Thunder & Quiet

This morning, a loud bang woke us up. There was a thunderstorm outside! Heavy rain beat against the windows and there were loud rumbles, so we had to postpone our daily migration count by an hour. On our way to World’s End 3, I was greeted by a very cute Common newt (Lille Vandsalamander) that had dared to walk the paths around the lighthouse after the rain.

Common Newt (Lille Vandsalamander) next to the lighthouse

The migration count that Brian, Juliane and I did, was slow with only a very small number of passerines and little activity on the sea. However, after the rain, the views of the rising sun and calm sea were magnificent!

After the count, we all went our separate ways. I decided do some more birdwatching in the bushes behind World’s End, coming across a number of Common Whitethroats (Tornsanger), Siskins (Grønsisken), Linnets (Tornirisk) and Great Tits (Musvit). The highlight of the walk was an unexpected Cuckoo (Gøg) that was perching on a branch. Also, I came across a Common Toad (Skrubtudse) that was lying on the sand in the middle of the pathway. A very nice sight! After a short lunch break, I went on another walk around Storsig where I was surrounded by Common Kestrels (Tårnfalk) and saw an extremely fast Woodpigeon (Ringdue) flying with the wind.

Meanwhile, Juliane and Brian went back to the lighthouse and entered some data on the computer. In the afternoon, Juliane biked to the CES site to cut vegetation so we are prepared for some bird ringing next week! While cutting, she even got to see an Adder (Hugorm), a common snake around the heathers of Skagen. After that, Juliane looked at the sea from Nordstrand and was amazed by the high number of Northern Gannets (Sule) and the interesting pattern of waves that the wind created in the sea.

Our team at the observatory also expanded today! In the afternoon, Simon (not to be confused with Simon S. Christiansen) arrived and will be staying with us until the end of August. After his arrival, he used his chance to see the Cinereous Vulture at Hulsig and got some nice pictures of the impressive bird.

Cinereous Vulture (Munkegrib) at Hulsig

He later joined Brian who was seawatching at World’s End 1 where they spotted a Northern Fulmar (Mallemuk) close to the beach. After this day of wind and rain, we all enjoyed a nice dinner together.

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

People: Brian Browne, Lærkebjørn Desholm, Mark Desholm, Simon Kiesé, Juliane Rößler, Jule Tappe