A Windswept Day

With a strong northwest wind building overnight, we (Julian, Juliane, Mette and I) woke up and headed out to Grenen before 5:00am to conduct a seawatch, where we were met by Knud. We hoped the winds would have blown in some shearwaters, but had no luck. However, we were treated to a spectacular adult Little Gull (Dværgmåge) that was sitting in the newly-created lagoon that had formed overnight on the beach at the tip of Grenen.

The new lagoon, which did not deter tourists from reaching the tip.

The lagoon slowly grew as we seawatched and we had to periodically send a lookout over the dune to make sure our bikes were being overtaken! This was Juliane’s first seawatch ever, and she was thrilled to see her lifer Red-throated Divers (Rødstrubet Lom), Northern Gannets (Sule), Dunlin (Almindelig Ryle), and her first Gray Seal. A light morph Arctic Skua (Almindelig Kjove) burst by to rile up the terns roosting on the edge of the lagoon, and later a stunning chocolatey dark morph did the same thing, both offering great views (to our delight and the terns’ dismay!).

Adult Little Gull (Dværgmåge) flying by.

The winds were quite cold, so Medde and Juliane left the seawatch a bit early while Julian and I stayed a couple more hours. After eating lunch an exhausted Julian napped and Juliane went to get groceries while I took off to explore some of the trails I hadn’t been down yet. The wind kept most birds rather subdued, but I was still treated to my first Common Reed Warblers (Rørsanger) and Marsh Warblers (Kærsanger) and an adorable Red-necked Grebe pair (Gråstrubet Lappedykker) nuzzling and doting on each other on the cormorant lake (Skarvsøen). 

Simon returned today from Germany, so he stopped by to meet Juliane and I and to do some planning. In the evening, Julian, Juliane and I fought the wind as we biked into town to check out the music festival. We strolled around town listening to music waft from various tents and looking at the gulls in the harbor. Deciding we’d return tomorrow to see the festival in earnest, we headed home, stopping just before Det Grå Fyr to admire a gorgeous male Red-backed Shrike (Rødrygget Tornskade) in the golden light.

Finally with the lagoon now out at the tip we decided to walk out at 1:00am to go night catching, looking for shorebirds. We had no luck there, but got to watch a marten on the edge of the beach and listen to a night singing Common Grasshopper Warbler (Græshoppesanger). We returned home very tired at 3:00am.

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

People: Brian Browne, Julian Helbig, Juliane Rößler, Mette Breede, Knud Pedersen