Journey 2: Hirsholmene

Another day, another day of paradise in Skagen. As the final day of the ringing season had come to a close the day before, for the first time since my tenure at the station in February, we officially had no more mandated reasoning to go to Grenen. With that, we decided to take our first official non-project day and head south to Fredrickshavn for an adventure!

The day started off well with all of us sleeping in well past our usual wakeup call. Once up, we began to pack our things and begin the journey south to wonderful island of Hirsholm. It was a trip we had been talking about all season, and we were finally able to do it! A good trip to send off my time at Skagen Fuglestation. 

 Our guests, Anne and Jesper were nice enough to drive some of us down to the train station while Tue and Cora took bikes. We then began the journey to the island. Arriving in Fredrickshavn, we quickly walked around the harbour before the ferry left and we managed to see a beautiful 2k male Black redstart (Husrødstjert). Hoppin on the ferry a little later we headed out to the island. Along the way, we managed to see two Whooper Swans (Sangsvane) migrating south. Maybe they are early post-breeding dispersals? As we got further out we also saw many Black Guillemots (Tejst), foreshadowing what was to come. When we arrived at the island, the jetties were lined with guillemots (Tejst), numbering into the hundreds! Wow. We also saw a Rock Pipit (Skærpiber), the only breeding site of these birds in Denmark.

 Once on the island, we were introduced to Kjeld Tommy Pederson, the biologist and ringer of tens of thousands of gulls and terns in Denmark. He showed us to our living arrangements for the evening and we headed out to do some birding. Most of the time was spent admiring the seabird colonies, particularly the Tejst. 

 Sildemåge chick

In the evening, Kjeld offered to take some of us at a time into the colony. Andrew and I went first and we were shown the entire colony as well as had the opportunity to color ring a few Lesser Black-backed Gulls (Sildemåge). He also showed us the process of ringing the chicks and explained all the projects he works on at the island. A few hours later, the others had the opportunity to do the same! A wonderful experience for all.

Kjeld color-ringing 

Around 10 PM, we all headed to bed in the provided lodging. A great way to spend a day. And so, another day passes for those of us affiliated with Skagen Fuglestation! What will tomorrow bring? We will have to wait and see!

Highlights:

Sildemåge ringing!

700 Tejst 

  Observations from today on DOFbasen

People: Lucas Corneliussen, Andrew Jacobs, Hanelie Sidhu, Tue Baaner, Cora Körbele, Kjeld Tommy Pederson, and our guests Anne and Jesper Sandfeld