Fog...

After the Danish record for the number of migrating Mistle Thrush (Misteldrossel) was set yesterday, expectations were high for today’s morning observation. As a result, all 4 of us (Johanna, Yehonatan, Dante and myself) were at Verdens Endes 1 for sunrise at 6.25am. Unfortunately, we didn’t see the sunrise, or the sea, or many birds for that matter as the whole of Skagen peninsula was covered in extremely heavy fog!!!

Throughout the day the fog cleared marginally although never enough for proper observation and the passerine migration had largely ground to a halt. Dante, alongside Rolf, lasted the longest- an impressive 9 hours birding in the fog! Highlights from today included: 51 Great Crested Grebes (Toppet Lappedykker), 1 Hen Harrier (Blå Kærhøg), 1 Stonechat (Sortstrubet Bynkefugl), 12 Water Pipits (Bjergpiber), 24 Rock Pipits (Skærpiber) and 7 Grey Wagtails (Bjergvipstjert).

Meanwhile, Johanna, Yehonatan and I had a productive afternoon and set up 10 nets in a variety of habitats at Kabeltromlen ready for the season’s ringing to commence next week. Simon had a very successful afternoon in South Jutland where he caught a Buzzard (Musvåge) which was fitted with a GPS tag as part of a project in collaboration with Aarhus University. We’re looking forward to hopefully catching some more migrating raptors in Skagen this year.

We also said goodbye to Lars and Anette this afternoon, our guests who have been staying with us for the week. Thank you for driving our many net poles to the ringing site today and for the wonderful presentation on your Svalbard trip!

A full list of today's observations can be found here.

Today's raptor summary can be found here.

Skagen Fuglestation: Johanna Veentjer, Yehonatan Ben aroia, Dante Shepherd, Lauren Evans