When I went outside early in the morning to open the nets, I was pleasantly surprised — it was really, really warm. As it got lighter, it became clear that today was going to be a very foggy day.

We were ringing with Pauline, Jule and Simon, and Jule and I opened the nets. Before the first round, we often try to guess what kind of day it will be, how many birds we’ll catch and whether there will be any special ones. Jule guessed that we would catch more than 50 birds today. And already during the first round, it looked like she might be right. We barely had any time to sit down between rounds. As soon as we finished ringing the birds, it was time to go and check the nets again. Most of the birds we caught were pretty typical species, but there was also a highlight — a Song Thrush (Sangdrossel). We’re already looking forward to seeing them again, hopefully in larger numbers. And there was also a Bullfinch (Dompap). This is my favourite bird, so I’m always especially happy to see one.

Song Thrush and Bullfinch. Photo by Pauline Nähring

Observation was not easy for Mio and Laura today. The photo probably describes the situation better than words can.

We’re not watching birds, but beautiful views. Photo by Mio Brix

A proper seawatching session wasn’t really possible, but the guys still managed to see some interesting species, including Pink-footed Goose (Kortnæbbet Gås), Wigeon (Pibeand), Velvet Scoter (Fløjlsand) and Long-tailed Duck (Hvinand).

As usual, after such an active morning, we had some time to rest, which is exactly what we did. But not Mio — he still had plenty of energy and went out looking for passerines. When he came back home, he suggested opening the net in our garden, for the first time in quite a while. At least during the 1.5 weeks I’ve been here, we hadn’t done it once before. But the rain had other plans, and after about an hour we had to close the net again. Still, we managed to ring a Robin (Rødhals) and a Great Tit (Musvit), so that was pretty good too.
Well, Jule’s prediction came true: 40 birds + 10 recaptures.

Overall, it was a calm and relaxed day. Some people took a nap, some entered data, while others were drawing and knitting.
After making a tasty dinner for everyone, Mio came up with a new plan — he headed out for night catching. And the rest of us are waiting for some news. We’ll definitely tell you all about it tomorrow.

Ringing (Kabeltromlen):
Gærdesmutte: 15
Jernspurv: 2
Rødhals: 12
Sangdrossel: 1
Munk: 1
Gransanger: 1
Fuglekonge: 1
Blåmejse: 2
Rørspurv: 5
Total:40

Ringing (Det Grå Fyr, Skagen):
Musvit: 1
Rødhals:1
Total: 2

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

People: Jule Tappe, Pauline Nähring, Mio Brix, Laura Tamminen, Anja Gorbunova, Simon S. Christiansen and our Guests Birgit and Michael

The ringing team today, consisting of Anja, Laura, Pauline and Simon, had a nice morning with an okay amount of birds caught (24). With some Wrens (Gærdesmutte) and a beautiful Brambling (Kvækerfinke), you really get reminded that we are now in autumn. Still, we are waiting for a bigger ringing day, but with so little wind this week, maybe we can be optimistic that this day is coming soon?!

Anja ringing a Blue Tit (Blåmejse) while Laura is looking up ageing features on her phone in the ringer’s Digiguide from the Ottenby Bird Observatory (link to that Digiguide here).

At Worlds End 3, Jule’s and my clickers were quite busy in the first hour. Over the flat sea, there were migrating Fulmars (Mallemuk), Gannets (Sule) and still some Scoters (Sortand) to be counted. Highlights of the count were two Sooty Shearwaters (Sodfarvet Skråpe), a young Pallid Harrier (Steppehøg) (which was unfortunately only seen by local observers at Worlds End 1), 11 Great Skuas (Storkjove) and at least two Long-tailed Skuas (Lille Kjove).

After the count, Jule and I looked for some passerines at Ellekrattet and Jennes Sø, but unfortunately, there wasn’t much activity at all...

Meanwhile, the ringers had already headed back to the station and had lunch and naps to get some new energy for the afternoon and evening.

In the evening, while I was talking about my morning, I realized that I should go out after the meeting to seawatch for a bit. Which I did, and it was very successful! There wasn’t really much birds, who migrating, but there were some nice views of roosting birds:

View from a dune a bit west of Worlds End 3 of six Long-tailed Skuas (Lille Kjove) and two Great Skuas (Storkjove).

After this successful and short evening observation, we had an awesome dinner prepared by Pauline, who made some kind of pizza that could be called “Pizza Boats”.

So, the wind is gone for the next few days, and we are looking forward to some good passerine migration!

Highlights from the Observations:

Sooty Shearwater (Sodfarvet Skråpe)-2

Pallid Harrier (Steppehøg)-1 (only from WE1)

Long-tailed Skua (Lille Kjove)- >6

Great Skua (Storkjove)-11

Ringing (Kabeltromlen):

Total: 24

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

People: Jule Tappe, Pauline Nähring, Mio Brix, Laura Tamminen, Anja Gorbunova, Simon S. Christiansen and our Guests Birgit and Michael 

  I have finally realized why envy is considered a sin. We could not do any ringing today as the wind was really owning the stage. That meant half the team went to do some observations while the rest could sleep in. I Was not one of the sleepers.

Me and Jule started our count at 7 am this morning. I was a few minutes late so Jule counted the scoters (Sortand) til I arrived. She had already counted over 300 scoters by the time I got there… in total there were 5 times more and in the middle of those flocks we spotted 2 velvet scoters (Fløjlsand) as well! Whilst common scoters are basically completely black, the velvet scoters have a bright white patch on their wings so it’s easy to tell them apart.

It has been less than an hour at the migration count... Photo: Laura Tamminen

Yesterday the ponds formed by the extreme winds and rain were huge, like a sea of its own. By this morning, they had dried up a bit, but it still gave us an opportunity to spot all kinds of waders (vadefugle) up close. The seals had also turned up, sunbathing on shore. They were completely unbothered by the tourists and tractors.

a photo done through the scope. Resting seals. Photo: Laura Tamminen

I was quite surprised but very pleased to see 3 great skuas (Storkjove) flying around today. During my stay we have usually only spot 1 per day. The long-tailed skuas (Lille kjove) and arctic skuas (Almindelig kjove) didn’t hide either!

After returning to the station Anja and Pauline had woken up too and we all got some well-earned breakfast. The rest of the day has been quite slow, but since the weather is lovely with the sun shining bright, Jule and Anja decided to go for a walk. Jule spotted a long-tailed duck (havlit) in Kattegat!

We are expecting Mio, who will arrive later this evening!

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

People: Anja Gorbunova, Pauline Nähring, Laura Tamminen, Jule Tappe, Jeppe Madsen, Simon S. Christiansen, Birgit and Michael 

Yesterday evening, we all headed out for another nightcatching session. We were lucky enough to catch another Red Knot (Islandsk Ryle), which was a great highlight and a nice ending for our volunteer Alfred. There were noticeably fewer waders along the beach this time, but it was still a successful night for us!

1k Red Knott                         Picture: Pauline N.

This morning, Anna and I opened the nets at Kabeltromlen. Simon and Alfred joined us for the first check at 7:00. I have to say, I’ve really learned to appreciate the Chiffchaffs (Gransanger) we get here. Today, we caught seven of them and they are great practice for me when it comes to finding moult limits! We also saw a flock of Crossbills (Lille Korsnæb) flying above Kabeltromlen! Fingers crossed for next week.

Hey, Anja is here again!

I won’t keep you waiting, so I’ll start with the most important part of the previous day — the night catching.

A couple of days ago, we were already discussing the possibility of going out for a night catch, but for different reasons it didn’t work out. Yesterday, however, we were brave and determined. Jule, Alfred and I had been looking forward to the evening since the morning, although we were also a little worried that once again nothing would happen because of the weather. The forecast was quite uncertain and it was a shower all the time. For Alfred and me, it was our first experience with night catching. Armed with a  hand net, thermal binocular and flashlights, we headed towards the point. We expected to see some waders along the way, but the beach was completely empty. Only when we reached World's End 3 did we finally start seeing birds. The first few attempts were not very successful. We were trying to approach the birds too quickly, but once we changed our tactics and started moving more slowly, we finally caught our first bird. We couldn’t have been happier when we realised it was a Bar-tailed Godwit (Lille Kobbersneppe)! They are not particularly difficult to see here, but this was the first Bar-tailed Godwit ever caught and ringed at the station. After taking some photos and ringing the bird, we released it back into the wild. Wet, tired, but very happy, we finally went to bed.

Our first Bar-tailed Godwit. Photo by Pauline Nähring

In the morning, it was raining, so we opened the nets an hour later than usual. We weren’t sure they would stay open for long, because the forecast showed a good chance of rain and wind. In reality, the weather turned out to be much better than expected. In the end, we managed to do the full four hours of ringing. The day turned out to be quite productive. The first few rounds were calm and steady, and Laura and I had time to practise ageing the birds. But then, after a short shower, a flock of Blue Tits (Blåmejse) and Chiffchaffs (Gransanger) suddenly appeared in the nets. We barely had enough bags for all of them. And once again, there was one interesting Chiffchaff among them. It was a bird with a moult limit in the primaries, meaning that it had an arrested moult.

Chiffchaff with arrested moult. Photo by Pauline Nähring

Meanwhile, Jule and Alfred went out for the daily migration count. Today they saw three Long-tailed Skuas (Lille Kjove), three Arctic Skuas (Almindelig Kjove), a Black Tern (Sortterne) and a Rock Pipit (Skærpiber). One of the highlights was a Fulmar (Mallemuk) that flew quite close and gave us a really good chance to have a proper look at it. Since our ringing started later today, the others had enough time after the migration count to come back and join us for some ringing as well.

After that, we went home to rest. Everyone except Pauline, who went shopping with Kirsten, something we were very grateful for, because the fridge was almost completely empty.After a short rest, Alfred went for a long walk and took some more amazing photos. I managed to get a little bit of work done, Jule also spent some time outside, walking and relaxing by the coast, while Laura and Pauline stayed at home and continued recovering after the busy morning.
And you’ve probably noticed that Mio isn’t mentioned in the morning activities. No, we haven’t forgotten about him — he just went away for the weekend and will be back with us on Monday.
(Mio, I know you’ll read this, we’re already really looking forward to having you back!)
Kittywake with the yellow ring. Photo by Alfred Godsk Geckler.

We ended the day with a delicious dinner made by Alfred and some good conversations around the table, remembering the highlights of the day. I’ll share one of my highlights with you, it’s in the photo below.

This rainbow is my personal hightlight of the day. Photo by Anja Gorbunova.


Ringing (Kabeltromlen):
Rødhals: 8
Jernspurv: 5
Munk: 2
Gærdesmutte: 1
Tornsanger: 1
Havesanger: 1
Gransanger: 11
Blåmejse: 13
Musvit:1
Total: 43

Ringing Jennes Sø (Michael Ancher):
Blåmejser 2
Topmejse 1
Lille gråsisken 4
Jernspurv 2
Musvit 1
Rødhals 1
Total: 11

Highlights from the observations:
Lille Kjove: 3
Almindelig Kjove: 3
Mallemuk: 3
Sortterne: 1
Skærpiber: 2

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

People:  Anja Gorbunova, Pauline Nähring, Jule Tappe, Laura Tamminen, Simon S. Christiansen, Kirsten Bregn, Alfred Godsk Geckler.

  I slept in for 10 minutes this morning. Despite my sore neck I was tucked in so comfortably I almost considered falling asleep again. Just kidding, I was excited to go ringing after a few days doing observation. I did not have high hopes as the previous days had been a bit poor, but every day can surprise us.

Me, Mio and Pauline opened the nets this morning, though I was mostly still learning. We were later joined by Kirsten and Simon. We got 4 robins (Rødhals) on our first round. It was a great opportunity for me and Kirsten to ring them, because it is a bit easier to determine the age of those plump birds. During our ringing hours, we spotted several interesting birds that flew over us: Goshawk (Duehøg), mistle trush (Misteldrossel), a flock of starlings (Stær) and redpolls (Gråsisken). The others say the weather was cold this morning but as the master of temperature sensitivity I confidently say that it was a lovely warm weather today. Or maybe i just moved around enough to keep myself warm..

Fun fact! In Estonia we have a nickname for people who get cold very quickly, we call them “ külmavares “ which in direct translation means „ cold crow “.

Pauline ringing a chiffchaff (Gransanger). Photo by Laura Tamminen

Jule, Alfred and Anja report that their day at the migration count went well. They were also accompanied by Knut. They counted a total of 9 skuas (Kjove) which will be listed below. They also registered over 1400 common scoters (Sortand)!! Kudos to Jule for counting them all wow.

After our daily ringing and obs we had a small rest back at the station. Later on Alfred went out to Skagen Havn to search for and photograph some mediterranean gulls (Sorthovedet måge) and he found 13 gulls! They are considered to be scarce visitors in Denmark, so it is great to see more than a dozen of them in Skagen.

One of many mediterranean gulls in Skagen. Photo by Alfred Godsk Geckler

Having great motivation, he and Mio also took a small visit to Ellekrattet and found a magnificent little bird, a firecrest (Rødtoppet Fuglekonge)!! This bird is quite uncommon in many areas, especially on the Northern parts of Europe. I have only seen this bird once in my life before. Alongside goldcrests (fuglekonge) they are the smallest birds in Europe.

These guys are near impossible to get on camera as they restlessly jump from branch to branch. Firecrest (Rødtoppet Fuglekonge). Photo by Alfred Godsk Geckler

There is a plan of going night-catching tonight, so definitely look out for tomorrow’s blog!

Unfortunately, the pools around the beach have dried up, but one big one remains, so there is a chance we will catch a few waders (Vadefugl) or terns (Terne).

Dinner will be served very shortly, so I will be off to eat. Til tomorrow, loyal readers!

Hello, im Alfred, I am in school practice here on the station, until Sunday.
I started my day with Mio and Laura at the migration-count. We quickly saw the first Long Tailed Skua (Lille Kjove) and not long after, the Black Tern (Sortterne). We also gota nice observation of a Long-tailed Duck (Havlit) At the end of the observation, a nice Merlin came in from Sweden. 

Long-Tailed Duck (Havlit). Picture by Alfred Godsk Geckler.

While we were having fun at the migration count with some other people, Jule, Anja, Pauline and Simon were ringing at Kabeltromlen. They caught a nice European Siskin (Grønsisken). 

European Siskin (Grønsisken). Foto by Jule Tappe.

Anyways, after the morning obs, we went back to the station, where i got some yoghurt and bread. When I was done eating, Simon drove me, Anja, Pauline and Páll to Højen, from where we should walk back to the station while collecting dead seabirds, like Fulmars (Mallemuk) and Gannets (Sule). At first, we didn't find any birds, but around Grenen, we found the first collectible bird, a Fulmar (Mallemuk). Half an hour after, we had a Long Tailed Skua (Lille Kjove) flying around 3 meter over our heads! After that, we found a Cormorant (Skarv), a Gannet (Sule) and a Mute Swan (Knopsvane). When we came home after 10 km of intense starring at the ground, Simon helped us put the birds in the Freezer, so they can help science.

Pauline, Anja and Me looking at a dead Gannet (Sule)

Later, we entered data from today, and Mio made us very Tasty Spaghetti. We also got the message from Henrik at the rescue center that the young Honey Buzzard (Hvepsevåge) that we ringed there last week was released back into the wild the day after so it can continue it's first journey to the tropical Africa. Right now, I'm writing this on my computer, while Anja is knitting, and the others are in their rooms, getting rest for an exciting day tomorrow.

See you!

People: Mio Brix, Anja Gorbunova, Pauline Nähring, Jule Tappe, Laura Tamminen, Simon S. Christiansen, Kirsten Bregn, Alfred Godsk Geckler, Páll Kjærbo

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

There are two places that I combine directly with Skagen. One is called Kabeltromlen, or in short: KAB, where we are doing scientific bird ringing every day, except when there is rain or very strong wind. Also today, it was very much on the edge of whether we could go out ringing, but it was still okay...

With strong wind, of course, we can’t open all the nets. Some of the nets are just not sheltered enough from the wind, but these nets are then good when we don’t have wind. So there are advantages and disadvantages to them...

But back to the ringing: They didn’t catch many birds today, but they still had some nice ones. Jule always enjoys ringing Blackbirds (Solsort), so she, but also the others, were happy to see this bird. The second highlight must have been the Garden Warbler (Havesanger). This long-distance migrant could already be one of the last ones for the season, because most of them are already on their long way south.

And there is the second place, which comes directly to my mind when I’m thinking about Skagen: It’s Worlds End 3, the place where we are doing the migration count every day. And with the autumn migration, it’s becoming more and more interesting up here. I have to mention quickly our awesome observation of the Sabine’s Gull (Sabinemåge) yesterday again. It was one of the species I’ve wished to see and it already worked! So hopefully there are more of these nice birds coming over the next few days.

One of the now somehow everyday good birds is definitely the Long-tailed Skua (Lille Kjove), of which we got five again today. Almost all of these birds were more or less stationary today, which allowed Alfred and Knud to get some pictures down at the beach.

1K intermediate Long-tailed Skua. Picture by Alfred Godsk Geckler

As Alfred searched for the Skuas at the beach, he just found a very close swimming Red-throated Diver (Rødstrubet Lom). He then started taking pictures of that bird, and while doing so, he noticed that the bird had a yellow colour ring! How awesome!

There aren’t many colour-ringing projects for this species, and that bird, which was ringed in a Finnish project, is only one of around 200 birds! And then, what a coincidence that it worked to read that ring on a diver while it was swimming.

Here you can see how he managed to read the ring:

Adult Red-throated Diver (Rødstrubet Lom) close to the shore (you can already see the yellow ring on the right under the water).

And here is the ring with the code!

Caspian Gull 1cy. (Kaspisk Måge 1k). Photo: Alfred Geckler

And now I hope that you all remembered from my last blog post what DLN means, what we are doing after the count and ringing. Yes! You remembered right! It’s Data entry, Lunch and Napping!

But today was also picture archive day, so all of us also spent a bit of time archiving pictures we had taken in the field. But with all these data-entry tasks, you can really feel that your feet are sending you a signal to go out again.

And Jule took this signal seriously and went out to Batteriskoven to look for some passerines. But with the wind, the birds didn’t want to move or call either, so there wasn’t a lot happening.

In the evening, we had our proper evening meeting, and Pauline prepared us a delicious dinner and made cinnamon rolls again for dessert!

And for now, with dinner and cinnamon rolls in our stomachs, it got quieter and quieter at the station. The only thing you can hear here now, apart from the waves outside, is me writing the last sentence of this blog post...

tip, tipp, tipp...

Ringing Kabeltromlen:

Total: 8

Ringing Jennes Sø (Michael Ancher):

Blåmejse 1
Rødhals 1
Lille Gråsisken 26
Musvit 1
Gransanger 2
Jernspurv 1

Highlights from the Observations:

Long-tailed Skua (Lille Kjove)-4

Colour ringed Red-throated Diver (Rødstrubet Lom)-1

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

People: Mio Brix, Anja Gorbunova, Pauline Nähring, Jule Tappe, Laura Tamminen, Simon S. Christiansen, Kirsten Bregn, Alfred Godsk Geckler, Knud Pedersen

Today my morning started at 6:45 when I cycled to Kabeltromlen (KAB) for ringing. It was a beautiful, sunny morning, and we had a surprisingly good variety of birds in the nets. In total, we caught 46 birds.