Gulls and Guests

This morning Juliane and I enjoyed a little extra sleep, waking at 6:00 to head out to seawatch. However, Julian had the exact opposite experience: he had fallen asleep while doing computer work and was just leaving the couch to go to bed as I got up. He caught up on sleep while Juliane and I said goodbye to our guest Mette (who was leaving us to return home) and biked out to Grenen. The strong northwest winds of the last few days continued and we hunkered down atop a dune as we seawatched. We enjoyed a show of close foraging gannets, and the highlight was a second-year Mediterranean Gull (Sorthovedet Måge) that joined the small gull flock at the lagoon, a lifer for both of us.

Mediterranean Gull (Sorthovedet Måge) in the lagoon.

After we finished counting we walked up the beach to where a few hundred gulls were roosting. Among them were three Caspian Gulls (Kaspisk Måge), my first opportunity to study this species. I’ve been focused on trying to pick one out since I arrived earlier this week, and so it was satisfying to finally succeed. Unfortunately Juliane headed home before she got to see them.

Caspian Gull (Kaspisk Måge) in the gull flock on the beach. Note the smaller, slimmer bill, small dark eye, round head, and upright posture while standing to separate from European Herring Gull (Sølvmåge).

The early afternoon was spent cooking, resting, and playing guitar before we launched into an exhaustive cleaning of the house. We all went on separate walks along the trails near Det Grå Fyr before reconvening for a dinner that Julian had prepared. We also welcomed our new guests Martin and Kristine Rasmussen and their two young boys— we’re excited to have them around this week!

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

People: Brian Browne, Julian Helbig, Juliane Rößler, Mette Breed, Martin Rasmussen, Kristine Rasmussen