Storm Petrel, Diver and Jewish New Year

Today was a cold day. The wind came from the northwest, and it was about 5°C colder than the last days. The wind was too strong for ringing, so Sarah, Amira, Miles, Florian and I biked out to Worlds End III to do some migration count instead. Once there we met up with Knud, as usual. Not long after, Ole (one of this week’s guests) also joined us. One of the highlights of the day was a Leach’s Storm Petrel (Stor Stormsvale), first spotted by birders at Worlds End I, and soon after we saw it too. You could really tell the cold winds were bringing in some new birds for the season. We had the first Snow Bunting (Snespurv) and Horned Lark (Bjerglærke) of the autumn, and about 30 migrating Pink-footed Geese (Kortnæbbet Gæs), which was nice to see. After the count, Florian, Miles and I checked through the Reed Buntings (Rørspurv) resting in the sea buckthorn along the beach. We counted around 150 Reed Buntings (Rørspurv), but not much else. 

In the afternoon some of the team went for a cold swim in the sea, and later we all helped cook dinner, which Sarah had organized. Dinner or “The Feast,” as Sarah called it, was themed around the Jewish New Year, which is today. We enjoyed the meal together with the whole volunteer team, Simon, Lisa, Mette and our guests Ole and Birgitte.

Shana tova

After dinner some of us went out for nightcatching. Simon, Lisa and Florian walked along Grenen’s south beach, while Amira, Miles and I covered the north beach. Unfortunately, my team didn’t catch anything, but luckily the other team caught two Dunlins (Almindelig Ryler) and amazingly, a Red-throated Diver (Rødstrubet Lom)! Everyone was very excited to see the birds up close and especially the diver.

Red-throated Diver (Rødstrubet Lom)

Ringing (Jennes Sø):

Gærdesmutte 1

Rødstjert 1

Munk 1

Gransanger 4

Fuglekonge 3

Blåmejse 2

Musvit 3

Lille Gråsisken 8

Highlights from Worlds End III:

Stor Stormsvale 1

Snespurv 1

Bjerglærke 1

Kortnæbbet Gås 36

Links to todays observations in Dofbasen from the Skagen area

People: Gabriel Axelsson, Florian Hatt, Miles Scheuering, Amira Nuseibeh, Sarah Partridge, Simon Christiansen, Lisa Vergin, Knud Pedersen, Michael Ancher, Ole and Birgitte Jørgensen.