Lapland Bunting and Bullfinches

This morning I got up earlier to open up a net on the beach at Grenen to hopefully catch some more wagtails and pipits. Our hopes weren’t too high as the wind was coming from the North/West throughout the night and morning which would reduce the number of migrating birds drastically. We unfortunately didn’t catch any birds today, but it will not be our last attempt.

This morning’s migration count team was composed of János, Sverre, Ole and myself. It was a generally quiet morning count, but we had a period in the middle of the morning that was excellent. In twenty minutes, we found a Lapland Bunting (Lapværling) migrating east, saw two Shags (Topskarv) and 2 Arctic Skuas (Almindelig Kjove) as well as hundreds of Barnacle Geese (Bramgås). Lapland Buntings (Lapværling ) are becoming scarcer in Denmark, so it was a real highlight for us. In the last hour I left because it got really quiet to make some cake for everyone. During that time the observation team saw a Montagu’s Harrier (Hedehøg). Hopefully the first of a few that will turn up in the coming week.

Alvin, Julian, Olga and Anton were at the ringing this morning. The first two rounds were very quiet so their hopes for a good session were diminished. That quickly changed when they caught several birds in the next couple rounds including some Bullfinches (Dompap) and Lesser Whitethroats (Gærdesanger). The weather does not look good for ringing tomorrow because of rain so some of us may be getting some much needed rest.

One of the Bullfinches (Dompap) caught in the nets this morning

In the morning a Yellow-headed Wagtail was spotted at Buttervej so a few of us decided to go to try and see it. Yellow-headed Wagtails (Gulhovedet Gul Vipstjert) breed in the United Kingdom and Skagen only has a few individuals each spring. We did not see it, but we did get some really nice views of the more common Grey-headed Wagtails (Nordlig Gul Vipstjert). Søren and Karen Marie also went to Batteriskoven to look at some butterflies. They had great success and saw a Glanville Fritillary (Okkergul Pletvinge) which is the first one seen in Skagen this spring.

Glanville Fritillary (Okkergul Pletvinge)

The afternoon was a bit quieter which was nice as well will have a busy few days during the bird festival. We look forward to seeing everyone, learning more and meeting lots of new people. We also have our fingers crossed for some good birds!