Captain Simon and the search for the white bird

Another sunrise, another day full of birds for us people here at Skagen Fuglestation. In the morning, Sophie and Páll opened nets at Kabeltromlen and were joined by Simon, Luis and me for the first round. The first half of ringing was quite good and many birds kept us busy, including many Wrens (Gærdesmutte) and Blackcaps (Munk) but in the second half of the morning, the stronger west winds showed their effect and it died down a little. There was great highlight though, with a foreign recapture from Norway: A first-year Dunnock (Jernspurv).

A beautiful Dunnock (Jernspurv) from Norway.

During the morning, we also heard and got another glimpse of the magnificent Nutcracker (Nøddekrige).

Meanwhile at World’s End 3, Mio and Laura got to really enjoy the stronger winds with finally a lot more action on the sea than on the previous days. Just like before, there was a Lapland Bunting (Lapværling) on the beach, but with almost 2000 Gannets (Sule), the sea was busy! There were also Long-tailed Skuas (Lille Kjove) around again and a Merlin (Dværgfalk) coming in from the sea. So all together, a very nice count after the calm before.

After lunch and data entry, Simon drove us to Gammel Skagen, about 10 km south of the lighthouse. From there, Laura, Luis and I did our regular beach survey as a part of the project „Seabirds under pressure (SUPRE)“. We collect a range of dead seabirds that are in decent condition to be transported and investigated. Fulmars (Mallemuk) are especially interesting, which is why I chose today’s title. However, we only found two Guillemots (Lomvie) today. There was also a dead porpoise (Marsvin) that we were quite impressed by. When it comes to living birds, we especially enjoyed two resting Mediterranean Gulls (Sorthovedet Måge) a migrating Barnacle Goose (Bramgås).

Walking the beaches looking for dead birds.

In the meantime, Mio was occupied with data entry, picture archive and quality assurance – classic computer tasks at the birds obs. He also welcomed our new guests, Jesper and Karen Marie, after we had to say goodbye to Anders and Dorthe in the morning.

After all this walking, we enjoyed a nice and quick dinner by Luis and are about to welcome Sarah to our team. She has been a volunteer here before and will be a part of the SKAF family again for the coming months.

Tomorrow, the wind will be even stronger than today. Let’s see what birds this will bring!

Link to todays observations in the Dofbasen from observers in the area.

People: Jule Tappe, Mio Brix, Laura Tamminen, Luis Q. Langfeld, Dorthe and Anders Østerby, Simon S. Christiansen, Páll Vang Kjærbo, Sophie Booker, Jørgen Kabel, Sarah Partridge, Jesper and Karen Marie, Michael Ancher