Dead seabirds and Siberian subspecies

The cold morning slowed the migration over the sea today, this did not, however, scare away the passerine (small birds) resting in the dunes. Leon, Christina, Louis and Sarah went to the migration count at worlds end 3 while Youri, Sophie, Páll, Simon, Rosie and Mio went to Kabeltromlen for ringing. Since the migration over the sea was a little slow, I decided to go for a walk in search of Water Pipits (Bjergpiber) in hopes that I would find a resting flock which we could try to trap and ring. Unfortunately, I only found Meadow Pipits (Engpiber). On my way back however, I found 2 resting Lapland Longspurs (Lapværling). Back at worlds end 3 we enjoyed the flocks of Redpoll (Gråsiskin), 2 Greater Scaups (Bjergand), and a little later a beautiful Short Eared Owl (Mosehornugle).

Lapland Longspur (Lapværling) identifiable by its “framed” face and reddish-brown wing patch. However, since this species is usually seen in flight one usually must rely on its heavy build, long wings and call (a dry trill reminiscent of snow bunting) Picture: Leon Pedersen

Meanwhile at Kabeltromlen a rare subspecies of Chiffchaff, Siberian Chiffchaff (Sibirisk Gransanger), was caught and ringed. It is notoriously difficult to identify this subspecies, especially without it calling. It looks very similar to our Common Chiffchaff (Gransanger) and due to the range of the two subspecies overlapping in western foothills of the Ural Mountains there is a possibility that they interbreed and create hybrids. 2 Bearded Tits (Skægmejse) were also ringed, making Christina hurry back to Kabeltromlen from the station and a Northern Nutcracker (Nøddekrige) was also seen sitting in a tree, then flying high and back towards Skagen town.

Siberian Chiffchaff (Sibirisk Gransanger) as you can see very similar to a normal Chiffchaff just a little paler and less green/yellow. Picture: Mio Brix

After the count me, Christina and Mio set out on a 10km+ walk all the way from Gammel Skagen, around Grenen and back to the station looking for dead seabirds. Although the only dead bird we found on the entire trip was a 1k Greater Black Backed Gull (Svartbag), we did see some common beach birds along the way. For example, Razorbill (Alk), Caspian Gull (Kaspisk Måge), Sanderlings (Sandløber) and Common Eider (Ederfugl). We were of course hoping to find a rare wheatear like Desert or Isabelline (Ørken- eller Isabellastenpikker) but we unfortunately didn’t see any species of wheatear whatsoever. The best part of this walk was, however, not a beach bird at all. At one point on the walk a construction site forced us to change course inland for a few hundred meters. Here we walked past a group of pine trees which we mobganged for a few minutes, to our surprise a Common Firecrest (Rødtoppet Fuglekonge) came out of the trees briefly.

Sanderlings (Sandløber) sleeping close to Nordstrand. Picture:  Leon Pedersen

Highlights from the observation:
Hvidbrynet Løvsanger-1
Havlit - 1
Lapværling - 2
Mosehornugle - 1
Kaspisk måge - 2

Ringing Kabeltrommen:
Rødhals - 2
Gransanger, Sibirisk (ssp. trists) - 1
Skægmejse - 2
Blåmejse - 2
Bogfinke - 1
Dompap - 4

Total: 34

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