“We shot a golden eagle (kongeørn).”

Thanks to our well-adapted sleeping rhythm, most of us woke up around sunrise. Although we could sleep a bit longer today. Alice and I joined Knud for the morning observations at Nordstrand because easterly winds were predicted for today. We missed the first hours, but luckily, we could help Knud out in the last hours because the cork of the migration bottle was removed by the sun. The siskins “Grønsisken” didn’t fly in groups, but they started to fly in streams. The effect at the seaside was smaller with increasing numbers of red-throated divers “rødstrubede lom”, 6 long-tailed ducks “havlit” and an adult male hen harrier “blå kærhøg”.

When we finished the morning observations, we decided to warm up at the cormorant lake and count the occupied nests. We could count 19 so far. I was hoping to see a viper in the meantime but until now, it’s still a shame species for me.

When we came back to the station, Marion had already arrived from the laser shooting. Marion and Hanelie went together to Thomas in the morning to help him with the laser binocular project. On their walk, they met a pretty male yellowhammer “gulspurv” who didn’t seem to be disturbed by their presence.

When arrived, Marion was happy to finally try the binoculars despite the lack of birds to shoot. She was impressed by the amazing shooting skills Thomas had developed already. Unfortunately for her, she missed the highlights of the day when she left. The increasing temperatures pushed some nice raptors towards world’s end 2. It began with a rough-legged buzzard “fjeldvåge” and a peregrine falcon “vandrefalk” but in the end, she had two golden eagles “kongeørn” in her sights. She was happy to shoot them. Although it sounds a little weird if you say it out of the context, it doesn’t affect the birds!

The two golden eagles were close to the lighthouse but Alice and I were just too late to see them because we couldn’t understand the Danish zello messages. Fortunately, we were comforted by some hugs from Igor.

In the afternoon we tried to assemble the new bike trailer we got. It took us some time to mount it on our bicycle but it survived our extensive shopping tour to the Netto. In the meantime, Marion could finish her assignment for her university which is a big relief for her.

In the evening, our guests made a great meal, named Dhal, for us. They talked about their lovely walk to Jennes Sø and how they enjoyed the bird sounds around there. Simon joined us too for the meal. He has been busy with meetings today. His first meeting was with birdlife Denmark for the project: Birds for all. In his second meeting, he talked about next week when some school classes will come to learn about nature education. Now, he is home and we are relaxing a bit before we start a busy day tomorrow because we go ringing again.

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

See you tomorrow!

Robbe

People: Simon S. Christiansen, Robbe Cool, Hanelie Sidhu, Alice Scalzo, Marion L'Huillier-Hunsinger, Thomas Kjær, David, Bent and Åse.