The eye of the storm

When we wanted to leave for today’s count, Sarah and Selina came already back from Kabeltromlen. They were pretty wet and did not open the nets because of a rain shower. Flo, Gabriel and I waited before the heaviest rain had stopped and headed then out to find some interesting birds at worlds end 3. On our way there we could watch a gorgeous sunrise. So beautiful, that we forgot to take a picture, therefore you have to imagine it. Around the sun, the sky turned glowing red. This was surrounded by some darker clouds that broke up at certain parts and revealed some colourful sunbeams. When we arrived at the counting spot, a lightning appeared in the red. A rest of a thunderstorm that luckily passed by.

During the first two hours we found two adult Arctic Skuas (Almindelig Kjove)- one light and one dark morph. There I tried to see the characteristics Knud had told us for the examination of the age. Especially in the dark birds wing that was difficult. Shortly after the last Skua disappeared, a Merlin (Dværgfalk) flew in and sat down very cooperative on the beach. Besides that, the migration was calm. Therefore, we took some time to look closely on some birds. The light was very good and we could follow a beautiful young Kittiwake (Ride) that flew by close to the shore.

A Black Throated Diver in breeding plumage was flying directly above our heads

Sitting there, expecting nothing bad, the sky suddenly changed. The horizon disappeared between a wall of rain and we could just wait and watch the spectacle. After some time, I was not that amazed anymore and hoped the rain would stop soon. But it did not look like this. So, we had one hour of time to imagine all the birds we could see up here. When the rain began to decrease, Knud said, now there had to come a special bird. As a reward for our perseverance in the rain. No extremely rare bird showed up, but it was still nice to watch out a bit.

Meanwhile, Sarah, Selina and Óscar had set up the nets. During the shower they had to close them again and wait in a small tent for better conditions. When they opened again, many birds were flying into the nets. At this time, Gabriel and I arrived there after our count. Flo stayed a bit at the beach to take some pictures of Waders.

The waders liked the puddles that formed from the rain

Later on, when Flo joined the ringing, all six of us were there together. Shortly after all the birds were finished, Selina had to leave to reach her train back home. One last hug and then she went away. It was such a nice time with her and cool to see how fast she learned the ringing and handling of birds. Vi ses :).

After the ringing, we briefly went to Ellekrattet where we tried to find a Crested Tit (Topmejse) for Óscar. He has never seen this bird and up here in the coniferous forests is a good opportunity. Unfortunately, there was not much activity. Later on, we wanted to go birdwatching. When we looked at the radar, the others were not so motivated anymore. Therefore, I went out alone. I went to Skarvsøen and wondered, why I did this not earlier. It was very nice up there. Many passerines were in the bushes and several Swifts (Mursejler) were hanging around (maybe the last of the season- vi får se). I heard some Bearded Reedlings (Skægmejse) and my first Bramblings (Kvækerfinke) for the season. Then I received a Zello Message, that Óscar and Flo were successful, finding a Topmejse at Batteriskoven! They also reported many other passerines. After that, I met with Flo at Jennes Sø and we went back together through the heath. The setting sun dyed everything in red light and we could spot some passerines on their way to sleep. When we came back to the lighthouse, we said hello to our new guests who had arrived in the meantime.

In the afternoon there was always rain around. With the rain also rainbows appeared

In the evening, we put up some nets for a last try to catch Storm Petrels (Stormsvale). During that we had some interesting conversations about listing every bird and how to prevent that a bird becomes only a number on a list. Conclusion: when it gets too much, you should stop doing bird lists (but that may be easier to say than to actually do).

We really hope to catch a Stormsvale this night, vi får se.

Ringing (Kabeltromlen)

Gærdesmutte 1

Rødhals 4

Løvsanger 1

Sortmejse 4

Rødstjert 1

Jernspurv 2

Munk 13

Lille Dompap 1

Blåmejse 2

Gransanger 4

Total 33

Ringing (Jennes Sø)

Rødstjert 1

Sivsanger 1

Munk 1

Gransanger 1

Highlights from World’s End 3

Black Throated Diver (Sortstrubet Lom) 1

Merlin (Dværgfalk) 1

Arctic Skua (Almindelig Kjove) 2

Today’s observations in Dofbasen from observers in the area

People: Gabriel Axelsson, Florian Hatt, Selina Veng, Janna Ouedraogo, Sarah Partridge, Óscar Pachá Guerras, Knud Pedersen, Simon Christiansen, Michael Ancher.