fyrvej. It then continued with speed gliding south-west. From the view of it circling, again the head felt too large and broad and the tail too convex when spread to be a Black Kite. The wings were broad and parallel sided. This is when I put the first Zello message on Skagen birding. I have never seen a Booted Eagle before and I was not going to call this as definitely one on poor views. I see Black and Red Kites, Marsh Harriers, Rough-legged and Common Buzzards here almost everyday and I find them all easy to identify with prolonged views, even at a distance. This really did not feel like any of those species. I took the approach,’ why isn’t this a Black Kite?’, when watching the bird and I can be sure it wasn't one. Hopefully it is seen again…1539-40 Oluf Lou sees a raptor gliding south-west from his balcony in Skagen Stadion. His initial impression was Booted Eagle too but it sounds like his views were much more brief than mine. He did manage to photograph the bird he saw. See attached."

Possible Booted Eagle photographed by Oluf Lou.

We also said goodbye to our guests Jakob and Birgit who we’ve really enjoyed spending time with this week and welcomed Hans and Birthe to the apartment.

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

Skagen Fuglestation: Yehonatan Ben Aroia, Michael Colley, Dante Shepherd, Lauren Evans, Hans & Birthe.

Kabeltromlen Ringing Totals:

Fuglekonge (Goldcrest)- 3

Løvsanger (Willow Warbler)- 3

Gransanger (Chiffchaff)- 7

Musvit (Great Tit)- 2

Jernspurv (Dunnock)- 1

Rødhals (Robin)- 1

Rørspurv (Reed Bunting)- 1

Total: 18

After a few days ringing at Jenne sø, we were excited to get back to Kabeltromlen this morning. Yehonatan, Michael and I had the nets open at sunrise at usual and we delighted to catch a young, female Sjagger (Fieldfare) before we’d even finished unfurling the nets. We were shortly joined by Oluf Lou, who kindly agreed to join us since Simon is away for the weekend, and our guest Jakob & Birgit. Overall, we had an excellent morning ringing with a total of 56 birds of 13 species, including 6 Vindrossel (Redwing), our first three Løvsanger (Willow Warbler) of the year, and another Rødtoppet Fuglekonge (Firecrest)- less than a week after our first one!

Yet another Rødtoppet Fuglekonge (Firecrest) ringed at Kabeltromlen today (not that we’ll ever get bored of them!).

Dante joined the local birders at Grenen for observations and had an good morning with a diverse set of species seen including; two Topskarv (Shag), Stor Skrigeørn (Greater Spotted Eagle), Lærkefalk (Hobby), Sort Spætte (Black Woodpecker), two Bjerglærke (Shorelark) and Mudderklire (Common Sandpiper). The last week of persistent easterly winds, clear skies, and plenty of sun is fairly unsual for this time of year in Skagen, and we’re looking forward to what tomorrow’s rain and change in wind direction may produce.

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

Skagen Fuglestation: Yehonatan Ben Aroia, Micheal Colley, Dante Shepherd, Lauren Evans, Jakob & Birgit.

Kabeltromlen Ringing Totals:

Gransanger (Chiffchaff)- 11

Løvsanger (Willow Warbler)- 3

Fuglekonge (Goldcrest)- 13

Rødtoppet Fuglekonge (Firecrest)-1

Gærdesmutte (Wren)- 6

Rødhals (Robin)- 9

Sangdrossel (Song Thrush)- 1

Vindrossel (Redwing)- 6

Sjagger (Fieldfare)- 1

Bogfinke (Chaffinch)- 1

Lille Dompap (Bullfinch)- 1

Rørspurv (Reed Bunting)- 2

Solsort (Blackbird)- 1

Total= 56

Dear Blog Reader

This morning ringing was a bit quite and not that interesting because the sky was shining . There were not much birds flying in the sky . About the ringing , I was with yehantan for this morning ringing, we went to the ringing site where we started by opening the nets that was 6:40am and we were join by Michael because we were ringing at this ringing site in JENNESØ.

The first round of the ringing, which was 7:25am that we caught one birds which was a REDPOLL and that give me the opportunity  to see the first red pull being ring . The second round we did not catch any bird , the third round we caught the second red pull in which Michael help me in knowing the different sub species in which I came to know the first red pull and the second were different sub species .

The first one was LESSER RED POLL / LILLE GRÅSISKEN and the second one COMMOM REDPOLL / NORDLIG GRASISKKEN  .

Than the ringing start to be boring because every net round no catch than yehantan went back to the station were he went to some work.

An hour later we have our last round were we caught another one bird that was a chiffchaff and that be the last bird of the day to be ring .

The second part is about the migration count , Simon and Lisa were doing their observation at north beach and Dante and Lauran were at Greaun the species see on the observation are as follow

Great Spotted Eagle / STOR SKRIGEØRN

Glaucous Gull /GRÅMÅGE

Spoon  Bill /SKESTORK

Hobby / LAERKEFALK

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

People : Yehonatan Ben Aroia ,Lauren Evans, Dante Shepherd , Michael Colley

jenne sø ringing totals:

Lille Gråsisken/Lesser Redpoll- 1

Nordlig Gråsisken/Common Redpoll- 1

Total- 2

For the last week, we have been blessed with amazing weather, sunny with very slow winds, which is very nice while spending most of your days here outside, but unfortunately, this kind of weather brind very few birds to the area.

We went out to try and ring in Jennes Sø, after having very few birds around Kabletroumle in the past few days, unfortunately, Jennes Sø was very similar without many birds hanging around, but it is a very unique place we all like to visit once in a while.

Dante went observing in worlds end 1 and had an amazing time, the were: Pallid harrier (Steppe Høg),  (Stor Skrigehørn), Parrot crossbill (Stor Korsnæb) and the lovely weather. 

Steppe Høg, Photo: Yehonatan ben aroia

We all went back to have a quick power nap and do some station work in the afternoon, had a lovely diner made by Dante and Lauren, and went to sleep very early as usual.

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

Summary of the raptors seen in the area could be found here

People: Yehonatan Ben aroia, Michael Colley, Dante Shepherd, Jeppe Madsen, Lauren Evans, Simon S. Christiansen, Jakob & Birgit.

Ringing (Jenne Sø)

Wren (Gærdesmutte) - 1

Blackbird (Solsort) - 2

Great tit (Musvit) - 1

Total-4

Yehonatan and I chose a slightly different spot for morning observations, the dunes towards the tip adjacent to World’s End 3, known for being able to observe a greater passage of larks, wagtails and pipits, as well as closer encounters with migrating falcons, hawks and harriers. The highlights included 9 Waxwing (Silkehale), 234 Sparrowhawks (Spurvehøg), 11 Rough-legged Buzzards (Fjeldvåge) and a Black Woodpecker (Sort Spætte) as well as three Pallid Harriers (Steppehøg)- one 3cy male, one adult female and the first 2cy of the year. The male Pallid Harrier, in particular, gave brilliant views as it migrated low over the dunes, flying straight past where we were crouched at one point, allowing Yehonatan the chance to capture some excellent photos.

3cy Pallid Harrier (Steppehøg). Photo: Yehonatan Ben Aroia.

Meanwhile, Lauren, Jeppe, Simon and Michael went ringing at Kabeltromlen. Unfortunately, they had a rather slow morning with only 9 birds, but this gave Jeppe, new to ringing, the chance to practice some supervised extraction, ringing and ageing.

Skagen Fuglestation: Yehonatan Ben Aroia, Micheal Colley, Jeppe Madsen, Lauren Evans, Dante Shepherd, Simon Christensen, Jakob & Birgit.

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

Today's raptor summary can be found here.

Kabeltromlen Ringing Totals:

Gransanger (Chiffchaff)- 5

Fuglekonge (Goldcrest)- 1

Rødhals (Robin)- 1

Gærdesmutte (Wren)- 1

Musvit (Great tit)- 1

Total: 9

Michael, Yehonatan and I were out and opened the nets at 5:20am, with clear skies and a beautiful sunrise promising a lot of birds in the nets. Even so we hardly caught any today, probably due to the wind coming from northeast which discourages a lot of birds from migrating over the ocean.
In total we caught 5 birds today, where two of them were recaptures. Luckily enough the last bird was a female Sparrowhawk (Spurvehøg) which we had a good look at.

Dante and Laura went observing at Verdens Ende and had a good day with a good range of different birds, including 7 Ospreys (Fiskeørn), a female Pallid Harrier (Steppehøg), a Black Woodpecker (Sortspætte) and the highlight of the day being an immature Golden Eagle (Kongeørn) coming over.

The Greater Spotted Eagle (Stor Skrigeørn), living up to its name, was also spotted at Skagen but it never came to Grenen.

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

Today's raptor summary can be found here

People at the station: Yehonatan Ben aroia, Michael Colley, Dante Shepherd, Jeppe Madsen, Lauren Evans, Simon S. Christiansen, Jakob & Birgit.

Ringing (Kabeltromlen)

Gransanger (Chiffchaff) - 1

Rødhals (Robin) - 1

Spurvehøg (Sparrowhawk) - 1

Total: 3

As the sunrise creeps ever earlier, Yehonatan and I had the nets at Kabeltromlen open at 5:20am and were shortly joined by Simon and our guests, Jakob and Birgit. We were started catching as usual, with plenty of Chiffchaffs (Gransanger) and two Redwing (Vindrossel), when suddenly our morning got a whole lot better when I extracted a Firecrest (Rødtoppet Fuglekonge) from an otherwise empty net! Only a few Firecrests are caught at Skagen each year and, as this was a new species in the hand for both myself, and Yehonatan, it really made our morning.

Firecrest (Rødtoppet Fuglekonge) at Kabeltromlen. Photo: Yehonatan.

We decided to close the nets a little earlier than normal to make the most of the calm weather and the fact that a Rough-legged Buzzard (Fjeldvåge) had been spotted resting near Nordstrand. Yehonatan and I quickly set up the raptor net near Nedermose with the stuffed Eagle Owl (Stor Hornugle) to attract the attention of passing raptors. We quickly saw the Rough-legged Buzzard hunting and it seemed interested in the owl but, just skimmed over the net by a few metres! Hopefully tomorrow we’ll have more luck…

Dante and Michael headed to Verdens Endes for morning observations and had an excellent morning for migrating raptors. Their highlights were two adult males, and one adult female Pallid Harriers (Steppehøg), four Black Kites, one of the Greater Spotted Eagles (Stor Skrigeørn) and a juvenile Glaucous Gull (Gråmåge). Elsewhere, Alex Sand Frich found a calling Penduline Tit at Skarvsøen, and a total of 7 Pallid Harriers (Steppehøg), both adult males and females, were seen by multiple observers throughout the day in Skagen. Michael joined Simon on a very successful 'Raptor Tour' in the afternoon and managed to see a White Stork (Hvid Stork) as well as plenty of raptors.

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

Today's raptor summary can be found here.

People: Yehonatan Ben aroia, Michael Colley, Dante Shepherd, Jeppe Madsen, Lauren Evans, Simon S. Christiansen, Jakob & Birgit.

Ringing (Kabeltromlen):

Gransanger (Chiffchaff)- 9

Fuglekonge (Goldcrest)- 5

Rødtoppet Fuglekonge (Firecrest)- 1

Rødhals (Robin)- 7

Gærdesmutte (Wren)- 3

Jernspurv (Dunnock)- 1

Rørspurv (Reed Bunting)- 1

Vindrossel (Redwing)- 2

Sangdrossel (Song Thrush)- 2

Solsort (Blackbird)- 1

Total: 32

Dear Blog Readers

Another fascinating ringing session this morning.The day was started with ringing which started by opening net around 5:40am that followed by the net round which was 6:10 am that caught 18 birds and then second round 14 birds , the third round 10 birds ,fourth round 5, fifth round 7 birds and sixth the final round 6 birds .

The nets where closed at 11:00 am there came the end of ringing session this morning.

The number of species caught 9 species of birds, which are as follows 

The ringing group where Simon , Lisa , Yehonatan and Michael, we were joined by Thomas from Germany that hanged out with us. 

From the ringing back to the station, then we entered data from the ringing session.

Lauren and Dante where out on Birds migration count. Highlights where Pallid Harrier (Steppehøg), Slavonian Grebe (Nordisk lappedykker), Shag (Topskarv), Ring Ouzel (Ringdrossel) and more than 400 Redwings (Vindrossel)

The ringing was very interesting this morning where we got to ring nine species, it was a good experience for us .

A full list of today's observations can be seen here

Today's raptor summary can be seen here

People: Dante Shepherd, Michael Colley, Yehonatan Ben Aroia, Lauren Evans, Simon S. Christiansen, Jakob & Birgit.

Ringing (Kabeltromlen):

Common chiffchaff (Gransanger) - 23

Goldcrest (Fuglekonge) - 3

Reed bunting (Rørspurv) - 1

Great Tit (Musvit) - 4

Wren (Gærdesmutte) - 5

Dunnock (Jernspurv) - 4

Robin (Rødhals) - 9

Songthrush (Snagdrossel) - 3

Blackbird (Solsort) - 1

Total: 53

Dante and I headed to Verdens Endes at sunrise for observations and were joined by Henrik Højholm. We had all optimistically hoped the weather forecast would be wrong, however, shortly after sunrise the rain started, just as predicted, and gave us all a thorough soaking. Migration was rather slow, likely due to heavy rain to the south, but the highlights were two second calendar-year Caspian Gulls (Kaspisk Måge), one juvenile Glaucous Gull (Gråmåge), 5 Ring Ouzel (Ringdrossel) and 2 Merlins (Dværgfalk). The downpours also meant no ringing at Kabeltromlen, and so we were joined throughout the morning by Yehonatan, Michael, and Owen and Laura, the journalism students from Aarhus University, who have been following us for a few days to document the work we do.

Simon and Thomas, our guest, wisely headed to Nordstrand after the rain had stopped. Throughout the morning 109 Curlew (Storspove) headed east as well as 10 Arctic Skua (Almindelig Kjove), 2 Rough-legged Buzzards (Fjeldvåge) and one resting Great Grey Shrike (Stor Tornskade).

The afternoon was taken up by a series of observatory admin tasks, including checking some mended waders, maintaining the bicycles, cleaning the apartment, and shopping. After finally drying our clothes and equipment out, we’re looking forward to the better weather predicted for next week and we’ll definitely be checking the forecast properly next time!

No photos from today in the rain I'm afraid, so here's one of the full Spring team enjpying dinner a few days ago. From left to right: Yehonatan, Dante, Jeppe, Lauren & Michael.

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

Today's raptor summary can be found here.

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