When the nets stay shut, the seabirds show up

After our successful evening seawatch yesterday, I was excited to start the day with the migration-count at Grenen accompanied by Mio and Jule. We were hoping, that the strong westerly winds might have blown some interesting seabirds to Skagen. Sadly that weather conditions also meant, that ringing at Kabeltromeln became impossible because no nets could be opened. Good for Pauline though, as she was able to enjoy some extra-sleep.

Mio walking to World's End 3 in the sunrise.

We started the count with some more or less stationary Gannets (Sule), terns (terner) and gulls (måger). But not much time had to pass, until we spotted a bunch of Fulmars (mallemuk) flying in bows far out at the horizon. I don’t get to see Fulmars that often, so identifying them in flight on greater distances was a bit challenging at first but started to work out quiet well as more and more fulmars started to appear in the distance.  At some point I spotted a bird which flight in bow arches reminded me of the Fulmar (Mallemuk) flight I just learned, but looked a bit different. More agile and fast in its movement and the wings seemed to be thinner and more pointy at the end. That’s a Sooty Shearwater (Sodfarvet skråpe)! One of the species we were hoping for this morning.

There were also some interesting birds passing in shorter distance like two Long-tailed Skuas (Lille Kjove), of which one was so close at the beach, we thought it might join the local gull-roost. The Long-tailed, had a hard time moving west against the wind, while being passed by some ultra-speedy Arctic Skuas (Almindelig Kjove). More calm and steady in flight were two Great Skuas (Stor kjove) which looked like they didn’t even noticed it was windy. As time passed migration kept slowing down and we made our way back to the lighthouse.

Mio proudly shared the chocolate-wrap recipe and I have to admit, that it wasn’t that bad like I expected. Turns out one toasted wrap with exactly three pieces of chocolate as its topping tastes really good! Saturday is cleaning day, so we continued with cleaning the station and the lab.

After cleaning Jule had a look at Kattegat from the old bunker. She had a good time watching some waders like Sanderlings (Sandløber), Dunlins (Almindelig Ryle) and Red Knots (Islandsk Ryle) at the beach, which might become interesting for nightcatching the next days. On the water there were Arctic Skaus (almindelig kjove) and a Great Skua (Stor kjove) passing by towards Grenen. That’s were my and I decided to again have a look at the water. We again saw quite a few Fulmars (Mallemuk) (this time even a bit closer), some Artic Skuas (Almindelig Kjove) , three Long-tailed Skuas (Lille Kjove) and five Great Skuas (Stor Kjove). That was just awesome:)

When we came back to the station a pleasant smell welcomed us. Pauline had decided to bake cinnamon rolls and a pie. A nice surprise.

Beautiful Cinnamon Rolls with white chocolate and raspberries. Pauline is a real baking wizard!

In the evening Nils Eriksen, Stig Frediksen and Grethe came to visit the station and prepared a delicious dinner. Thanks again for that! They then carried on with a guided night excursion to Grenen by Nils, which Mio and Pauline joined. They also planned to scout the beach for roosting waders (Vadefugl).

Highlights of the observations:

No Ringing today :(

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

People: Mio Brix, Simon S. Christiansen, Pauline Nähring, Hannes Schäfer, Jule Tappe, Niels Eriksen, Grethe and Stig Frederiksen