Walking all around Skagen

As Cora and I went out to open the nets at Kabeltromlen, we really enjoyed the calm, windless morning. Some passerines enjoyed the morning as well and ended up in our nets. Today's highlight was definitely two Goldfinches (Stillits)!

Young Goldfinch (Stillits)

But catching and ringing birds isn't the only nice thing you can do at Kabeltromlen: It's also a great place for observing birds in the field, especially passerines. Today, we enjoyed watching the daily Red Crossbills (Lille Korsnæb) flying over and the first flocks of Waxwings (Silkehale) arriving.

The observers also had fun watching passerines. They spotted a Great Grey Shrike (Stor Tornskade) and a flock of Waxwings (Silkehale). They also saw a Nutcracker (Nøddekrige), which was visible very well from Kabeltromlen as well. But passerines weren't the only exciting encounters during today's count. Jule, Louis-Marie, Sarah and Knud also spotted several different duck species, including Long-tailed Ducks (Havlit) and Scaups (Bjergand). A flock of Whooper Swans (Sangsvane) added to the feeling of late-autumn migration in the air! 

Late autumn was also present in Michael Anchers ringing at Jennes Sø and Nordstjernevej, where he caught lots of Lesser and Mealy Redpolls (Lille og Stor Gråsiskin) and Denmarks 2nd Arctic Redpoll (Hvidsiskin) for this autumn!

After our morning, Cora, Louis-Marie and I didn't have much time to rest before heading out again for a beach walk to look for dead seabirds along the shore. It's a 10 km walk, so Simon drove us to the "Sunset Kiosk" in Gammel Skagen, where we started our survey.

But before heading up there, we stopped at the train station to sadly say goodbye to Laura, who was leaving for Estonia that afternoon. We wish you a safe trip back! It was really nice having you here!

During our beach walk, we didn't find any dead birds today. However, we did see some nice living birds, including at least two 1K Mediterranean Gulls (Sorthovedet Måge).

Beach survey with lots of walking (really, a lot!)

Meanwhile, Sarah and Jule did some office/laptop tasks at the station. Sarah worked on data for her new job, while Jule wrote the September monthly report for the observatory, which you will be able to read next year in our annual report (Årsskrift)!

In the evening, we all enjoyed a lovely and delicious dinner prepared by Sarah.

Tomorrow, the wind is expected to pick up again, so let's see what it brings!

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

People: Mio Brix, Cora Köberle, Jule Tappe, Sarah Partridge, Laura Tamminen, Louis-Marie Gourmel, Simon S. Christiansen, Jeppe Madsen, Simon S. Christiansen, Michael Ancher, Knud Pedersen