The spotted crake (Plettet Rørvagtel) and the Sooty Shearwater (Sodfarvet skråpe)

Yesterday evening, we thought of trying to catch some birds like barn swallows (Landsvale) and quails (Vagtel). However, it looked that we were not going to be very successful, so most of us came back to sleep. On the contrary. Alvin was more persistent and decided to stay awake the whole night to try night catching. He could hear a spotted crake (Plettet Rørvagtel) singing the whole night, so decided to give it a try. He walked very slowly, closer and closer, but when there were just five meters left between them, it stopped to sing. He thought it was gone, but then it started to sing again. He turned the light on and approached very slowly. It was moving to the weeds and then he moved very quickly to catch it in the net. It took him a while to believe what had just happened, that he had just caught a spotted crake!

He took it to the lab and woke us up. We all were so excited to see the bird, it was just gorgeous.

The beautiful Spotted Crake that we ringed tonight

After ringing, photolabing and just enjoying the beautiful bird, Alvin and Julian released it. They also saw two quails and for a moment, they thought of trying to catch them, but they were far away, so they decided to close the nets and come back home. Trying to sleep was no longer worth it, so instead, they celebrated the catching with a big coffee, some biscuits and a big smile. Soon, it was time to open the nets. Alvin, János, Dylan and I joined the ringing today. It was a very nice day, with quite a lot of birds, especially Black caps (Munk) and Marsh Warblers (Kærsanger). We also caught a Sedge Warbler (Sivsanger). Besides, we could also see a Sooty Shearwater (Sodfarvet skråpe) and some orcas (Spækhugger) from Kabeltromlen.

Dylan’s family left Skagen today and went back home, and so did Kirsten and Alfred. On the other hand, a new intern arrived. Her name is Mathilde, she is from Skagen and started to be interested in ringing since she visited the station with her school some time ago. Welcome!

Meanwhile, Julian was at the migration count. The first hours he was alone, and then Knud joined him. The also saw the orcas, which were one male and two females, and the shearwater, in addition to several Arctic skuas (Almindelig Kjove), two-second-calendar-year terns (Terne), a Mediterranean gull (Sorthovedet Måge) and many velvet scouters (Fløjlsand).

Sooty Shearwater

After the ringing and the counting, Julian went with Alfred to Grenen and saw some Mediterranean gulls, a Kittiwake (Ride) and could ring some rings from the birds.

In the afternoon, Simon appeared with a pigeon (Due) on his hands. Julian and him brought it to Knud’s home as he has a place for pigeons and one of his was missing. They left the pigeon home, where it could eat.

The pigeon back home

Total: 39

Ringing (Det Grå Fyr):
Plettet Rørvagtel - 1

Total: 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, Julian Helbig, Dylan Daunt, Olga Fernández Enríquez, Simon S. Christiansen, Alfred Godsk Geckler, Kirsten Bregn, Lisa Vergin, Knud, Mathilde