"There I thought I was cool"

Today was sunny and a bit windy, and Luis and I cycled to Nordstrand for Luis’s final migration count of the season. There, Knud had cleared us a space in the buckthorn so the three of us sat in our cozy nook. The count was very slow, but we did see a spectacular highlight, a handsome adult Havørn (White-tailed eagle) landed very close to us on the beach. It was so close that Luis could even read its colour rings!

My attemp at reading the Havørn colour ring

Other than that, we saw may alkefugle (auks), a couple of mallemuk (fulmars), and a 1k lille kjove (long-tailed skua), a bit late in the season for this one. There were also quite a few Ride (kittiwakes) migrating today. Kittiwakes have declined by over 99% across their range since the 1970s, due to a combination of factors, including climate change, habitat loss, and food availability. Like many other seabird species, kittiwakes are dependent on sandeels (sandåler) for their diet. Sandeel populations are declining due to both fishing practices and climate change. They are also changing their range due to rising sea surface temperatures, seeking out colder temperatures and therefore deeper water. This affects kittiwakes disproportionately because unlike other sandeel-dependent birds, they do not dive or swim, feeding only by skimming the water’s surface, so they are experiencing more pronounced reductions in prey availability. Another example of the importance of seabird conservation!

So, after that Knud went to go to a birthday party, so Luis and I finished up the count together. Despite the slight lack of birds in the last two hours, we had a nice time, and I will definitely miss all the trivia from Encyclopaedia Luis!

After this, we cycled home and I stopped by Jennes Sø so say hi to Michael and his Redpolls (Gråsisken). He had a whole box of them to show me when I arrived, so we got to compare the Lille and Stor (Lesser and Mealy) subspecies. Luis cycled on without me and was happy to see a Stor Tornskade (great grey shrike).

Meanwhile, Jule, Mio and Laura went to Kabeltromlen for a rather slow day of ringing. The highlight for them was two treecreepers (træløber), who are also one of my favourites! While it was slow, Simon showed them some old photos of when he caught some fun species and thought he was cool.

Ringers taking careful measurementsTræløber (Treecreeper), second cutest bird in Skagen

After some cleaning and bike repairs, we had to say goodbye to Luis, a very wonderful person to work with at the station. We will miss you! Tonight we are looking forward to welcoming Cora back to the station for two weeks.

In the evening Simon went to give a talk together with Michael Ancker for an art club at the art museum at Grenen. 

Ringing Jennes Sø

Rødhals 3
Lille gråsisken 53
Stor gråsisken 17
Kvækerfinke 1
Musvit 4
Stor dompap 1
Gransanger 1

Total 80

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

People: Mio Brix, Luis Q. Langfeld, Laura Tamminen, Sarah Partridge, Jule Tappe, Michael Ancher, Simon S. Christiansen,  Knud Pedersen, Birgitte and Bjørn Dahl Porsgaard