Barn Owl Day!

This mornig I went to the migration. I was welcomed by a nice little flock of Arctic Terns (Havterne). Apart from that, migration over the sea was quite slow. Still, there were some resting birds, including a beautiful Razorbill (Alk) in breeding plumage close to the shore, along with a young Black Guillemot (Tejst) and three Red-throated Divers (Rødstrubet Lom). Later, another Black Guillemot (Tejst) joined them.
On the wader side, there weren’t many individuals, but I had a good diversity: Sanderling (Sandløber), Dunlin (Almindelig Ryle), Bar-tailed Godwit (Lille Kobbersneppe), Grey Plover (Strandhjejle), Curlew (Storspove)... I also spotted a migrating Red-necked Grebe (Gråstrubet Lappedykker).
For the first time, I saw the two baby Ringed Plovers (Stor Præstekrave) from the pair that’s nesting right in front of where I was sitting.

Sunrise from World's End III

Knud and Erik joined me during the second hour and then took care of the last two hours, which allowed me to go to the ringing. They had only caught a few birds. When I arrived, I ringed an angry young Reed Bunting (Rørspurv). In the last round, we had a Crested Tit (Topmejse) that didn’t want to let go of my finger.

Crested Tit - Topmejse

After that, we went back to the lighthouse and left directly to ring the Barn Owl (Slørugle) in the southwestern Vendsyssel. We stopped along the road because we heard that the Long-legged Buzzard (Ørnevåge) was on our route. But by the time we arrived, it had already flown back north — exactly where we had come from. So, we continued on to the Barn Owls (Slørugle).
We started with the farm we had visited before, but the adult owl had already escaped. We were ready now: Rose and I were holding the mist net in front of the exit, and the others placed a telescopic net in front of the owl box — but it was empty.
Then we went to another farm. Simon climbed up to take four chicks from a nest box, so each of us could ring one. They were already quite big.

Barn Owl  (Slørugle) 

The last farm had four chicks as well, but they were younger and still fluffy. All the farmers were very nice and offered us something to eat and drink.

A break between the Barn Owl ringing

On our way back, we stopped at the dunes south of Skagen, where the Long-legged Buzzard (Ørnevåge) had last been seen — but unfortunately, we didn’t see it, so we returned to the lighthouse.

Highlights from the field:

Long-legged Buzzard (Ørnevåge). 4th day. Seen by others at Hulsig

Black Guillemot (Tejst) : 2

Arctic Terns (Havterne) : 5

Ringing (Kabeltromlen):

Gransanger (Chiffchaff) - 5

Gærdesanger (Lesser Whitethroat) - 2

Kærsanger (Marsh Warbler) - 3

Rørsanger (Reed Warbler) - 2

Topmejse (Crested Tit) - 1

Tornsanger (Common Whitethroat) - 8

Rørspurv (Reed Bunting) - 1

Total: 22

Ringing (Vendsyssel):

Slørugle (Barn Owl) - 8 

At the station: Emma Fabre, Hanelie Sidhu, Rosemary Fricke, Simon S. Christiansen, Knud Pedersen, Erik Christophersen,  William Aarestrup, Andreas Bennetsen Boe the guests in the apartment Louise, Nor and Mikkel Østergaard, and the farmer Hans, Peter, Erik and their families.

Link to todays observations in DOFbasen from Observers in the area.