Hej derude. 

Så er endnu en dag ved at lakke mod ende. Vi startede dagen som sædvanligt med observationer og ringmærkninger. Cora og Rasmus stod for observationerne igen i dag, og startede ud med en stille morgen. Hverken over land eller ude over havet, skete der det helt store. Heldigvis, når man er i Skagen, sker der også fede ting selv på de langsomme dage. Observatørerne havde nemlig et fantastisk øjeblik med en sortglente, der fløj lige hen over hovedet på dem, i helt perfekt lys. Sikke et smukt syn! Derudover kom der 5 atlingeænder og 2 hedelærker, så alt i alt ikke en helt dårlig start på dagen. 

Ringmærkningen startede på en meget lignende måde for Chris, Lucas og jeg. Kraftig vind gjorde at vi ikke kunne få åbnet alle netende i dag, men det stopper skam ikke os. Det endte ikke med ufatteligt mange fugle i dag, men det var fedt at se, at især finkerne viste stort fremmøde, det tyder godt for de næste par dage, vi krydser i hvert fald fingre. 

grønsisken

Heldigvis var der trøst at hente, da vi kom hjem, da både Lucas, Cora og Mette, som besøger os i dag, har lavet kage. Så glemmer man hurtigt en stille morgen, når der først kommer kage på bordet. Det gav også lidt ekstra motivation til den ugentlige hovedrengøring, som skal gøres hver weekend. Desuden holdt Chris et vildt spændende oplæg om hans masterprojekt omkring sangfugle og deres vokalisering i forhold til territorier og parring, vi lærte alle en masse, så mange tak Chris, det var virkelig interessant! 

Chris der holder oplæg 

Vi takker af for endnu en dejlig dag, vi ses igen i morgen. 

Highlights from the observations:

Sort glente 1 

Atlingand 5

Hedelærke 2 

Ringing (Kabeltromlen):

Gransanger 1

Bogfinke  2

Rødhals 2

Gærdesmutte 2

Dompap 1 

Grønsisken 1

Solsort 1

Total = 10

Raptor migration in Skagen today

Today’s observations in Dofbasen from observers in the area

People: Cora Köberle, Mara Glane, Rasmus Matthiesen-Juhl, Christopher Moser-Purdy, Tue Baaner, Simon Sigaard Christiansen, Lucas Corneliussen, Mette

As strong winds were forecast for this morning, no ringing was carried out and most of us stayed at the Station to sleep in. Just Lucas and I went out to do the migration count. We were pleasantly surprised when we went out to Grenen. The wind was not as strong as expected. So we decided to do the migration count from World’s end 1 today, hoping for some passerines.   

It actually became a really good morning. We could find two Arctic Skuas  (Almindelig Kjove), three Fulmars (Mallemuk) and three Scaups (Bjergand) migrating over the sea. There were also many Sandwich Terns (Splitterne) migrating. I counted at least 80. And there were also some Fieldfares moving today. To Lucas' delight, some of them just landed in front of us.

After a while our guest came by. We were just about to tell her about our counting methods when suddenly a Jack Snipe (Enkeltbekkasin) flew by. It flew really close past our counting spot, so we could see it really nicely. A new lifer for me!              

Pallid Harrier (Steppehøg)

Not much later Lucas spotted an incoming raptor, which was mobbed by a Gull. It was a Pallid Harrier (Steppehøg), again a beautiful adult male. We could watch it very nicely flying over the dune and going back in the direction of Nordstrand.        But that wasn't all yet. Later we were able to see two Ring Ouzels (Ringdrossel), which came by, attempting to migrate and disappeared into a bush behind us.

Later at two PM we went downstairs to visit the vernissage of the new exhibition “Vingeslag”. It has become a very beautiful exhibition that is definitely worth a visit.     

Later we said goodbye to Aske, who went back home. 

Highlights from the observations:

Jack Snipe (Enkeltbekkasin) - 1

Pallid Harrier (Steppehøg) - 1

Ring Ouzel (Ringdrossel) - 2

Arctic Skua (Almindelig Kjove) - 2

Raptor migration in Skagen today

Today’s observations in Dofbasen from observers in the area

People: Rasmus Matthiesen-Juhl,  Cora Köberle, Christopher Moser-Purdy, Tue Baaner, Simon Sigaard Christiansen, Aske Salling Guldberg and Lucas Corneliussen.

This blog somehow fell through the cracks and was not written until (5/27). 

From memory, this day was quite nice. Chris, Tue and I headed out to Kabeltromelen to ring. We were hoping it would be a good day because of the eastern winds which sent Rasmus and Cora to Nordstrand to count for the morning. Unfortunately, it was rather slow and not much was seen on observations this day. The ringing at Kabeltromelen, however, was quite nice and we had a nice but relatively quiet morning of about 15 birds. The highlight being a Redwing (Vindrossel) as well as the first Lesser Redpoll (Lille Gråsisken) of the year! One of my personal favorite thrushes in Denmark. As the ringing was winding down, we were closing the nets and we noticed a flock of buzzards above us. Within them was the Steppeørn! It was absolutetly massive compared to the buzzards - what a stunning bird. It was then noted by A. Sand Frich at Sandklit and later watched migrating out over the ocean. This was the very last time the famous Steppe Eagle was seen. A maginificent send off for a legendary bird. Following the Steppe Eagle, I looked uo once more not five minutes later and watched a White Stork (Hvid Stork) fly overhead! What an amazing place Grenen is.

Ringing (Kabeltromelen):

Solsort 2

Vindrossel 1

Rødhals 3

Gærdesmutte 1

Lille Gråsiskin 1

Rørspurv 2

Gransanger 5

Total: 15

Highlights:

Steppeørn 

Hvid Stork 

Today’s observations in Dofbasen from observers in the area

People: Lucas Corneliussen, Cora Köberle, Rasmus Mattiesen-Juhl, Chris Moser-Purdy, Knud Pedersen

And so, another day passed at Skagen Fuglestation. What will tomorrow bring? We had to wait and see! 

Cora og jeg var igen i dag troppet op på den yderste klitrække på Grenen, bevæbnet med kikkerter, teleskoper, kliktællere og tålmodighed. Især sidstnævnte fik vi brug for i dag, hvor der var langt imellem fuglene. Vores praktikant Aske startede ude ved os observatører i morges, og sluttede hos ringmærkerne. Knud gjorde os også selskab derude, hvor han hjalp med at tælle trækket. I og med at der ikke var særligt meget træk, brugte Knud morgenen på at få nogle gode billeder af den Dværgfalk der har holdt til på stranden det sidste stykke tid. Vi fik også set 3k Gråmågen, og en han Sortrygget Hvidvipstjert. Den var fed!

Ringmærkerne, Chris, Lucas og Tue havde heller ikke specielt travlt i morges, da de kun fangede 12 fugle på 5 timer. Tilgengæld var en af fuglene en flot Vindrossel! Det var første gang Lucas havde haft en Vindrossel i hånden, så det var “very cool”:)

Da jeg senere på dagen lå i min seng, kom der en melding fra Jørgen Hulbæk, der lød på, at Steppeørnen var tilbage, og at den havde retning mod byen. Vi gik alle ned bagved fyret for at få et glimt af ørnen. Efter et hurtigt opkald til Johnny Laursen (FÆL) der hjalp med at lokalisere fuglen, fik jeg øje på den i retning mod havnen. Heldigvis kom fuglen tættere på, og vi så den meget bedre end igår. Steppeørnen var et nyt kryds for Lucas, Tue, Chris og Aske, (Cora så den igår), så de var meget glade:) Nede bagved fyret kunne vi også nyde de to Hvide Storke og den Sorte Glente der blev meldt nordgående nede syd fra byen:)

Hertil aften har de søde gæster i lejligheden lavet lækker mad til os! En lækker cremet jordskokkesuppe, med bla. fisk, bacon og citron toppings. Det var fantastisk!

Vejret ser godt ud i morgen, så nu vil jeg i seng, så jeg er frisk til at birde hele dagen!

Vi ses derude!

Ringmærkning: Kabeltromlen

Gransanger (4)

Fuglekonge (1)

Rødhals (4)

Rørspurv  (1)

Musvit (1)

Vindrossel (1)

Total: 12

Raptor migration in Skagen today

Today’s observations in Dofbasen from observers in the area

People at the station: Cora Köberle, Mara Glane, Rasmus Matthiesen-Juhl, Christopher Moser-Purdy, Tue Baaner, Simon Sigaard Christiansen, Aske Salling Guldberg. 

Hej alle sammen.

I dag har været en meget spændende dag. Om morgenen var jeg med til ringmærkning, sammen med Tue, Lucas og Chris, hvor højdepunktet på dagen var da vi fangede en vandrikse. Det var vi selvfølgelig meget glade for, og vi syntes alle den var vildt flot. Sikke en speciel fugl at få ringmærket, og at se så tæt på. Super fed start på dagen! 

Vandrikse.

Ringmærkning af vandrikse. 

Efter vandriksen var ringmærkningen dog en smule til den stille side, dog med en flot bogfinke. Selvom der ikke var mange fugle i nettene var der heldigvis fantastisk vejr og en flot solopgang. 

Hos observatører startede dagen ud lige så stille som havoverfladen, dog gik der ikke alt for længe før de også begyndte at melde om spændende observationer. Især topskarv, var morgenens helt store emne, og det blev i alt set 20 styks, så det er jo ikke til at klage over. kongeederfuglen blev også set, og derudover var der godt gang i vindrosslerne, der blev talt helt op imod de 500, de fleste før solopgang.

En helt anden historie, der ellers er blevet snakket om her på stationen de sidste par dage, omhandler en fjeldvåge, som blev ringmærket og GPS tagget i Tjekkiet. Den startede sin rejse fra overvintringsområdet i Tjekkiet den 3. april, og blev observeret på Grenen den 7. april af Alex Sand Frich, da den fløj ud mod Sverige kl. 11.04. Her ankom den præcis 2 timer senere med en gennemsnitlig hastighed over Kattegat på ca. 30 km/t. Sikke en hastighed og rejse den har været på. Spændende på den måde at kunne følge en fugls adfærd gennem GPS-data. 

GPS tagget Fjeldvåge fra Tjekkiet. Foto af ringmærkeren Ondrej Bohac

Trækrute for fjeldvågen.

Nu til dagens helt store nyhed. Steppeørnen, som har været på besøg her oppe de sidste par år, er vendt tilbage, og blev observeret adskillige gange på eftermiddagen. Rasmus og Cora, var heldige også at se den fantastiske fugl. Tillykke med det! Vi håber nu, at den bliver hængende i området lidt, så vi kan bruge mere tid med den facinerende fugl, og så alle forhåbentligt kan få den at se. 

Nu vil vi gøre os klar til endnu en spændende dag i morgen 

Highlights from the observations:

Topskarv  20

Kongeederfugl 1

Tejst 3

Steppeørn 1

Ringing (Kabeltromlen):

Gransanger 3

Fuglekonge 7

Bogfinke  1

Rødhals 2

Gærdesmutte 4

Jernspurv 1

Blåmejse 1 

Rørspurv 3

Vandrikse  1 

Sangdrossel 1

Total = 16

Raptor migration in Skagen today

 Dagens observationer i DOFbasen

People: Cora Köberle, Mara Glane, Rasmus Matthiesen-Juhl, Christopher Moser-Purdy, Tue Baaner, Simon Sigaard Christiansen, Aske Salling Guldberg.

We woke up around 5am this morning to very calm weather. The flag was barely moving in the wind and there was a nice fog around the lighthouse. Tue and I opened nets and Lucas joined us shortly after (after a deserved sleep-in) for ringing. Ringing was steady with a total of 14 birds ringed and 2 recaptures. Lucas was excited to ring his first (or maybe second) Song Thrush (Sangdrossel). Jørgen Hulbæk Christiansen joined us for a bit and brought us some very nice cinnamon cake (sweet treats are always welcome during ringing if you're ever considering visiting). We managed to not eat all of it so we could share it with the observers. Aske Salling Guldberg also arrived midway through the morning and will be staying with us for the week. He is doing a challenge with the scouts where he has to wear shorts for a full year, hopefully 5am windy Skagen mornings won’t stop him from completing his goal!

Last known picture of this sweet treat

The observers, Cora and Rasmus, had a slow start with the fog but ended up seeing some nice birds. From World’s End I they were able to see two Arctic Skuas (Almindelig Kjove) and a few Rough-legged Buzzards (Fjeldvåge). We’re hoping one of the buzzards will be one that has a GPS tag that we’ve been tracking. It was pinged yesterday slightly south of here so it’s likely it flew over us today. Update: we did in fact see it.

You can identify Song Thrushes (Sangdrossel) by how lovely their spots are

In the afternoon, we did a little birding. Rasmus attempted to find a Golden Eagle (Kongeørn) but was unsuccessful. I went on a short walk and saw the usual suspects. I also saw an interesting fungus which I’ve identified (hopefully correctly) as a False Puffball. It’s a sad world when you can’t even expect truth from a puffball fungus. A few people also went to the store to stock up on food.

The most dishonest fungus you will ever lay eyes upon

This evening a group from the Lion’s Club will be here for a tour. We’re hoping a bird will fly into our garden net so we can show them some ringing. We’ll also be showing them around the station and explaining the operation here.

Today’s observations in Dofbasen from observers in the area

Observation Highlights

Arctic Skua (Almindelig Kjove) – 2

Rough-legged Buzzard (Fjeldvåge) – 3

Glaucous gull (Gråmåge) – 1

Bar-tailed godwit (Lille Kobbersneppe)

Eurasian Curlew (Storspove)

Ringing

Gransanger – 1

Rødhals – 7

Gærdesmutte – 2

Blåmejse – 1

Rørspurv – 1

Sangdrossel – 1

Solsort – 1

Raptor migration in Skagen today

People: Cora Köberle, Rasmus Matthiesen-Juhl, Christopher Moser-Purdy, Tue Baaner, Lucas Corneliussen, Aske Salling Guldberg, and Simon S Christiansen

For the morningobs Rasmus,Tue and I went to World’s End 1 to see more of the passerine migration. When we arrived there at sunrise we could already hear some local birds singing. The numbers of Finches were a bit lower today. But five Ring Ouzels (Ringrossel) came around. Our first ones of the season and my first ones ever. We also found one of the King Eiders (Kongederfugel) again.                        The migration on the sea was also going on again. Rasmus counted at least 350 Red-Throated Divers (Rødstrubbet Lom) and we had four Shags (Topskarv).

In the fourth hour the migration slowed down. So Tue went to Kabeltrommlen to start cutting Buckthorn to improve the view. Later Rasmus and I joined him, we cleared the whole area successfully from Buckthorn. 

Fighting againsnt the Buckthorn

Ringing went much better today than yesterday. They catched sixteen birds in total. Apart from ringing the ringers found a resting Corn Bunting (Bomlaerke), which is quite rare here in Skagen. And they also flushed a Jacksnipe (Enkeltbekkasin), which was a lifer for Lucas and Chris.

In the afternoon we went to Skagen to get some Ice Cream. After that we said goodbye to Isabel who went back to Aarhus in the afternoon.

happy volunteers eating ice cream

Later Rasmus went out for a walk and found a Great Gray Shrike (Stor Tornskade). We others had a chilled afternoon.

When it gets dark later we go out and try to catch a Bittern. Let's see if we are successful.

Highlights of the observations:

Ring Ouzel (Ringdrossel)  5

King Eider (Kongederfugl) 1

Shag (Topskarv) 4

Ringing (Kabeltromlen):

Gærdesmutte - 4

Rødhals - 1

Gransanger - 4

Musvit - 1

Solsort - 4 

Rørspurv - 1

Jernspurv - 1

Total: 16

Raptor migration in Skagen today

Today’s observations in Dofbasen from observers in the area

People: Cora Köberle, Rasmus Matthiesen-Juhl, Christopher Moser-Purdy, Tue Baaner, Isabel Hunter, Lucas Corneliussen and Simon S Christiansen

Ah, back again in Skagen. After a small holiday, I am once again back in Skagen. This time focusing on ringing rather than observing. Today, we woke up bright and early once again and headed out to Kabeltromelen to open the nets for another cold morning of ringing and obs. Much to our surprise and dismay, it was even windier than the previous day which allowed the crew to only open seven nets as the strong northwesterly winds made open the remainder too risky.

After only three rounds, the wind reached a speed where ringing was no longer able to be conducted and we were forced to shut the nets. Our only bird of the day was a 2k female Rørspurv (Reed Bunting). Similarly, the observations were also quite slow as the weather slowed much of the migration. The continuing Gråmåge (Glaucous Gull) was the best bird of the morning along with lower numbers of finches (Bogfinke, Grønsisken, Kværkefinke). 

 The remainder of the day was fairly slow. Isabella and Chris went into town to buy some groceries at the shops and go for an ice cream and the rest of us had a slow day around the station completing overdue tasks and dat entry as well as our weekly deep clean. In other news, our newly installed noctural flight call recorder has been installed and is now fully operational! We are very excited to see the results over the coming months!

And so, another day passes at Skagen Fuglestation. What will tomorrow bring? We will have to wait and see.

Ringing Highlights:

 Kabeltromelen:

Rørspurv 1

Observation Highlights:

Glaucous Gull (Gråmåge) 1

Raptor migration in Skagen today

Today’s observations in Dofbasen from observers in the area

People: Lucas Corneliussen, Cora Köberle, Rasmus Matthiesen-Juhl, Christopher Moser-Purdy, Tue Baaner, Simon Sigaard Christiansen, Isabel Hunter,  guests Marianne & Kurt.

Happy Friday!

Today was a fairly quiet day here at Skagen Fuglestation. We woke up to the sounds of the wind whistling past our windows but decided to see how ringing would go anyway. Before leaving, we said bye to Mara as she heads back to her studies. Tue, Lucas (who arrived back late last night), and I headed out to the ringing site but could only open 10 nets due to the weather. Despite our hopes we ended up catching 0 birds for the first time this season. We still were able to have a nice morning outside though. There were a lot of Chaffinches (Bogfinke) and Bramblings (Kvaekerfeinge) and Simon and I cut down a few more trees and now we have a beautiful view to spot birds from.

Sunrise from Kabeltromlen

The observers (Rasmus and Cora) headed to Nordstrand to count migrating birds this morning. There were a lot of Chaffinches (Bogfinke) and one 2^nd calendar year Iceland Gull (Hvidvinge Måge). They headed to the Cormorant (Skarv) lake on the way back to monitor their breeding. They saw over 100 individuals. They also saw a Peregrine Falcon (Vandre Falk) on the way back.

A nice froggy I saw today

We had a fairly lazy afternoon. No one was super motivated to brave the wind but Tue did make a heroic journey to Netto to buy ingredients for dinner. I spent some time crocheting, I’m working on a gull and hoping to have it finished before I leave on the 15^th. My friend, Isabel, will also be arriving today for the weekend so I’m looking forward to that! Rasmus napped for maybe 4 hours. The weekend starts tomorrow and we’re hoping for at least one bird to hit the nets, the wind looks a bit better so we’ll see!

Ringing Highlights

Enjoying the great outdoors

Observation Highlights

Iceland Gull (Hvidvinge Måge) – 1

Peregrine Falcon (Vandre Falk) - 1

Raptor migration in Skagen today

Today’s observations in Dofbasen from observers in the area

People: Cora Köberle, Rasmus Matthiesen-Juhl, Christopher Moser-Purdy, Tue Baaner, Simon Sigaard Christiansen, Knud Pedersen, Isabel Hunter, guests Marianne & Kurt.

Hej allesammen.

Så gik endnu en dag med vilde oplevelser på Skagen Fuglestation. Den startede med en stille morgen på træk for Cora og Rasmus, på Grenen. Vi venter stadig spændt på, at det helt store træk melder sig. Det betyder dog ikke det helt store, da der skete en masse andet, der virkelig satte sit præg på dagen. Årets første Steppehøg meldte sig i dag, en flot adult han på vej mod nordøst. Denne observationen er den tidligste på Grenen nogensinde og det næst-tidligste fund i området for den gamle Skagen Kommune. Tidligste er her fra 2/4 2017 på Hulsig Hede. 

Steppehøg (Foto: Knud Pedersen)

Dværgfalk adult hun (Foto: Knud Pedersen)

Derudover bød dagen også på en fiskeørn og en stor tornskade. De to kongeederfugle, samt gråmågen opholder sig her også stadig. Alt i alt gik morgenen med et par fantastiske timer i klitterne, med rigeligt spændende at kigge på for Cora og Rasmus. 

Mara, Chris og jeg havde også en super morgen ved Kabeltromlens ringmærkning. Vi endte med 48 mærkede fugle i alt. Højdepunkterne var en træløber og gulspurv. Derudover var vi tæt på at få en spurvehøg i nettet, så det fik virkelig adrenalinen til at pumpe. På vej ud til klitterne var vi også heldige at se en ugle (Mosehorn eller Skovhorn) flyve over vejen. Vi regner med, at det var mosehornugle, men det var desværre ret mørkt. Det blev til en fantastisk dag i solen, med god aktivitet, mere kan man vist ikke forlange. Magnus Houen Lauritsen, som var assistent her sidste år kom forbi og hilste på med kage. Mens vi var på runde så han og Simon en smuk Sørgekåbe flyve forbi. 

Gulspurv

Simon ledte en tur for et hold gymnasieelever der både besøgte ringmærkningen og observatørerne denne morgen. Her blev de undervist i metoder til fugleovervågning

Undervisning af gymnasieelever (Foto: Knud Pedersen)

Efter en succesfuld morgen var vi alle klar til at komme tilbage til stationen for at slappe lidt af. Det blev der dog ikke meget af, da Rasmus med det samme ringede omkring en delfin (øresvin), som kunne ses ude foran fyret. Vi kom afsted, og var heldige at få et rigtigt fint kig på det fantastiske dyr. På vej tilbage opdagede Cora, at to fugle fløj rundt oppe omkring linsen i fyrtårnet. Vi ved stadig ikke helt hvordan de endte der, så afsted gik det for Cora og Mara, som hurtigt fik dem indfanget. Det viste sig at være en super fin husrødstjert og en rødhals. De to fugle fik ring på, og efter billeder af husrødstjerten, kom de begge videre i god behold. Dejligt også at kunne hjælpe fuglene lidt. 

Husrødstjert

Mara og Cora på redningsaktion i toppen af fyret

Fuglevelgørenheden stoppede dog ikke her, Simon havde fået besked om, at de nede i Jerup ved vildtplejestationen, havde modtaget en gråkrage, som snart var klar til at komme ud igen, men den skulle da lige have ring på inden. Det kunne vi heldigvis snildt klare, og efter at ringen kom på fik vi lov til at se alle de andre dyr, som også opholdte sig der. Vi siger tak fordi vi måtte komme forbi. 

Ringmærkning af gråkrage 

På vej hjem kørte vi forbi Jerup Strand, hvor vi gjorde stop for at kigge lidt. Her så vi bl.a. skestork, blå kærhøg, spidsand, rødben og to klyder, slet ikke dårligt for et lille stop på turen. 

Efter hjemkomst havde Mara et oplæg for resten af os på stationen omhandlende statistik af ringmærkningsdata fra Kabeltromlen, hvilket var rigtig spændende. Det bliver desuden afslutningen på Maras ophold i denne omgang i det hun drager hjem til studierne i Tyskland.

 Mara holder oplæg mellem en masse flyttekasser på Naturstyrelsens kontor

Vi er klar til endnu en fed dag i morgen.

Highlights from the observations:

Steppehøg 1

Gråmåge 1

Kongeedderfugl 2

Stor tornskade 1

Highlights Jerup strand:

Skestork 1

Klyde 2

Ringing (Kabeltromlen):

Gransanger 8

Fuglekonge 7

Træløber 1

Rødhals 18

Gærdesmutte 2 

Jernspurv 3 

Blåmejse 2 

Musvit 1

Gulspurv 1 

Vindrossel 3

Sangdrossel 1

Solsort 1

Total = 48

Ringing (Det Grå Fyr):

Rødhals 1

Husrødstjert 1 

Raptor migration in Skagen today

Today’s observations in Dofbasen from observers in the area

People: Cora Köberle, Mara Glane, Rasmus Matthiesen-Juhl, Christopher Moser-Purdy, Tue Baaner, Simon Sigaard Christiansen, Knud Pedersen, Magnus Hoen Lauritsen, gæsterne Marianne & Kurt.