Gulls Gulls Gulls

It has been quite windy the last few days, so there has not been ringing. This morning, the crew took a family outing to World’s End 3 for the migration count. There have not been a lot of particularly special species the last few days, but there has been decent movement of some species. There have been many Alcids (Alkefugle) and we have been getting large flocks of geese (gås sp.). The geese tend to arrive later in the morning, which is nice because numbers of other species have often dwindled by then. Today we had 117 Pink-footed Geese (Kortnæbbet Gås) and 165 Graylag Geese (Grågås), plus 88 unidentified gray geese (Grå Gås sp). The alcid total was over 200 birds, with most (180) being unidentified Guillemots/Razorbills (Lomvies/Alks), along with 17 Razorbills and 9 Guillemots. Many have been migrating far out and they are difficult to identify, but I plan to do my session on their identification, so hopefully that will help us.

Hard at work counting gulls at the harbor. Photo by Gabriel

After returning from the count, Sarah cooked us a delicious lunch. Amira had returned early and had already finished most of the weekly cleaning, which was greatly appreciated and saved us all some time this afternoon! This weekend is Denmark’s national waterbird count (NOVANA), which we are participating in. It happens to coincide with eBird’s October Big Day, which is today! There are several sites we need to visit for the waterbird count, but today we got a ride from Lars Bo and birded the harbor. We mostly saw gulls (Måge sp.), including 324 European Herring Gulls (Sølvmåge) and 150 Great Black-backed Gulls (Svartbag), along with 396 Great Cormorants (Skarv) and 49 Common Eiders (Ederfugl).

Amira checking on the tofu delivery from the lighthouse. Where is Miles? Photo by Gabriel

After counting the roosting gulls, Lars Bo took us to Lidl so we could pick up some groceries. Unfortunately, just as we were arriving back at the lighthouse, Sarah and I realized we had forgotten the tofu and rice noodles that Amira had specifically requested (and we had confirmed we would get) for tonight’s dinner. Sarah and I rushed back to Lidl on our bikes to collect these items in time for dinner. Sometimes just one trip to Lidl is not enough, even in a single day. Amira cooked us a delicious stir fry for dinner, and we discussed the use of “I love you” in platonic friendships.

Now, Gabriel, Esben, and Lars Bo are out night catching. Last night they failed to capture anything, although they did see a Jack Snipe (Enkeltbekkasin). Maybe tonight they will catch something good!

Ringing (Jennes Sø):

Eurasian Wren (Gærdesmutte) 4

European Robin (Rødhals) 1

Eurasian Blackbird (Solsort) 1

Common Chiffchaff (Gransanger) 1

Goldcrest (Fuglekonge) 3

Crested Tit (Topmejse) 1

Blue Tit (Blåmejse) 2

Great Tit (Musvit) 3

Eurasian Treecreeper (Træløber) 2

Lesser Redpoll (Lille Gråsisken) 2

Highlights from World’s End 3:

Pink-footed Goose (Kortnæbbet Gås) 117

Little Gull (Dværgmåge) 26

Horned Lark (Bjerglærke) 1

Today's observations in Dofbasen from observers in the area 

People: Gabriel Axelsson, Florian Hatt, Sarah Partridge, Amira Nuseibeh, Miles Scheuering, Simon S. Christiansen, Lars Bo Jacobsen and Esben Hansen