After a few months away I’m finally back at Skagen Fuglestation! This time I’ll be staying for a whole month until the beginning of October and the first days have already been full of exciting observations, ringing and meeting new people :)

 

Like the title reveals, this day started at midnight, quite far away from our lovely Skagen area, in Volsted, where we were very happy that we had already caught three great snipes before midnight! Wow! This excitement is summarized in a poem that Jule wrote:

An ode to Trædækker

A Tradækker is a snipe
But not of normal kind
Because it's really great.
To catch, you have to come out late
With the bright moon above.
You can't help but feel love.
Its brown the most magnificent in town.
Its barred belly covering up yellow fat,
Making it feel round in your hand,
Like a handball
But prettier.
With a ring on its leg,
It flies out into the night.
Save travels and goodbye!

Great Snipe (Tredækker). Photo: Simon Kiesé

This blog should also be used to give our readers some interesting information about birds and to show you a small part of what we learn every day up here.

Ageing of Great Snipes (Tredækker) :

Young (1K) Great Snipe (Tredækker) tail: notice the obvious barring on the outermost tail feathers...  Photo: Simon Kiesé

...and compare it here with an adult (2K+) bird. Look how clean and white the outer tail feathers are on this bird!  Photo: Simon Kiesé

And as you might already know, a night-catching session at Skagen Fuglestation never ends early, so we went to another field, and there we also succeeded very well! Our station head, Simon S. Christiansen (SSC), had built a new, big and long hand net a few weeks ago, inspired by the hand net of the skilled night catcher Johan Funder.

The moment of catching a Quail (Vagtel). Video taken with thermal monocular.

With this hand net, SSC and Páll caught a Corn Bunting (Bomlærke) and two Quails (Vagtel). You could really see how amazed they were! And, of course, they had every reason to be. Just look how pretty the Quails are:

Quail (Vagtel), young male. Photo: Simon Kiesé

2cy.+ Corn Bunting (2k Bomlærke). Photo: Simon Kiesé

After a loooong trip back to the beautiful lighthouse, Simon Jr. and Pauline immediately went to Kabeltrommlen and opened the nets, while Knud (our local legend) took care of today's migration count at World's End 3. What he saw, you will find in the link to DOFbasen below...

Today, there weren't many birds in the nets. Maybe they were on a night tour as well and had all fallen asleep now?! However, after a few rounds, I joined them and helped close the nets, so that we could all go to our well-deserved sleep.

Sleep! Yes, there are no more words needed to describe what happened in the afternoon...

But with time, we all woke up, and we could already smell the cinnamon rolls that Pauline had baked for her delicious dinner earlier! What a lovely way to wake up!

And now, we can already see that the sky is getting dark again. Somehow, there is once again the smell of our next night-catching tour in the air. Tonight, we will see if we can catch more waders at the Cormorant Lake (Skarvsøen).

We will let you know in the next blog post how it went!

Ringing (Kabeltromlen):

   Total: 12

After my fascination for the young Pallid Harrier (Steppehøg) we saw yesterday (they are so pretty!) the others were making jokes about me seeing “50 shades of brown” in its plumage. Today’s theme was 50 shades of grey. The morning started with low hanging whitish fog and grey clouds over KAB. Finally, the first Common Whitethroats (Tornsanger) in the nets brought some warm colours in the day. When Willow Warblers (Løvsanger) showed up, the colours got even brighter and warmer and the sun warmed our faces.

Walking a net check in the morning sun.

The rather strong southerly winds reasoned the low number of birds this morning, so the company of Odin and Igor (Simon’s and Jørgen’s dogs) was very welcome. Igor stole Odins toy and proudly presented it to Jørgen. At the meanwhile, Odin seemed unimpressed by this theft and rather tried to play with his old friend.

We were happy to see an adult (2K+) Willow Warblers (Løvsanger) after catching many young ones the past days.

Adult Willow Warbler (Løvsanger). The white belly with distinct yellow streaking differs to young birds that are more washed yellowish.

Wing of the old Willow Warbler (Løvsanger). The moult limit in the secondaries shows that this bird suspended its complete moult. A clear sign for adults of this species, which does two complete moults every year.

Mio and James started their day at World’s End 3 and were later accompanied by Knud. The counters enjoyed the four Arctic Skuas (Almindelig Kjove) passing by. As yesterday, several Ducks, mostly Common Scoter (Sortand) but also some Teals (Krikand) and one Shoveler (Skeand) decided that it’s finally autumn and a good idea to migrate. Suddenly, 5 Pale-bellied Brent Geese (Lysbugget Knortegås) headed southeast. The first ones of the season and the first ones of this subspecies for Mio!

Saturday is cleaning day and we used the opportunity of Simon giving us a lift to buy groceries at the shop. This enabled Mio to continue his passion for eating chocolate wraps. Jule’s new passion is cricket. I don’t know what James did to her, but she mentioned this sport all day and was very upset, when the game was interrupted due to rain.

Mio doing deep cleaning.

It was another day of delicious dinner, handmade by James. It already looked amazing and the taste convinced me as well. He made burgers, put Hummus and Jam on the Bread Rolls, a mushroom patty filled with onions and some Halloumi on top. Can someone hire him as the stations chief,
please? Please!?

Pauline presenting James’s delicious dinner.

With lucky stomaches we prepared to drive down to Støvring to try to ring Great Snipes (Trædekker). We are very excited, but you - dear friends of the blog - have to wait for tomorrow’s post to see if we succeeded. Spoiler: the night was awesome!

Since I leave the station on Monday, I don’t want to miss this last opportunity to say one more time thank you to the volunteers, Simon Sr., the guests and locals for the great company. It felt so familiar to be back here the fourth year in a row and this stay was one more special experience with great birds and people. I know that the autumn team will continue doing a great job and enjoy great autumn birds. I can’t wait to read the next blog posts. Do you feel the same?

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

People: Mio Brix, Simon Kiesé, Pauline Nähring, Jule Tappe, James Wareing, Páll Vang Kjærbo, Henrik Møller Thomsen, Simon S. Christiansen.

This morning, we had a bit of a team-building exercise. Since the wind was to strong for opening nets at Kabeltromlen, we all went out to World’s End 3 for migration count. Company-wise, the count was – of course – very entertaining. Bird-wise, it was lacking in excitement for the first part, so we started admiring Common Scoter (Sortand) flocks of different sizes. But then, birdwatching again proved how unpredictable it is: Coming in from the sea, there was a slim raptor. We only got a short view over the water, but then it got closer over the dunes migrating landwards and we got good sights of a very nice bird: A first year Pallid Harrier (Steppehøg)! While this species is a frequent sight in spring, it is a rather rare bird for late summer/autumn. It was first time since 2023 a Pallid Harrier (Steppehøg) was recorded in the area. I was extremely happy about this since I didn’t expect to see this species in my time here. And especially the first-year plumage is really magnificent (or as Simon K. would say: „snazzy“ because of all the different shades of brown). Simon Sr., who had left World’s End 3 earlier due to the lack of birds, luckily also managed to see the Harrier from Højen Fyr where it was migrating west.

Pallid Harrier (Steppehøg) over the dunes of Grenen. Foto: Simon Kiesé.

After this, the last part of the count passed quickly with a notable number of ducks, especially Teal (Krikand) and Widgeon (Pibeand).

Back at the lighthouse, Mio, Simon and I warmed ourselves up with hot cups of tea and entered data. Simon also took care of some very pleasant business: He entered Dotterels (Pomeransfugl) on Dofbasen since we found their calls on the passive recorder near Kabeltromlen. One flew over the area close to midnight on the 17th of August.

Recording of the first Dotterel (Pomeransfugl) on xeno canto.

Two others came in the night of the 23th over Kabeltromlen. Hopefully we’ll get that species in the field soon.

James was at Skarvsøen to watch some waders. It was a worthy visit with Wood Sandpipers (Tinksmed), Ruffs (Brushane) and a couple of Greenshank (Hvidklire) in the area.

After lunch, everyone took a nap since we weren’t sure yet whether we would go out during the night. Just before I was wrapping up my R session (we love statistics at this station), Pauline arrived! She is a new volunteer coming from Berlin and will stay here until early October. The first thing Simon Sr. told us about was her experience with bat monitoring so next time we have a bat in the net (like yesterday), we now have an expert to call!

In the late afternoon, Mio, Simon and James went down to the exhibition and played the games there, like throwing balls at birds. We highly recommend the exhibition, it is very fun! By then, Simon Sr. had decided that due to rain during the night, we would not go nightcatching for Great Snipe (Tredækker). So we settled in for a chill night. While Mio and Simon Jr. were cooking dinner, James and I watched England play against Pakistan in cricket. He explained the game to me and I now learned a bunch of new hyper-specific cricket related words. Even though watching the game was quite interesting, I think I will stick to birdwatching.

After dinner, we all started relaxing evening activities, like writing this blog while Simon is playing (or attempting to play) guitar in the background.

The strong wind and many cups of tea made this day feel like the first autumn day. Except for the Pallid Harrier (steppehøg), of course. It was a moment of spring-like sunshine on this cloudy day.

No Ringing today. :(

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

People: Mio Brix, Simon S. Christiansen, Simon Kiesé, Pauline Nähring, Jule Tappe, James Wareing

 

 

Video showing flight on distance of the Black-winged Kite (Blå Glente)

The Black-winged Kites have expanded north rapidly resent years. Last year there was a breeding attempt in western Jutland, and this year in northern Germany around 10 pairs have been reported in Sleswig-Holstein! 

Everything good comes to an end. But the end is fun.

Today we went out for the last visit at our CES site Skarvsøen. CES stands for Constant Effort Site and is an international ringing project, which focuses on breeding birds. Therefore, it is great to recapture your own birds to be able to calculate the longevity and to get a demographic overview over the population.

The morning got off to a good start with a view of lots of Waders (Vadefugl) searching for food on the mudflats exposed by the receding water. Mentionable were 3 Temminck’s Stints (Temmincksryle) and one Little Stint (Dværgryle). Also 11 Common Ringed Plovers (Stor Præstrkrave) were exciting, since they belong to the subspecies tundrae, that only breeds in northern Scandinavia and eastwards towards Russia. This is a good sign, that migration is going on.

The first round already brought fun birds in the ringing. After catching several young Common Redstarts (Rødstjert) the past days, one adult female was very helpful to calibrate our ageing skills.

Look at this pretty old female Common Redstart (Rødstjert). Foto: Simon Kiesé

For all ageing and moult enthusiasts I want to share some more details of the bird with you.

The broad tail with rounded tips shows, that these feathers are adult. Foto: Simon Kiesé

The next round brought the next surprise: a White Wagtail (Hvid Vipstjert). It is an adult male, which is nice to see, since it already completed its post-breeding moult into winter plumage. In this plumage the features for sexing are less straight forward, then what we know from spring.

I guess everyones favorite was the Bluethroat (Blåhals), that we ringed a bit later. It is very rare, that we get adult females like this one here. Unfortunately, this makes it harder (in this case kind of impossible) to identify the subspecies, since the only feature is the colour of the spot in the throat in males. Does anyone know more about them or wants to analyse our DNA sample? ;-)

Bluethroat – adult female of unknown subspecies. Picture: Simon Kiesé

All feathers are uniform postjuvenile - including the Greater Coverts (GC), where a young bird would show a moult limit with less dense and paler tipped juvenile GCs. Foto: Simon Kiesé

A personal highlight was a recapture of an adult Reed Warbler (Rørsanger). It was ringed in 2023 and not recaught since then. So to see that it is still alive is already a highlight. When I looked up the ringer I was even more amazed: it was me! Super cool to have this bird in the hand again three years later! In the next picture it is the old one on the right side.

One helpful feature to age Reed Warblers (Rørsanger) in autumn is the eye colour. In young ones (left) it is more cold grey, while it is warmer brown in old ones (right). Foto: Simon Kiesé

The last bird of CES 2026 was a young Chiffchaff (Gransanger) by the way. Do you think it will remember Páll and Jule? Foto: Simon Kiesé

Everything has to be taken down and carried back to the station.

In the meanwhile, Mio and James were out at World’s End 3 and kept an eye on everything moving. The known old male Long-tailed Duck (Havlit) did its favourite thing and swam with Eiders (Ederfugl) on the sea. Yesterday’s young dark morph Arcitc Skua (Almindelig Kjove) was somewhat the most exciting bird in this slow morning, but as you know Skagen always offers some fun birds as Caspian Gull (Kaspisk Måge) or Mediterranean Gull (Sorthovedet Måge).

After labelling all the CES nets and putting the poles back to where they belong, we took a well-earned nap. Mio went for a walk and saw an adult Hobby (Lærkefalk). After the evening meeting James presented us a super delicious dinner. Since it would be hard to describe the taste in words, I can at least share a picture with you.

James cooked this delicous meal!

Even though we are just three people at the station right now, we don‘t hesitate to do as much bird-related extra tasks as possible. That’s why we just set up nets for Storm-Petrels (Stormsvale) again. We were already successful with two young Nightjars (Natravn) last round. Sophie and Páll released those two together and seemed very happy about it. I share their joy! Close before midnight Nightjar no. 3 and 4 - both young ones - got a ring aswell. It's the first time 4 Nightjars were caught in the lighthouse garden in just one evening.

Two young Nightjars (Natravn) from this evening. Foto: Mio Brix

Highlights of the observations:

Temminck's Stint (Temmincksryle) - 3

Little Stint (Dværgrlye) - 1

Ringing (Skarvsøen):

Total: 20

Ringing (Det Grå Fyr):

Nightjar (Natravn) - 4

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

People: Mio Brix, Jule Tappe, Simon Kiesé, James Wareing, Páll Vang Kjærbo, Sophie Booker, Simon S. Christiansen.

Today, the day started again directly at midnight, where we caught a Nightjar (Natravn) in the Old Lighthouse Garden. After we ringed this bird, everyone except me went back to bed. I stayed awake and kept an eye on the nets for Nightjars (Natravn) and Storm Petrels (Lille Stormsvale).

Det Grå Fyr at night

The Storm Petrel (Stomrsvale) Net stayed emty this night, but the Nightjar (Natravn) net struck again! So, around 5 in the morning, there were two more Nightjars (Natravn) in the net!

The stars of the night: Nightjars (Natravn)!

While Simon and I were ringing these two little dragons, Jule was already on her way to open the nets at Kabeltrommlen and James was on his way to World’s End for the migration count. Johanna joined him a bit later, after she helped me take down the nets on the beach. At World’s End 3 and at Kabeltrommlen, they had a good, windless and sunny day! Passerines like Redstarts and Pied Flycatchers were in the bushes and in the nets, as well as a Great Skua (Storkjove) and Arctic Skuas (Almindelig Kjove) out at the sea.

After our daily morning fieldwork was done, we had a very quick breakfast and then Simon Sr. drove us to Hulsig Hede, where we scanned the blue sky for some raptors. We were mostly hoping to see the Imperial Eagle (Kejserørn), which had been seen yesterday south of Skagen. Unfortunately, the eagle didn’t turn up, but instead we saw a young Hobby (Lærkefalk) “mobbing” an adult female Hen Harrier (Blå Kærhøg). It felt a bit like spring up here today. This feeling became even stronger when we noticed a big flock of Common Buzzards above our heads! It was nice to see them again here, and it gives us some hope that maybe another (good) raptor will turn up here in the next days. We all hope so...

Observing raptors near Hulsig

What we all didn’t wish for, was that today was the day where we had to say goodbye to Johanna! It was a very nice time with you here, and we all hope to see you again at some point! Have a good trip back!

Highlights of the observations:

Great Skua (Storkjove)-1

Hobby (Lærkefalk)-1

Hen Harrier (Blå Kærhøg)-1

Peregrine falcon (Vandrefalk)-1

Ringing KAB:

will be added soon...

Ringing (Det Grå Fyr):

Nightjar (Natravn)-3

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

People: Mio Brix, Jule Tappe, Simon Kiesé, Johanna Veentjer, James Wareing, Simon S. Christiansen + Odin

Before we start with our experiences from the day, we want to tell you about how last night went, since it did turn into a very successful night catching night.

Again, we were happy to have caught both a Nightjar (Natravn) and a Storm-petrel (Lille Stormsvale) already by 22:30. So amazing! We were able to take pictures of both birds together – definitely two species which rarely see each other ;-)...

A rare encounter of a European Storm-petrel (Lille Stormsvale) and a Nightjar (Natravn). 

Later on, we caught one more Storm-petrel (Lille Stormsvale) and one more Nightjar (Natravn) as well as a Turnstone (Stenvender) in the early morning hours. After a whole night of night catching, Amira and Florian, volunteers from the last autumn team who had visited the station during the weekend, unfortunately had to leave today. Thank you for all your help and the lovely weekend together with you!

Picture: Florian Hatt

In the morning, Simon and Jule then headed out to Kabeltromlen. The highlight in the ringing this morning were the 6 Common Redstarts (Rødstjert). Especially in the first few rounds there was quite a nice variety of species. In between the rounds, Jule and Simon also spotted an adult female Hen Harrier (Blå Kærhøg) over Kabeltromlen.

Mio, James and I headed out for morning observations to Worlds End III. Even though there was not much migration going on today, we had two roosting Arctic Skuas (Almindelig Kjove) and a nice variety of waders again, amongst others a Curlew Sandpiper (Krumnæbbet Ryle) and two Curlews (Storspove). We also spotted the Long-tailed Duck (Havlit) among the flock of roosting Eiders (Ederfugl) in the Kattegat again.

Furthermore, the board of the bird observatory came to the station today to have a board meeting.

Now we have just put up the storm-petrel nets and the nightjar net again and hope for some more birds tonight. Fingers crossed!

Ringing (Kabeltromlen):
Common Redstart (Rødstjert) – 6
Common Whitethroat (Tornsanger) - 1
Blackcap (Munk) - 2
Common Chiffchaff (Gransanger) - 2
Willow Warbler (Løvsanger) - 2
Bullfinch (Lille Dompap) – 2

Ringing (Lighthouse Beach and Lighthouse Garden)
European Storm-petrel (Lille Stormsvale) - 2          
Turnstone (Stenvender) – 1
Nightjar (Natravn) - 2

Total: 20

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

People: Mio Brix, Jule Tappe, Simon Kiesé, Johanna Veentjer, James Wareing, Amira Nuseibeh, Florian Hatt, Simon S. Christiansen, Odin

Today was a day full of observing birds. That comes to no surprise, since this is a bird observatory. But today was also a day of many very nice obsverations, so be prepared!

World’s End 3 was a busy and popular spot today, with Knud, Florian, Jan, Cora and Mio counting, and Johanna being there at the start and later switching with Amira from the ringing at Kabeltromlen. And it was a very good count indeed! There were Arctic and Great Skuas (Almindelig Kjove, Stor Kjove), a second year Great Northern Diver (Islom) flew closely past the observers and two Horned Grebes with one mostly in breeding plumage (Nordisk Lappedyker) resting by the tip. By the third hour, the counters noticed that an increasing number of fulmars were migrating along the horizon. And then, finally after a rather Shearwater-less August so far, a Sooty Shearwater (Sodfarvet Skråpe) appeared. It mostly flew under the horizon and flew some arches, but it was so fast that it was really only a short observation. Let’s hope it will be the first of many!

The ringing team at Kabeltromlen consisted of Simon K., Páll and Amira who opened nets early and were rewarded with nice birds: five Common Redstarts (Rødstjert) and three Pied Flycatcher (Broget Fluesnapper) in addition to a Tree Pipit (Skovpiber) and a Bullfinch (Dompap) created a lovely morning. Amira later switched with Johanna.

Tree Pipit (Skovpiper, Foto by Simon Kiesé).

Bullfinch (Dompap, Foto by Simon Kiesé).

Meanwhile, James had a cool experience of migrating passerines around the bushes of Grenen with many Willow Warblers (Løvsanger), Crested Tits (Topmejse) and Great Tits (Musvit) flying over him for about five minutes. After this, it was silent again. Migration really is fascinating!

Then we said goodbye to our guests Jan and Kristine. We hope you have a safe travel back home!

After I spend most of the morning cleaning, I decided to go birdwatching in the afternoon to Skarvsøen where I met Florian and Amira who had had the same idea as me. Besides the sunshine, I was joined by many cormorants (Skarv) but also some nice waders including a Little Stint (Dværgryle), two Temminck’s Stints (Temmincksryle) and a Curlew Sandpiper (Krumnæbbet Ryle).

After this successful trip, I came back to a busy station with everyone being productive on their laptops. Meanwhile, Florian and Amira were preparing dinner which we then all enjoyed.

But even after evening meeting, we hadn’t seen enough birds yet: James, Johanna, Mio and Simon K. went out for some evening observations around the lighthouse and from World’s End 3. I later joined them.

Amira, Florian and Johanna set up the storm petrel (Lille Stormsvale) nets on the beach and the nightjar net, so let’s wait until tomorrow’s blog post to see if we were successful seeing birds even during the night!

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

People: Mio Brix, Cora Köberle, Jule Tappe, Simon Kiesé, Johanna Ventjeer, Magnus Houen Lauritsen, Amira Nuseibeh, Florian Hatt, Simon S. Christiansen, Jan Hjort Christensen, Kristine Kleffel, Knud Pedersen, James Wareing, Páll Vang Kjærbo, Runa Vang Kjærbo, Sophie Booker.

We (Florian and Amira) are so excited to be back at Skagen for a few days after having spent last Autumn season here. It's great seeing lots of familiar faces and getting back to counting and ringing!

The migration count started nicely with a close by Arctic Skua (Almindelig Kjove) and still many waders on the beach. We tried to find a GPS-tagged Red Knot (Islandsk Ryle), that was located in Skagen the last days, but without success. There were again some Fulmars (Mallemuk) today and when migration started slowing down, we also heard a Spotted Redshank (Sortklire), which was nice to get out at World's End III. Way too late, I (Florian) saw a Diver flying close to shore but already far and heading away, which could have been a Great Northern Diver (Islom). The record shots from the camera also did not help a lot, so we'll leave it unidentified sadly.

Observers at World's End III

Meanwhile, at Kabeltromlen we had a morning busy with people but quiet with birds. It was still really nice to have Common and Lesser Whitethroats (Gærdesanger and Tornsanger), three lemoney-coloured Willow Warblers (Løvsanger), and a Common Redstart (Rødstjert). A beautiful red-pink-orange sunrise made it a lovely morning.

In the afternoon, Magnus' family came to visit and brought with them a banquet of food and cake for everyone, which was enjoyed outside in the lighthouse garden. Thank you!

Later, we (Florian & Amira) biked to Skarvsøen to do some birding, and were suprised to see so many more birds than we'd ever found here last Autumn. It was full of waders but the highlight was definitely the Curlew Sandpiper (Krumnæbbet Ryle) hanging out with a flock of Dunlin (Almindelig Ryle), and still with a striking orange breast as it moults out of its breeding plumage. And just as we were planning to walk back to our bikes, we suddenly heard the trilling-call of the Temminck's Stint (Temmincksryle) flying overhead. It circled around and even landed in front of us in the mud. 

We welcomed back James, who was here first in February 2024. Now, Johanna and Magnus are cooking a lovely-smelling dinner for us all!


Enjoying dinner

Highlights from the observations:

Mediterranean Gull (Sorthoved Måge) - 3
Arctic Skua (Almindelig Kjove) - 1
Spotted Redshank (Sortklire) - 1

Ringing (Kabeltromlen):

Blackbird (Solsort) - 1
Great Tit (Musvit) - 1
Lesser Whitethroat (Gærdesanger) - 1
Willow Warbler (Løvsanger) - 3
Common Redstart (Rødstjert) - 1
Pied Flycatcher (Broget Fluesnapper) - 1
Common Whitethroat (Tornsanger) - 1

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

People: Mio Brix, Cora Köberle, Jule Tappe, Simon Kiesé, Johanna Ventjeer, Magnus Houen Lauritsen, Amira Nuseibeh, Florian Hatt, Simon S. Christiansen, Jan Hjort Christensen, Kristine Kleffel.