A few good birds

It was Julian and me on migration count at WE3 this morning, and Julian used the opportunity to count inland and get more confident in identifying the passerine flight calls. Little wind from the east and mild temperatures made the perfect setup for a good migration day, and it was noticeably more passerines moving than the past days, with the most numerous being the Pipits (Piber) and Yellow Wagtails (Gul Vipstjert). Also, the sea was a bit busier with good numbers of Red-throated Divers (Rødstrubet Lom), a couple of Scooters (Sortand), Fulmars (Mallemuk), and Arctic Skuas (Almindelig Kjove) migrating. The first real highlight was a Surf Scooter (Brilland) called out on Zello. It was seen at Sandklit only a few hundred meters west of us, migrating close to the beach in our direction. Unfortunately, when we saw the Scooter flock it had joined, it was already much further out and directly in front of the sun for us, which left us with little chance to pick out the bird. Dylan got a bit luckier spotting the flock from the ringing table a bit earlier when it was still close to the beach. At the end only the finder and Dylan saw the bird of the around 30 birdwatchers at Grenen this morning.

Other highlights of the morning were two Shags (Topskarv) and two Great Northern Divers (Islom), and when we just finished the count, a Tawny Pipit (Markpiber) was called out. We got the information that it had landed in the dunes at Grenen and searched the area for 30 minutes before we found out that it had actually turned inland and back westwards. Nevertheless, it was a beautiful morning with many good birds!

Alvin, Dylan, Sverre and Simon had a more calm start to the day with a little over twenty birds of a nice diversity in the net and a singing Grashopper Warbler (Græshoppersanger) during the opening round. However, they saw most of the observation highlights, and Dylan also saw the Surf Scooter (Brilland). They also started to take blood samples of species that winter in sub-Saharan Africa to find out more about the viruses they bring with them. In the late morning we also got a generous donation from Brian Kristensen to buy cake and ice cream. This is very much appreciated and will keep us fueled for the weeks of early mornings.

Reed Bunting (Rørspurv)

When we went back, we all had lunch, and Dylan and Alvin went out to Saftevandsbakken to look for raptors, where they saw a Golden Eagle (Kongeørn) and a Black Kite (Sort Glente). They also took a nap in the sun, and Dylan had forgotten to apply sun cream, so he had to hide his face from the sun not to get burned.

Dylan napping at Saftevandsbakken

We also saw the Golden Eagle (Kongeørn) from the lighthouse and it was actually a lifer for Sverre. After entering the data of the morning, I also went out for a longer walk to Grenen and from there to Skarvsøen and back over Jennes Sø. I counted the Cormorant (Skarv) colony on the way and got a new high count with 121 active nests around the lake. Other observations of note have been a Rough-legged Buzzard (Fjeldvåge) and five White-tailed Eagles (Havørn) attempting at Nordstrand. On my way back I also had lunch, which I brought out with me.

We also did the weekly cleaning today to have more time for birding tomorrow, and after a delicious dinner by Alvin, I went out to Grenen again to do an evening seawatch.

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

People: Alvin Johansson, János Schadl, Julian Helbig, Dylan Daunt, Simon S. Christiansen, Sverre Dahl Porsgaard, Jesper & Mette, Brian Kristensen