Rain in the early morning, but still no lifers for Simon

Rain in the early morning or late night usually brings down a lot of birds, and today was no exception.

When the ringers went out in the morning, it was still raining a little. The rain stopped soon after thought, and already on the first round they had many birds. The following rounds continued to bring in many birds and the ringing went on even past the standardized time. In total, 93 new birds were ringed, including 18 Ictarine Warblers (Gulbug), which is an unusually high number for Skagen. They are also very nice and cute birds to ring. There was also a March Warbler (Kærsanger) with a dark head that looked quite peculiar and a female Red-backed Shrike (Rødrygget Tornskade), bringing the total numbers of birds caught over 100 including recaptures. Even though the conditions were promising there was still no “lifer” (a species seen for the first time) for Simon haha.

March Warbler (Kærsanger) with a dark head for unknown reasons 

Female Red-backed Shrike (Rødrygget Tornskade)

In the meantime, a Rosefinch (Karmindompap) was singing close to the nets, and a Golden Oriole (Grøn Pirol) flew over the ringing site.

On the observations today it was me (Alvin), and it was pretty slow, but the hopes of finding a rare bird kept me going for the four standardised counting hours. The highlights from the observations was the around 500 Common Scoters (Sortand) migrating past in good light.

Instead of joining the migration count in the morning, Julian went birding and saw many Skylarks (Sanglærke), Tree Pipits (Skovpiber) and Stonechats (Sortstrubet bynkefugl).

Highlights from the observations
Golden Oriole (Grøn Pirol) - 1
Rosefinch (Karmindompap) - 1

Ringing (Kabeltromlen)
Rødrygget Tornskade - 1
Gulbug - 18
Sivsanger - 2
Kærsanger - 9
Rørsanger - 5
Løvsanger - 5
Gransanger - 6
Munk - 14
Havesanger - 7
Gærdesanger - 11
Tornsanger - 8
Grå Fluesnapper - 3
Rødhals - 1
Broget Fluesnapper - 2
Bogfinke - 1
Total: 93

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

People: Alvin Johansson, János Schadl, Julian Helbig, Dylan Daunt, Olga Fernández Enríquez, Simon S. Christiansen, Kirsten