It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

Today, lots of us woke up in a very good mood after yesterday’s observations and nightcatching successes. Although the standard observation season has now ended, Florian, János and I were still keen to take advantage of the brilliant weather this morning and headed out to World’s End 3 at dawn for a few hours of seawatching. The tip of Grenen is one of my favourite places to be at sunrise because the pools of water and the tops of the waves shimmer like gold, the beach is dotted with resting gulls (måge), the Sanderling (Sandløber) are happily scampering, and almost always there isn't a single other human around!

Although we technically didn’t have to be counting everything we saw, we couldn’t resist clicking the Auks (Alk/Lomvie), Kittiwakes (Ride), Divers (Lom), ducks and Gannets (Sule). There weren’t as many Red-throated Divers (Rødstrubet Lom) as yesterday, but yet again the record for Autumn high count of Guillemots (Lomvie) was broken with 2497 migrating past today (counted by Knud)! How crazy!

As well as the many auks, we also had a nice mix of our favourite usual birds like Velvet Scoter (Fløjlsand), Sparrowhawk (Spurvehøg) and Waxwing (Silkehale). However, after a couple of hours of counting, it was time for us to head back to the lighthouse so that we could start the big cleaning and sorting process needed to pack down the bird Observatory for the Winter. We all leave at the end of this week and there’s so much to do before then! However, Florian, János and I all made a reminiscent stop at Kabeltromlen on our way home, where I was very excited to spot a Firecrest (Rødtoppet Fuglekonge) without a ring in the bushes!

A big group effort meant that we finished our cleaning and tidying jobs quite quickly this afternoon, and so Lise and I both had time to go for a lovely run, whilst János scrolled on Xeno Canto, Miles went grocery shopping, and Florian made his family calendars for Christmas using photos he has taken himself. Now, we’re awaiting a delicious sweet potato and chickpea bowl dinner being cooked by Miles and enjoying our wonderful Christmas tree which we’ve now covered in glittery and shiny paper stars; it’s beginning to feel a lot like Christmas!

Standard ringing season has finished for 2025!

Link to today’s observations from the Skagen area.

People: Miles Scheuering, János Schadl, Florian Hatt, Amira Nuseibeh, Lise Mastrup, and Simon S Christiansen.