So many Søkonge

It was such a still morning at Kabeltromlen; all we could hear at dawn was bird call and the squeaky sound of our waders as Mara, Lise and I walked around opening up the nets. Mara had a dramatic start to the morning when she spotted a Hen Harrier bounce into the net in the first round, but unfortunately it bounced straight back out again. It made us wonder if we’d even have a big enough metal ring for a bird of that size! Maybe we should be more prepared just in case it stays in the net the next time…

It was Lise’s first morning ringing with us, and I really enjoyed having her as part of the team; her encouragement and offering of warm clothes when it got cold was very much appreciated! We ringed some lovely species including the highest number of Bearded Reedlings (Skægmejse) we’ve had in one day so far this Autumn, 15 in total! We release them all at once because of how social they are, so a highlight was when all of us including our helpers Anton, Ole and Lone, released a Skægmejse each! It was so magical watching them all fly away together calling excitedly!

My own personal highlight was the two Firecrest, including one retrapped bird which we had initially caught and ringed last week. I really love how much energy these birds have despite only weighing around 5g; they’re constantly on the move, flitting through trees in search of insects. A big flock of tits and crests (mostly Blue Tits (Blåmejse)) in the last net round meant it was a long day for us, and we were ringing the last few birds as the sun started to set! But a fun day.

We had our Zello on whilst at Kabeltromlen and were amazed to hear 10 Little Auks (Søkonge) called out passing by World’s End 3. The observers (Miles, Florian and Janna) were having a fantastic morning! They had great views of both a Great Northern Diver (Islom) and a Black-throated Diver (Sortstrubet Lom) resting not too far away on the calm waters. A highlight was also two flocks of Waxwing (Silkehale) attempting migration out over the tip and then maybe realising the sea looked a bit scary, changing their minds, and heading back inland again. These birds seem to be having a good year compared to last year when there were only a handful over the whole Autumn.

After their standard hours of migration count, Florian and Janna then continued birdwatching around the area for the remaining hours of daylight and found some nice birds. A metal-ringed Kingfisher (Isfugle) at Skarvsøen was probably the same bird we ringed at Kabeltromlen a month ago and keep re-sighting in the past weeks. They also heard a Little Grebe (Lille Lappedykker) and later saw a Great Grey Shrike (Stor Tornskade) too! Miles also had a pleasant visit to his favourite birding patch, the sewage plant behind the salmon farm, which today was filled with Long tailed tits (Halemejse) of both the pure white-headed northern and stripey-headed southern subspecies, how delightful.

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

People: Mara Glane, Florian Hatt, Amira Nuseibeh, Miles Scheuering, Janna Ouedraogo, Lise Mastrup, Ole and Anton, and our guests Lars and Lone