Strong westerly winds buffeted Skagen all day. Dante and I decided to try some seawatching from World’s End in the morning although migration over the sea was rather slow. Zach headed out round Storsig and Stald Grenen and enjoyed 2 adult and 2 juvenile Topmejse (Crested Tits) as well as Sortmejse (Coal Tit). Our guests Anders and Dorthe birded Nordstrand and Skarvsøen. Overall, our highlights of the day included 3 Havørn (White-tailed Eagles), 3 Hvepsevåge (Honey Buzzards), 1 Sortstrubet Lom (Black-throated Diver) and 1 Sortstrubet bynkefugl (Stonechat).

Today was Zach’s last full day at the station before he heads back to London tomorrow. We also welcomed Sean, our newest volunteer from Galway, Ireland, who will be volunteering at the station for the next 6 weeks.

After dinner, just as we thought we were winding down for the day, Dante recieved a text from Erik Christophersen who had found a 3cy Lille Kjove (Long-tailed Skua) resting on the beach. The four of us battled the wind and raced out to the tip and had outstanding views of the bird chasing Spliterne (Sandwich Tern), tussling with a Almindelig Kjove (Arctic Skua), flying round our heads and resting on the beach. Such amazing views of an amazing bird! 

Lille Kjove (Long-tailed Skua). Photo by Erik Christophersen, see more on his blog here: https://ecskagen.blogspot.com/

Whilst on the beach, we also spotted 3 Stor Præstekrave (Ringed Plover) chicks. I quickly headed back to the station to gather the rings and we managed to catch and ring 2 of the chicks. Quite a last evening for Zach and first evening for Sean! 

A full list of today's observations can be found here.

Skagen Fuglestation: Zach Pannifer, Dante Shepherd, Lauren Evans, Sean Walsh, Anders & Dorthe.

Zach and I decided to make the most of the calm winds and headed to Kabeltromlen for a last ringing session for Zach before he heads home later this week. We had a good morning catching 25 new birds including the first juvenile Tornsanger (Common Whitethroats), Gærdesanger (Lesser Whitethroat) and Munk (Blackcaps) of the year. We also caught another unseasonal Vindrossel (Redwing), but the highlight of the morning came just as Zach was ringing the last bird when a Biæder (European Bee-eater) flew low overhead calling. This was undoubtedly my best view of this species and Zach’s first, and we thoroughly enjoyed watching it literally catch bees as it flew with Mursejler (Common Swifts) and Bysvale (House Martins).

Juvenile Tornsanger (Common Whitethroat).

After ringing, Zach joined Dante out birding and for a spot of raptor watching. Their highlights included 23 Hvepsevåge (Honey Buzzards), 4 Havørn (White-tailed Eagles), 2 Sort Glente (Black Kites) and the return of the Steppeørn (Steppe Eagle).

In the evening, Zach and I joined our guests Anders and Dorthe on a guided Natravn (Nightjar) walk round Sandmilen. Unfortunately, we did not hear or see any Nightjars but it was amazing to see how light it still was at 23:00 when we finished!

A full list of today's observations can be found here.

Skagen Fuglestation: Zach Pannifer, Dante Shepherd, Lauren Evans, Anders & Dorthe.

Kabeltromlen Ringing Totals:

Tornsanger (Common Whitethroat)- 8

Gransanger (Chiffchaff)- 2

Lille Gråsisken (Lesser Redpoll)- 2

Gærdesanger (Lesser Whitethroat)- 4

Rørsanger (Reed Warbler)- 1

Kærsanger (Marsh Warbler)- 1

Topmejse (Crested Tit)- 1

Munk (Blackcap)- 4

Vindrossel (Redwing)- 1

Solsort (Blackbird)- 1

Total: 25

This morning, we said goodbye to Michael who has headed home to The Gambia after 3 months volunteering at the station. It’s been a pleasure working alongside Michael and he’ll be sorely missed by the rest of us. We spent the rest of the morning continuing with our computer-based jobs.

In the afternoon, Zach headed out to Stald Grenen and enjoyed his best views yet of Trane (Crane) as well as 2 Karmindompap (Rosefinch). Lauren and I went to Nordstrand to continue looking for Stor Præstekrave (Ringed Plover) nests on the beach. Lots of the nests are still on eggs however, we did manage to catch a ring one large chick!

Stor Præstekrave (Ringed Plover) chick. All nests are checked and chicks handled under license.

Whilst on the beach, I also saw 1 light-morph Almindelig Kjove (Arctic Skua) and 3 Mallemuk (Fulmar).

A full list of today's observations can be found here.

Skagen Fuglestation: Zach Pannifer, Lauren Evans & Dante Shepherd

Nordstrand Ringing:

Stor Præstekrave (Ringed Plover) pullus- 1

Knowing that there was rain with thunder and lightning was forecast to hit Skagen in the afternoon we all decided to get some birding done in the morning, except for Michael who focused  on packing as he leaves tomorrow morning (we are all going to miss having him here).  Lauren went out for a run and also checked for Ringed Plover Stor Præstekrave chicks along the beach. Dante went raptor watching at Batterivej and I later joined him at around 10am. He had 29 Honey Buzzard (Hvepsevåge) before I got there and by the end of our watch he finished on 66, which is a decent total for late June. They provided a great opportunity to try out ome different settings on my camera after being given some very useful tips from Dante. He also had a Spotted Redshank (Sortklire) and together we had a couple of Greeshank (Hvidklire) and 1 Crested Tit (Topmejse). Just after we had packed up to go back to the observatory before the start of the rain a presumed female Red-footed Falcon flew north past us, but it was just too distant for us to say fo certain using just our binoculars. In the afternoon we all stayed inside the observatory and kept out of the rain, but I was a bit disappointed we did not get the thunder and lightning that had been predicted on the weather radar. Then in the evening thankfully the rain had stoppped, and we all went round to Magnus's house (who works at the lighthouse) s he had kindly offered to cook us some dinner. We all had a very good time and the food was very tasty. We got back to the observatory quite a bit later than what our normal routine has been for so long so I doubt we will be out early tomorrow morning!

Link to today's sightings.

Skagen Bird Observatory: Dante Shepherd, Lauren Evans, Michael Colley, Zach Pannifer

Grey Heron (Fiskehekre) by Zach Pannifer

Lauren and Michael had opened the nets at kabeltromlen for sunrise. The weather was nice this morning because it was cloudy with less Wendy but there was quite a lot of mosquitoes, it was a nice morning session with a lot of birds, which includes the recapture chuffing which was ring in Belgium and we looking forward to seeing the data from it, and it was nice for me to see my first Brambling in hand and being ring with some baby Great Tits. Egon and his family visited us at the ringing site, but they could not stay long because the mosquitoes were too aggressive this morning. We had 42 birds this morning which were of 16 species and the highlights of the ring blow.

Lesser Whitethroat / Gærdesanger 7

Chaffinch / Bogginke 1

Icterine Warbler / Gulbug 1

Chiffchaff / Gransanger 2

Common Whitethroat / Tornsanger 2

Marsh Warble / Kærsanger 3

Great Tit / Musvit  8

Black Bird / Solsort 1

Reed Warbler / Rørsanger 3

Lesser Redpoll / Lille Gråsisken 2

Wren / Gærdesmutte 1

Robin / Rødhals 1

Blackcap / Munk 6

Garden Warbler / Havesanger 1

Reed Bunting / Rørspurv 1

Bramblin / Kvækerfinke 1

The journey of thousands miles has come to end and today makes my last day of ringing in Denmark in which I will be leaving in two days’ time to The Gambia and a special thanks to the people of Skagen , light house, the management of Skagen Birds Observatory and Denmark in General, this has been a life experience for me and I have learned a lot on my three month of stay here, which will help me a lot as an ornithologist and ringer. Please whenever one visits The Gambia never hesitate to pay us a visit at Kartong Bird Observatory.

Skagen Fuglestation: Michael Colley, Zach Pannifer, Dante Shepherd and Lauren Evans.

Dante and zack were on the observation side, there is the list of the observation below.

Common Buzzard / Musvåge 3

Honey Buzzard / Hepsevåge 27

Black Redstart / Sortstjert 1

Red-backed Shrike / Rødrygget Tornskade 1

Wigeon / Pibeand 1

With the lull in the wind this morning, Michael and I were back out ringing and headed to Skarvsøen for our sixth CES visit of the year. We had a fairly typical morning catching 21 birds, mainly new and recaptured Rørsanger (Reed Warbler). We also caught 2 juvenile Bogfinke (Chaffinchs)- among the first juveniles we have caught this year.

Dante headed out birding early around World’s End to check the Scoter flocks resting offshore as well as the gulls amassed on the beach. His highlights were a juvenile Misteldrossel (Mistle Thrush) and 3 Mallemuk (Fulmar). Zach headed out to Storsig for a spot of raptor watching and, although there was substantially less migration than yesterday, he still managed 8 Hvepsevåge (Honey Buzzards).

In the evening, Michael, Zach, and I went to check the Landsvale (Swallow) and Bysvale (House Martin) nests nearby. We found plenty of House Martin nests with eggs and small chicks as well as 5 Swallow nests. We managed to ring 2 broods- one of 3 chicks and one of 4 chicks, as well as one adult.

Landsvale (Swallow) chick. All nests were checked and chicks handled under full license and appropriate training.

A full list of today's observations can be found here.

Skagen Fuglestation: Michael Colley, Zach Pannifer, Dante Shepherd, Lauren Evans, Jesper & Anna.

Skarvsøen CES Ringing Totals:

Rørsanger (Reed Warbler)- 10

Solsort (Blackbird)- 1

Kærsanger (Marsh Warbler)- 1

Gærdesanger (Lesser Whitethroat)- 2

Havesanger (Garden Warbler)- 1

Blåmejse (Blue Tit)- 1

Bogfinke (Chaffinch)- 2

Tornsanger (Common Whitethroat)- 3

Total: 21

Grenen Ringing Totals:

Landsvale (ad.) (Swallow)- 1

Landsvale (chick.) (Swallow)- 7

Total: 8

Today’s weather was a bit windy, we were at the station a bit longer, we couldn’t go out early for the morning observation but later in the morning we went out for raptor witching because all the past few days has been raining and windy, we not been going out much on birding or ringing that is reason they were less sightings around Skagen, and we were out for four hours on raptor witching , which was nice been out after few days of not much bird birding.Our raptor witching today has really helped me a lot because I have not been doing much on raptors, it was nice to see the difference between pertains on various raptors and that has helped me in knowing the difference in each species. The guests at the apartment were out to visit the Skagen Museum.

The highlights from today’s raptor witching and observation.

Red Kite / Rød Glente 7

Common Buzzard / Musvåge 15

Honey Buzzard / Hepsevåge 44

Sparrow hake / Spurvehøg 3

Kestrel / Tårnfalk 3

White-taied Eagle / Havørn 2

Skagen Fuglestation: Michael Colley, Zach Pannifer, Dante Shepherd, Lauren Evans, Jesper & Anna.

Honey Buzzard (Hvepsevåge) by Zach Pannifer

Today saw heavy rain over Skagen for most of the day. At the station, we continued working on our admin tasks including, checking the entry of our migration counts from the Spring, as well as finishing our raptor summaries where each day we summarise the birds of prey migrating over Skagen.

Michael headed into town to shop for dinner whilst Lauren headed up to the kiosk in the car park to seek permission for check the Landsvale (Barn Swallow) and Bysvale (House Martin) nests on the rafters of the building. The staff are kindly allowing us to monitor the nests and we look forward to counting the nests and determining whether they are on eggs or chicks on a drier day!

Landsvale (Barn Swallow) caught earlier this Spring at Kabeltromlen.

Dante headed out birding round Ellekrattet, World’s End, and the beach, although he unfortunately timed it poorly and wasn’t out long until it started to pour it down even more! Despite the poor conditions, he saw 3 Rødrygget Tornskade (Red-backed Shrikes), the 2 juvenile Sortstrubet Bynkefugle (Common Stonechat), 1 Bjergvipstjert (Grey Wagtail) as well as plenty of gulls on the beach to scan through. The undoubted highlight of his outing, which the rest of us were rather jealous of, was a Beech Marten crashing through the undergrowth and climbing trees just to the north of World’s End! 

The rest of the afternoon was spent learning to make ‘Domada’- a classic Gambian dish which Michael has made for us during his stay here and, since he will be leaving the station next week, we felt we needed to learn how to make it ourselves!

A full list of today's observations can be found here.

Skagen Fuglestation: Michael Colley, Zach Pannifer, Dante Shepherd, Lauren Evans, Jesper & Anna.

Today represented the last day of our daily Spring migration ringing at Kabeltromlen however, Michael and I woke up to strong winds and heavy rain (which were not in the forecast) which unfortunately meant open the nets was impossible. This Spring, we have ringed 2580 birds here in Skagen and we now switch our focus to monitoring Skagen’s breeding birds.

At the station we instead used the morning to get on with other jobs including washing bird bags, writing rarity reports, entering and checking the last of the ringing data and, submitting, and quality checking Spring observation data and counts. Our guests Jesper and Anna headed out to Skarvsøen and had a lovely morning, despite the mosquitoes!

In the afternoon, Dante and I headed out birding round Elle Krattet, World’s End and Skarvsøen. Birding highlights included 4 resting Hvepsevåge (Honey Buzzards), 2 Grå Fluesnapper (Spotted Flycatchers), 1 Rødrygget Tornskade (Red-backed Shrike) and 2 juvenile Sortstrubet Bynkefugl (Stonechats). Whilst on the beach, we also managed to find another Stor Præstekrave (Ringed Plover) nest which we will continue monitoring. At Skarvsøen, we took the opportunity to count the breeding Skarv (Cormorants) and were pleased to see over 100 chicks in more than 50 active nests as well as some fledglings out on the lake. Michael went to the harbour to try and read some colour rings and managed to get the codes of a Norwegian-ringed Sildemåge (Lesser Black-backed Gull) and Svartbag (Great Black-backed Gull) and he’s looking forward to getting the recovery information.

Stor Præstekrave (Ringed Plover) nest.

Storm clouds over Nordstrand.

https://dofbasen.dk/search/result.php?design=table&soeg=soeg&periode=dato&dato=20-06-2023&omraade=stor&stor=588&obstype=observationer&species=alle&sortering=dato

Skagen Fuglestation: Michael Colley, Zach Pannifer, Dante Shepherd, Lauren Evans, Anna & Jesper.

Michael and I headed ringing at Kabeltromlen for sunrise- one of our last sessions of the spring season. Similar to yesterday, we caught 21 birds including the first juvenile (1^st calendar year) Rødhals (Robin) of the year and a surprising Vindrossel (Redwing) with a brood patch!

Zach and Dante enjoyed a little more sleep before heading to Saftenvandsbakken for a spot of raptor watching. The highlights from their morning observations included 4 (Havørn) White-tailed Eagles, 29 Hvepsevåge (Honey Buzzards) and a singing Græshoppesanger (Grasshopper Warbler).

We spent the afternoon working through many different admin tasks now that we’ve come to the end of the spring observations and daily ringing. Dante and I then headed out to lead a tour for Ken and Elizabeth, who were visiting Skagen for the day as part of a cruise. We all had a brilliant afternoon with excellent views of Trane (Crane), Blå Kærhøg (Hen Harrier), Hvepsevåge (Honey Buzzard) and Gulbug (Icterine Warbler).

A full list of today's observations can be found here.

Skagen Fuglestation: Michael Colley, Zach Pannifer, Dante Shepherd, Lauren Evans, Anna & Jesper

Kabeltromlen Ringing Totals:

Tornsanger (Common Whitethroat)- 3

Gransanger (Chiffchaff)- 1

Gærdesanger (Lesser Whitethroat)- 2

Rørsanger (Reed Warbler)- 2

Rødhals (Robin)- 1

Kærsanger (Marsh Warbler)- 1

Gærdesmutte (Wren)- 1

Lille Gråsisken (Lesser Redpoll)- 1

Munk (Blackcap)- 5

Blåmejse (Blue Tit)- 1

Vindrossel (Redwing)- 1

Sangdrossel (Song Thrush)- 1

Solsort (Blackbird)- 1

Total: 21