Red Throated Diver Rushhh

This Autumn has flown by and now today is already the penultimate day of our standard observation season! The weather for tomorrow looks quite rainy meaning today might be the last day of standard migration count this year, so all seven of us bundled up in our many layers, packed plenty of snacks and headed out to World’s End 3, where the sunrise was beautiful once again. After a very quiet last few days, our expectations were quite low, except for János who had predicted a big migration day during dinner last night, and he turned out to be right!

I was counting migrating Kittiwakes (Ride) today and in the first hour they were already passing by in their hundreds! But the most surprising and spectacular observation from today was the 394 Red-Throated Divers (Rodstrubet Lom). In the first couple of hours, we were seeing a steady trickle of divers but then suddenly there was a huge influx, with a constant stream of birds, some flying one behind each other, some in big groups. In only 10 minutes we counted over 250 migrating northwest past the tip at Grenen, along with one larger diver (Lom) which could either be a Great Northern Diver (Islom) or a White-billed Diver (Hvidnæbbet Lom), but we’re not completely sure this time; either way it’s exciting to see these big and beautiful birds!

A personal highlight for many of us was when Florian suddenly shouted out at the top of his voice: “Cranes”! In seconds, we had all turned around to see three majestic Common Cranes (Trane) flying right over our observation point! These are the first Cranes that any of us have seen in Skagen and are particularly significant for Florian because they are the 200th species he’s seen or heard in Denmark!

Another highlight was two Little Gulls (Dværgmåge) which we haven’t seen in quite some time now, but are always a lovely treat. Another surprise visitor to the migration count was a very lonely and sad looking Razorbill which was perched at the base of a sand dune when we arrived at World’s End 3 at sunrise. Over the next hour we watched it hop, flap and attempt to climb up the small sand dunes near us but without much success, until finally it disappeared and we hope flew away happily!

Just half an hour before the end of our standard 4hrs of counting, the heavens opened and it began to rain heavily. We checked the weather radar, and it showed continuous rain for the next few hours, so we decided to pack up and head home rather than getting super soggy and cold. In the afternoon, János, Miles and I did some office work, and later I went for a walk and spotted a Hen Harrier (Blå Kærhøg), Rough-legged Buzzard (Fjeldvåge), and a Common Buzzard (Musvåge), a nice trio of raptors.

Florian travelled to Frederikshavn for some birdwatching and was excited to see the first Egyptian Goose (Nilgås) for the town since 2022! His mission was to spot three species which he had not seen in Denmark so far: Kentish plover (Hvidbrystet Præstekrave), Greater Scaup (Bjergand), and Little Egret (Silkehejre). He almost achieved his goal, seeing both the Kentish Plover and Greater Scaup, but unfortunately failed to spot the Little Egret this time. Nevertheless, he had a brilliant time and saw so many ducks and waders, so a good afternoon of birdwatching.

It has been so lovely to have Lise’ best friends, Kat and Vic, come to stay with us this weekend, and they joined us for this morning’s observations too. After the rain stopped, they went for a nice walk to Jennes Sø and saw many Goldcrests (Fuglekonge) and Fieldfares (Sjagger), and then toured the Skagen supermarkets and did a much-needed big grocery shop for us. Thank you!

Standard ringing season has finished for 2025!

Link to today’s observations from the area

People: Miles Scheuering, János Schadl, Florian Hatt, Amira Nuseibeh, Lise Mastrup, and our guests (Lise’s friends) Kat and Vic.