Not much to report today. The strong easterly storm brought a lot of rain, so we stayed indoors in the dry and spent the day with indoor activities. As it is Saturday, it was cleaning day, but after breakfast together, that was quickly done. We did some shopping, but then quickly moved on to eating cake and playing Wingspan. Only our guests dared to go out in this weather and they have seen some Common Snipes (Dobbeltbekassin) and White Wagtails (Hvid Vipstjert). We are already looking forward to tomorrow, as we will finally be going out again and many October birds are waiting for us!

People: Hayley Land, Gustav Nyberg, Simon Kiesé, Thomas Weston, Simon S. Christiansen, Knud Pedersen, Karen Marie & Søren Leth-Nissen.

A link to today's observations from volunteers and local observers.

We had an unexpected start to the morning as we walked down the stairs all ready to go to the migration count. The wind was so strong overnight that it had blown out one of the windows over the doorway into the station. Thankfully it hadn’t smashed and we managed to dislodge it from the door so we could get out!

Karen-Marie very kindly gave Thomas, Simon Jr and I a lift in her car to Nordstrand so we didn’t have to struggle our way there on our bikes in the strong winds. Knud met us there and showed us a nice sheltered spot in one of the dunes where we could do the migration count from and not get completely blown away.

There were a lot less birds migrating today compared to yesterday. No Red-throated Divers (Rødstrubet Lom) were counted at all and there were lower numbers of Gannets (Sule), Kittiwakes (Ride) and Razorbills (Alk). It was quite good day for ducks again with over 400 Common Scoters (Sortand) counted, plus Velvet Scoters (Fløjsand), Wigeon (Pibeand), Teal (Krikand), Greater Scaup (Bjergand), Mallard (Gråand), Long-tailed Duck (Havlit), Goldeneye (Hvinand) and Eider (Ederfugl).

We also saw Hooded Crows (Gråkrage) and Jackdaws (Allike) coming in from the sea and three more Whooper Swans (Sangsvane). A Hen Harrier (Blå Kærhøg) was a really nice sighting near the end of the count and three Snow Buntings (Snespurv) were also spotted on the beach.

Whilst we were counting, Gustav led a tour for 15 visiting people. He spent a couple of hours out, walking with them along the Sandormen track and out along the beach. He also showed them all the ringing equipment back in the lab and explained all about the ringing that we do at the station. The people all really enjoyed the tour.

Karen-Marie kindly gave Thomas, Simon and I a lift back to the station again after the migration count and on the way back we enjoyed seeing two Lapwing (Vibe) flying over. Before we had a chance to warm up inside the apartment we set off again, walking into the wind to Kabeltromlen. We checked all the nets were securely closed and added some extra ties to make sure none of them will unravel in the strong wind. As we were walking around, we flushed two Common Snipe (Dobbeltbekkasin) in the reedbed which were very nice to see. Simon had so many layers on that he struggled to get out of his waders when we were finished!

The walk to Kabeltromlen and back warmed us up a lot so we cooled off with some ice cream back at the station, and then warmed ourselves up again with hot chocolate kindly made by Magnus from the lighthouse shop downstairs. We then had some time to relax inside out of the wind although we could still hear it howling around the building! Gustav made a social media post about the two Waxwings (Silkehale) we ringed over the last couple of days and all the migration count data was entered.

Thomas, Gustav and I then enjoyed a very wild and windy walk all the way to the tip at Grenen. The sand looked amazing as it was blown in the wind and there were massive waves crashing on the beach. It was very fun to try and lean on the wind and to run back with the wind pushing us along. Whilst we were out, we enjoyed watching some Kittiwakes (Ride) and Razorbills (Alk) migrating very close to the beach.

Thomas particularly enjoyed the sea form blowing in the wind!

Meanwhile, Karen-Marie and Søren braved the elements and went into Skagen to see a photography exhibition which showed how the landscape at Grenen has changed over time. When we were all back at the station, Simon Jr did a presentation on nocturnal migration and sound recordings which was very interesting. He showed us how to analyse the recordings and identify which species made each call.

Karen-Marie and Søren then cooked us a delicious dinner and we had a brief table tennis match before enjoying a cake for desert too. A very nice busy windy day!

People: Hayley Land, Gustav Nyberg, Simon Kiesé, Thomas Weston, Simon S. Christiansen, Knud Pedersen, Karen Marie & Søren Leth-Nissen.

A link to today's observations from volunteers and local observers.

Denne morgen tog vi alle sammen ud til Nordstrand, hvilket ikke er den sædvanlige observationspost. Den kraftige østenvind, der rammer Skagen lige nu og de kommende dage, betyder, at vi ikke vil være i stand til hverken at ringmærke eller sidde ved Verdens ende 3 og tælle havfugletrækket. Men Nordstrand er helt perfekt fordi, der kan vi sidde i læ (sådan da) af vinden, og fortsætte vores daglige arbejde med tællingen af trækket. 

Vi skulle ikke mere end 9 minutter ind i tællingen, før vi stødte på vores første Søkonge! Den kom flyvende tæt på kysten, men det var kun mig og Thomas, der nåede at observere den, da den lille fugl hurtigt forsvandt ind i mellem bølgerne. Denne morgen så vi en del andefugle, der var bl.a. Hvinænder, Pibeænder, Krikand, Spidsand, og derudover så vi Lille Skalleslugere, hvilket var vores første observation af denne flotte art. Ellers så vi vores anden Nordiske Lappedykker siden jeg ankom, og så kan vi mærke at sangsvanerne er på vej, da vi havde 29 svaner flyvende over os under observationen. 

Foto: Søren Leth-Nissen

Imens Thomas, Hayley, gæsterne og jeg stadig sad ude ved Nordstrand tog Simon med hans familie til Det Grå Fyr og spiste morgenmad sammen, inden de igen vender tilbage til Tyskland. Her modtog Simon et opkald fra Johan, der bor i Skagen By. Det var hos ham, jeg dagen forinden havde fået fat i en Silkehale. Han fortalte Simon, at han havde 4 silkehaler, der desværre havde fløjet ind i hans vindue og var omkommet ved stødet. Vi tog ind i byen og hentede de 4 Silkehaler, der nu kan bruges til formidling om fuglenes fantastiske rejse fra det kolde nord til sydligere himmelstrøg i søgen efter de røde bær. 

Da vi hentede fuglene, spurgte vi om vi kunne få lov at slå et net op i hans have, da denne have huserer store flokke af Silkehaler hver eneste dag. Det fik vi lov til, hvilket var til stor begejstring, da det giver os mulighed for at ringmærke denne specielle fugl og bidrage til at undersøge dens videre rejse, hvis fuglen bliver aflæst et andet sted i verden. 

Foto: Søren Leth-Nissen

Foto: Søren Leth-Nissen

Resten af dagen befandt vi os i Johans have og prøvede at se om nogle af Silkehalerne ville gå i nettet. Blæsten gjorde det lidt svært, men vi fik heldigvis en Silkehale i nettet, hvilket var til stor glæde for os alle og Johan. Derudover fik vi 2 solsorte og 2 musvitter i haven, hvilket nok er lokale fugle. 

Dagen i dag gik stærkt, da vi konstant havde gang i noget, og tiden her på stationen flyver generelt bare af sted. Det var alt fra i dag, tak for i dag!

Ringing (Skagen By):

Silkehale - 1

Solsort - 2

Musvit - 2

A link to today's observations from volunteers and local observers.

People: Hayley Land, Gustav Nyberg, Simon Kiesé, Thomas Weston, Karen Marie & Søren Leth-Nissen, Johan Fynbo.

Every golden day starts with a golden sunrise and some good birds should quickly follow. At the ringing there was finally some more activity and especially many Goldcrests (Fuglekonge) got a new ring. Then many guests came to watch us ringing. Some guests from yesterday's night tour were there with their children, but also Knud's and my family came to watch the birds from close up. Fittingly, we also had some really beautiful birds. Finally we caught some Common Redpolls (Nordlig Gråsisken) and as a highlight we could even catch and ring a Common Snipe (Dobbeltbekassin). Really cool. Beautiful birds and nice to be able to show them to so many interested people. Also 50 Waxwings (Silkehale) flew overhead.

In the meantime, there was also a lot of activity at the migratory bird registration. The wind had shifted to the northeast and many birds flew out of the Kattegat. The highlight was a Sooty Shearwater (Sulfarvet Skråpe). There were also an impressive number of Kittiwakes (Ride) and a few song birds tried to fly over the sea. The young Arctic Tern (Havterne) was still stationary in search of food.

Then came the news that a probable eastern Stonechat had been found. At first no one could find the bird again, but when the bird reappeared, Gustav and Thomas also quickly got a good look at it. We at Kabeltromlen then closed the nets in record time to run to World's End 3 as well. After the brisk walk, we too were able to see the pretty bird. Since the species has been split into two, it is unfortunately impossible to identify such birds without DNA. Accordingly, it could be either a Siberian or a Japansk Bynkefugl. Perhaps, unfortunately, we will never find out. But at least as a "Siberian" Stonechat or an Eastern Stonechat it now enriches our life-list.Afterwards, I went out and about in the city with my family, who are visiting me here at the moment. We went to Skagen Bakery and later to Green's for a good meal. Meanwhile, the others were in town looking for Waxwings (Silkehale). We quickly got into conversation with the people who live where the pretty birds always sit. Then we were told that a Waxwing is very trusting. And Gustav once again proved his talent at catching and shortly afterwards we were able to ring the pretty bird. Oha, how cool. Waxwing (Silkehale)!!!!

What a pretty adult male. That makes the day perfect. Beautiful birds, a nice time with the family, a rarity and a rare bird in the ringing. Perfect!

Ringing (Kabeltromlen):

Ringing (Fyrhaven):

 Waxwing (Silkehale) - 1

Total: 48

A link to today's observations from volunteers and local observers.

People: Hayley Land, Gustav Nyberg, Simon Kiesé, Thomas Weston, Knud Pedersen, Niels Eriksen, Karen Marie & Søren Leth-Nissen.

Last night we opened two owl nets with sounds playing for Short-eared Owl (Mosehornugle) and Tengmalm’s Owl (Perleugle). We were very hopeful as a Short-eared Owl (Mosehornugle) had been seen roosting at Grenen earlier in the day. Gustav did the night checks but unfortunately there was no sign of any owls. Meanwhile, Thomas and I took a hand net to the beach and caught another Dunlin (Almindelig Ryle) on the Sandormen track. Such a nice bird!

It was a great morning at the migration count today. Thomas and Gustav joined Knud at World’s End 3 and counted over 2000 Razorbills (Alk) and over 100 Fulmar (Mallemuk)! Lots of species of duck were also seen migrating including the usual Common Scoter (Sortand), Velvet Scoter (Fløjsand) and Eider (Ederfugl) plus Wigeon (Pibeand), Tufted Duck (Troldand), Long-tailed Duck (Havlit) and Greater Scaup (Bjergand). Other highlights were a Caspian Gull (Kaspisk Måge) roosting on the beach and three Sooty Shearwaters (Sodfarvet Skråpe) migrating.

We were lucky enough to spot one of the Sooty Shearwaters (Sodfarvet Skråpe) and the Greater Scaup (Bjergand) from Kabeltromlen where Simon Jr and I were ringing with Karen and Søren. It was a bit windy so we only had the more sheltered nets open. To start with it was very quiet, with only one or two birds per round, but then it started to pick up a little bit. One of the highlights was a small flock of four Siskins (Grønsisken) in the net; two males and two females with really nice yellow-green plumage. We also ringed another northern Treecreeper (Nordlig Træløber, spp. familiaris) and our first Bullfinch (Stor Dompap) of the larger subspecies (spp. pyrrhula). Simon’s photo below shows a male of the smaller subspecies (spp. europaea) on the left and a female of the larger subspecies (spp. pyrrhula) on the right.

Whilst we were ringing Søren also went for a walk to the beach to do some birding. He took these amazing photos of a Common Scoter (Sortand) and a Golden Plover (Hjejle).

In the afternoon, Simon went to spend some time with his family, whilst Thomas, Gustav and I headed out on more birding walks. Thomas found a big pipit near World’s End 1 so Gustav and I joined him to try and help confirm the species. We walked up and down the dunes a few times and finally we heard it call too. There was no doubt, it was a Richard’s Pipit (Storpiber)! The same bird was seen yesterday and is only the second record for Denmark this year so a very exciting find. We also saw a flock of Twite (Bjergirisk), a Marsh Harrier (Rørhøg), and lots of Reed Buntings (Rørspurv) and Meadow Pipits (Engpiber). A very good afternoon!

Later on, Simon also headed out to try and see the Richard’s Pipit (Storpiber) and Gustav wrote a description of the bird for DOFbasen. Thomas walked into Skagen to get some shopping and the ringing data was entered. Gustav prepared for a night tour this evening with Niels who is the Chairman of the board of directors for the Fuglestation. The tour has 32 people attending and the plan is to try and find some deer (hjort), seals (sæl) and waders, and to show the visitors how the thermal binocular works.

Ringing (Kabeltromlekrattet):

Total: 23

A link to today's observations from volunteers and local observers.

People: Hayley Land, Gustav Nyberg, Simon Kiesé, Thomas Weston, Knud Pedersen, Niels Eriksen, Karen Marie & Søren Leth-Nissen.

After yesterday’s beautiful weather, a strong thrush passage occurred overnight with both Blackbird [Solsort] and Redwing [Vindrossel] heard in good numbers while we were night catching. After a late night with no birds caught, it was an early start for Hayley and me as we opened the nets ready for the morning ringing. 

Figure 1: Sunrise from migration watch by Gustav

This morning was dark to start, however, as the sun began to rise above the horizon it led to one of the most beautiful sunrises with a fiery red sky. The first net round saw the arrival of our new guests Karen and Soren who came to help with the ringing. The morning was busy with flocks of Wren [Gærsmutte], Goldcrest [Fuglekonge] and a few thrushes caught in the first round. The birds continued to arrive with flocks of Blue tits [Blåmejse], Coal tits [Sortmejse], Siskin [Grønsisken] and even a Nuthatch [Spætmejse] flying over calling. The Nuthatch [Spætmejse] was most unexpected for us, a bird we associate with woodlands was currently flying around a reedbed and sand dunes!

Ringing continued for the whole of the morning with quite a few people coming to see what was going on and watching the ringing process. Alongside the birds caught (see totals below), a birding highlight came when a flock of Greylags [Grågås] came high in off the sea from the direction of Sweden! This was closely followed by a flock of eight Waxwing [Silkehale] which flew in off the sea and landed in the sea buckthorn near the ringing table. They then made several flights around the area and provided nice views. These were Hayley’s first ever and a sign of what was to come later in the afternoon. Brownie then followed soon after, courtesy of the guests, which was much appreciated and went down a treat. We then completed the last round and packed up for the day. After some technical issues with the bike (somehow getting a bungie cord caught in the chain) we got back ready for lunch.

Simon and Gustav came back from a very productive sea-watch. They saw a Puffin [Lunde], Long-tailed Skua [Lille Kjove], Great-northern Diver [Islom] and a nice mix of other birds. They were quickly out birding again with Simon relocating the Great Grey Shrike [Stor tornskade]. Hayley went to join whilst I sorted the bike and the trio put up a new owl net. Meanwhile, bungie cord extracted; the bike was good to go again.

Figure 2: Sun halo and circumzenithal arc by Simon

However, an atmospheric phenomenon occurred causing excitement amongst the visitors and volunteers as a sun halo and circumzenithal arc occurred over the bird observatory. This drew crowds of guests (and us volunteers) to look at the sky and many photos were taken. A quick run up the lighthouse and we had stunning views across the area, and we watched a flock of Jackdaws [Allike] arrive in/off. After we came down, we opened the mist nets in the observatory garden whilst data inputting and caught three birds including a ‘Northern Treecreeper’ [Træløber ssp familias], Goldcrest [Fuglekonge] and Wren [Gærdesmutte]. A Norwegian couple passing by were very interested in what we were doing and when they saw the Goldcrest [Fuglekonge] and the Wren [Gærdesmutte], they explained the Norwegian folk law these two species shared between the species which was very interesting to hear.

Figure 3: Waxwing [Silkehale] in Skagen by Simon

Meanwhile, Gustav went Waxwing [Silkehale] searching in the city and found at least 80 birds in one flock which we all later saw in varying flock sizes. Apparently, this is the highest flock counts so far in Denmark! Simon’s beautiful photo shows the beauty of this whirring berry eating bird.

A great day!

Ringing totals

Ringing [Kabeltromlekrattet]

Total: 61

Ringing [Fyrhaven]

Total: 3

Ringing [Grenen]

Total: 1

Ringing [Jennes Sø ]

Total:106

Overall total: 171

Today’s observations on Dofbasen from observers in the area

People: Hayley Land, Gustav Nyberg, Simon Kiesé, Thomas Weston, Knud Pedersen; Michael Ancher; Karen Marie & Søren Leth-Nissen.

I dag sagde vi farvel til Kirsten, der tog hjemad efter en uges ophold, der efter hendes mening synes at være gået alt for stærkt. Det kender vi selv, dagene går med hastige skridt, og vi kan knap nok huske 2 dage tilbage, fordi vi oplever så meget hver dag. Kirsten var super glad for hendes ophold og vender stærkt tilbage flere gange i 2024.

I dag tog Simon og jeg ud for at tælle migrationen af havfugle, og i dag var der mange fugle! Vi så mere end to tusinde Alke, flere hundrede Mallemukker og Sortænder. Derudover så vi Islom og Sodfarvet skråpe som dagens højdepunkter. Vi var også temmelig glade for at se mere end en Havlit han, der kom susende tæt på kysten. 

Imens vi tog os af affæren ude over havet, havde Thomas og Hayley gang i en stille og rolig dag med lidt over 30 fugle. Heriblandt var dagens fugl nok en Sjagger. Sjaggeren er kommet hertil for de nordligere himmelstrøg som blandt andet er Norge og Sverige. 

Da vi atter allesammen var samlet igen, gik vi ud og kratluskede i Reservatet og Batteriskoven. Vi fandt ikke det helt store på vores tur, men vi fandt en flok Stor Korsnæb, hvor der var 2 rigtige flotte hanner i den helt røde farve. Her sad de lidt og pillede frøene fra fyrrekoglerne, og engang i mellem kunne vi høre deres sang. 

Senere på dagen tog vi endnu en tur, da vi synes vi manglede at se nogle flere fugle, og fordi forholdene er blevet mere optimale for at finde nogle sangfugle efter de seneste par dages stormvejr. Her tog vi ud til Nordstrand, hvor vi ville prøve at finde nogle af de lidt mere specielle Værlinger. Det lykkedes os efter en tid at snuse os frem til en Lapværling efter at have kigget og lyttet mere end 50 Rørspurve i gennem. 

Nu her får vi snart besøg af nye gæster, der har været i lejligheden før, og vi ser frem til at møde dem hen over en middag lavet af Hayley her til aften. 

Og i skal da ikke snydes for det billede jeg fik af en Hugorm fra i går!

Ringing (Kabeltromlen):

Gærdesmutte - 4

Rødhals - 1

Sjagger - 1

Vindrossel - 3

Munk - 10

Fuglekonge - 3

Blåmejse - 2

Musvit - 1

Træløber - 1

Lille Gråsisken - 1

Dompap - 4

Gulspurv - 1

Rørspurv - 3 

I alt - 35

Ringing (Jennes sø)

Stor Flagspætte - 1

Gærdesmutte - 1

Solsort - 1

Gærdesanger - 1

Gransanger - 1

Fuglekonge - 7

Topmejse - 2

Blåmejse - 13

Musvit - 10

Træløber - 1

Skovskade - 1

Kvækerfinke - 1

Nordlig Gråsisken - 4

Lille Gråsisken - 28

Dompap - 1

I alt - 73

A link to today's observations from volunteers and local observers.

People: Hayley Land, Gustav Nyberg, Simon Kiesé, Thomas Weston, Simon S. Christiansen

It is still stormy and of course we took the chance to go out with the handnet last night in the hope to catch birds on the beach. But first we played "Turnstone" or "turn stone". Then Thomas and Simon sr. left. After about an hour they came back and brought back an unexpected bird. A female horned lark! Oha how cool! The females are a bit plainer in the face, but still have the yellowish colouring. The feathery ears are only partially visible, which also gave it the name "ear lark" in German.

Look at this beauty!

I spent the whole evening writing the rarity report of the Eastern Yellow Wagtail and doing a lot of research on the taxon and subspecies. A really confusing but super exciting topic. Since I was in the flow, I kept going and actually finished at 01:30am. After that I went to bed. In the morning I started with the Saturday cleaning and finally played some guitar.

Meanwhile, the others were in the storm at Grenen. There they were surprised by a wide variety of weather, but luckily there was more shelter from the wind today than yesterday. Several beautiful species flew by and even a Manx Shearwater (Almindelig Skåpe) flew out of the Kattegat. It's really impressive that it seems to have made it against the 20 m/s wind without any effort.

In the afternoon we looked at the ageing of some birds with Simon and then we went outside. Even if it was windy, some nice birds or in Gustavs case adders could be found.

Ringing (Jennes Sø):

Total: 7

A link to today's observations from volunteers and local observers.

People: Hayley Land, Gustav Nyberg, Simon Kiesé, Thomas Weston, Kirsten Bregn, Simon S. Christiansen.

Last night Simon Jr and Gustav headed out with the hand net, flashlight and thermal hoping to catch one of the birds roosting on the beach at Grenen. There are some ponds near the Sandormen track where we have seen several species roosting including Dunlin (Almindelig Ryle), Jack Snipe (Enkeltbekkasin), Common Snipe (Dobbeltbekkasin), Golden Plover (Hjejle) and Bar-tailed Godwit (Lille Kobbersneppe). Even though it was very windy they managed to catch a Jack Snipe (Enkeltbekkasin). A very successful night!

This morning, Simon and Gustav went to World’s End 3 to do the migration count. The wind was blowing the sand everywhere which made counting difficult, but they did see some nice birds including a Great Skua (Stor Kjove) and six migrating Shelduck (Gravand). They also saw three flocks of Parrot Crossbill (Stor Korsnæb), a flock of Twite (Bjergirisk) and four Shore Larks (Bjerglærke). A couple of Woodpigeon (Ringdue) were seen coming in from the sea which we also saw flying over Kabeltromlen.

As the wind had dropped since yesterday, Thomas, Kirsten and I were able to open most of the nets at Kabeltromlen this morning, and Simon Sr joined us too for a few rounds. It was a steady morning with some nice species ringed. The biggest highlight of the morning was a beautiful young Mistle Thrush (Misteldrossel). This is a large species of thrush with a proportionally longer tail and more upright stance than the similar but smaller Song Thrush (Sangdrossel). You can see our bird’s stunning plumage in Simon’s photos below.

Michael was also out ringing at Jennes Sø and had a great morning. He caught both Lesser Redpoll (Lille Gråsisken) and the larger and paler Common Redpoll (Nordlig Gråsisken). He also caught the larger subspecies of Bullfinch (Stor Dompap, ssp. Pyrrhula) and a Great Grey Shrike (Stor Tornskade). He sent this amazing photo of the shrike. What a stunning bird!

We closed the nets when the wind started to pick up again and, after fixing Thomas’ bike chain again, we cycled back in the strong headwinds. It was hard work! It then started to rain and Kirsten kindly gave Simon Jr a lift to the shop to buy food so he didn’t have to cycle in the bad weather. We entered all the data, updated the picture archive, and Simon Jr worked on the rarity report for the Eastern Yellow Wagtail (Alaskavipstjert) found at Grenen at the start of October. We are now preparing to go out night catching again. After last night’s success we are keen to try again. Fingers crossed we’ll catch something tonight!

Ringing (Kabeltromlekrattet):

Total: 24

Ringing (Jennes Sø):

Total: 71

A link to today's observations from volunteers and local observers.

People: Hayley Land, Gustav Nyberg, Simon Kiesé, Thomas Weston, Kirsten Bregn, Simon S. Christiansen.

After the storm arrived yesterday, it was yet another day of storm force winds from the West but luckily no rain. As a result, no mist netting was undertaken today but it did result in the whole team completing the migration counts.

Figure 1: The Common Scoter (Sortand)

On the way to the migration counts, an unexpected Common Scoter [Sortand] emerged from the dunes, presumably from a pool where it had roosted overnight. The bird flew around the beach before dropping down close to the shore near us! The team managed to catch the bird and on closer inspection it was healthy, had good fat on the body and was a strong flyer (see photo above). The bird was taken back to the bird observatory where it was ringed and released. On release it flew strongly out to sea before it was watched swimming and diving underwater for food.  

Migration watchpoint was quieter than expected. Highlights included a Sooty Shearwater [Sodfarvet Skråpe], four Long-tailed ducks [Havlit], two Goldeneye [Hvinand], Kittiwakes [Ride] and the usual Gannet [Sule] flocks. Simon went for a walk and found a Purple Sandpiper [Sortgrå Ryle] on the beach as well as some Reed Buntings [Rørspurv].

After we packed up, we all came back to the observatory for lunch and a photo ageing session lead by Simon C. This is a session to discuss individuals that we found difficult to age in the field, or just birds of particular interest. The session works best by taking standardised photos of the individual bird so everyone can talk through the relevant features together. Today our focus was on the Jack Snipe [Enkeltbekkasin] and a couple of tricky Reed Buntings [Rørspurv] we recently caught. This session was highly productive, and I think it was great because of the wealth of knowledge within the team.

After the photo session, we completed a bit of vegetation clearance for some upcoming catching efforts and some of the team went birding to find some passerines. However, due to the wind it was incredibly difficult and there were very few birds about. Early evening came and it was the task of Hayley and I to help put up some nets for a visiting ringer in a nearby woodland. The woodland itself was very quiet but it was nice to find a Little Grebe [Lille Lappedykker] and Eurasian Wigeon [Pibeand] on a small pool nearby. We timed our arrival back to the observatory perfectly and arrived back to our guest cooking food for us all, thank you so much Kirsten!

Gustav and Simon have just gone out night catching so we wish them luck! 

Ringing [Grenen]

Total: 1

Today’s observations on Dofbasen from observers in the area

People: Hayley Land, Gustav Nyberg, Simon Kiesé, Thomas Weston, Knud Pedersen; Kirsten Bregn; Simon S. Christiansen.