Imens Simon, Martin og jeg sov længe drog Christina på morgenobs på Verdens Ende sammen med Rolf og Henrik W. Kristensen. Morgenens bedste fugl blev en grøn pirol, som gjorde trækforsøg samt de to brilleænder som fortsat er på plads i henholdsvis Skagerrak og Kattegat.

Formiddagens guidede ringmærkningstur så ikke ud til at blive til noget, men heldigvis lykkedes det Kirsten at skaffe to deltagere i sidste øjeblik. Selvom vi ikke havde held med at fange nogen fugle blev det til en fin tur alligevel med to tilfredse deltagere. Efter turen besluttede vi at prøve at ringmærke ungerne fra fyrets ynglende bysvaler. Med lidt hjælp fra Flemming fik vi fat i en lang stige, så vi kunne tjekke de tre reder. Vi ringmærkede i alt syv fede svaleunger fordelt på to kuld. I den sidste rede var redehullet for småt til at vi kunne få fat i ungerne. 

Om eftermiddagen fik Martin og Christina handlet ind og fixet gearene på to af vores cykler, som igen er "fit for fight". Jeg gik selv en tur på Grenen hvor 20 1k tårnfalke og et par storkjover blev det bedste. Dagen sluttede med et lækkert aftensmåltid lavet af Kirsten. 

Folk: Simon S Christiansen, Martin Y. Georgiev, Christina Ninou, Anders Odd Wulff Nielsen, Kirsten, Rolf Christensen, Henrik Wienberg Kristensen og Flemming. 

The day started with a moderately busy ringing session at Grenen with 20 birds most of which were juveniles with the first new reed warblers for the summer season, expecting many more next time! It was also an eventful morning for Kirsten who held her first bird today, a truly unforgetable experience!
In the meanwhie Simon was sorting out the details for our new project with sandwich terns - stay tuned for updates.
Next stop was our weekly ringing tour which involved 11 visitors. Andreas and Christina made sure to go through the all the steps involved in ringing in order to provide our visitors a clear picture of our duties and activities. A treat in the tour was a freshly shed skin belonging to a Eurasian adder, a gentle reminder that there are quite a frew in the area.

Having said that the majority of our day was spent cleaning and tidying up our living quarters, birdirs club and laboratory. In addition to Wednesday being our weekly cleaning day this time we went the extra mile to make sure all is in order for the upcoming busy weeks. Not the most exciting activity, however higly rewarding. I always feel like a clean environment promotes creativity and boosts productivity.

Ringing (Fyrhaven):

Gulbug - Icterine warbler - 1

Gransanger - Reed warbler - 4

Gærsanger - Lesser whitethroat - 1

Rørsanger - Marsh warbler - 3

The day did not start with the usual ringing session due to bad weather conditions i.e. it was incredibly windy. Instead we went on a birdwatching walk near Jennes sø where we saw a marsh harrier (Circus aeruginosus), a honey buzzard (Pernis apivorus) and various common, locally breeding Passerines.

On our way back from the beach we found a pair of ringed plovers (Charadrius hiaticula) (that weren't ringed) with a chick that hadn't fledged so we will try and ring it in the coming days.

Upon arrival in the observatory we had an open freezer day and invited everyone in the courtyard to see the wonders inside: Cool birds such as Common buzzard (musvåge), Eider (ederfugl), Common scoter (sortand) Robin (rødhals) Goldcrest (fuglekonge), Tawny Owl (Natugle) and a lot more appeared to the people who came to watch! And we even got a new bird - a cool coockoo (gøg) that Martin found dead in town after crashing in to a window!

We were also joined by Anders Wiig Nielsen who willl be with us for tomorrow's ringing and observation sessions.

In the afternoon we did another observation this time with Kirsten session with the usual suspects such as great skuas, gannets, migrationg sanderlings and feeding plovers.

In the evening we called it an early night in preparation for a ringing session in the morning.

Folk: Joakim Matthiesen, Simon S Christiansen, Martin Y Georgiev, Christina Ninou, Anders Odd Wulff Nielsen, Kirsten, Anders Wiig Nielsen.

For Martin, Christina og jeg startede dagen tidligt hos Rolf på Verdens Ende hvor højdepunkterne var fire mallemukker, et par storkjover og en hvidvinget korsnæb. Senere på morgenen rykkede vi alle tre ud i den yderste klitrække for at gøre Knud selskab. Trækket forblev dog sløvt selvom nogle få rider og lidt fjord- og havterner holdte os beskæftiget. Efter et par timers trækobs gik vi ud på Nordstrand hvor den ene af de to brilleand hanner sås rigtig fint mellem cirka 800 sort- og fløjlsænder. Vi fik også aflæst nogle farveringmærkede svartbage og tjekket en mindre flok splitterner for ringe. Erik mødte os på Nordstrand og kunne vise billeder af to juvenile stor korsnæb, som tidligere på morgenen havde gjort trækforsøg og rastet i kort tid på Verdens Ende. Om efteråret når de første store korsnæb som regel først Danmark i september, hvorfor de to ungfugle formentlig er klækket et sted på Skagen Odde.

Eftermiddagen gik med at lappe den ene af vores cykler og at købe ind til de næste par dage. Senere forkælede Kirsten os med lækker aftensmad og efterfølgende introducerede Simon os til det lidt skøre spil "The telegraph" a.k.a. "Kent Elvis". Jeg er sikker på at vi nok få spillet det igen i løbet af efteråret.

Folk: Joakim Matthiesen, Simon S Christiansen, Martin Y Georgiev, Christina Ninou, Anders Odd Wulff Nielsen, Knud Pedersen, Rolf Christensen, Erik Christophersen og Kirsten.

The day started with our main activity apart from ringing at this time of year, observations. Again we had the usual sightings a great skua (Stercorarius skua) and a red throated loon (Gavia stellata), however the highlight was a small fishing vessel which had attracted over 200 gulls and at least 3 great skua. The sight was epic and the feeding frenzy was of immense proportion.

At lucnh time we had to say goodbye to our dear friend and expert birder Joakim who returned to civilization after four productive, unforgetable, fun-filled months. Thank you for teaching us how to find our ways in the endless labyrinths that we call our ringing sites at Grenen and all the awesome dishes you cooked using your vast knowledge in the field of gastronomy. Never stop clowning!

Since we were already in the mood for goodbyes we also said farewell to Irene and Hugh after their week-long stay with us. We hope you enjoyed learning new things and geting a hands-on experience at the station. You managed to get involved in quite a few of our activities including several ringing sessions, both at Grenen and our CES site and the help with all the twigs and sticks in our nets will never be forgotten. You also managed to take a glimpse into the mysterious & wonderous life of the european nightjar which is truly a treat. Take care and hope to see you again at Skagen bird observatory.

Throughout the day I managed to dedicate some time to researching the available literature on the costs of migration for Passerines drawing inspiration for my own undergraduta project. This was followed by another observation session at the tip of Grenen.Around lunchtime we greeted our new visitor Kirsten who will be joining our team for a week, she picked a good day to arrive since great weather is expected from Tuesday onward, welcome!In the evening after a lovely dinner and a productive meeting (usually sundays tend to be the most fun ones) we called it an early night in preparation for tomorrow¨s observation session.

People: Joakim Matthiesen, Simon S Christiansen, Martin Y Georgiev, Christina Ninou, Anders Odd Nielsen, Hugh Mayo, Irene Mayo and Kirsten.

The day started at 4:00, were Anders and I went to Grenen to observe migration. We saw some waders as well as the surf scoters and again a great skua! In the meantime, Joakim's family is here for the weekend, so he opened the nets in the garden at 7:00 am. He took them on a guided tour around the nets and they had 4 birds, including a tree pipit! After that, he took them to town where they walked around. Martin stayed home to clean the telescopes and binoculars, (which after all these days are full of sand) and then went out and talked to some tourists and then came for birdwatching with Anders and me. Irene and Hue did a cultural trip, around Skagen visiting the museum and galleries. 

Unfortunately, we had to say goodbye to Kim and the kids, but they ensured us that they had a great time which made us happy!In the evening, Simon arrived from Lund University, Sweden and mentioned how nice the facilities and staff were and recommended it to us for studying biology there.

At night, Simon and Anders, took a family of four and one more person to a night tour around the lighthouse, where they talked about the animals that you can see at night and the methods that are used to capture them. Then the did a round and found many nice toads. In the meanwhile, Joakim, Lea and me, went on a night-catching walk to find waders, on the beach but unfortunately, we were not able to catch anything.

Ringing (Fyrhaven):

Tornsanger - Whitethroat    1

Musvit - Great tit     2

The day started at 04:00am when our eager team of birdwatchers set off to Grenen in order to observe migration. Notable sights were a great skua (Stercorarius skua), Manx shearwater (Puffinus puffinus), rosefinches (Carpodacus) and a red throated loon (Gavia stellata). In addition many coloured rings were red off the feet of various gulls with one of them having a ring from the United Kingdom.

In the afternoon Christina and I set off to our ringing site at Grenen in order to do some much needed arboreal work. We cleared the overwhelming vegetation under and around the nets and then focused on making the paths connecting the nets more accessible. Hopefully our work will make our ringing sessions more productive and enjoyable, stay tuned for an update in the coming days!

In the evening Anders treated us to a lovely chili for dinner which replenished our depleted energy reserves and left us looking forward to what tomorrow has to offer :)

People: Joakim Matthiesen, Simon S Christiansen, Martin Y Georgiev, Christina Ninou, Anders Odd Nielsen, Kim Haselmann, Benjamin Haselmann, Andreas Haselmann, Hugh Mayo and Irene Mayo.

Dagen startede tidligt med CES-ringmærkning ved Jennes Sø til perfekte vejrforhold - ingen vind og overskyet. Modsat de sidste par CES-runder var denne runde ret produktiv. Mange ungfugle er nu fløjet fra deres reder og det kunne mærkes på fangsten. Samtidig med CES-mærkningen ringmærkede vi et kuld musvitter fra en af områdets redekasser. Både Michael Ancher og Rita samt Hugh og familien var forbi ringmærkningsområdet i løbet af morgenen.

Senere på dagen begav Joakim, Christina og jeg os ud på Grenen for at tjekke Melanitta-flokkene for sjældenheder. Det lykkedes os at finde den ene af de to brilleand hanner, mens den amerikanske sortand udeblev for denne omgang. Noget uventet blev højdepunktet to adulte rovterner, som pludseligt fløj gennem mit skopfelt imens vi skannede de mange ænder! Lidt senere var vi desuden heldige at få øje på et par store præstekraver med deres unge, som vi senere tog ud og ringmærkede.

Efter endt aftensmad satte Joakim og jeg os ud i klitterne ved stationen for at observere ud over Kattegat. En del måger fulgte et par fiskekuttere ind mod havnen og sammen med dem fouragerede 2-3 mallemukker. Efter en halv times tid får jeg øje på en mindre måge, som efter et par minutters obs kan bestemmes til en 2k sorthovedet måge! Det er blot den anden observation fra Skagen i 2019 og det var tilmed ny art for Joakim. Så alt i alt en rigtig fin afslutning på en dejlig dag.

Ringing  (Jennes Sø):

Stor præstekrave 1 pullus

Rødhals - 2

Rørsanger - 1

Gærdesanger - 3

Tornsanger - 7

Løvsanger - 1

Topmejse - 1

Rørspurv - 3

Total: 18

People: Joakim Matthiesen, Simon S Christiansen, Martin Y Georgiev, Christina Ninou, Anders Odd Nielsen, Kim Haselmann, Benjamin Haselmann, Andreas Haselmann, Hugh Mayo and Irene Mayo.

Anders er lige kommet på stationen, hvilket vi er meget glade for. Derefor var i dag hans første dag med i ringmærkningen. Christina og jeg åbnede nettene i Sardinkrattet kl 04:30. Imens gik Anders og Martin ud på spidsen for at se om der skulle være nogle rastende terner med ring. Det var der ikke, men de fik aflæst et par måger og sluttede sig derefter til ringmærkningen.

Ringmærkningen gik fint i dag og der var et pænt antal fugle. Meget forventeligt var morgenen præget af 1k fugle. Gennem morgenen nåede vi at fange hele familien rørspurv bestående af en mor far og unge. Heruover kan nævnes arter som tornsanger og gulbug. 

Da nettene var lukkede gik vi hjem og nettene i haven blev åbnet. Der var nemlig guidet tur kl 11. Vi havde 4 normænd med rundt på tur igen. Det lykkedes at fange to fugle på turen, så det var rigtigt fint.

Da det jo er onsdag stod de selvfølgelig også på rengøring i dag, så det blev eftermiddagen brugt på. Før vi kunne spise aftensmad var vi også ude ved Jennøs sø og gøre klar til CES-ringmærkningen i morgen. Det bliver spændene at se, hvilke fugle vi kan fange i morgen.

Ringmærkning (Jennes Sø)

Kærsanger - 1

Rørsanger - 1

Gulbug - 3

Gærdesanger - 1

Tornsanger - 9 

Havesanger - 1

Rørspurv - 2

Total: 18

Her ses far rørspurv fra ringmærkningen i dag

Folk: Joakim Matthiesen, Simon S Christiansen, Martin Y Georgiev, Christina Ninou, Anders Odd Nielsen, Kim Haselmann, Benjamin Haselmann, Andreas Haselmann, Hugh Mayo and Irene Mayo.

Our day techniclly started with a well deserved rest after a long night of nightjar monitoring volume II. We are happy to report that on this visit we recorded 14 pairs of nightjars. It would seem they were not majorly disturbed by the concert taking part in the nature reserve Monday evening. Looking forward to doing the count again next year and hopefully find even greater numbers!

To celebrate our successful nightjar session Simon decided to treat Christina, Joakim and myself to an awesome trip to Tornby Klitpantage hoping to see the Woodchat shrike (Lanius senator) visiting us from the South! Christina (the local authority on members of the Laniidae family) spotted the notorious butcher bird within minutes of our arrival and we had some splendid views (hold on to your hats for some nice pics in the near future). Another treat was the cirl bunting (Emberiza cirlus) which appartenly was still residing in the area and decided to sing the song of it's people for a fair amount of time within 20 meters of our location.

The road trip of epicness countinued to increase in scale when Simon decided to stop at Tversted søerne on our way back. I will be honest I did not expect a full blown coniferous forest within 50 meters of Skagerrak! There we heard and saw several crossbills of various species alongisde the usual forest suspects. The place also looked ideal for camping and made it on my own personal bucket list.

The final treat for the day was the arrival of Anders our new star ringer who will be filling eager and curious minds with endless knowledge about non-avian dinosaurs.

People: Joakim Matthiesen, Simon S Christiansen, Martin Y Georgiev, Christina Ninou, Anders Odd Nielsen, Kim Haselmann, Benjamin Haselmann, Andreas Haselmann, Hugh Mayo and Irene Mayo.