Raptors and new arrivals!

Raptors and new arrivals!

Welcome to the 2023 field season! My name is Eric and I am an American currently living in Germany. I will be volunteering at Skagen until mid-March.

I arrived in Aalborg on 6 February and then drove north to Skagen with Simon on 7 February. Our primary focus this first week has been on the raptor project. We are hoping to capture raptors and attach GPS transmitters to study their migration patterns when they are crossing the Sea. The focal species is Common Buzzard (Musvåge) but it is possible we might catch other species as well. A young Golden Eagle (Kongeørn) has been seen in the area recently, so we can dream!

Our efforts started in the area of the raptor trap that was built in 2022. We placed two roadkill deer carcasses in the trap hoping to attract some birds. That day we also saw one Musvåge at Hulsig Hede so also put some dead birds out in the area to help lure it in.

Working with pyramid traps

On Wednesday, we saw a Musvåge near the bird carcasses and most of them had been eaten (it’s possible a mammal like a fox had also been feeding on them). We also installed a video camera at the raptor trap so we could monitor any activity happening there. Hans and Bodil Rytter arrived that evening from Sydfyn and came to Skagen to help with the raptor trapping efforts as Hans has a lot of experience doing this around Fyn.

On 9 February we set up two pyramid traps in the dunes near the raptor trap where we had earlier set out bait and also two traps in the Grenen area where we had seen a Musvåge earlier. We were able to monitor activity at both traps remotely with the use of cameras and alarms. Lars Bo Jacobsen arrived during the day from Djursland to help with our work as well.

While we were waiting, we went to Skagen Havn to look for dead gulls (måger) to use for raptor bait and continued to search for raptors in the area. Late in the day we learned that a local birdwatcher had observed many further south on the peninsula, including Musvåge and Rød Glente (Red Kite), so we decided we would move some pyramid traps further south. That evening we went out to some fields around Skagen to try and catch Eurasian Woodcocks (Skovsneppe). We did see a few birds but were not lucky enough to catch them.

The team as they look through the thermal binoculars

On Friday (10 February) we set up four pyramid traps and again monitored them remotely throughout the day. We observed many Musvåge in the area, as well as a few Ravn (Common Raven) that were interested in the bait we had put out. We took advantage of our time in the area and searched for flocks of swans (svaner) and geese (gæs) and did counts at several places. Of interest were sightings of Tundra Swan (Pibesvane), large flocks of Greater White-fronted Goose (Blisgås), Tundra Bean-Goose and Taiga Bean-Goose (Tundrasædgås and Skovsædgås), Barnacle Goose (Bramgås), and Common Crane (Trane). That evening Simon made us “Brændende Kærlighed” for dinner which was a real treat!

Ready for buzzard ringing

Saturday we continued to monitor the activity around the raptor traps, and while there were several Musvåge hanging around very close to the traps, they were not yet coming to them. In our surveys of the waterfowl flocks in the area we found most of the same species from the previous day as well as Egyptian Goose (Nilgås) and Pink-footed Goose (Kortnæbbet Gås). Simon also found a couple of Shore Larks (Bjerglærke) in a flock of Eurasian Skylark (Sanglærke) and Corn Buntings (Bomlærker). We attempted to catch some birds at night again with a thermal binocular, both on the beach and in the fields nearby, but luck was still not with us. We saw a young Grey Seal though (Gråsæl).

Grey Seal on the beach by night

On Sunday we said goodbye to Hans and Bodil. Hans gave Simon a lesson on how to attach the harness with the GPS unit. We did also see a Musvåge very near the large raptor trap with the deer carcasses so we are hopeful that in the days to come we will begin to catch some of these birds.

During the week, I also enjoyed birding the Grenen area and from Nordstrand to Det Grå Fyr, seeing species new and old to me, and looking for raptors the whole time as well, of course! Simon also participated in a planning meeting for this year’s bird festival during the week and there is a lot of other administrative work that he is busy with to get things going for the year.

Lars Bo will say goodbye to us today and then we will look forward to Hanelie’s return to the station on Friday.

On the 10^th Michael Ancher was ringing in town which gave us a few winter birds.

Ringing (Nordstjernevej)

Rødhals 1

Blåmejse 2

Musvit 6

Grønirisk 3

Gulspurv 1

Total: 13

Link to our Observations the past week

People: Simon S. Christiansen, Eric Scheuering, Hans Rytter, Bodil Rytter, Lars Bo Jacobsen, Michael Ancher