Joakim and I had a nice morning at Grenen with 2 Great Northern Divers being the highlight. Hebe and Marie went to Flagbacken. They didn’t see any raptors but saw some ‘pigeons and tits’. They also sent off the blood samples we have collected from African migrants recently. In the afternoon we cleaned after what was quite a busy (and dirty!) few days before. The weather looks much better for tomorrow, lets see what it brings…

People: Joakim Matthiesen, Dante Shepherd, Hebe Denny and Marie Heuberger

Så kom dagen vi alle frygtede....Festivalens sidste dag. Ej, det er bare for sjov, men faktisk er det lidt trist at den slutter nu. Der har været så mange mennesker, som har lagt vejen forbi og dermed støttet festivalen. Vi har snakket med en masse glade mennesker og ikke mindst fået spredt budskabet om hvor fedt det er, at se på fugle! Det har været nogle rigtigt gode dage i selskab med en masse engagerede og glade erferne som uerfarne fuglekiggere. 

Dagen i dag var også præget af det grå fyrs 2 års fødselsdag. Det betød kaffe og rundstykker til alle, som mødte op på pladsen i løbet af formiddagen. Det var der rigtigt mange som gjorde. Gårdspladsen har været fyldt med liv de sidste dage. Folk har prøvet kikkerter, lavet snobrød, snakket om dagens fugle, fået ny viden i Birders Club, været med på de guidede ringmærknings-rundvisninger mm. Ja i det hele taget har det bare summet af liv ved Det Grå Fyr. Senere oppe af dagen kom Gustav Urth og holdte et rigtigt underholdenene trylle-show med rigtigt mange deltagere. Herefter stod jeg for en kort rundvisningen i laboratoriet, hvor jeg fortalte om hvordan og hvorfor vi ringmærker fugle. Igen i dag var der stor tilslutning til turen.

Det blev ikke til så mange fugle i dag dog, men der kan da fx nævnes en fiskeørn, som lagde vejen forbi lige over fyret under festivalens begivenheder. Deruover blev der set en markpiber og hedehøg på Grenen, samt en mellemkjove fra Nordstrand. 

Festivalen har trods en våd start, igen i år været en stor succes! Vi glæder os allerede til næste år!

Folk: Joakim Matthiesen, Dante Shepherd, Simon S Christiansen, Hebe Denny and Marie Heuberger, samt en MASSE gæster og bekendte af fuglestationen. 

Ringmærkning i Fyrhaven:

Rødstjert - 2

Gærdesanger - 2 

Munk - 1

Total: 5 

Der bliver lavet snobrød på festivalpladsen

Gustav Urth holder trylle-show om natur og fugle

This morning began a little earlier than usual, with Joakim, Marie and I heading out to Jenne Sø to open the nets for CES ringing. We were joined By michael and Simon and though we didnt catch a large number of birds, it was a lovely morning with a beautiful Topmejse in the nets being a highlight for the morning!! We were joined by a ringing tour for some time, who were very happy to watch the process!

Meanwhile, Dante spent the morning at Nordsttrand with many other observers; some of the highlights of his morning being a hevepsevåge, Atlingand and one of the first Gøge!

Back at the observatory, we got ready for an afternoon of bird festivalling. It was a good afternoon, with lots of visiters and two Løvsanger in the garden nets during the ringing tour. In the evening, we set up barbeques outside! We were joined by a good number of others, and also a passing Steppehøg!!!! It was a lovely time outside, with good food and lots of laughs!! 

Another really great day here in Skagen.

Ringing at Jenne Søand Det Gra Fyre:

Tornsanger - 1

Løvsanger - 5

Total 6

People: Joakim, Dante, Hebe, Marie, Simon, Michael Ancher

The day started cloudy and rainy. Dante and I headed to North Strand around 4:30 am and at 7 o’clock the official Morning Observation there started, during the morning around 40 other birders joined us. A quiet walk, guided of a local ornithologist, also started at 7 am. We hoped the rain would stop soon, but it rained cats and dogs all day long. While Dante and I stayed at North Strand and saw soooo many birds, although it was raining, Hebe and Joakim were ringing (in the short time period, when it didn’t rain) and catched a Sparrowhawk! Joakim ringed him. I really hope we will catch another one, I would love to have one in my hands! But meanwhile Dante and I saw Marsh and Hen Harriers (Rørhøg og Blå Kærhøg), a Whinchat (Bynkefugl), a Kittiwake (Ride), an Oriole (Baltimore Trupial), a Kestrel (Tårnfalk), a White-tailed eagle (Havørn) and some more.

But the biggest highlight of the day: WE SAW ORCAS AGAIN!! Rolf saw them first at Grenen and then they headed to North Strand. Hebe, Joakim and Simons Mum hurried to see them, and they did. They even saw the white on their heads! How incredible is this?!

In the afternoon we had another tour about ringing in Skagen as part of the program “Frisk I Naturen”, were Simon explained how and why we ring.

Ringing (Det Grå Fyr):

Løvsanger                                           1

Ringing (Sardinkrattet):

Spurvehøg                                          1

Rødhals                                               2

Sangdrossel                                        1

Gærdesanger                                      1

Gransanger                                         1

Løvsanger                                           4

Total: 11

Folk: Hebe, Joakim, Dante, Simon and his Mum, Marie

The first day of the bird festival and at 10am we all piled into the birders club (due to the adverse weather) for the opening. Lene and Simon both gave talks to a very tightly packed crowd and the festival began. A few of the planned events could not take place due to the weather but still several guided tours headed out and some good birds were seen including a Sortrygget Vipstjert and very large flocks of up to 75 Tinksmed! Late in the afternoon the sun broke through the cloud and the birds arrived. 2 Steppehog, a Hedehog, a Mallemkjove and the first Hvepsevage of the year. In the evening Jørgen Rabøl held a talk about bird migration which was very interesting. Bring on tomorrow! 

Folk på stationen: Jørgen Rabøl, Joakim Matthiesen, Dante Shepherd, Simon S Christiansen, Hebe Denny and Marie Heuberger

I dag startede dagen atter tidligt. Hebe og Dante satte sig ud på Grenen for, at holde øje med trækket. Simon, Marie og jeg åbenede nettene på Grenen kl 05:00. Dagen bød på flere fugle i nettene end vi har haft et stykke tid. Dog blev det kun til 28 fugle denne morgen, men sammelignet med de seneste dage var det rigtigt fint. Det er i sær Afrika-trækkerne, som satte sit præg på denne dag. Især løvsanger og munk dominerede i dag. Deuodover fandt også 2 rødstjert og en skovpiber vej til nettene.

Dette gav god mulighed for, at få taget blodprøver af fuglene. Det gør vi for at teste for vest-nil-virus . En sygdom som fuglene kan få en Afrika og bringe med sig hjem til Danmark. Vi samarbejder med universiteterne, som for tilsendt prøverne og analysere dem.

Derudover var det rengøringsdag, så kosten og støvsugeren blev hevet frem for en stund.

Herudover ankom Jørgen Rabøl, som holder et spændene foredrag i morgen om studier af rovfugle.

OGSÅ starter fuglefestival jo i morgen! Det glæder vi os til, og vi håber at se mange af jer! Det bliver super fedt! Det er bare ud og finde nogle fede fugle!

Folk på stationen: Jørgen Rabøl, Joakim Matthiesen, Dante Shepard, Simon S Christiansen, Hebe Denny and Marie Heuberger

Ringmærkning på Sardinkrattet:

Skovpiber: 1

Bogfinke: 1

Rødstjert: 2

Gærdesmutte: 1

Gærdesanger: 5

Munk: 7

Løvsanger: 10

Rørspurv: 1

Total: 28

Her en munk fra i dag. Dette er en hun-fugl, med brun kalot.

It was a lovely start to the day, sunny and a glowing sunrise as usual. It is still so exciting to wake up and see the sea! 

Joakim, Marie, Dante and I headed out to Grenen for observations, where we joined Rolf and many other bird watchers. It was quite a quiet morning again, but we did see some Storkjove (Great Skua) which was very lovely, theyre so big and beautiful!! And also three Rød Glente, which is always exciting. There was also a Bjerglaerke hanging around at the tip which some people also got to see.

At nine am i headed back to the obs with Marie to show her where the old lihgthouse garden nets are, which we opened in preparation for a ringing tour with Simon. I then headed back to grenen for a little while. 

Back at the Obs, we got on with daily tasks. DOF basen, raptor summaries, blogs etc.. and Simon headed out to the post office to send away the blood samples we had taken from african migrants in the pas few days. These will be used to test for west nile virus in their blood, which is a very interesting project for us! 

In the afternoon, we spoke with Simon about the coming bird festival and prepared a little. Exciting! We look forward to meeting any of you who will be coming along!!! 

In other news.. we had the exciting arrival of an Otter at the Skarv Colony!! It was spotted by Michael Fink. A really lovely find. 

Anyhoo!! Another day of bliss at the Fuglestation. Until next time!! 

 Marie and I observing in the morning!! lovely and sunny, but a wee bit chilly!!

Ringmarkening Det Gra Fyr:

Lovsanger - 1

People: Michael Fink, Joakim, Dante, Marie, Hebe, Simon and Rolf. 

Today was a calm day to gain some energy for the upcoming bird festival, which will start on Thursday. We saw a Storkjove (Great Skua) and Ride (Kittiwakes) at Grenen, which was quite nice! We also tried to catch the Husrødstjert (Black Redstart), which was jumping around in our garden. Unfortunately, we didn't make it, but instead we caught a blackbird. A little comfort, after all. Besides, Joakim showed me my first Sortstrubet bynkefugl (Stonechat), which is rare, where I live in Germany. And here it has a favorite branch in our garden, incredible! In the evening I tried our awesome Olympus camera and watched the Ederfugl (Eider) and Splitterne (Sandwich terns) near the Lighthouse. Unfortunately, the SD card was broken, so I can’t show you any pictures. Later in the afternoon Hebe and I went for a swim in the sea. It was my first one here in Skagen and it was so cold! But we enjoyed the refreshing, salty adrenaline rush.

And besides that, we got a present from Axel Mortensen & Else Marie Collin: A painting made by Peter Nilsson of Ottenby Bird Observatory, one of the three observatories which are part of the Scandinavian Triple (= a great internship opportunity to get to know three observatories in different Scandinavian countries in three months). We hung the painting in the kitchen, and it really changes the atmosphere of the room in a positive way. Thank you very much for this present Axel & Else!

Ringing (Det Grå Fyr):

Solsort            1

Total: 1 Folk: Joakim Matthiesen, Dante Shepard, Simon S Christiansen, Hebe Denny and Marie Heuberger

There were almost no birds moving in the morning due to the cold weather. However the morning quickly turned from quiet to manic when a pod of 7 Spækhuggere/Killer Whales appeared in my telescope! Wow! My initial views of the pod were very brief and very distant. I let the other birders I was with know I had seen them and we waited for them to surface again. The 5 minutes it took them to show themselves felt forever as I started to think I had imagined it! But they did come up again to my relief and were enjoyed by many for about an hour before they disappeared to the north east. Amazing! A video of the animals can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSUSzjd_uNY In the afternoon a danish TV crew came to film me for the news later in the day. That clip can be found after 15 mins here: https://www.dr.dk/tv/se/tv-avisen-med-sporten/tv-avisen-23/tv-avisen-2019-05-05?fbclid=IwAR2nWvoVvFc2N2sEND-ZRdOC7wOPHvENpqF1BgMMGtIR7zy1PadgXhO-wxc Simon cooked something danish and traditional for dinner (can’t remember the name of it) which was really good.

Folk: Joakim Matthiesen, Dante Shepherd, Marie Heuberger, Simon S Christiansen, Hebe Denny, Brian, Kirsten.

Ringmærkning Sardinkrattet and Jenne So:

Bogfinke - 2, Munk - 1, Gærdesmutte - 3, Gransanger - 2, Løvsanger - 6, Rødhals - 6, Skovskade - 1

Total 21

Selvom dagen startede næsten som normalt var det dog med et lidt andet motiv dag. I dag var nemlig Tårnenes Dag. Det betyder, at man kan melde et hold til eventet og derefter tælle arter ved sit fugletårn fra kl 05:00 til kl 13:00. Det gælder ganske enkelt om, at finde flest arter. Vinderene er sjovt nok det hold, som finder flest forskellige arter i løbet af de 8 timer. Derfor stod vi alle 5, Dante, Hebe, Marie, Simon og jeg ude på grenen kl 05:00. Her fik vi besøg af nogle lokale birdere samt Mad og Fugle, som hjalp os med at finde arter denne dag.

Den opmærksomme læser har nok bemærket er der jo ikke er noget fugletårn ude på Grenen. Derfor kan vi ikke deltage i den ’rigtige kokurrence’, da man jo skal have et tårn. Derimod deltog vi som de sidste par i den uofficelle konkurrence, hvor alle kan være med fra en ’obs-post’. Skagen plejer ALTID at vinde.

Marie og jeg gik ned i sardinkrattet og åbende nettene for, at se om vi kunne fange en fugl eller to som vi kunne vise til holdet på Grenen og derved forbedre deres vinderchancer. Det blev dog ikke til mange fugle, men vi fik da ringmærket et par stykker.

Da dagen bød på meget blæst skete det uventede. Vi vandt ikke i år! Desværre var kulde og blæst for meget for trækfuglene og vi endte med kun 66 arter sammenlignet med 109 sidste år. Den bedste art i dag blev en trækkende islom. Vi tager revanche næste år!

Herefter havde Simon et møde med Micheal Ancher om ringmærkning. Brian og Kirsten tog en tur til Gyvelstien efter at have sovet lidt længe i dag. I Byfogedskoven afholdte Poul Hald-Mortensen en guidet tur, som gik rigtigt fint trods den hårde vind.

Om aftenen fik vi sagt farvel til Brian og Kirsten, som nu har været her i en uges tid. Det har været herligt at have dem på besøg!

Folk på stationen: 

Folk: Joakim Matthiesen, Dante Shepard, Marie Heuberger, MAD OG FUGLE, Micheal Ancher, Simon S Christiansen, Hebe Denny, Poul Hald-Mortensen, Brian, Kirsten. 

Ringmærkning Sardinkrattet:

Gransanger - 2

Vinddrossel - 1

Munk - 1

Gærdesmutte - 1

Total 5

Arkivbillede af islom