The silence before the Storm… Petrel!

Hi everyone!

I am Markus, the most recent addition to the station crew. This is my first stint at any bird observatory. I am eager to gain more experience doing both migration counts and the handling of birds :D

For a detailed breakdown of who is currently at the station, click here.

Before getting into the details about the events of today, I must share the result of yesterday’s night catching with you guys!

A rain shower passed by at around 9 pm local time. Afterwards the wind had settled enough for us to go and set up the mist nets along with a few speakers at the beach, as well as a Nightjar net near the station.

Setting up the mist nets in between breakwaters at the beach. The calm before the "storm" arrived. Picture: Markus Kemp Clément

One of us remained awake for the night watch along with Simon, the rest went to bed, unsure of whether we would be woken up in the middle of the night.

I had barely managed to fall asleep, when Simon called me at 23:44 pm. A European Storm-petrel (Lille Stormsvale) had been caught in one of the nets. Everybody got up in no time, and we headed to the lab. As Simon had also reported the capture on Zello (the walkie-talkie app), quite a few people came by the station to observe the ringing of this mythical species.

It was a 3K+ individual, weighing in at 22,4g. Such a tiny creature that nevertheless is able to navigate the rough sea. When we released it again, it took height and then silently disappeared into the night.

It was my first ever sight of a Storm Petrel. Such a great experience!

European Storm Petrel (Lille Stormsvale) 3K+. Picture: Knud Pedersen.

We did not catch anything else during the night.

At 4:30am  I got up again and headed to Verdens Ende 3 along with Emma to do the migration count at sea. We had a flock of about 140 Common Terns (Fjordterne) resting at Grenen. We also had 3 Arctic Skuas (Almindelig Kjove) foraging around Grenen throughout the morning obs. It was cool to get good views of their “parasitic” foraging technique, when they stalked terns and gulls, forcing them to drop whichever fish they had just caught.

Alfred, a young birder I know from DOF Ung, joined us for a couple of hours at the morning obs. He had brought some “Feltroulade” (“cake roll” I guess?), a popular snack among DOF Ung during our camps. You never know if you will end up staying outside for the entire day to do birdwatching. As a result, it is good to bring an extra source of energy.  

"Feltroulade" during the morning obs at Verdens Ende 3, thanks to Alfred! Picture: Markus Kemp Clément

At Kabeltromlen, Hanelie and Rose had a recapture of a juvenile female Bluethroat (Blåhals) early in the morning. I also saw a juvenile Bluethroat near Verdens Ende 3 later in the day. Perhaps it was the same individual.

Ringing totals

Kabeltromlen:

Rørsanger 2

Kærsanger 2

Gærdesanger 1

Løvsanger 1

Munk 3

Tornsanger 9

Rørspurv 1

Gransanger 4

Det Grå Fyr (actually on 29/7):

Lille Stormsvale 1

Total: 24

The juvenile female Bluethroat recapture from Kabeltromlen. Picture: Hanelie Sidhu

During midday everybody had a nap to catch up on some of the sleep we missed out on last night.

Now Hanelie is cooking dinner, and the smell of homemade Pizza is starting to spread around the apartment! I am looking forward to this dinner :D

Today´s observations by observers in the area typed into DOFbasn can be seen here.

Highlights Morning Observations:

3 Arctic Skuas foraging near the tip of Grenen.

1 Northern Fulmar migrating northwest.

Highlights Ringing Kabeltromlen:

Bluethroat

At the station: Emma Fabré, Markus Kemp Clément, Rosemary Fricke, Hanelie Sidhu, Simon S. Christiansen, Klaus T. Jørgensen, Alfred Godsk Geckler, Knud Pedersen, Jørgen Kabel, Erik Christophersen, Anders Bojesen and our guests Jesper and Mette.