Rouzel

In the morning János, Alix, Simon and I were ringing at Kabeltromlen, while Dylan, Alvin and Gustav went out to Nordstrand for the standardized migration count. They tried to be there as early as possible and were indeed rewarded with a few early harriers, including two Pallid Harriers (Steppehøg).

Adult male Pallid Harrier (Steppehøg)

Hans joined them shortly after, and later more and more birdwatchers arrived making the small dune almost a little bit crowded. Perhaps some of them came there hoping for the Eastern Imperial Eagle (Kejserørn) Gustav found at Uggerby the day before would turn up here at Skagen. Unfortunately, that wish didn’t come true, but there still were a lot of other enjoyable raptors such as Pallid Harriers (Steppehøg), Black Kites (Sort Glente), Ospreys (Fiskeørn) and a Golden Eagle (Kongeørn). Apart from that, they had good numbers of Arctic Skuas (Almindelig Kjove) and an extraordinary large amount of migrating Red-throated Divers (Rødstrubet Lom): Within only ten minutes they counted over 600! This is something even an experienced birder like Hans had never seen before. What a spectacular sight!
At Kabeltromlen, we started our day with a great highlight: On the first round of checking the nets at 06:15, we had a Ring Ouzel (Ringdrossel) in one of them, a species which is not caught here often. For János, Alix and me it was the first time seeing one of them in hand, and we enjoyed looking at this beautiful and impressive bird up close a lot.

2K male Ring Ouzel (Ringdrossel) – aka "Rouzel" :)

Ring Ouzel (Ringdrossel) wing detail

After that, the ringing continued slowly with not so many birds in total. Nevertheless Alix got some more practise in ageing Chiffchaffs (Gransanger); she nailed most of them. Simultaneously, we also kept track of the migrating birds around us: Several Tree Pipits (Skovpiber), Short-eared Owls (Mosehornugle), Hen Harriers (Blå Kærhøg), an additional 2K Pallid Harrier (Steppehøg) and some Arctic Skuas (Almindelig Kjove), one of them being of the light morph.

Signs of spring.

After four hours of counting, Alvin, Dylan and Gustav decided to cycle to Pælebakke Klit. Although the only nice bird they saw there was a Short-eared Owl (Mosehornugle) they flushed close by, they’ve had a lot of fun in the dunes. When biking back they almost got boiled in there boiler suits and enjoyed some refreshing and cooling ice lollies on the way.

Dylan relaxing in the sand. 

We spent most of the afternoon inside, doing a bunch of necessary computer work like entering data, checking sound recordings, preparing presentations, etc. Alix and Alvin both fell asleep whilst working on that, that’s just how tiring it was. Gustav also wrote his report about the Imperial Eagle (Kejserørn) – congratulations again on the find! In the meantime, Simon went out to Nordstrand and Hans to Flagbakken, both of them were able to add a few observations to today’s list.
In the evening, Alix, Alvin and Dylan set up a net near Ellekrattet at a place where we’ve observed a large flock of roosting White Wagtails (Hvid Vipstjert). After we all gathered for some great pizza János had prepared for dinner, we went out, placed a speaker playing Wagtail sound recordings near the net and waited, hoping for the birds to fly in. Unfortunately we weren’t successful as the Wagtails didn’t show up. Maybe we’ll try again in the next days.

Our set-up for the White Wagtails (Hvid Vipstjert) – promising but not successful yet. Hopefully that will change soon!

Ringing (Kabeltromlen)
Fuglekonge - 3
Gransanger - 18
Rødhals - 10
Jernspurv - 3
Gærdesmutte - 3
Blåmejse - 5
Vindrossel - 1
Ringdrossel - 1
Total: 44

Link to today’s observations in DOFbasen from observers in the area

Summary of today's raptor migration in DOFbasen

People: Alvin Johansson, János Schadl, Alix Bortolussi, Julian Helbig, Dylan Daunt, Simon S. Christiansen, Gustav Juel, Knud Pedersen, Hans Christophersen, Jørgen Hulbæk