The past few mornings have been riddled with poor weather for ringing, but like most days everyone at the station was prepared with a different activity in their back pocket if this morning turned sour. Around 3 AM it was once again decided that ringing was not in the cards due to the wind, so Hanelie headed for cormorant (Skarv) lake to conduct some observations where she spotted great cormorants and their chicks (Skarv), red-necked grebes (Gråstrubet lappedykker), and common greenshanks (Hvidklire). I helped Esben do the necessary data checks, and Nathan continued sewing mist nets in the attic. Around 9AM our work was pleasantly interrupted by Knud’s arrival at the station, and Nathan, Max, and I quickly gathered our things and headed out to a nearby field where we helped Knud continue his survey of the three prominent orchid species: Dactylorhiza maculata (Spotted Cuckoo-herb),Dactylorhiza majalis (Purpur Gøgeurt) and the white Platanthera bifolia (Bakke-Gogelilje). By the end of the survey, we had angered some cows and calves, Nathan and Max had discovered a new area and beautiful orchids, and Knud informed us that the total number of orchids counted in the area officially exceeded over 20,000 individuals, a new record!

Great Cormorant (Skarv) and chick at cormorant lake. Photo Credit: Hanelie Sidhu

Our afternoon was slow but allowed all of us to say goodbye to Esben who taught and helped us all so much during his stay here at the station. Tonight, we will be a bit more active as a couple hours after dinner Hanelie, our two guests and I will be joining a short nightjar (Natravne) tour conducted by Egon Østergaard . Although everyone is itching (not just from the thought of future midge bites) to see a nightjar tonight, Hanelie is especially hoping to see one as she will unfortunately also be leaving the station tomorrow morning.
Tomorrow we will be bringing you the results of the nightjar (Natravne) tour so stay tuned and see you tomorrow!

Observations of the day from birders in the area on DOFBasen

People at the station: Esben E. Hansen, Rita DeLucco, Hanelie Sidhu, Alice Scalzo, Nathan Delmas, Max Laubstein, Knud Pedersen, Egon Østergaard and our Guests.

 Hi everyone,

Today was very rainy. It was planned to go ringing and we were also at Kabeltrommle but the weather really did not allow it.

So we all went back to bed. Later in the day Esben had an online meeting with Simon. It is my second to last day here before I leave to Lista Bird Station, so Esben allowed me not to listen to Simon's wise words. Because at Grenen lake Jørgen had seen a Zitting Cisticola „Cistussanger“ in the morning. Unfortunately I heard about it only later and so I came two hours later and I did not find it. Disappointed I returned to the bird station and then was sewing nets was on the program and also Data checking.

My last blog for now ends with sewing nets as my first one started, I thought. And then came a zello call the Zitting Cisticola was seen again at Grenen Sø. And so I left the attic pretty soon to look for the bird again and this time there were several other Birdes here but we didn't find it again. Then it was time for me to return for dinner, our guests Jane and Hans-Peter cooked for us today. I still have tomorrow to see the Zitting Cisticola, then I´ll leave to Norway, but mid of August I come back to Skagen.

Have a good time, see you in August!

Observations of the day in DOFbasn from observers in the area

Todays ringed birds:

Solsort: 1

Total: 1

Hanelie

People: Rita DeLucco, Hanelie Sidhu, Alice Scalzo, Nathan Delmas, Max Laubstein og Esben Hansen

Mens jeg sidder her og skriver bloggen i sofaen på fuglestationen, blæser og regner udenfor. vi have endnu en kold sommer morgen der ude ved Kabeltromlen på Grenen. I ringmærkning var det igen første kalender års fugle som dominerede. Vi ser flere og flere af dem påbegynde deres partielle fældning af deres juvenile fjer til postjuvenile. Det vil sige den fjerdragt mange af fuglene vil haven indtil næste sommer, nogle vil skifte allerede til vinter.

Om eftermiddagen var Hanelie og Alice inde i byen for at se om de kunne finde den tristram sortstær var blevet set til morgen, dog uden held. Om eftermiddagen havde vi nettene åbne i Fyrhaven hvor vi fangede en enkelt 1k (1. kalenderår) hvid vipstjert.
Til sidst en fin Tornsanger fra dagens ringmærkning.

Ringmærking Kabeltromlen:

Grønsisken (sisken) 1
Gulbug (Icterine Warbler) 1
Gærdesanger (Lesser Whitethroat) 6

Tornsanger (Common whitethroat) 5
Havesanger (Garden warbler) 1
Gransanger (chiffchaff) 2
Bogfinke (Chaffinch) 1

Ringmærking Fyrhaven:
Hvid Vipstjert (White Wagtail) 1

Total : 18

Folk på stationen:

Rita DeLucco, Hanelie Sidhu, Alice Scalzo, Nathan Delmas, Max Laubstein og Esben Hansen

Today's story will be about another part of the job here at the Fuglestation. Most of our days consist in collecting a massive amount on data concerning birds in the region, but to be able to use these data, they need to be accurate.

That is why we constantly have to double or triple check every data entry, on paper or digital. It is a long but necessary process that ensure the quality and the veracity of all the data produced by the observatory. It is made possible by following specific guidelines and methodolgies that minimize errors but it is impossible to never make a single mistake.

That is why today we went through every data we entered for the last 2 weeks and made sure once again that no mistake were made at any stage of the manipulation. One of the goals of any observatory is to produce data that could be used by research teams to identify trends, elaborate conservaton strategies or help us understand these bird species a little bit more everyday.

With that goal in mind, here at the Fuglestation, we will keep making sure that the information we transmit will always be as accurate as possible !

Ringing Totals:

Reed Warbler "Rørsanger": 1

Common Whitethroat "Tornsanger": 1

Garden Warbler "Havesanger": 3

Blackcap "Munk": 3

Marsh Warbler "Kærsanger": 2

Robin "Rødhals": 2

Dunnock "Jernspurv": 1

"Gærdesanger": 4

"Gulbug": 1

Observations of the day from birders in the area on DOFBasen

People: Esben E. Hansen, Rita DeLucco, Hanelie Sidhu, Alice Scalzo, Nathan Delmas, Max Laubstein

Hi everyone,

Today's adventures began at 3:30 in the morning, when some of us awoke to begin opening nets for ringing. However, the possibility of some rain on the forecast forced us to delay opening by another hour or so. It never did end up raining (save for a short drizzle several hours later), but it's always best to err on the side of caution in the interest of the birds! Myself, Nathan, Alice, and Esben left the fuglestation at 5 am to our ringing site at Kabeltromlen. Today was Nathan and I's first day of ringing here at Skagen, so Esben and Alice showed us the lay of the land and the local methods for opening mist nets. Rita and Hanelie arrived about an hour later to assist with the first round of net checks.

The ringing today was not exceptionally busy, but, it being my first time birding in Europe, I personally was quite excited to see species like Icterine Warbler "Gulbug" and Lesser Redpoll "Lille Gråsisken" up close.

We closed up the nets at 11 o'clock, but instead of returning home, decided we would attempt to ring Common Ringed Plover "Stor Præstekrave" chicks nearby on the beaches of Grenen. We managed to capture and ring 3, while the adults tried to distract us with their "broken wing" displays, effectively saying "Don't eat my chick, eat me! I'm easy injured prey!"

Roaming the beach searching for chicks camouflaged and huddling amongst the pebbles, I stumbled across the corpse of an Atlantic Puffin "Lunde", and we additionally came across an ill-looking Sandwich Tern "Splitterne", perhaps suffering from bird flu.

Overall, it was a wonderful day, and a very exciting introduction to ringing here at Skagen Fuglestation.

Ringing Totals

Common Ringed Plover "Stor Præstekrave" : 3

Dunnock "Jernspurv": 1

Reed Warbler "Rørsanger": 2

Icterine Warbler "Gulbug": 2

Lesser Whitethroat "Gærdesanger": 3

Common Whitethroat "Tornsanger": 4

Blackcap "Munk": 1

Willow Warbler "Løvsanger": 1

Blue Tit "Blåmejse": 1

Great Tit "Musvit": 2

Lesser Redpoll: "Lille Gråsisken": 1

Reed Bunting "Rørspurv": 1

Total: 22

Max

Observations of the day from birders in the area on DOFBasen

People: Esben E. Hansen, Rita DeLucco, Hanelie Sidhu, Alice Scalzo, Nathan Delmas, Max Laubstein

Dav bloggen!

Endnu en god dag i Skagen er gået. Vi var alle ude at ringmærke ved kabeltromlen fra solopgang, og blev traditionen tro stukket af hundredevis af myg. Morgenen var domineret af 1k juvenile torn- og gærdesangere. Vi fangede også en flot gråsisken han.

Alt i alt en fin morgen i ringmærkningen med de fugle vi kan forvente på denne årstid.

Eftermiddagen har budt på lidt forskellige praktiske opgaver såsom netsyning, reperation af cykler og dataindtastning. 

Folk på stationen:

Hanelie Sidhu, Alice Scalzo, Rita DeLucco, Esben E. Hansen og vores gæster.

Earlier in the day, Hanelie set out for the harbor in hopes of coming across oystercatchers (Haematopus) that she heard were breeding on the flat roofs that are safely at bay of predators below. Unfortunately, she did not end up finding them, but she was able to spot as well as photograph the herring gull chicks (Sølvmåge) on the roof of some of the downtown buildings.

Herring Gull Chicks (Sølvmåge). Photo Credit: Hanelie Sidhu

As the day went on it quickly became what seemed to be the perfect day for orchid counting with Knud and his wife Inge. In the early afternoon, Hanelie, Alice, and I departed with Knud and Inge towards the area of Hulsig, where we selected specific fields for the counting of orchid individuals of three native species with the aid of our tally counters. The species we targeted were the distinctly white Platanthera bifolia (Bakke-Gogelilje), the very spotted Dactylorhiza maculata (Plettet Gøgeurt), and the astonishingly purple Dactylorhiza majalis (Purpur Gøgeurt). We spent a number of hours individually counting our sections of the vast fields, which we then tallied up to calculate the total number of individuals spotted of each species. By the end of the excursions, we had counted 8872 Platanthera bifolia (Bakke-Gogelilje), 10714 Dactylorhiza maculata (Spotted Cuckoo-herb), and 301 Dactylorhiza majalis (Purple Cuckoo-herb). A brief analysis of the total number of individuals of each species compared to last year's numbers indicated that more individuals were spotted compared to last year. The species with the highest jump in numbers compared to last year was the spotted orchid Dactylorhiza maculata (Plettet Gøgeurt) which doubled in numbered from over 5000 individuals to well over 10 000 individuals.

Dactylorhiza maculata (Spotted Cuckoo-herb) on the left,Dactylorhiza majalis (Purpur Gøgeurt) on the right. Photo Credit: Alice Scalzo

Platanthera bifolia (Bakke-Gogelilje). Photo Credit: Alice Scalzo

After our orchid excursion, Knud and Inge were kind enough to take us by their lovely home. For most of us it was the first time we had the pleasure of seeing a Danish home and backyard which to our surprise, Knud mentioned that in his garden alone he has spotted over 200 species of birds, many of whom were attracted by his fruit-laden trees. The couple also gave us a tour of their home, which was a wonderful opportunity for all of us to finally see the inside of the characteristically yellow homes that adorn Skagen, and gave us yet another discovery on our adventure in Denmark!

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

Observations of the day in DOFbasn from observers in the area

People at the station: Knud & Inge Pedersen, Esben E. Hansen,, Hanelie Sidhu, Alice Scalzo, Rita DeLucco, our Guests.