First for Denmark

The day began with an early first highlight: On their way to Kabeltromlen Alvin and Dylan saw a Nightjar (Natravn) fly off from the Sandormentracks just in front of them – they are only rarely seen this far out at Grenen. Dylan took the opportunity to wake everyone up with a 03:56 Zello call. Soon after, they also heard the first Cuckoo (Gøg) of the spring, from now on we will hear them every day. The ringing started off wonderfully with a really good first and second round. I joined them a bit later, since I’ve needed some more minutes of sleep in the morning after my very intense and restless day yesterday. We caught a nice collection of warbler species today: A Sedge, Reed, Icterine and Garden Warbler (Sivsanger, Rørsanger, Gulbug, Havesanger). The Icterine Warbler (Gulbug) was the first for Dylan to see in hand, and he really enjoyed it.

Sedge Warbler (Sivsanger) ringed at Kabeltromlen today.

The observations team also contributed to our variety at the ringing; before starting their count, János, Mika, Sverre opened the nets we’ve set up already yesterday evening at Sandklit to try and catch Yellow Wagtails (Gul Vipstjert) and Meadow Pipits (Engpiber). Anton and Ole joined them later. Their efforts were rewarded with both targeted species, and Anton brought us one beautiful male Thunbergi Yellow Wagtail (Norlig Gul Vipstjert) and two Meadow Pipits (Engpiber). Also apart from this extra mission, the team at Sandklit had a good time with some nice observations: Two Great Northern Divers (Islom), two Shags (Topskarv), five Honey Buzzards (Hvepsevåge) – the first time this spring that we had higher numbers of them – and one Arctic Skua (Almindelig Kjove) to name the highlights. Unfortunately, they missed a Citrine Wagtail (Citronvipstjert) that has been seen in the area by others. There also was a whale that was thought to be an Orca (Spækhugger) first, but turned out to be a Minke Whale (Vågehval).

Minke Whale (Vågehval)

At half past nine the breaking news spread like wildfire: A Dartford Warbler (Provencesanger) was found in Frederikshavn, just 40 kilometres south of here! This is the first ever record of the species in Denmark. Simon spoke about the sighting on Zello, and only two minutes later all the birdwatchers started moving, heading for the train station or their cars. After only ten minutes, the whole area was almost completely deserted. Simon and Lisa left as well, later Sverre also decided to catch a train. In the end, all three of them got to see the bird as a lifer, just like hundreds of other birdwatchers who came from all over Denmark (literally). That way, they got to meet a lot of friends and fellow birders, and enjoyed the time together.

Male Dartford Warbler (Provencesanger) - first for Denmark!

A large crowd of twitchers at Frederikshavn.

Some happy faces! Left to right: Simon, Søren, Karen Marie, Lisa

In the meantime, we took it slowly here at the station, completing a lot of the needed data work. Alvin went for a birding walk around Grenen, almost completely alone. He got extremely close to a young White-tailed Eagle (Havørn) that was sitting in the dunes.

Young White-tailed Eagle found by Alvin in the dunes. This one even has a ring and a GPS-tracker, so maybe we'll find out some interesting information about it.

When opening the moth trap, we discovered another great surprise. A Small Lappet Moth (Phyllodesma ilicifolia, Hede-takspinder) found its way into the trap. It’s a pretty rare species in Denmark and thus a very good find, only the second ever record for Skagen on naturbasen.

Small Lappet Moth (Hede-takspinder), little rarity.

In the evening, both our new guests at the apartment, Karen Marie and Søren, as well as Olga, our new volunteer from Spain who will stay with us for one month, arrived at the station. Welcome to the team! We had an evening meeting all together and got to know each other. Afterwards we went out to Grenen again for a relaxed evening birdwatch. At the same time, we also opened some of the nets at Kabeltromlen, in which we caught one bird, a Lesser Whitethroat (Gærdesanger) that Olga got to ring as her first ringed bird here at the station. A good start! We enjoyed the beautiful sunset for a bit and got back at dawn in need of some rest after a long and exciting day.

Evening at World's End 1

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, Mika Schadl, Julian Helbig, Dylan Daunt, Simon S. Christiansen, Lisa Vergin, Sverre Dahl Porsgaard, Anton, Ole, Olga Fernández Enríquez, Karen Marie & Søren