Hungry for buntings

This morning, Florian, János, and I headed to World’s End 3 for the migration count with Knud. János left a bit earlier to bird along the way and noted many Eurasian Blackbirds (Solsort) along the sandormen track. We hoped that activity would be good, though there was little wind and not so much activity over the sea. There was good passerine activity, with many large flocks of Eurasian Siskens (Grøninsken) and Fieldfares (Sjagger). Early on, we received a message from Mara asking if it was too late in the season for Garden Warbler (Havesanger). We wondered if they had caught a garden warbler or if it could be something even rarer. A garden warbler was still exciting to me, as it would be a lifer. A few minutes later, we got a Zello from Simon that they had caught a Garden Warbler! I hurried over to Kabeltromlen, but there were several other birds in the round, so I had a little time to bird and enjoy the cake that Jørgen brought. We catch Garden Warblers in the ringing from May through September, but they had pretty much left by the time I arrived.

Garden Warbler (Havesanger) caught and ringed at Kabeltromlen this morning. Photo by Mara

While I was gone the other observers saw a resting Great Northern Diver aka Common Loon (Islom). It was a rather chilly morning, but we enjoyed seeing several flocks of Whooper Swans (Sangsvane) and good numbers of Red-throated Divers aka Loons (Rødstrubet Lom). The ringers, Mara, Amira, and Lise, had a busy first few rounds before things quieted down. They did enjoy seeing many blackbirds in the area early on, and the lull in activity provided time for the task of painting the new cable drum (kabeltromlen).

Ringing cake brought by Jørgen Hulbæk

After the count, Florian, János, and Simon went looking for buntings in the brushy, reedy areas west of the sandormen track. There is currently an influx of Black-faced Buntings (Gråhovedet Værling) in Europe, so we at the station are quite hungry for buntings. However, they had no luck today. While not a Black-faced Bunting, there was a Yellow-browed Warbler (Hvidbrynet Løvsanger) found in Skagen today. It interrupted several of our lunches and was originally called out as a Hume’s Leaf Warbler (Himalaya-sanger), which prompted us to hurry over toward the nature center to see it. Yellow-browed is a relatively common vagrant to Europe, but it was still a lifer for me, so I was quite excited to see it.

While János, Florian, Amira, and I were looking at the warbler, Mara and Lise set up some traps for Rock Pipits (Skærpiber) on the beach. They used mealworms as bait and then played Rock Pipit calls and songs to attract them. They did get some interest but the birds only inspected the traps without going into them. While Florian was busy cooking us a delicious dinner, Amira and János went out night catching for Eurasian Woodcocks (Skovsneppe) at Bankes Marker next to Batteriskoven. They saw several but were unable to catch them. The real highlight was finding a hedgehog (pindsvin), which it is getting rather late for.

The hedgehog (pindsvin) observed by Amira and János at Bankes Marker. Photo by János

This evening is Mara’s last night at the station, so we finished watching Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man’s Chest.

Link to today’s observations from the area

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