Seabird session

Today János, Sverre and I were at the morning ringing. We were pleasantly surprised to feel the wind coming from the South rather than from the Northwest. This means that the birds can get pushed up from further south to the tip at Grenen where we ring. Our first round was really nice with quite a few birds like Redwing (Vindrossel) and Lesser Whitethroats (Gærdesanger). We were pleased to catch a higher number of birds compared to previous days with these weather conditions.

The morning migration team today was Julian and Alvin. They had a nice time with some good seabirds like Great Skua (Storkjove) and Fulmars (Mallemuk). There was also a sighting of a White-billed Diver (Hvidnæbbet Lom) but no one from the station saw it. Hopefully more will come in the next week. They also had some nice passerines including a Waxwing (Silkehale) and the hihgest count of Yellow Wagtails (Gul Vipstjert) so far this spring.

Nice morning sunrise

We then all headed back to the station and then heard news of an unidentified raptor. It was difficult to know what the people were looking at so we waited for an identification. We then saw a picture of the bird and could immediately tell that it was a 2K Bonelli’s Eagle (Høgeørn) which are really rare in Skagen. We then headed south very quickly on our bikes. By the time we arrived at Saftevandsbakken where the eagle had been seen it had headed South. We really hope that it returns to Skagen again in the next couple days for all of us to see.

During the rest of the afternoon, we completed daily tasks like the day’s data entry. During this time, we also had the garden net open which caught a female Redstart (Rødstjert) and a Lesser Whitethroat (Gærdesanger). At 3pm I gave my seabird session on the breeding and scarcer species of seabirds seen in Northern Europe. I really enjoyed sharing what I know about my favourite group of birds. After, we had a lovely made by Mette and Jespe which was delicious! In the early evening János took a trip out to Grenen to look for some seabirds moving and he saw over 200 Fulmars (Mallemuk) which is the highemeal count so far this spring.

Me giving my seabird session

In the late evening after sunset, we decided to go out looking for displaying Great Snipes (Tredækker). Sometimes they stop in Skagen in early May but tonight we did not hear any. The next few nights also look good, so we hope to hear some of them soon. During our late outing we also saw a Great White Egret (Sølvhejre) and a Short-eared Owl (Mosehornugle).