Valentine's Day in Skagen

Could there be anything more romantic on Valentine's Day than going birding before coming back home to a candlelit dinner? When I add that this is all alone, I struggle to think of an alternative and I am sure my partner would agree...I have been kept company over the past two days instead by the birdies of Skagen, who were starting to come out in higher numbers as the snow melts away. 

I started the day with a seawatch, overlooking what seemed like more of a pond than a winter sea. This certainly makes for more pleasurable birdwatching as birds do not appear for a second before disappearing behind a wave for the following 15 seconds. The only observation of note was a Long-tailed Duck (Havlit), which was 'showing well' in the parlance of birders. Fittingly for today there was also a Red-breasted Merganser (Toppet skallesluger) couple who wondered close to shore. They rarely stuck together though and often dived at different times, perhaps not yet in the spirit of the day. 

Mr Merganser, questioning his life choices

The weather brightened up yesterday afternoon showing Skagen in its full glory. I took advantage my going for a walk looking for some non-seabirds for a change. There were some nice finds, including a female Eurasian Sparrowhawk (Spurvehøg) and some Bullfinches (Dompap) who teasingly came close enough for photographs but insisted on a mesh of twigs in the foreground to blur them (perhaps they had artistic effect in mind). 

Mrs Sparrowhawk, alone this Valentine's Day

Mr Bullfinch, dressed for the occassion 

I also managed to get a photo of a bird that I very rarely do. This has nothing to do with it being rare, in fact the opposite, it is too common to often think it worth closely observing. There is also someone I know who will always appreciate a photo of a Common Woodpigeon (Ringdue) happy Valentine's Day....

Link to todays observations from observers in the area

People: James Wareing