Steppe Eagle part 2

Michael and Zach, later joined by Simon, headed ringing at Kabeltromlen while Lauren and I headed south for a day of observations. They had an excellent morning at Grenen, catching 45 birds of 14 species including an unexpected adult, female Lille Korsnæb (Common Crossbill) and the first two juvenile Topmejse (Crested Tits) of the year- both of which were new species for Zach and Michael! Simon also finished the collection of blood samples which will be sent away to be tested for West Nile Virus.

Adult, female Lille Korsnæb (Common Crossbill).

" juvenile Topmejse (Crested Tits).

Lauren and I started observations at Buttervej where the morning was initially rather slow. We soon headed further south to Storklit where we spent a further 6 hours raptor watching. The heat haze and blue sky made observations challenging however throughout the time we saw 56 Hvepsevåpe (Honey Buzzards) (which I believe is the highest single day count of this species this year), 2 Havørn (White-tailed Eagles), 5 Fiskeørn (Osprey), a resting Duehøg (Goshawk) and 1 Blå Kærhøg (Hen Harrier). Despite the good number of Hvepsevåge (Honey Buzzards), we were slightly disappointed, as we packed up, to have not seen any ‘rare’ eagles which we had hoped might come with the warm weather and drifty south-easterlies.

As we were cycling home on the road north of Flagbakken, I spotted a distant, small kettle of raptors which I decided to get off my bike and check. I couldn’t believe it when I laid eyes on a large eagle- a Steppeørn (Steppe Eagle)! We had good views of this 2k bird which we then chased on our bikes towards Saftevandsbakken. This is the same individual which was seen a week prior, which we had actually missed as we had been visiting family in London, and so we were thrilled to finally get the chance to see this species!

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

Skagen Fuglestation: Michael Colley, Zach Pannifer, Dante Shepherd & Lauren Evans

Kabeltromlen Ringing Totals:

Tornsanger (Common Whitethroat)- 3

Gærdesanger (Lesser Whitethroat)- 2

Gransanger (Chiffchaff)- 1

Rødrygget Tornskade (Red-backed Shrike)- 1

Løvsanger (Willow Warbler)- 4

Topmejse (Crested Tit)- 2

Solosrt (Blackbird)- 1

Lille Korsnæb (Common Crossbill)- 1

Rørsanger (Reed Warbler)- 2

Kærsanger (Marsh Warbler)- 1

Gulbug (Icterine Warbler)- 2

Munk (Blackcap)- 20

Havesanger (Garden Warbler)- 3

Bogfinkne (Chaffinch)- 2

Total: 45