Environmental Education

This morning our group split up into two teams, with Nathan and Martina opening the nets, and Alice, Max, and I joining for the first round of net checks at around 4:30 AM. Already by that time, we were pleasantly surprised to find our guests waiting to capture the entire experience with their cameras and microphones. Although we did not get a glimpse of the footage yet, the backdrop of the orange sky must have added to the already exciting footage.

Photo Credit: Alice Scalzo

Not long after our first round which was mostly dominated by common white-throats (Tornsanger), we were joined by two more observers eager to catch a glimpse of the ringing process and of the mysterious birds temporarily confined to our bird bags. Over the next couple of hours, more tourists and local observers accompanied by their children flocked to our ringing table nestled in the dunes to watch us go through the steps many of us are attempting to master, and of course take pictures of the birds before their release including the incredibly cute blue tits (Blåmejse).

On one of the rounds, we did not catch any birds, and I was expecting the tourists to lose patience and leave but much to my surprise many of them took the opportunity to ask questions about us, our careers, studies, and most importantly the birds and ringing process. It was during that short “break” that we were really able to connect with the public and impart some of our knowledge, especially to their impressionable children. Environmental education is an important part of conservation, and the Skagen Fuglestation is constantly finding ways to share the important work that is being done with the public of all ages, whether it is by encouraging visitors to the station and lighthouse to sign up for the many bird tours, pop by our morning ringing sessions, or by writing this blog, everyone at the station is working with birds as well as people. Thankfully many birders are some of the most passionate wildlife enthusiasts there are and are eager to share their knowledge and help ID birds, but it is always nice to see children get involved with wildlife with the aid of their supportive parents. In fact, tonight a family that had witnessed the ringing for the very first time this morning was so pleased with their experience that they decided to join us tonight to observe nightjar catching, which shows the importance and impact of environmental education on even the youngest of our society.

 Local Observations of the Day in DOFBasen

Birds Rung Today:

Rørsanger: 1

Gærdesanger:4

Kæersanger:1

Lille Gråsisken:2

Munk: 1

Blåmejse: 3

Tornsanger: 12

Gransanger: 2

Solsort:1

Hvid vipstjert: 1

People: Rita DeLucco, Alice Scalzo, Nathan Delmas, Max Laubstein, Martina Hillbrand, Mark, Malthe and Lærke Desholm