Waterbirds Galore

This morning Sarah, Amira, and Florian went out to Kabeltromlen for the ringing. It was Florian’s first time ringing, but he manifested a Common Kingfisher (Isfugl) on the second net run! On the same net run, Amira found a Water Rail (Vandrikse) in a net! It almost escaped, but she was able to grab it just in time! Gabriel and I (Miles) were at Worlds End III for the migration count, but Florian called us and we were able to go see them! Those were the biggest highlights from the ringing, but they also caught a Great Spotted Woodpecker (Spor Flagspætte) and 29 Goldcrests (Fuglekonge)! Florian enjoyed learning how to handle and extract birds, and got to ring his first bird, a Eurasian Blackcap (Munk). Our guests Ole and Birgitte arrived in time to see the kingfisher and Water Rail and Birgitte greatly enjoyed getting to see all the Goldcrests.

The Kingfisher (Isfugl) in hand. Photo by Gabriel

It was quite a slow migration day for us observers at Worlds End III. It was the second day in a row of sunny conditions with no wind and there were very few seabirds moving, though we did see 18 Graylag Geese (Grågås), 7 Red-breasted Mergansers (Toppet Skallesluger), and a Merlin (Dværgfalk). There was good passerine movement, but their movements continued to cause consternation for us counters. At one point, Gabriel commented that “this must be the largest roundabout in Northern Europe” because of all the passerines circling overhead and resting or attempting to migrate. Gabriel did detect another Ring Ouzel (Ringdrossel), several Red Crossbills (Lille Korsnæb), and 3 European Stonechats (Sortstrubet Bynkefugl).

The Water Rail (Vandrikse) in hand. Photo by Amira

We have had a nice run of luck with kingfishers in the last few days. On Sunday, we found only the 44^th record for Skagen while birding in the industrial area with Simon. This is now the 45^th record for Skagen and the 9^th time one has been ringed at the station (dating back to 2017).

Simon showing Florian how to check molt progress in a passerine. Photo by Sarah

Last night we put up mist nets in the hopes of catching some storm petrels (stormsvale) but unfortunately did not catch anything, despite staying up checking the nets until past 1 AM.

This afternoon Sarah gave us all a tour of the station, including all the drawers, nooks, and attic. Prior to that, Gabriel spotted a strange bird down in the courtyard. It looked like a grackle and was about that size, dark overall but with a light patch on the face - maybe a funny escaped bird? When they went down to look for it, the bird had disappeared. Hopefully we are able to refind it tomorrow!

Ringing (Kabeltromlen):
Water Rail (Vandrikse) 1
Great Spotted Woodpecker (Stor flagspætte) 1
Song Thrush (Sangdrossel) 2
Eurasian Wren (Gærdesmutte) 5
European Robin (Rødhals) 5
Reed Bunting (Rørspurv) 2
Eurasian Blackcap (Munk) 6
Common Chaffinch (Bogfinke) 3
Eurasian Bullfinch (Lille Dompap) 3
Eurasian Blue Tit (Blåmejse) 8
Common Kingfisher (Isfugl) 1
Goldcrest (Fuglekonge) 29
Common Chiffchaff (Gransanger) 14
Total 80

Highlights from Worlds End III

Merlin (Dværgfalk) 1

Ring Ouzel (Ringdrossel) 1

List of today's observations in DOFbasen from the Skagen area

People: Gabriel Axelsson, Florian Hatt, Miles Scheuering, Amira Nuseibeh, Sarah Partridge, Simon Christiansen, Ole and Birgitte Jørgensen