From Dawn til Dusk

Hej!

As a proper day at Skagen Fuglestation it was full of rarities, cake and knowledge.

So the day started with Sarah, Amira and me cycling to Kabeltromlen and opening less than half of the nets due to strong southernly winds. But apparently those nets were enough to catch us some special birds - because every bird is special. We had some Redwings (Vindrossel), Blue Tits (Blåmejse), a Dusky Warbler (Brun Løvsanger) and a Fieldfare (Sjagger). 'Only' 22 birds in total, as we had to close early because of a heavy rain shower.

Over at the Observation, Miles, Florian and Janna had a decent observation morning, with a Great Northern Diver (Islom) and a Water Pipit (Bjergpiber). And of course some rain to brighten the mood. In the second hour, after checking their messages, they all decided to come and visit us ringers at Kabeltromlen today. How nice!

Okay, just kidding, I am of course not just gonna brush over the rarity we caught and ringed today :) The Dusky Warbler (Brun Løvsanger) we had in the net today was not just one of many birds, it was truly special, as the species normally breeds in eastern Asia. It is the first one ever ringed in Skagen and the third record for the area. With a fat score of 7 it was ready for the ringing, measurements and some photos by excited birders from the area. It attracted a little crowd, all awing at this rarity. What a beautiful brown bird!

Dusky Warbler (Brun Løvsanger)

Famous Dusky Warbler

The unforseeable rain put a sudden stop to the ringing after that and we went back to recover from the adrenalin rush. The observers went back out to get a little more wet (and look for more rarities of course) before coming back to the station. After lunch, everyone went on their little afternoon walks, with Miles and Sarah ending up in a pub to celebrate the Dusky Warbler with a beer. I joined them later to pick them up for a visit to a bakery. I prefer cake over beer to celebrate! Amira relaxed a bit in the woods, together with some Goldcrests (Fuglekonge) and Florian and Janna did some nice birding at Nordstrand and Skarvesøen. They were kinda hoping to see the Grey Phalarope (Thorshane) that Knud Pederson saw this morning, but no luck on that.

After our evening meeting we had a lovely and interesting session from Sarah on Storm Petrels (Lille Stormsvale), where we gained some knowledge on their special way of living and the knowledge gaps that are still there about those mysterious birds.

Sarah presenting her talk about the mysterious Storm Petrels (Lille Stormsvale)

Ringing (Kabeltromlen):
Vindrossel 4
Sangdrossel 1
Sjagger 1
Rødhals 1
Gærdesmutte 2
Blåmejse 7
Munk 1
Stor Dompap 1
Fuglekonge 3
Brun Løvsanger 1 
Total: 22

Highlights from the observations:

Great Northern Diver (Islom)

Water Pipit (Bjergpiber)

Today’s observations from the area can be found here.

People: Mara Glane, Florian Hatt, Sarah Partridge, Amira Nuseibeh, Miles Scheuering, Janna Ouedraogo, and our guest Lars.