About great guests from the north and small primaries

The day started earlier than the days before for Simon and me. We headed to Skarvøen to do the CES ringing. Due to the wind, we immediately noticed less songbird activity in the bushes, but as we arrived, we got some great views of different larger white birds: 10 Great White Egrets (Sølvhejre), one Mute Swan (Knopsvane), and the now well-known 1K Spoonbill (Skestork) was still around. Different wader species on the muddy parts kept us looking the lake, while a young Goshawk (Duehøg) gave us another reason to keep an eye on the sky between the net rounds.

Actually, we caught more birds in total than we expected. We ringed 21 birds, which is still not much for a CES ringing day, but completely okay under these windy conditions. And you always get at least one interesting bird in the nets. Today, it was a Lesser Whitethroat (Gærdesanger) with a smaller P1 on the left wing. As we looked at the bird in more detail, we noticed that there were some kind of parasites on it. Later, Simon got a message via Instagram that these were mallophaga, which chew on feather keratin.

Lesser Whitethroat (Gærdesanger) with a smaller P1. Foto by Simon Kiesé

Jule and Moritz went out to World’s End 3 for the migration count today and were later joined by Erik. There were not many birds migrating in total, but the stationary birds also kept them looking to the sea. They got a migrating Great Skua, which, like the birds from the last few days, migrated into the Skagerrak. Maybe it will meet the other Great Skuas we had the days before, and then they can talk about how nice their way over the tip was ;)

And, just like with the Spoonbill (Skestork) at Skarvøen, they also got the well-known 2K Great Northern Diver (Islom) again, which moved from its sleeping place somewhere near the Sealbunker over the tip until it reached the Skagerrak and met its smaller friends, the Red-throated Divers (Rødstrubet Lom) up there. Moritz managed to get some great pictures of that bird, which I now present to you:

2K Great Northern Diver (Islom) to the right with a Red-throated Diver (Rødstrubet Lom) to the left close to the shoreline at Grenen. Foto by Mority Morteani

We all also heard that the Basking Shark (Brugde) at Ålbæk (20 km south of Skagen) unfortunately died, but somehow you would also expected this from an animal which is not used to our conditions up here. 

At noon, most of us ate something and took a nap to get some energy back after our morning. With this new energy, Jule and I went grocery shopping for some things we need for the next great dinners up here. As we had today as well. Jule prepared a delicious dinner, and while eating, we welcomed Cora, a former volunteer, who will stay here for two weeks. It’s nice to have her back at the station after her longer stay in spring and summer 2025.

After dinner, we had the evening meeting and planned the next few days. In the coming days, especially when the wind goes down, we can look forward to night catching and maybe Shearwaters (Skråpe) in the field.

Lets see what the next days will bring!

Highlights from Observations:

Great Northern Diver (Islom)-1

Great Skua (Storkjove)-1

Goshawk (Duehøg)-1

Spoonbill (Skestork)-1

Ringing (Skarvøen):

Chiffchaff (Gransanger)-2

Garden Warbler (Havesanger)-1

Common Whitethroat (Tornsanger)-4

Blackcap (Munk)-2

Reed Bunting (Rørspurv)-1

Gray Flycatcher (Grå Fluesnapper)-1

Willow Warbler (Løvsanger)-2

Lesser Whitethroat (Gærdesanger)-2

Reed Warbler (Rørsanger)-5

Marsh Warbler (Kærsanger)-2

Total: 21

Link to today's observations in the DOF base from observers in the area.

People: Cora Köberle, Jule Tappe, Mio Brix, Moritz Morteani, Simon Kiesé, Katia Kit, Simon S. Christiansen, Erik Christophersen