Beluga!

Last night, we went out to try and catch some Great Snipes (Tredækker). We got the sight and heard a singing Bluethroat (Blåhals) and a Nightjar (Natravn). But no Great Snipes (Tredækker)! After an hour of not seeing them in the thermal we decided to head back to the station via Gyvelmarkerne to listen for some Spotted Crakes (Plettet Rørvagtel), but all we heard were lots of Natterjack Toads.

Today János, Olga and I were at the ringing. The weather looked good, so we had our hopes up for some nice birds. Unfortunately, it was rather slow throughout the morning, but we still caught a couple nice birds like some male Chaffinches (Bogfinke), and Icterine Warbler (Gulbug), and a Long-tailed Tit (Halemejse). We also caught a few Common Whitethroats (Tornsanger) which are difficult to age so it was great to get some good practice on them.

Icterine Warbler (Gulbug)

Long-tailed Tit (Halemejse)

The migration counters today were Alvin and Julian. It was a very slow morning, but they had a few nice sightings like two Cuckoos (Gøg) flying out to sea, a Black Kite (Sort Glente) and some Honey Buzzards (Hvepsevåge). Yesterday a Beluga Whale (Hvidhval) was seen further down the coast in Denmark. Luckily, today it was seen in Skagen! Most of the team got to see it from Grenen. It was amazing to see, and we all wonder how it ended up here. It felt very weird seeing a white whale in the sun! This is the first record of a Beluga whale (Hvidhval) in Skagen. There was also a Red-rumped Swallow (Rødrygget Svale) seen but none of us managed to see it.

 Beluga whale (Hvidhval)!

Once we were all back, we completed our daily tasks and then took some very long naps. Last night’s late night meant we were all incredibly tired the next day, so our long naps were much needed. Hopefully tomorrow produces some more nice birds for us.