A Day At Grenen

Picture 1: Kabeltromlen varnishing

Today was a good day. We awoke to a sunrise where we could see the sun and started our day cleaning the apartment and making it look more presentable. With the sun being out we decided today was the best day to varnish the new Kabeltromlen. We took a little while finding brushes and as seen from the pic, we chose the only ones we could find! They were a little bigger than the ones you get at school and without finding any others, we thought they were our best shout. Little did we know but there were larger ones hiding in the attic, which Simon provided later in the day once complete.  

Picture 2: A Sunny Skagen Beach View

Anyway, we proceeded to varnish, and this took a good couple of hours and a whole pot to complete. We are not sure if we were meant to use the whole pot, but it turned out just right, so we hope that it remains waterproof until the next coat. Bird wise, it was a little busier than recent, we heard a Water Rail (Vandriske) in the reeds and saw our overwintering Hen Harrier (Blå Kærhøg) flushing Fieldfare (Sjagger) over the dunes. This was a successful task, and we wandered back to the lighthouse via Worlds End II for some much-needed lunch. The sunlight today was incredible and really transformed the area. It is amazing just how dark the days have been recently; it makes it feel like a totally different place!

Post-lunch and a decision – to see the Great-Northern Diver (Islom) who has been showing incredibly well in the harbour, or to try our luck trying to catch some waders. We are pretty determined when it comes to things, so we tried option two. We walked back to the beach and started our search for waders. A few Gannets (Sule), Common Scoters (Sortand), Eiders (Ederfugl) and Cormorants (Skarv) were seen but our target was the Sanderling (Sandløber). They are amazing little waders and to find out where these birds move around to in Denmark and where they breed would be amazing to find out as numbers change so frequently throughout the wintertime here in Skagen. Unfortunately, it was not meant to be today and after a few close attempts we could not catch any birds on this attempt. With the sun heading quickly below the horizon, it was back to the observatory for tea and biscuits before a chill and cosy evening is had ahead of tomorrows adventure.

Highlights:

-             Hen Harrier (Blå Kærhøg)
-             Great Northern Diver (Islom)

Link to Dofbasen here.

Observers: Thomas Weston, Eleanor Harris, and Simon S. Christiansen