Today the winds finally quieted down a bit, after it had mostly been stormy since Brian and I arrived. That meant much better conditions for observing passerines, so Brian went out early to check out the area at Batteriskoven. His trip was very successful and amongst the impressive number of 50 species he observed, there were some new lifers for him, like Garden Warbler (Havesanger), Bullfinch (Dompap) and Common Crane (Trane). He also saw some Tree pipits (Skovpiber) singing and displaying right on the other side of the road next to the lighthouse.

Common Crane (Trane) at Batteriskoven

Crested Tit (Topmejse) at Batteriskoven

I woke up a bit too late to join Brian on his trip, so I went out on my own to check out the shores of Grenen, and I’m very glad I did so! Soon I was rewarded with seeing two Red-throated Loons (Rødstrubet Lom) very closely, with one being in fabulous breeding plumage, as well as two Arctic Skuas (Almindelig Kjove) trying to steal food from a Sandwich Tern (Splitterne). I already learnt so much about Gulls and Terns from Julian and Brian, so I was very happy when I could identify two Little Gulls (Dværgmåge) in a flock of Black-headed Gulls (Hættemåge). Soon another highlight appeared: I saw a group of cetaceans, which might supposedly have been Harbour Porpoise (Marswin), for the first time ever! Very happy I returned back to the station where I met Brian and a very diligent Julian, who had been doing computer work all morning.

In the afternoon, Knud picked us up to help with the annual orchid counts at Hulsig Hede. Some fields in this area are managed only for conservational purposes, meaning they are completely put out of agricultural use. In order to keep the grass short and the area free from trees and shrubs, cows are grazing the fields regularily. This kind of management started about 30 years ago, which allowed a valuable habitat to evolve, that is rarely found anymore in cultural landscapes these days. So it comes, that these habitats provide the special conditions needed for native orchid species to grow. On our fields today there were 3 species to be found: Lesser Butterfly Orchid (Bakke Gøgelilje), Heath Spotted Orchid (Plettet Gøgeurt) and Northern Marsh Orchid (Purpur-Gøgeurt).

From left to right: Lesser Butterfly Orchid (Bakke Gøgelilje), Heath Spotted Orchid (Plettet Gøgeurt), Northern Marsh Orchid (Purpur-Gøgeurt)

Joined by John and Family Rasmussen, we arrived at the fields after a short drive from the Lighthouse. Luckily there were no cows on it today, so we were good to go! Knud showed us our position and then we started to walk over the field in a zigzag-pattern, while counting the total number of every species seperately. It was a very fun tasks, walking around the field with Meadow-Pipits (Engpiber) and Skylarks (Sanglærke) singing and displaying all around us. In the end, we counted over 5000 of the Lesser Butterfly Orchids and a few dozens of the other two species. Compared to last year, all of them had increased numbers, which is great news!

After our little session in botany, we headed home and held the first official evening meeting with our new guests. Martin and Kristine told us they saw a Little Tern (Dværgterne) at Grenen today, which is awesome! The rest of the day was rather quiet and cozy. Julian went for a walk, Brian took a much needed nap and I prepared some dinner. After all we went to bed early, preparing for seawatching at sunrise tomorrow.

Link to today’s observations in DOFbasen from observers in the area

People: Juliane Rößler, Brian Browne, Julian Helbig, Knud Pedersen, John Brask, Martin & Kristine Rasmussen

This morning Juliane and I enjoyed a little extra sleep, waking at 6:00 to head out to seawatch. However, Julian had the exact opposite experience: he had fallen asleep while doing computer work and was just leaving the couch to go to bed as I got up. He caught up on sleep while Juliane and I said goodbye to our guest Mette (who was leaving us to return home) and biked out to Grenen. The strong northwest winds of the last few days continued and we hunkered down atop a dune as we seawatched. We enjoyed a show of close foraging gannets, and the highlight was a second-year Mediterranean Gull (Sorthovedet Måge) that joined the small gull flock at the lagoon, a lifer for both of us.

Mediterranean Gull (Sorthovedet Måge) in the lagoon.

After we finished counting we walked up the beach to where a few hundred gulls were roosting. Among them were three Caspian Gulls (Kaspisk Måge), my first opportunity to study this species. I’ve been focused on trying to pick one out since I arrived earlier this week, and so it was satisfying to finally succeed. Unfortunately Juliane headed home before she got to see them.

Caspian Gull (Kaspisk Måge) in the gull flock on the beach. Note the smaller, slimmer bill, small dark eye, round head, and upright posture while standing to separate from European Herring Gull (Sølvmåge).

The early afternoon was spent cooking, resting, and playing guitar before we launched into an exhaustive cleaning of the house. We all went on separate walks along the trails near Det Grå Fyr before reconvening for a dinner that Julian had prepared. We also welcomed our new guests Martin and Kristine Rasmussen and their two young boys— we’re excited to have them around this week!

Link to today’s observations in DOFbasen from observers in the area

People: Brian Browne, Julian Helbig, Juliane Rößler, Mette Breed, Martin Rasmussen, Kristine Rasmussen

After staying up late the night before, we didn’t go out early today but spent a relaxed morning at the station. There were plenty of tasks to be done and since the wind hasn’t quieted down, it was the perfect day for catching up with them. Julian started to do some computer work, while Brian and I took out some equipment to clean it. All the pliers and tripods got cleaned from rust and sand. They also got an oiling treatment so they now work nice and smooth again. Little did we know, that Julian was just getting a Zello call from Erik Christophersen, that made him interrupt his working session immediately, grab his binoculars and sprint downstairs. When we started to fix the last tripod, Julian came running at us with excitement all over his face. The Cinereous Vulture had just been seen again! Thanks to a call with Simon, Julian knew it must be close to us, so we ran to a spot next to the Lighthouse and scanned the sky over the inland. And just a few moments later, there it was - majestically sailing the warm winds under the midday sun over Grenen. How incredibly lucky we were!

Cinereous Vulture (Munkegrib) next to Common Buzzards (Musvåge)

After it had been seen a few days ago shortly before Brian and I arrived at the station, we haven’t been confident it would come back. But it did return, and what an observation it was! Very close to us, it was circling just above the Grey lighthouse (Det Grå Fyr). We were all bursting with excitement! Trying not to run over each other, we hasted for a scope and a camera and ran up the Lighthouse to get an even closer look at it. Of course we also informed Mette about the Vulture, so she joined us up there. Withstanding the strong wind and surrounded by curious visitors, Brian took some amazing pictures of the vulture while Julian set up the scope. I was standing there, just taking in the fact that beside all the amazing new birds I already get to know here, I was lucky enough to have a Cinereous Vulture from Spain visiting us. Sometimes it was so close, we could even see it’s face, it’s moulting feathers and the ring on it’s leg. Looking through the scope, it was almost too big to get a whole picture of it. For some time it was surrounded by Common Buzzards, which emphasized it’s incredible size even more. The Vulture stayed around for a long time, soaring over Grenen and even the open sea sometimes. We could observe it for more than an hour, before it turned south and vanished from our sight somewhere over the inland.

Julian and Brian observing the Munkegrib on top of the Grey Lighthouse (Det Grå Fyr)

Chilled by the wind but extremely happy, we got down from the lighthouse and returned to our tasks. Mette treated us with a delicious danish pastry and fueled up by that, Brian and I cleaned binoculars and scopes while Julian continued his computer work. In the evening Brian took some rest and prepared dinner for us, while Julian and I headed out again for some birdwatching in the area around Storsig. There wasn’t much special to see, but a Roe deer (Rådyr) with a young one and a hunting Common Kestrel (Tårnfalk) which is always cool to watch, especially in the warm evening light. After a tasty dinner and a short evening meeting, we went to bed, curious if the next day might offer even more surprises.

Roe deer (Rådyr) Doe and Fawn at Storsig

Link to today’s observations in DOFbasen from observers in the area

People: Juliane Rößler, Brian Browne, Julian Helbig, Simon S. Christiansen, Mette Breede, Lisa Vergin

With a strong northwest wind building overnight, we (Julian, Juliane, Mette and I) woke up and headed out to Grenen before 5:00am to conduct a seawatch, where we were met by Knud. We hoped the winds would have blown in some shearwaters, but had no luck. However, we were treated to a spectacular adult Little Gull (Dværgmåge) that was sitting in the newly-created lagoon that had formed overnight on the beach at the tip of Grenen.

The new lagoon, which did not deter tourists from reaching the tip.

The lagoon slowly grew as we seawatched and we had to periodically send a lookout over the dune to make sure our bikes were being overtaken! This was Juliane’s first seawatch ever, and she was thrilled to see her lifer Red-throated Divers (Rødstrubet Lom), Northern Gannets (Sule), Dunlin (Almindelig Ryle), and her first Gray Seal. A light morph Arctic Skua (Almindelig Kjove) burst by to rile up the terns roosting on the edge of the lagoon, and later a stunning chocolatey dark morph did the same thing, both offering great views (to our delight and the terns’ dismay!).

Adult Little Gull (Dværgmåge) flying by.

The winds were quite cold, so Medde and Juliane left the seawatch a bit early while Julian and I stayed a couple more hours. After eating lunch an exhausted Julian napped and Juliane went to get groceries while I took off to explore some of the trails I hadn’t been down yet. The wind kept most birds rather subdued, but I was still treated to my first Common Reed Warblers (Rørsanger) and Marsh Warblers (Kærsanger) and an adorable Red-necked Grebe pair (Gråstrubet Lappedykker) nuzzling and doting on each other on the cormorant lake (Skarvsøen). 

Simon returned today from Germany, so he stopped by to meet Juliane and I and to do some planning. In the evening, Julian, Juliane and I fought the wind as we biked into town to check out the music festival. We strolled around town listening to music waft from various tents and looking at the gulls in the harbor. Deciding we’d return tomorrow to see the festival in earnest, we headed home, stopping just before Det Grå Fyr to admire a gorgeous male Red-backed Shrike (Rødrygget Tornskade) in the golden light.

Finally with the lagoon now out at the tip we decided to walk out at 1:00am to go night catching, looking for shorebirds. We had no luck there, but got to watch a marten on the edge of the beach and listen to a night singing Common Grasshopper Warbler (Græshoppesanger). We returned home very tired at 3:00am.

Link to today’s observations in DOFbasen from observers in the area

People: Brian Browne, Julian Helbig, Juliane Rößler, Mette Breede, Knud Pedersen

After going to bed very late yesterday, Juliane and I got up at eight today, when Brian who had a bit more sleep was out birdwatching at Grenen already. He enjoyed many migrating waders, mainly Sandpipers, there. After breakfast, Juliane and I also went for a long walk, and she got to know many places too. It was a grey, very windy day with many rain showers. We watched a flock of resting Eiders (Ederfugl) at the Seal Bunker, and they ended up being Juliane’s highlight of the day. She had not seen Eiders before, so they even were a lifer for her. There also were many gulls and terns around, as well as some Common Scoters (Sortand).

Seal Bunker with resting birds.

After we got back, wet from the rain, we sat in the kitchen together and worked on different stuff. Juliane made a very impressive Eider drawing. Then Brian went on a trip to the harbour, but he didn’t see anything there, and was only hungry, exhausted and wet in the end. Juliane and I visited the exhibition downstairs at some point, and also tried the fresh sirup which I made from the water mint I picked the other day.

Fresh water mint sirup!

Then we went out to Grenen again. The waves were very strong around the tip, and the birds were battling the winds. On our way back, we had a very close encounter with a light morph Arctic Skua (Almindelig Kjove) at Drachmanns Grav. A bit later I the same bird again from the lighthouse garden, this time together with a younger one. A juvenile Black Redstart (Husrødstjert) sought shelter in the garden. This was Brian and Juliane’s first full day in Skagen, and I think they enjoyed it a lot. There’ll be great stuff coming up!

Arctic Skua (Almindelig Kjove), 4th calendar year.

People: Julian Helbig, Brian Browne, Juliane Rößler, Mette Breede

This morning, Simon, Mette and I went ringing at Kabeltromlen again after not having been there for ten days. We used today for an opportunity to train me for C-license. There were surprisingly many birds in the nets and a great variety of species. Overall a lot of first calendar year birds (birds hatched this spring). My personal highlight was for sure the Crested Tit (Topmejse), because it was my first time seeing this fantastic bird in hand. We also had a juvenile Common Redstart (Rødstjert).

1K Crested Tit (Topmejse)

1K Common Redstart (Rødstjert)

The ringing area has changed a lot since I was last there: The young, green reeds have grown a lot, and the water has receded, it’s mostly mud now, and there’s only a few puddles of water left; soon the waders won’t be needed anymore. Simon left us after the rining, because he has to go to Germany today. On his way he found a "flock" of the orchid Marsh Helleborine Epipactis palustris (Sump Hullæbe).

Marsh Helleborine (Sump Hullæbe)

As we were closing nets, the Cinereous Vulture (Munkegrib) was suddenly called out as moving northeast – just in our direction! It has been reported from further south earlier in the morning, but now it was coming closer and closer according to many messages on Zello. After we were finally back from closing round – I almost stressed out a bit – we immediately scanned the area with our binoculars. Only we could not find the big vulture, although others had seen it at Grenen not long before. Since we had quite many birds waiting, I decided we must process these first. At some point, I randomly turned around while still having a Great Tit (Musvit) in hand – and there it was! The giant, dark bird slowly flew past us in that exact instant! It came very close, before moving southwest towards Ellekrattet, and we had amazing views on it, way better even than what we experienced yesterday. Incredible. We now also received the data from the Spanish ringing centre, after having read the vulture’s ring number from photos and reporting it. Now we know it was ringed as a chick on 30th May 2023 at Rascafría near Madrid.

Map showing where the Cinereous Vulture (Munkegrib) was ringed, and where it has been reported in Denmark. The distance between Skagen and Rascafría in Spain is over 2.140 kilometres!

At 10:20, we were done with ringing and biked back to the station. After a little nap, I spent most of the afternoon with making the station fresh and ready, and preparing everything for the two summer volunteers who would arrive today. Brian from California arrived in town at 16:30, Mette picked him up. Welcome to the station! After getting everything settled, we went out, and I got to show him around in the area. On our walk he got his first four lifers already. After that, I went for a little grocery shop to make dinner later. Juliane, the second new volunteer from Germany, had a lot of trouble with her trains unfortunately, and ultimately was delayed until 00:20. But in the end she finally made it, and that’s what matters! I’m looking forward to having a great time with this new team!

People: Julian Helbig, Simon S. Christiansen, Brian Browne, Juliane Rößler, Mette Breede

Alix and Alvin left this morning. At around half past ten, Simon came by to pick them up, and it was time for me to say goodbye to my dear team members, fellow birdwatchers and great friends. I wish them the best of luck and a fantastic time at Ottenby, their next destination, and Lista later this year. We’ll meet again, that’s for sure, and I’m already looking forward to that day! For now I’m left all alone at the station. I’ll miss my team. But of course I’m also looking forward to meeting the new summer team tomorrow evening. When Simon was home again, there suddenly was a Zello call by Claus F. Madsen that let excitement rise quickly: A possible Cinereous Vulture (Munkegrib) just south of town! After being seen by other people too, it could be confirmed as one. Simon tried to find it from his home, but he couldn’t. He got a little nervous and headed for his car, then drove south to Hulsig Hede as fast as he could. Down there, he met Jørgen Kabel, and together they re-found this super rare and enormous bird, and had some of the best possible views on it, as it slowly flew just past them. The vulture is wearing a ring from Spain and will thus be accepted as the first spontaneous wild Cinereous Vulture (Munkegrib) ever for Denmark (category A).

Cinereous Vulture (Munkegrib)!!! Photo by Jørgen Kabel.

Cinereous Vulture (Munkegrib) in the sky when Jørgen took the picture above

During all that, I was stuck at the station, since I didn’t have a possibility to leave Skagen fast enough. But at around half past twelve, Simon came up to the station again to pick up Mette B. and me. Unfortunately though, we couldn’t find the vulture again after that, and it has also not been seen by others. We spent quite some time scanning the area from one of the southernmost watchpoints, but without any luck. Only a big flock of Lapwings (Vibe), a singing Quail (Vagtel), a family of Stonechats (Sortstrubet Bynkefugl), some Starlings (Stær). A little bit disappointed we drove back to the Station, although we already knew before that we would have needed a lot of luck. But then at 15:00 the vulture was seen again, already at Nedermosen! This time Mette and I could go together in her car, since it has been fixed in the meantime. As we knew the bird was moving south again, we first drove past Engklit and then to the northern part of Hulsig Hede. From the hills there, you can have a great overview over the area, and we scanned for quite a while, before finally spotting the Cinereous Vulture (Munkegrib)! What an excitement, what a chaos!

Hulsig Hede

It was very far away though and only moving further south, so we decided to try and follow it. We went all the way down to Råbjerg Mile, but lost the bird somewhere along the way, and couldn’t find it again. Still we were really happy with this observation, a lifer for all of us. After all of that I had a late lunch, later Simon came over for an evening meeting with only the two of us. In the evening, the Cinereous vulture was actually found again, going for roost in the dunes at Hulsig Hede – what a sight! Many people, including Simon, went out again to see it there. Chances are it will move up again tomorrow, so we all should definitely keep our eyes out for that and have our fingers crossed!

The Cinereous Vulture (Munkegrib) in roost. Photo by Erik Christophersen.

Link to today’s observations in DOFbasen from observers in the area

People: Julian Helbig, Simon S. Christiansen, Mette Breede, Jørgen Kabel, Knud Pedersen

In the morning we showed Alix the documentary that was filmed with us in April, because she hadn’t seen it yet. It was fun to watch once again, and still we’re all quite happy with how it turned out. Apart from going into to town once, and looking at some lovely shops there, Alvin and Alix had to spend most of the day with all the tasks left before leaving Skagen tomorrow: Packing, cleaning, archiving pictures, booking tickets – you name it. 

Alvin also had his final talk with Simon, while I was typing in ringing data with Mette. After that, we all went out into the garden to play the so called Viking Game, which basically translates to hitting sticks with sticks. But as primitive as this might sound, it is actually very fun. Embarrassingly, we as the volunteer team lost the first round to Simon and Mette, but we took revenge and defeated them in a second round, proving we do have that Viking blood run through our veins.

The Viking Game!

Later, Mette had to go to the car mechanic to fix a flat tire. Simon finally took the annoying floor lamp from the station’s living room with him to get rid of it. For now we’re lacking a lamp there, but since the days are so long at the moment, we don’t need it yet. 

In the evening, we all went out for some time. Alix and Alvin even did a little seawatch at Grenen, where they had an Arctic Skua (Almindelig Kjove), while I was preparing dinner. It was very windy for them, and they got pretty cold.

A lot of gulls roosting and foraging along the shore.

After dinner, we had a cozy little campfire in the garden. We were grilling marshmallows and writing glow words into the windy summer night air, while a big peachy full moon slowly rose over the silvery horizon.

SPRING26

People: Alvin Johansson, Alix Bortolussi, Julian Helbig, Simon S. Christiansen, Mette Breede

This morning Alvin and I took a slow morning and slept in while Julian was out « quailing » around Ellekrattet and Storsig. 

He managed to hear 3 Quails (Vagtel) and even flushed the same bird twice in a row while getting close, but no luck. He also had some very nice and close encounters with Nightjars (Natravn). These birds have been displaying and breeding in the area for a while now and we have often heard and seen them, with their peculiar flight and sounds!

Later in the day, we went on a walk around Ellekrattet to try and find the Red-Rumped Swallow (Rødrygget Svale) and Crested Lark (Toplærke), but without success. The walk was fantastic though as is usual in such a beautiful place. 

We also made a cute little field flower bouquet during our walk to garnish the dining table at the station! 

Wildflower bouquet from the lighthouse area

In the evening Julian made us all a nice dinner with a home-made stuffed « pull-apart » bread and salad which we all enjoyed very much!

People at the station: Alvin Johansson, Julian Helbig, Alix Bortolussi 

Julian was out, trying to catch Quails (Vagtel) again, in the night, but sadly Alix and I did not get any wake-up calls. Instead we went birding at Grenen in the morning. There were many Gulls, plenty of juvenile Black-headed Gulls (Hættemåge) and a few cute terns resting on the beach. There were also two Temminck's Stints (Temmincksryle) that landed on the beach before flying out to sea. It was very warm and humid, and shortly after realizing we had not brought any rain jackets, an ominous dark cloud approached us, luckily it just passed to the west of us, and we did not get rained on. We saw some pretty cool thunder out at sea though.

Thunder-clouds out at sea

When we got back, we checked the moth trap and opened the garden net for a little while.

Ground Lackey (strand-ringspinder)

For lunch Alix and I went to the restaurant De 2 Have and ate a scrumptious meal.

View from the restaurant terrace

In the afternoon we did a big deep cleaning of the station so the summer team has a clean place to be when they arrive :) After that Julian went for a swim in the calm sea.

I had just published this blog and was sat in the station kitchen by the Lighthouse doing computer work. Suddenly heard multiple Red-rumped Swallow (Rødrygget Svale) calls just outside the open window. Went to check and it flew just a meter away from the window! Ran out quickly but could not find it again around the Lighthouse. Knud and Erik arrived soon after and together we went to the parking lot out at Grenen because we thaught that it could be together with the oather swallows there. And after some looking I found it again. We walked a little more closer and suddenly there was a lark in the middle of the parking lot. Knud immediately called it out as a Crested Lark (Toplærke). Both of them could be observed nicely for the rest of the evening. Verry unexpected ending to the day! 

Red-rumped Swallow (Rødrygget Svale)

Ringing (Det Grå Fyr)
Gransanger - 1
Munk - 1
Total: 2

Link to today’s observations in DOFbasen from observers in the area

Summary of today's raptor migration in DOFbasen

People: Alvin Johansson, Alix Bortolussi, Julian Helbig