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The Wind of Change
søndag 10. april 2022
While Alice uses the euphoria of preparing dinner for a little dance (the delicious smell wafts through the flat already), I sit down to the blog for the first time. Today was another rather quiet day in terms of birds because of strong wind from a „wrong“ direction. So there was time for everyone to make phone calls, to write applications or to rest.Hanelie and Marion started the morning observations, Robbe joined them a little later.
That the migratory conditions are not optimal is made clear by the sparrowhawks coming back from the direction of the open sea. The same goes for some jackdaws and crows. Quite a few Red-throated Divers Rødstrubet lom (a total of 97 ind. going NW), and Gannets Sule nevertheless made some nice observations possible. We expect a change in wind direction on Tuesday and little wind for that day - and we will be ready for that!
This fits in well, as Kjell arrived tonight after a long journey from Belgium. Kjell is an expert in catching and tagging birds of prey. Together with him we want to check out suitable places for catching and also see if we can catch something. Big plans are already being made about what that could be, there are some interesting raptors on the way already (however, Kjell says: we'll see.)
With Dorte and Anders, two new guests have arrived. We are looking forward to their friendly and knowledgeable company in the coming days. They already have our sympathy: they have announced that they will cook a (heavy) Danish soup for all of us tomorrow. We are very curious what it will contain (and how it tastes of course).
Ringmærkning - Nordstjernevej/Nordlysvej (Michael Ancher):
Musvit - 1
Bogfinke - 8
Kvækerfinke - 1
Grønirisk - 1
Gulspurv - 5
Total: 16
Today’s observations in Dofbasen from observers in the area.
People: Simon S. Christiansen, Michael Ancher, Hanelie Sidhu, Manuel Tacke, Alice Scalzo, Robbe Cool, Marion L'Huillier-Hunsinger, Kjell Janssens, Dorte and Anders Østerby.
Easter surprise !
lørdag 9. april 2022
This morning Hanelie and I went to grenen. The wind was quite strong today and migration was a bit slow. Jesper and Mette joined us once again, and after a while went to the bunker to find shelter and continue observing. They saw que a few Eiders (Ederfugl). On our side we didn't get any interesting birds.
Black kite from Eric Christophersens
Robbe and Marion went to world ends 1 around 10 in the morning to start laser shooting some birds. There was already quite a lot of birders there. Including Jesper and Mette that also joined them after a while. Unfortunately we seem to have a problem with the Bluetooth device that sends the data from the binoculars to the phone. We tried to repair it but were not successful. So they stayed there a few hours to enjoy the birds. They saw a Black kite (Sort Glente) and a few sparrowhawks (Spurvehøg). Highlight of their morning, they got to observe from very close a unicorn !
At Jennes Sø Michael Ancher found a bit of shelter from the winds and managed to ring some birds for the first time in a longer while, among them 14 Chaffinches, which is not often to catch many of.
Rita came by and left a bag full of surprises for Easter ! We were all very happy and thank her a lot for these nice presents and her kindness !
In the afternoon Hanelie worked on her next applications. Then she left on a walk to Byfogedskoven, she saw lots Chaffinches (Bogfinke) and Great tits (Musvit). She also went to Batteriskoven and saw crested tits (Topmejse).
Marion and Simon had a meeting about how to extract weather data from weather stations in Danemark.
Robbe started to work on a presentation on pipits.
Simon and Lisa worked on the raptor gps project, and Simon worked on the plan for the year.
Jesper and Mette also went on a walk to the cormorant lake and Nordstrand. And we are sad to see them leaving tomorrow as we really enjoyed having them here !
Have a good evening,
Alice.
Ringing (Jennes Sø + Nordstjernevej)
Gærdesmutte (Wren) - 2
Jernspurv (Dunnock) - 1
Gransanger (Chiffchaff) - 1
Blåmejse (Blue Tit) - 1
Bogfinke (Chaffinch) - 14
Gulspurv (Yellowhammer) - 1
Total: 20
People: Simon S. Christiansen, Michael Ancher, Hanelie Sidhu, Alice Scalzo, Marion L'Huillier-Hunsinger, Lisa Vergin, Jesper and Mette, the unicorn.
Walks around the tip of Skagen once the snow melted.
fredag 8. april 2022
Good evening fellow birders,
This morning we all woke up to an unexpected sighting: snow on the ground all around the station. While we already had a bit of snow falling down a few days ago, it didn’t stick on the ground at all so this was our first time seeing a somewhat white Skagen. This weather meant that none of us was out this morning as the strong wind made ringing impossible and the rain/snow discouraged us from going to Grenen for morning observation.
We still woke up at around 8 and enjoyed a chill breakfast in the living room. Once that was done, Hanelie and I went to sew more nets. Well actually we had a net that was in such terrible condition it was past the point where we could save it, so we cut the net off and just kept some hooks and lines. Manuel also joined us and all three of us also cut up another net. Meanwhile, Robbe and Mathilde were cleaning their Airbnb and Alice entered all the data from the nocturnal migration recording on Trektellen.
Night flight calls registered on Trektellen from the night of the 30th to 31st of March
The station’s exhibition also opened today so you should all come and check it out like many people already did today. Jesper and Mette also visited the exhibition after seeing the previous one the past year. Then, we had a nice lunch altogether which consisted of yummy wraps prepared by Mathilde and Robbe. Afterwards, all 6 of us decided to go up to the lighthouse while Simon, Jesper and Mette focused on the raptor GPS project which is currently running. The weather had already gotten better by that point, so we had a nice view across the peninsula and the sea.
Mathilde and Robbe went on a quick walk before Mathilde had to leave and they saw two Common European Vipers (Hugorm) which had been a goal of Robbe for a while! Manuel, Alice, Hanelie and I also went on a little bike tour to enjoy the nicer weather and so that Manuel would discover a bit more of the surroundings. We started at Jennes Sø where we enjoyed the nice view from the pontoon. Then, we attempted once again to see some Bearded Reedlings (Skægmejse) at the reeds near Nordstrand but none of them seemed to be around. Our last stop was the Cormorant Lake where we could see the resting or breeding Cormorants (Skarv), Red-necked Grebes (Gråstrubet Lappedykker), Black-Headed Gulls (Hættemåge), Mute Swans (Knopsvane) and Goldeneyes (Hvinand). On our way back we also got to observe some Red Kites (Rød Glente) from really close by.
Today’s observations in Dofbasen from observers in the area
Shortly after we were all back, we got the chance to meet Lisa who is also a ringer and arrived from Germany. Then together with Jesper and Mette, we all took part in a short lecture given by Simon on the ageing of Chiffchaffs (Gransanger) relying on moulting strategies. To see how well we retained all the information and make it more interactive, Simon had also prepared a Kahoot quiz that we played at the end. Alice was the winner and got all answers right but one! She got a nice price from Simon, a little pin he received when he was at school and looked thrilled about it.
But the day is not over yet, some of us will be heading outside to go night catching once again in the hope of getting some Jack Snipes (Enkeltbekkasin) or other locally resting species. Tomorrow, morning observation and laser shooting will take place, so we are hoping to have a variety of exciting sightings.
Sum of the Raptors in the area based on observations typed into Dofbasen the same day
Good night everyone,
Marion
People: Simon S. Christiansen, Hanelie Sidhu, Alice Scalzo, Marion L'Huillier-Hunsinger, Robbe Cool, Manuel Tacke, Mathilde, Lisa Vergin, Jesper and Mette.
Multiple marsh harriers "Rørhøg" roosting at the tip
torsdag 7. april 2022
Today, it was Simon that woke up the earliest. No later than 2h30, he was awake. Apparently, he fell asleep during the night while waiting until we came back with a cool bird and at that time we were all asleep already. Fortunately, he had some more sleep at home. Mathilde and I started our day a bit later with a big Danish brunch. We took our time to enjoy the morning and went to the station in the early afternoon. Meanwhile, the others took advantage of the rainy weather and had a quiet morning too. Except for Hanelie. She was, as usual, the first person to wake up and finished her report. Because Simon’s haircut-agenda was too full, she tried to find a hairdresser in the city. Unfortunately, they were also fully booked until the end of April. Now, she has a good excuse to recruit Simon as her personal hairdresser.
Although we were not so active during the morning, there were a lot of people around the lighthouse because today the exhibition opened. Some special guests were present for the opening such as the major, the minister of culture, the director of Birdlife Denmark (Sigrid Anderson) and the chairman of the observatory’s board (Niels Eriksen).
In the afternoon, Alice finished the nocmig and showed Simon the last mystery calls. The biggest surprise was the nocturnal flight calls of common scoters "Sortand".
When Mathilde and I arrived at the station, we immediately joined Simon to work on the raptor project. On our way, we also picked up Hanelie who was totally soaked by the rain. From Sunday on, our raptor project will even be more exciting because a Belgian expert will come to help us with all his knowledge and tools.
In the late afternoon, Manuel arrived at the station. He is a new volunteer from Germany and will stay until halfway through June. He gained a lot of experience in bird migration by joining the count of amazing migration bottlenecks like Eilat (Israel) and Batumi (Georgia). He is currently working for Birdlife Germany, but he decided to spend his holidays in Skagen. After a short introduction to the station and the evening meeting, we went together with Mathilde to world’s end 3. We were really surprised when we looked into the sky because it was full of passerines and raptors. Surprisingly, there were no buzzards but at least 2 ospreys "fiskeørn" and 11 marsh harriers "Rørhøg". I called them out on Zello and the other girls could see them from the station as well. When we continued our walk, the marsh harriers seemed to search for a roosting place at Grenen.
Once arrived at the station, the dinner prepared by our guests was ready. They spent the whole afternoon buying and preparing food and it was really worth it! Because they are unlucky with the weather during their stay, they decided to go to the art museum in the morning. After dinner, Mathilde and I went to our Airbnb to enjoy our last evening together.
Observations of the day in DOFbasn from observers in the area
Sum of the Raptors in the area based on observations typed into Dofbasen the same day
I hope the spring birds arrive soon!
Robbe
People: Simon S. Christiansen, Hanelie Sidhu, Alice Scalzo, Marion L'Huillier-Hunsinger, Robbe Cool, Manuel Tacke, Mathilde, Jesper and Mette.
A Pied Avocet "Klyde" at the tip of Grenen!
onsdag 6. april 2022
Hi everyone!
Did you stay a little longer in bed today, deterred by the bad weather forecast? Alice and I, as well as our guests Mette and Jesper, nevertheless jumped out of bed early and we didn't regret it. First, we were rewarded with a beautiful sunrise, which colored the sea, purple. One could not have believed what shitty weather should still come today. And the first two hours at the end of the world 3 were also pretty good. We had more species than in the last days and there were also some highlights: In the first hour we had a Pied Avocet "Klyde", which even landed for a short while at the tip of Grenen, rested very briefly next to a Gull "Måge" and then continued its migration to the southeast.
We found this observation a little cool, but we didn't know how cool yet, because avocets are quite rare in Skagen. There was already one observation of this kind in Skagen this year, last year only one in the whole year! We also had a Red-necked Grebe "Gråstubet Lappedykker" two Long-tailed Ducks "Havlit", one male and one female, on this winter morning in April. After the first two hours, however, we returned to the station because the weather was changing, it was getting windier, and by the time we got to the station it was soon starting to sleet. The weather was perfect for the Kulture-Bike day set up school classes from Skagen, which today cycled stations in Skagen and did various activities there.
One of these stations was the Skagen Fuglestation, they made a quiz in which they had to match different parts of animals, especially birds, to the pictures of the species. The time was stopped and the correctly matched items were counted. A seventh grade class from a private school won. As the children matched the animals to the items, the weather got "better and better." Nevertheless, everyone stayed outside. Marion assisted Simon all morning and noon, I joined them for two of the tours.
Alice made sure we didn't get completely cold and made us hot chocolate. Thanks! She stayed inside after the Obs, entered the data and continued working on the Nocmig. Simon prepared things in the afternoon for field work for the GPS Raptor project, we can start soon! He also had a meeting with Henning, a member of the board of the Bird Observatory and also Chairmen of the bird ringing society of Denmark. Among other things it was about a test for ringers to get the C-Licence. Our guests Mette and Jesper, inspired by the wonderful light we had this morning, visited the art exhibitions in Skagen, Anchers Hus and Dragmans Hus.
Also for Marion and me the afternoon, although disappointing because only indoors, was quite successful. I finished my report for the university and Marion finally reached her potential new flatmate in Aalborg. After the Evening Meeting we filled the board at the Birders Club with the last Observations and ringed Birds, because on April 8 the Exhibition will open for the public.
The evening was a little highlight because Simon cooked for us and he is really a very good cook. He made Lemon Sole and Shrimps with butter fried potatoes, eggplant with breading and Kale Salad. We had a small feast meal with eight people, because Robbe had returned in the evening from his trip to Lille Villemose, accompanied by his girlfriend Mathilde, who is visiting him.
But after dinner it was far from bedtime, we went nightcatching in the Skagen area, in two groups, Alice, Robbe and Mathilde took over the secret Lake, surrounding area and Kabeltrommeln, Marion, Jasper, Mette and I went to Grenen and then over the reeds to Kabeltrommeln.
Simon stayed at the station, ready to assist us with ringing. The secret lake group returned home a little earlier, when Marion, Jesper, Mette and I finally set off from Grenen Parking to the station we are amazed to find out that it was 1:30! After 02:00 we finally landed in our beds and I must apologize that this blog goes online only today the next day, but after the nightchatching I really did not keep the time appropriate to sit down at the laptop. Once again an unsuccessful Nightcatching, after so many attempts we must get something soon! I still do not give up hope and you keep your fingers crossed! See you soon!
Hanelie
People: Simon S. Christiansen, Hanelie Sidhu, Alice Scalzo, Marion L'Huillier-Hunsinger, Robbe Cool, Mathilde, Jesper and Mette.
Chilly morning at Grenen
tirsdag 5. april 2022
Yesterday we left you with the news of us going night catching, I would love to say that we caught many birds but unfortunately we barely got close to them. They all flew away as soon as we would light the torch. Thanks to this though we could go to bed rather early. So this morning all three of us went to Grenen, accompanied by our guests Jesper and Mette. There was little happening on the sea, apart from the Scoters (Sortand) which were more numerous. The only highlight of our morning is a Long-tailed duck (Havlit) which flew pretty close to the shore. The laser binocular was also with us, unfortunately, land migration was nonexistant, we did the transects but had nothing to shoot. After four hours in the cold, we decided to come back to the warmth of the station.
In the afternoon I went back to working on the nocturnal migration records, as for now I haven't found many birds, let's hope there will be more later. Hanelie went on a walk, she wanted to see the yarrellii white wagtail (Sortrygget Hvid Vipstjert) so she took her bicycle to Poul Eeg camping. She saw many passerines, Bullfinches (Dompap), Goldcrests (Fuglekonge), Long-tailed Tit (Halemejse), and Crested Tit (Topmejse). When she came back we left with Simon to see the raptor GPS project. Only Marion stayed at the station to get some chill time but also because she still has to sort out when and how she will leave the station for Aalborg. She will be cooking risotto with mushrooms tonight, si we are all looking forward to it! And why not accompany this delicious meal with some Belgian beers that Robbe trustfully left in the fridge ?
Our guests spent the whole morning at Grenen with us, and later in the day, they went on a walk to the cormorant lake and Nordstrand.
And Simon worked all day on the raptor GPS project, it is going well and we are all very excited about it! He also helped the artist at the exhibition and is preparing for the bicycle tour that will take place tomorrow.
Have a good evening,
Alice.
People: Simon S. Christiansen, Hanelie Sidhu, Alice Scalzo, Marion L'Huillier-Hunsinger, Jesper and Mette.
A rainy day inside.
mandag 4. april 2022
Hello everyone,
To no surprise to most of you probably, whether you are from Denmark or elsewhere, the weather was not so great today. It seems Europe is catching up with some cold and rainy days it missed this winter. The combination of rain and wind made it obvious that we would, yet again, not be able to go ringing this morning. The risks of the birds getting too wet in the nets, as well as the nets getting damaged by the wind, are just too high and the slow days we’ve had at Kabeltromlen in the past week were just one more reason to avoid it. As for the morning observations, they could still have happened as some birds are not deterred by these weather conditions and some bunkers could have provided some shelter. But we decided to sleep in instead this morning as we preferred to keep some energy for days where migration would be more abundant. Jesper and Mette, the new guests who arrived yesterday evening, also made the same decision and slept in this morning.
Everyone woke up on their own time and once we were all up, we decided to play Wingspan again. With the greatest score so far, Alice won this game! I guess this means we will need to offer Robbe another chance for him to get this revenge as today was not the day for it. This was followed by hard goodbyes for Robbe who is leaving for Aalborg today although only for two days. I will let him tell you more about that when he is back. Then, we all attended to our own personal tasks and took some time to chill as well. Alice tried to get started on this week’s nocturnal migration (NocMig) recording but after trying to open the file for a while and trying different laptops, it turned out the file was corrupted. Thankfully, this is all fixed now and she will be able to work on it from now on. Hanelie finished writing of her university report about her time in Denmark and only has a few details to add such as sources. She also helped a bit more with the bird quiz that will be used for the exhibition, notably the German version of it. On my side, I made progress on the statistics for my internship using every biologist’s beloved program R.
While we all stayed inside, which felt weird and is uncommon, Jesper and Mette were brave enough to face the wind and went for a walk to Grenen. They saw some Northern Gannets (Sule), some Sanderlings (Sandløber) and a couple of seals. Just like us, they are hoping nicer weather will be back soon and the migration will start to pick up again.
Tonight, we are going to Hirtshals again for another try at night catching! So, cross your fingers for us and we are hoping to have more successful news to give you tomorrow this time. We will also be at Grenen for morning observations and the laser binoculars will be out again, ready to shoot some more birds.
Today’s observations in Dofbasen from observers in the area
Sum of the Raptors in the area based on observations typed into Dofbasen the same day
But for now, good evening or good night to all of you.
Marion
People: Simon S. Christiansen, Robbe Cool, Hanelie Sidhu, Alice Scalzo, Marion L'Huillier-Hunsinger, Jesper and Mette.
Unfulfilled high hopes
søndag 3. april 2022
Because of the snowfall in Central Europe, no new birds are arriving. This meant a very slow morning again for Marion and Hanelie who went to World End 3. Their only motivation was the black-browed albatross “sortbrynet albatross” that had been seen at Hanstholm yesterday. Unfortunately, the only thing that kept them concentrated was a series of Simon imitations they made during the observations. Alice and I took a morning off. Alice looked for the possibilities of taking a boat somewhere and began looking for new studies. I went to see Marion and Hanelie with the hope that I could see the albatross as well. Unfortunately, I didn’t see anything either but had some talks with Jørgen and Eric. My cousin and girlfriend joined us too and said goodbye before going to Råbjerg Mile.
The rest of the day, Jørgen give us a nice road trip and brought us to some other good places to watch the raptor migration.
In the afternoon, we went to an oak and beech forest, agricultural fields and a stream. Jørgen told us about all the rarities that were found there, but today we were not lucky to see any of them. Instead, we saw some curlews “storspove”, a kestrel “tårnfalk” and marsh tits “sumpmejse”. Along the beach, Jørgen also showed us the hostplant of an endemic subspecies of the northern brown argus “Sortbrun blåfugl” (Aricia Artaxerxes subsp. vandalica).
(curlew “storspove”)
Once we came back, we were all up for a delicious snack. Alice made some nice cookies we could enjoy today. Hanelie continued entering data while Alice and I explored some new bunkers. The tide was low so we could enter the bunkers close to the sea. It was quite an adventure and it resulted in some really nice pictures. While recovering from our last climb in a bunker, the Icelandic gull “Hvidvinget måge” flew along to its sleeping place in the harbour, wishing us a good night.
Now we are waiting for the guests with our stomachs full of Hanelies delicious meal.
Good night!
Robbe
Today’s observations in Dofbasen from observers in the area
Sum of the Raptors in the area based on observations typed into Dofbasen the same day
People: Robbe Cool, Hanelie Sidhu, Alice Scalzo, Marion L'Huillier-Hunsinger, Simon S. Christiansen, Erik Christophersen and Jørgen Kabel
Golden Saturday walks with Golden Eagle "Kongeørn" and Goldcrest "Fuglekonge"
lørdag 2. april 2022
Good evening everyone!
The morning started early again today for Alice and Robbe with Morning Obs on the Nordstrand. Meanwhile, our guests Bent and Åse left and Marion and I enjoyed our beds longer. We slept really long and that was really good for a change. While we slept the others at Nordstrand got support from some local birdwatchers and also Jørgen and Igor. The Obs was slow but not without highlights: They saw Red-necked Grebes "Gråstrubet Lappedykker", a female Hen Harrier "Blå Kærhøg" and Bar-tailed Godwit "Lille Kobbersneppe" as well as the last Snow Buntings "Snespurv", which have almost all left us by now. Robbe's cousin and his girlfriend are also in Skagen this weekend, and they joined the Obs for the first hour and then went to Cormorant Lake. When Robbe and Alice got home there was a little indoor work for all of us like data entry or sorting laundry, but then it was too much indoor for me for today and I got on my bike and went to Gyvelstjen. I saw Goldcrests "Fuglekonge" and a Eurasian Treecreeper "Træløber", there were also many Siskins "Grønsiskin" and Great Tits "Musvit" around. Meanwhile, Robbe showed his Cousin and his Girlfriend around, they made a long walk to Nedermose and back and to the beach to the bunkers.
They also climbed the lighthouse. At the end of their walk, they saw a Golden Eagle "Kongeørn". And last but not least, Robbe's cousin brought Belgian beer and chocolate!
I returned from Gyvelstjen in the late afternoon, Alice and Marion had already started cleaning and I scrubbed two more rooms with Simon's best friend's: brown soap. By the way, we were all very disappointed by Simon today. He left us yesterday to go to celebrate a friend's birthday with a costume party this evening. So we were at least hoping for a nice photo of cleaning lady Simon because that was the costume I suggested to him yesterday and the suggestion was well received. And wouldn't that cover a part of his personality very well, especially as he already can't go as a birdwatcher because this costume is already taken? Instead, Simon went as an orientation runner.
But back to the four of us at the bird station: Alice baked us delicious cookies in the afternoon and then wanted to pick up her laundry at the lab. But the key was not there! We were looking for it for quite a while and suspecting the mouse that had already made the seeds disappear, and Alice was very worried, thinking she had the key last. We spent half an hour at the station searching, then Robbe came back. At the word lab, he made a very guilty face. He had really shown everything to his visitors, including the lab, and then taken the key with him on their walk!
After the Evening Meeting, Robbe and I checked the bird quiz in the exhibition for mistakes in English and German. Alice is the head cook today and Marion assisted her. It already smells insanely good! After a morning at home Marion and I are excited for the Morning Obs tomorrow, it would be soo cool if we would really see a Pallid Harrier "Steppehøg" this time. But we are open to other surprises.
Cross your fingers for us! See you!
Hanelie
People: Robbe Cool, Hanelie Sidhu, Alice Scalzo, Marion L'Huillier-Hunsinger, Bent and Åse.
A wolf in the nets, a pallid harrier, and the lighthouse crumbling !
fredag 1. april 2022
Today we could finally ring again ! Robbe and I went to open the nets before sunrise hoping to get a few birds even thought we knew it wouldn't be a big day. Oluf joined us too, it was really nice to meet someone new at the ringing site.
People: Simon S. Christiansen, Robbe Cool, Hanelie Sidhu, Alice Scalzo, Marion L'Huillier-Hunsinger, Knud Pedersen, Oluf Lou, Bent and Åse.
But today is the first of April, it has been a full month since I am here, but it is also April's fool ! According to Simon it is the best day of the year, and we quickly understood why.
Between two rounds he left to the tent, then a minute later he came back running, asking us to come quickly with the stocks because an animal got caught in the net. He left running again so without thinking we grabbed sticks and went running after him, he told us to pass through the bushes while he would go the over way. After going as quickly as possible through the branches we met him at the net. No traces of an animal, he told us it must have just left, it was a wolf he said ! We could hardly believe it, but to make it more believable he faked sending a message on zello. Soon afterwards he told us we had been fooled ! We laughed a lot, it was really a good trick he pulled on us !
And throughout the morning we saw him fooling more people, he made Tomas believe there was a flamingo coming his way !
We also planned to trick Marion and Hanelie when we came back. They were at the morning observations at Nordstrand. So Simon was planning to make them believe we had to leave the lighthouse because the walls were craking, and we would help him in his plan !
Last round we did without Simon because he had to go back to the station. Egon Østergaard, chairman of DOF, passed by to get an introduction to night recordings. Overall in the morning we caught only twelve birds, four of them were recaptures. No special bird at the ringing today, but we all enjoyed this funny morning !
Soon after we got back to the station we heard a zello call that Simon translated for us, a Golden eagle (Kongeørn) was spotted at the roundabout ! This has been the bird that I am always missing since I am here, and I really did not want to miss it again ! So we ran outside to our bikes and cycled as fast as we could ! After some time looking around Jørgen joined us. And Robbe spotted the bird ! It was high in the sky, we could all get at good look at it. I have to say I am truly happy to have finally seen it ! We all were, even if it isn't the most uncommon bird here, it is still a very beautiful sight.
After that we felt quite lucky and decided to spend a little more time outside. We went on a walk to try to see a viper, unfortunately we didn't see any. But we still got to see Cranes (Trane), more eagles and a female ringed bullfinch (Dompap). Maybe it is the one I ringed a week ago ? Flowers are starting to bloom, spring is slowly coming here.
Hanelie and Marion have had a slow migration again, they were out with Knud, but they still got to see a Black-throated Loon (Sortstrubet Lom). They went to the cormorant lake afterwards to take a few pictures but they had forgotten the camera's battery. They stayed there a while chilling with tea and cinnamon rolls while planning the trick they would soon pull on us. Even the guests that they met there were informed of the plan. There they observed 50 cormorants (Skarv) and Red-necked Grebes (Gråstrubet Lappedykker), and also a viper on the way back.
Salix sp.
We met Hanelie and Marion when we came back from our walk, and they told us that we missed a pallid harrier ! We would discover later that it was another April's fool, even Simon was tricked.
Simon also began explaining that we had to leave soon the lighthouse for a full month because of the repairs. The girls were not easily fooled, it was actually Robbe that was tricked once again, he believed Simon's story even thought we had talked about it earlier ! Twice we had been fooled today, but we really wanted to play a bit more so when he left the room we added a little rhum in his glass of water... Fooled again !
Simon left us in the beginning of the afternoon, he will be back on Sunday, so we wish him a very nice weekend !
Later this afternoon Hannelie, Robbe, and I went to the small woods next to the roundabout. It was a chill walk, we saw many Goldcrests (Fuglekonge) and a few other passerines.
Marion had preferred to stay home to sort out her lodging situation and prepare dinner, she made us some delicious filled peppers that we enjoyed with our guests. Robbe spent his evening with some friends and family that came to visit.
Bent and Åse spent their last day here, and enjoyed the very nice weather by the lake where they heard many birds singing. We were very happy to have them here and hope they will have a nice journey back home.
Have a good evening,
Alice.
Today’s ringed birds:
Goldcrest “Fuglekonge”: 1
Dunlin “Jernspurv”: 2
Robin “Rødhals”: 1
Wren "Gærdesmutte": 2
Blackbird “solsort”: 2
Total : 8
People: Simon S. Christiansen, Robbe Cool, Hanelie Sidhu, Alice Scalzo, Marion L'Huillier-Hunsinger, Knud Pedersen, Oluf Lou, Bent and Åse.
