As usual, Michael and Lauren had opened the nets at Kabeltromlen for sunrise. The weather was nice because it was cloudy with a lot of expectations that the day is going to be good for ringing but our expectations were cut short because there came rain which cut the ringing session shot that we have to close the nets, we wanted to continue the ringing till late morning but the radar read that there will be coming another heavy  rain In the next thirty minutes in which we don’t want to take the risk were had to close the ringing early due to that rain and the nets where close by 8:45.

 After a long day of Dante cooks us a delicious dinner, and we welcome new guest to the apartment Esper and Anne.

Back at the station, we enter the date from the ringing, sheets checking and some of the admin stuff at the station, which keeps us busy for a while.

 This morning ringing, we had 21 birds of 9 species and highlights from the ringing below birding and ringing.

Lesser Whitethroat / Gærdesanger 1

Common Whitethroat / Tornsanger 3

Yellowhammer / Guspurv 1

Wren / Gærdesmutte 1

Marsh Warbler/ Kærsanger 3

Icterine Warbler / Gulbug 1

Reed Warbler / Rørsanger 1

Blackcap / Munk 9

Song Thrust / Sangdrossel 1

The observation of the morning Dante was at word end but there was not much to there in which he later went Nordstrand where it was still quiet, whiles Zack was at Ellekrattet and some other places around and below are their highlights.

Rose Finch / Karmindompap 2

Wood Sandpiper / Tinsaned 1

Great Reed Warbler / Brosselrør Sanger 1

Golden Oriole / Piroi 1

Honey buzzard / Hvepsvsge 6

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

Yellowhammer (Gulspurv) by Zach Pannifer

Today has been one of the hottest days in Skagen for quite a while and it has made it quite challenging to bird in for long hours. Lauren and Michael in particular found it uncomfortable in their waders during ringing this morning. Thankfully they had morebirds than yesterday to make putting up with the heat worth it and the mosquitoes were also put off by the intense heat so that was nice. From Kabeltromlen I had a 6 Honey Buzzard (Hvepsevåge), 1 Osprey (Fiskeørn), 1 Golden Oriole (Pirol), 1 Spotted Flycatcher (Grå Fluesnapper) 1 Rosefinch (Karmindompap) and 1 Serin (Gulirisk) - the latter of which was the first that I have picked out myself. Midmorning I then headed south to Saftevandsbakken to watch for birds of prey, but it became apparent early on that the raptors were mostly sticking further west so I headed to Kap Gadagung for a bit of a better view. In total I had at least 11 Honey Buzzard (Hvepsevåge), 12 Buzzard (Musvåge), 4 Red Kite (Rød Glent), 2 White-tailed Eagle (Havørn) and my best views yet of the Steppe Eagle (Steppeørn). There were 3 Spotted Flycatcher (Grå Fluesnapper) at Batteriskoven.

Click here for today's sightings on DOFbasen.

Today's Ringing Totals:

Solsort (Blackbird) - 2

Sivsanger (Sedge Warbler) - 1

Kærsanger (Marsh Warbler) - 2

Rørsanger (Reed Warbler) - 1

Gærdesanger (Lesser Whitethroat) - 4

Tornsanger (Whitethroat) - 3

Havesanger (Garden Warbler) - 2

Munk (Blackcap) - 10

Gransanger (Chiffchaff) - 1

Topmejse (Crested Tit) - 1

Bogfinke (Chaffinch) - 3

Dompap (Bullfinch) - 3

Gulspurv (Yellowhammer) - 1

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

Honey Buzzards (Hvepsevåge) by Zach Pannifer

It was foggy in the morning so we all had a later start. Lauren and Michael went ringing at Kabeltromlen as usual and were happy for a bit of a lie in! They didn’t catch that many birds, just 7, so two Lille Korsnæb and two Topmejse were a good result! Zach had a Lille Præstekrave. Lauren went looking for Stor Præstekrave nests at Northstand and found 2, both with eggs.

I headed to Saftenvansbacken around 10 after the fog had cleared. 18 Hvepsevåge, a Blå Kærhøg, an Fiskeørn and a Havørn were the highlights when just before 1pm I got onto a raptor far away which looked like a Slangeørn. It stayed far in the haze for a while beyond Buttervej before slowly coming closer. The closest it came was somewhere over Nedermose and here I could see enough to be absolutely sure on the identification. Unfortunately I lost it to the south-west as I put the news out. I could see it had a pale head and obvious missing inner primaries which makes it a different bird to the one seen 10 days ago. It never came close enough for photos but I made some crude field notes after the event. Overall very exciting to discover a rare raptor in Skagen. The bird was seen briefly by one birder further soutn. The Steppeørn was seen again by others whilst looking for the Slangeørn.

Ringing totals from Kabeltromlen:

- Lille Korsnæb 2

- Topmejse 2

- Tornsanger 1

- Gransanger 1

- Rørsanger 1

Today's observations.

Where to start… what a day! Today started like a typical day, it was overcast and cooler and Zach headed to World’s End for morning observations, whilst Michael and I headed to Kabeltromlen to open the nets for sunrise. Visible migration was rather slow, the highlights being two (Strandhjejle) Grey Plover and one Stenpikker (Northern Wheatear).

Michael and I headed for our first round as usual which wasn’t particularly busy but Michael came back to the table saying he’d extracted an Acrocephalus warbler, of which he wasn’t entirely sure of the species. He took it out the bag and my immediate thought was Buskrørsanger (Blyth’s Reed Warbler). It had a cold-toned, greyish mantle with no rufous on the flanks, rump or underparts and the head had an obvious, pale supercilium. We took all the required measurements and wing formula, then double and triple checked our measurements. We were absolutely thrilled to confirm it was a Blyth’s Reed Warbler- a new species in the hand for both myself, and Michael. Zach arrived at the ringing site at just the right time to collect some much-needed mosquito spray and we gave Simon and Lisa a wake-up call at 4:45am to give them the good news!

Buskrørsanger (Blyth's Reed Warbler).

After releasing the bird, we were all in extremely high spirits as we carried on ringing thinking the day couldn’t get any better. Overall, we caught 23 birds, and the nets weren’t extremely busy so we decided to close around 9am. I went to close one of the nets that runs through reeds when I spotted a small looking Acrocephalus at one end. As soon as I approached the bird, I saw a prominent, pale supercilium and dark crown and knew exactly what it was. I was surprised by how obvious this species was in the hand, but I couldn’t quite believe what was happening- we’d just caught a Lille Rørsanger (Paddyfield Warbler) on the very same day!

We quickly closed the rest of the nets and undertook the same process of ringing the bird and taking a full suite of measurements and wing formula before phoning Simon and Lisa (again!) who put the news out. They swiftly arrived alongside Dante, who had been birding the area, and a few local birders. This was also a new species for all of us volunteers at the station and was thoroughly enjoyed by everyone present before being released. We were then lucky enough to see the bird in the field, moving through some Hawthorn bushes.

Lille Rørsanger (Paddyfield Warbler).

The Blyth’s Reed Warbler is only the second individual caught by the station whilst the Paddyfield Warbler is the fifth caught by the station but only a 20^th record for Denmark. It seemed like fate that we caught both these species the morning after I gave my presentation on Acrocephalus identification and ageing, and it gave us an amazing chance to put these skills into action. We now think we should do more presentations on rare species identification and ageing to see if this luck works again!!!

In the afternoon, Dante, Zach, Michael, and I headed out to the Aarhus University radar station to help Thomas move it off the sand-dunes ready to be taken back to Aarhus. This sounded much easier than it turned out to be… After nearly 2 hours of pushing, getting stuck in the sand, sweating in the boiling sun and being bitten by horseflies, we finally managed to shift it, only after attaching it to two pick-up trucks! Thanks you to Thomas, Troels & Snäphor for having us out there, we've all really enjoyed watching raptors with you all.

The whole process was made slightly better by the fantastic views of the Steppeørn (Steppe Eagle) and three Havørn (White-tailed Eagles) which circled nearly over our heads as we laboured. Back at the station, we entered data and completed various admin tasks and are now looking forward to an evening celebrating our fantastic day, ready to get up and do it all again tomorrow! It’s days like these which make it even more fun to be out!

Shifting the Aarhus University radar station off the dunes- much more difficult that it sounds!

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

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

Kabletromlen Ringing Totals:

Buskrørsanger (Blyth’s Reed Warbler)- 1

Lille Rørsanger (Paddyfield Warbler)- 1

Gransanger (Chiffchaff)- 1

Rørsanger (Reed Warbler)- 4

Løvsanger (Willow Warbler)- 3

Lille Gråsisken (Lesser Redpoll)- 2

Bogfinke (Chaffinch)- 2

Tornsanger (Common Whitethroat)- 1

Munk (Blackcap)- 7

Skovpiber (Tree {Pipit)- 1

Total: 23

Lauren and Dante had opened the nets at kabeltromlen for sunrise. It was nice with some of the common species in the early hours of the morning but later in the morning they had a Rosefinch / Karmindompap was nice to see in hand and the day we all been waiting for,  Dante has joined the ringing session today for first time, we all been waiting for him to join the ringing and take part of the ringing for a day and he try that this morning which was nice and he enjoys it.

The hard 22 birds this morning of 9 species, was not that busy day but it was nice day.

Lesser Whitethroat/ Gærdesanger 2

 Chaffinch / Bogfinke 4

Wren/ Gærdesmutte 3

Marsh Warbler/ kærsanger 2

Reed Warbler/ Rørsanger 1

Rosefinch / Karmindompap 1

Blackcap/ Munk 5

Common Whitethroat/ Tornsanger 2 

Garden Warbler/ Havesanger 1

This morning I joined zack for the morning observation and there were few species.

Honey buzzard/ Hvepsvage 11

Rosefinch / karmindompap 2

Greenshank / Hvidklire 1

Late morning we went to Carlo Pedersen , where he took us on tour at his farm and it was nice going out of Skagen and some of things see there was Roe deer, Fallow deer,Osprey ,corn Bunting and we also saw the common buzzard that was tag few weeks ago by us. A special thanks to Carlo Pedersen for his hospitality and we really appreciate it.

Back at the station we had a presentation from Lauren, which was nice and educational. I have learned a lot about the difference between marsh warbler and Reed warbler with their ageing.

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

Today Lauren and Michael headed to Skarvsøen for six hours of ringing for the CES and so there was no ringing at Kabeltromlen. Each round had some birds to keep them busy. Meanwhile, I headed to World's End for observations and Dante headed south to Flagbakken to look for raptors. My highlight was two close Rosefinch (Karmindompap), which included a singing first summer male. Dante managed to see the Steppe Eagle for the second day in a row, and this time it was also joined by a Lesser Spotted Eagle! For the rest of the day we all napped and relaxed before Lauren and Dante cooked us all a delicious dinner.

Today's Ringing Totals:

Rørsanger (Reed Warbler) - 21

Kærsanger (Marsh Warbler) - 4

Gærdesanger (Lesser Whitethroat) - 1

Tornsanger (Whitethroat) - 2

Munk (Blackcap) - 4

Bogfinke (Chaffinch) - 1

Today's Observations:

Lille Præstekrave (Little Ringed Plover) - 2

Nattegal (Thrush Nightingale) - 1

Sortstrubet Lom (Black-throated Diver) - 2

Karmindompap (Rosefinch) - 2

Steppeørn (Steppe Eagle) - 1

Lille Skrigeørn (Lesser Spotted Eagle) - 1

Link to all of today's observations.

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

Havørn (White-tailed Eagle) above and Stor Præstekrave (Ringed Plover) below by Zach Pannifer

Michael and Zach, later joined by Simon, headed ringing at Kabeltromlen while Lauren and I headed south for a day of observations. They had an excellent morning at Grenen, catching 45 birds of 14 species including an unexpected adult, female Lille Korsnæb (Common Crossbill) and the first two juvenile Topmejse (Crested Tits) of the year- both of which were new species for Zach and Michael! Simon also finished the collection of blood samples which will be sent away to be tested for West Nile Virus.

Adult, female Lille Korsnæb (Common Crossbill).

" juvenile Topmejse (Crested Tits).

Lauren and I started observations at Buttervej where the morning was initially rather slow. We soon headed further south to Storklit where we spent a further 6 hours raptor watching. The heat haze and blue sky made observations challenging however throughout the time we saw 56 Hvepsevåpe (Honey Buzzards) (which I believe is the highest single day count of this species this year), 2 Havørn (White-tailed Eagles), 5 Fiskeørn (Osprey), a resting Duehøg (Goshawk) and 1 Blå Kærhøg (Hen Harrier). Despite the good number of Hvepsevåge (Honey Buzzards), we were slightly disappointed, as we packed up, to have not seen any ‘rare’ eagles which we had hoped might come with the warm weather and drifty south-easterlies.

As we were cycling home on the road north of Flagbakken, I spotted a distant, small kettle of raptors which I decided to get off my bike and check. I couldn’t believe it when I laid eyes on a large eagle- a Steppeørn (Steppe Eagle)! We had good views of this 2k bird which we then chased on our bikes towards Saftevandsbakken. This is the same individual which was seen a week prior, which we had actually missed as we had been visiting family in London, and so we were thrilled to finally get the chance to see this species!

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

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

Kabeltromlen Ringing Totals:

Tornsanger (Common Whitethroat)- 3

Gærdesanger (Lesser Whitethroat)- 2

Gransanger (Chiffchaff)- 1

Rødrygget Tornskade (Red-backed Shrike)- 1

Løvsanger (Willow Warbler)- 4

Topmejse (Crested Tit)- 2

Solosrt (Blackbird)- 1

Lille Korsnæb (Common Crossbill)- 1

Rørsanger (Reed Warbler)- 2

Kærsanger (Marsh Warbler)- 1

Gulbug (Icterine Warbler)- 2

Munk (Blackcap)- 20

Havesanger (Garden Warbler)- 3

Bogfinkne (Chaffinch)- 2

Total: 45

Michael and I left the station at 3am to have the nets at Kabeltromlen for sunrise. We had a much better morning than the mainly empty nets of the last few days, catching 38 birds, over half of which were Munk (Blackcaps). We also re-trapped a Rørsanger (Reed Warbler) which had been ringed at Grenen as a first-calendar year bird in 2017 making it 6 years old! This individual has therefore migrated to Africa and back 6 times and considering the average lifespan for this species is 2 years, this was quite a remarkable bird.

6 year old Rørsanger (Reed Warbler) caught at Kabeltromlen.

Zach joined Michael and I at Kabeltromlen for morning observations whilst Dante headed south to Storklit for raptor watching. The highlights of the day included 35 Hvepsevåge (Honey Buzzards), 2 Fiskeørn (Osprey), 1 Sortklire (Spotted Redshank), 1 singing Hvidklire (Greenshank) and 1 Ringdrossel (Ring Ouzel). The afternoon consisted of data entry and shopping for Zach and Michael whilst I birded the east coast where my highlights were 5 Kærsanger (Marsh Warblers), 2 Gulbug (Icterine Warblers) and a Crested Tit (Topmejse).

In the evening, Dante gave us all an informative lecture on his area of expertise- identification of rare, vagrant gulls. We also said goodbye to our guests Jens & Jane from the apartment.

Dante giving his lecture on rare gull identification.

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

People: Michael Colley, Zach Pannifer, Dante Shepherd, Simon S. Christiansen & Lauren Evans

Ringing (Kabeltromlen):

Solsort (Blackbird)- 1

Rørsanger (Reed Warbler)- 4

Tornsanger (Common Whitethroat)- 3

Gærdesanger (Lesser Whitethroat)- 1

Gransanger (Chiffchaff)- 1

Kærsanger (Marsh Warbler)- 4

Gulbug (Icterine Warbler)- 1

Gærdesmutte (Wren)- 1

Bogfinke (Chaffinch)- 1

Havesanger (Garden Warbler)- 1

Munk (Blackcap)- 19

Total: 38

Today’s weather was a bit windy, we thought of waiting a bit longer before we opened the nets this morning in case of fog, but we later change our mind to continue to do an early start. Lauren and Michael had opened the net at kabeltromlen for sunrise.The ringing was a bit quiet because they were less birds flying, because the wind was strong that we could not open some of nets that are in the open and we were later joined by the guests at the station apartment Jane and Jens with some of the board members of the Skagen observatory.We had 16 birds of 6 species, which was not a busy day, and we had our second Jay (Skovskade). Simon had a meeting with the board members at the station.

People: Dante Shepherd, Lauren Evans, Michael Colley, Zach Pannifer & the Board of The Bird Observatory

Zack and Dante were out this morning for the morning observation. Highlights from the morning observations and raptor counting with a Mantague's Harrier as the best.

Honey Buzzard / Hvepsvåge 31

Serin / Gulirisk 1

Black Redstart / Hus Rødjert 1

Redstart / Rødsjert 3

Montagus Harrier / Hedehøg 1

Observations ind Dofbasen registred by observers in the area

Ringing (Kabeltromlen)

Skovskade / Jay 1

Sangdrossel / Song thrust 1.

Munk / Blackcap 5

Tornsanger / Common Whitethroat 4

Bonfinke / Chaffinch  4

Gærdesanger / Lesser Whitethroat 1

Total: 16

This morning Lauren and Michael went ringing whilst Dante and I split up for observations. The strong easterly wind meant that ringing was quiet, with a total of only 16 birds. Observations were slightly better but the highlight of the morning went unidentified - a small Shearwater (Skråpe sp.) species flew fast west on the horizon. A low flying Black Kite (Sort Glente) was also nice to see. In the evening I went out to look for the American Black Scoter that Dante had found the other day. I could not find it but I did have an Osprey migrate out towards Sweden.

Highlights from today's observations: Mallemuk (Fulmar) - 2, Sort Glente (Black Kite) - 1, Rødrygget Tornskade (Red-backed Shrike) - 1, Grå Fluesnapper (Spotted Flycatcher) - 1, Lille Korsnæb (Crossbill) - 40, Fiskeørn (Osprey) - 1

Link to today's full observations here.

People: Dante Shepherd, Lauren Evans, Michael Colley, Simon S. Christiansen, Jane & Jens Peter Brenøe & Zach Pannifer

White Wagtail (Hvid Vipstjert) by Zach Pannifer

Ringing (Kabeltromlen):

Sangdrossel (Song Thrush) - 1

Solsort (Blackbird) - 2

Gulbug (Icterine Warbler) - 1

Gærdesanger (Lesser Whitethroat) - 1

Rødhals (Robin) - 1

Landsvale (Swallow) - 1

Kærsanger (Marsh Warbler) - 3

Løvsanger (Willow Warbler) - 1

Tornsanger (Whitethroat) - 2

Munk (Blackcap) - 3

Total - 16