Spectacular Sooty

Although the forecast showed rain for most of this morning, we no longer truly believe it, and so we decided to brave the outdoors and try out both ringing and observing. Often the best birds come in the least pleasant and most unpredictable weather!

The rainy showers didn’t dampen our spirits and the observers (Lise, Florian, Anton, Jørgen and I) were all super excited to head out to World’s End 3 today. It was busy from the moment we arrived with lots of divers in the first few minutes, including two Great Northern Divers (Islom) and many Red Throated Divers (Rødstrubet Lom). However, the highlight for us today has to be the spectacular, mind-blowing views we had of a resting Sooty Shearwater (Sodfarvet Skråpe). As soon as we heard a Zello from other observers at Nordstrand that it was travelling east towards us, we all scanned the sea furiously until we spotted it. They have such a unique and cool flight, dipping up and down, above and below the horizon, dodging the waves with ease; they really are the kings of migration. This individual seemed to have settled in the area and spent the morning zigzagging between the tip of Grenen and Nordstrand, and coming in right over the strandline.

We also really enjoyed watching the many Little Gulls (Dværgmåge) flying by today, with several groups made up of both adults and first calendar year birds. The juvenile Little Gulls can sometimes be confused with juvenile Kittiwakes (Ride) because of the similar black markings on the wing, but Little Gulls are much smaller, daintier, with quick wingbeats and a more erratic flight. A personal highlight for me was a pair of Oystercatchers which landed at the tip soon after we arrived. Whilst they’re a common species, they are the first we’ve seen on migration count and also remind me of my home in Cornwall in the UK where I see and hear them almost daily. The Glaucous Gull (Gråmåge) from yesterday was also spotted again amongst the big gull flock; I wonder how much longer it will hang out here with us.

Meanwhile, the ringers (Mara and Miles) were having a slow start to the morning after opening nets slightly later than usual because of the rain, until the inevitable happened and one of the many Blue Tit (Blåmejse) flocks flew into the nets. I was called in from observations to help extract and ring the birds in time to dodge the rain showers. As well as the 71 Blue Tits, we also had a recapture Firecrest (Rødtoppet fuglekonge) from last week and a Great Tit (Musvit) which was first ringed by Michael Ancher at Jennes Sø last year.

In the afternoon, Anton went on a walk around Ellekrattet where he saw two Hen Harriers (Blå Kærhøg) fighting, flushed a Woodcock (Skovsneppe) and almost got attacked by an Adder (hugorm)! Florian stayed down at the beach by World’s End 3 and got an even closer look at the Sooty Shearwater, and I headed down to the beach again after lunch and briefly joined Knud for some “gulling”. I hoped I might see the Glaucous Gull but it had flown elsewhere, so instead I enjoyed the lovely Caspian Gulls (Kaspisk Måge) of various ages and spotted a few colour ringed gulls too.

I arrived home to the delicious smell of baking Banana Bread which Mara had made for us all, and then we all gathered for a session from Simon about the ethical considerations needed for bird ringing and had a quick quiz on identifying rare Phylloscopus warblers. This evening, we also welcomed János from Germany who will be spending the rest of the Autumn season with us and is the final volunteer to arrive this year!

Link to today’s observations from the area

People: Mara Glane, Florian Hatt, Amira Nuseibeh, Miles Scheuering, Lise Mastrup, Anton Møbjerg Toft, Simon S. Christiansen, János Schadl and our guest Jørgen Hulbæk.