Figure 1: Snowy Skagen

I awoke to another day of snowy Skagen, a view that I will not be forgetting anytime soon. This is my last blog today as I am the last one of the volunteers left! This morning I said goodbye to Mathilde who was packed and gone by 8am. I hope she has a great time in Copenhagen with her partner and it doesn’t rain too much. At the time of writing, she will probably be on a train right now, so hopefully it’s a bit smoother than Simon Jr’s journey yesterday. I have also been getting ready to go back home and this meant cleaning the last few things, and eating the rest of the food, though there was not too much. After completing those tasks, I set a challenge for some of the Spring team (Simon Jr knows more about this) which took a little while.

Figure 2: Christmas Kingfisher (Isfugl)

However, it did result in me seeing the Kingfisher (Isfugl) again which was very nice.

Figure 3: Simon Sr with his gull friends.

When completed, Simon Sr was keen to do one last harbour trip. Normally it is Mathilde who writes the harbour trip blogs but today it was my job. Firstly, we went to see if the Puffin (Lunde) was there again but there was no sign today. As a result, we went to our new favourite gull feeding spot in hope for some colour rings. Only the one bird had Norwegian colour rings today but unfortunately it could not be read. However, time was quickly passing and before I knew it, I was catching the train to Aalborg to start my journey back home. I came to the terminal a little earlier than planned so another train trip and I was looking round the Christmas market in the city, a lovely way to finish my Denmark trip this year! I found some nice free Wi-Fi so have decided to write the blog here today.

Figure 4: Christmas Caudatus.    

I am going to miss this place; it has been an incredible couple of months since I first arrived back in October. I have learnt a lot and made some incredible friends who I will remember forever and hopefully meet up with again soon. There is wayyy too much to summarise in one blog post but the memories, the adventures, the birds, and the people have all been phenomenal. A lot of respect for you all, it has sometimes been tough but with an amazing team it has been so rewarding and absolutely flown by. I would like to thank Simon Sr, Lisa, Simon Jr, Hayley, Mathilde, and Gustav (plus all the lovely guests I have met) for an amazing Autumn full of surprises and fun! I look forward to returning next year and in the meantime will be keeping up to date with all things going on here. I wish all the readers a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year with a Christmas Caudatus and wish the Spring team a great start to the season. For those joining, Hayley, Simon Jr and Simon Sr will form another great team and there will be a lot of fun times, I’m sure of it!

Blog posts will become a bit more infrequent over the winter as the station closes but do keep up to date and check in every so often for more updates. :)

Today’s observations on Dofbasen from observers in the area

People: Thomas Weston, Mathilde Ducroz, Simon S. Christiansen.

We started off the morning by finishing some of the smaller cleaning task that were left including cleaning kitchen windows and drawers as well as the landing with vacuuming a lot of sand! Around 10am, we headed to the harbour to give feeding the gulls another go in the hopes of attracting some different species than Herring gulls (Sølvmåge). We tried out a different spot where we saw the Caspian gull (Kaspisk måge) a few days ago. First, we looked out at sea to check for any birds on the water. And bingo! Thomas and Simon Jr. found a Puffin (Lunde) drifting close to shore. A very nice send-off present for Simon Jr. who’d only ever seen them in flight. This also meant the mission set by Simon Jr. for Thomas was succeeded: he found him a puffin!

(photo by Simon Kiese)

Once it had drifted further away, we went to feed the gulls. The birds that side of the harbour were shyer and only started fighting for the bread once we stepped back slightly. Nothing to report there, not even any colour rings.

(photo by Simon Kiese) 

As it was getting close to Simon Jr.’s train time, we headed to the station. Sad to see him go and remind both Thomas and I that we too are leaving soon and winter closure is upon us. But Simon Jr. will be back shortly though in March. Once he left, we headed back to yesterday’s feeding spot and the birds were a lot less scared and far more daring. Thomas managed to read three colour ring which was a successful trip I’d say.

Adult female Herring Gull (Sølvmåge) ringed 7 years ago. Photo: Thomas Weston

We headed back to the station for lunch with a mission to try and eat as much as the leftover food as possible. After, Simon and Thomas checked through the last remaining ringing sheets while I started on cleaning the staircase. I was later joined by Thomas to cleaning the entrance hall and we discovered that there was a lot of sand in the carpet there. The afternoon was spent packing, writing the blog and looking up places in Copenhagen for time there this weekend. Thomas went into town for Christmas shopping and souvenirs. He also went past the spot where a Kingfisher (Isfugl) has been spotted regularly in the last week and managed to get some good views of it. He also brought back cake to share which is always appreciated, especially on the last night.

Now, I still have to write in the guestbook and do a lit bit of packing. Then nachos time to finish the last of the food we have. Sad to leave but you never know I might come back again.

Today’s observations on Dofbasen from observers in the area.

People: Thomas Weston, Mathilde Ducroz, Simon Kiesé and Simon S. Christiansen.

Our alarms woke us up at 7 and we started taking everything out of the Lab to clean even in the deepest corners. When we’ve finished cleaning the Lab, we cleanded and oiled the bikes and put them into shelter for the winter. We saw one House Mouse, which liked the warmth inside but was disturbed by our work. It’s latin name "Mus Musculus" sounds pretty funny.

Now nearly everything is ready for the winter and the volunteers in spring will enjoy the apartment and working gear.

After the hard work the fun part comes and Simon took us to the harbour, where we fed seagulls. Unfortunately, just Herring Gulls (Sølvmåge) came, but we enjoyed the close views and we were able to read one colour ring.

Then we took down the raptor trap for the winter.

We also found time to build a lazy laying Birder-Snowman.

Everything is covered in snow - thanks to MD for this nice picture!

After that we quickly went shopping and went back.Thomas and I went to Ellekrattet one last time. We cold see six Woodcocks (Skovsneppe), but we were not able to catch any. This reminded me on the first night when Thomas arrived, because we also went out to catch, but we did not get anything. So the first and the lasr night were the same. After that Simon Sr. came with the Pizzas we had ordered. They were really good and we had a nice wine and talked about entertaining topics. Then we played table tennis and shuffle ball and we showed Simon Sr., that we had practiced in the meanwhile. It was a super nice last evening at the Bird Observatory for me!

Around 136 days ago a new volunteer joined the Skagen Bird Observatory. First of all he was called "the 2nd", later "small" and in the meanwhile "Jr.", which is probably the best name- It was his first time talking englisch for longer than thirty seconds and he was curious to learn more stuff about bird migration and meet new people. Directly in his first week he was able to see two European Stormpetrels (Lille Stormsvale) in his hand, which was so nice, that he will never forget that night. He met new people and made friends all over Eruope. A stunning Cory’s Shearwater should be beaten by an selffound Eastern Yellow Wagtail (Alaskavipstjert), which should be the first for Denmark. Since the end of July he was able to see 218 bird species during his stay. His biggest love were the Pipits, so when he was able to ring a Blyth’s Pipit (Mongolsk Piber) his hear was filled with even more joy.

Hi. It’s me. And today is my last full day here.

Thanks to all the awesome people: Simon Sr. (and Lisa) for teaching so much and creating a nice atmosphere here, the volunteers for making the station life t´so awesome, the guests for their help and motivation and the locals for their experience and the good exchange! But that is not the end of the story, because I will be back in spring. I’m looking very forward to meet some of my friends again, make new ones and see a lot of nice birds! Cheers, Simon

Today’s observations on Dofbasen from observers in the area

People: Thomas Weston, Mathilde Ducroz, Simon Kiesé, Simon S. Christiansen.

Today was a cold day with a strong easterly wind blowing off Kattegat making temperatures fall below zero again. This did not matter today, as today was day 1 of the deep clean!

Figure 1: Christmas tree!

The day started when the three of us stepped into the living room where Simon Sr was sat doing some work and waiting for a visiting school group to arrive for a mini ringing demonstration. To help, Simon Jr and I went to open the two sheltered nets in the garden. We didn’t hear many birds, but Simon Jr flushed a Woodcock [Skovsneppe] which was very nice. It was also nice to see the Christmas tree the lighthouse team has put up which is very sweet so thank you! It was a bit windy today so I put it back up on our way back. On our return, it was straight to work cleaning whilst Mathilde was going to make a cake for Knud and his wife Inger who we invited to come over this afternoon. After a quick cycle to the shops to get some eggs, Mathilde was in baking mode!

Figure 2: Mathilde’s carrot cake – well part of.

No birds were caught unfortunately so Simon Sr shut the nets quite early to get on with work. Meanwhile, Simon Jr and I started cleaning and ended up deep cleaning the bedrooms and living room before lunch, a good start. Mathilde finished the cake and started cleaning the kitchen. After a quick lunch break, tough scrutiny from Simon Sr regarding the cleaning and a game of Turnstone, we were delighted to host Knud and Inger. I should have taken a photo of the cake before we all ate it but see the pic above of Mathilde’s very nice carrot cake. However, the cake, gløgg and conversation were all really lovely, and it was really nice to see Knud before we all leave for Christmas. We are all very grateful for the help and support from Knud since we have been here, as he has been a big help with the migration counts throughout the year. A big thank you from us volunteers, past and present! Knud even went out on a migration count today which was very dedicated and his sightings can be seen on the DOFbasen link below.

After Knud and Inger left, our afternoon consisted of us finishing the cleaning of the kitchen and then the final room for today: the bathroom. Simon Jr and I helped take down a couple of the garden nets and we will soon be checking ringing sheets and getting ready for The Deep Clean: Day 2!

Figure 3: Christmas tree at night!

Just for some more Christmas content, here's the Christmas tree at night. Tomorrow’s blog will hopefully feature a little more bird content than today.

Today’s observations on Dofbasen from observers in the area

People: Thomas Weston, Mathilde Ducroz, Simon Kiesé, Simon S. Christiansen, Knud & Inger Pedersen.

We woke up just before 8am to open up the nets and see if we could catch anything. Compared to the previous days, the nets were not popular with the local birds with only two Blackbirds (Solsort) recaptures during the whole morning. This meant is was time to be productive on the tasks concerning the imminent winter close. Simon Jr. was in charge of checking through the ring stock in particular gaps in series and that all rings are accounted for. Thomas went through his pictures and updated our picture archives with pictures of birds, landscapes and the station people. I started on the big clean and went through the kitchen drawers to clean them and reorganise them. Simon Jr. cleaned the oven and microwave at the same time. During the morning, Simon Sr. had a final talk with each of us.

As ringing was particularly slow, Simon Sr. suggested going to bird around the Skagen harbour. We headed out after lunch and had a successful day out. We started on the north side where Simon spotted a young Caspian gull (Kaspik måge) flying that later landed on the beach and started preening. While I was taking pictures of the bird, Simon Sr. also spotted a Water pipit (Bjergpiber) flying around the rocks of the sea breaker. After a successful first part of birding, it went a few more quiet. Simon and Thomas each spotted a Little auk (Søkonge) at different location of the harbour. Compared to my last views, these birds dived a lot more.

After birding, we went to do a shop and finally gave back the cans and bottle for pant which was a nice bonus. Once back at the station, Simon finished cleaning the oven while me and Thomas went out night catching. Sadly not the same luck as yesterday but did see a flock of Sanderling (Sandløber) and one of Purple sandpipers (Sortgrå ryle). I got a nice view through the thermal camera of 8 seals resting on the bunker rock. After getting back unsuccessfully, we held my session on North East American warblers as well as a small kahoot quiz.

Now bed time because tomorrow is big cleaning day!

Today’s observations on Dofbasen from observers in the area.

People: Thomas Weston, Mathilde Ducroz, Simon Kiesé, Lisa Vergin and Simon S. Christiansen.

It was another cold day with some new snow settled on the frozen snow from the previous few days. The light breeze was ideal for some more ringing today, and the appearance of some sun throughout the day was most welcome by the team as our jobs involved being both outside and in.

Figure 1: EURING Age 4/Danish Age 2k+ male Common Redpoll.

With sunrise not being until 08:40, Mathilde, Simon Jr, and I had a mini lie in today but still felt tired. Simon and I opened the nets ready for a day of ringing whilst Mathilde tidied the rooms ready for our guests later in the day. The ringing was pretty constant throughout the day but there was a noticeable lull in the early afternoon. The first couple of rounds caught the highest number of Blackbirds [Solsort] coming down to all our apples and it was interested to recatch three from yesterday too. However, the overall ringing session was dominated by a flock of Long-tailed Tits [Halemejse], with some from Kabeltromlen, and the Common Redpoll [Nordlig Gråsisken] with the highest caught flock being 29 today. In total, we have now caught over 100 in just two days from two specific nets in the garden which is impressive and roughly 10%+ of the overall numbers migrating SE currently. Out of the birds caught, 95% have been aged as adults which is a complete contrast to mid-October to mid-November when a higher percentage of juveniles were caught. Where are these very snazzy looking birds coming from (see pic above)? On the other hand, there was still no luck on the Rock Pipit [Skæpiper] attempts, though we do keep trying. One day Simon Jr.

Figure 2: EURING Age 3/Danish Age 1k male Greenfinch [Grønirisk].

This was pretty nice to catch though, a Greenfinch [Grønirisk] (see pic)!

Whilst in between rounds, Mathilde and I fixed some of the broken waders ready for next year, I tried to detach some of our ‘stuck’ ringing poles without success, Simon Jr inputted our night catching totals into DOFbasen to keep all our records up to date and Simon SC and Lisa started preparing some food for the afternoon. This was followed by a nice pre-Christmas food and beverages with local birders Erik, Jørgen and Oluf. Albeit we didn’t catch too many birds during the festive celebrations, it was nice to have some bird related conversations. It was also nice to have some of the homemade marmalade and mulled wine too. Thank you for a lovely couple of hours and happy birding!

Figure 3: Simon and I out nightcatching...

Time seems to be flowing by quite quickly at the moment and once the sun set and our guests had left, Simon Jr and I went out to see if we could get close to the flocks of waders that have appeared near the bunker because of the snow.

Figure 4&5: EURING Age 3/Danish Age 1K Purple Sandpiper [Sortgrå ryle] profile and wing photos.

After wading in the inlets, sometimes up to chest deep, we successfully caught a juvenile Purple Sandpiper [Sortgrå ryle] which was nice. A random side note but for anyone interested and know the area, the sunken underwater bunker absolutely stinks of fish and guano, a weird smell you don’t get the pleasure of smelling from the beach! Back to the main part, the Purple Sandpiper [Sortgrå ryle] was the first of the year caught at the station which was a slight surprise. They have though been absent for most of October/November but good to see 20 this evening out on the rocks. Once processed and released, it was back to the inside jobs again. Inputting ringing data and sorting out some office jobs was broken by a nice curry cooked by Simon. Everyone was pretty tired this evening so an earlyish night for the others whilst I write the blog. How is it midnight already!?

Ringing totals

Ringing (Fyrhaven)

Total: 47

Ringing (Grenen)

Total: 1

Overall Total: 48

Today’s observations on Dofbasen from observers in the area

People: Thomas Weston, Mathilde Ducroz, Simon Kiesé, Lisa Vergin, Simon S. Christiansen, Erik, Jørgen (and Egor) and Oluf Lou.

Today was a really nice day and when I woke up, Thomas and Mathilde had already opened the three nets in our garden and set up a new one at the feeder. I directly joined for the first round, where we were already able to ring two Blackbirds (Solsort). There was nearly no wind and this convinced many Redpolls (Gråsisken) to migrate so we soon had quite some in our nets, which got rings from us.

Since we just caught Common Redpolls (Nordlig Gråsisken), we could concentrate really good on the individual birds. For me it felt, like from one second to the next, ageing made completely sense and I could access many features in our birds. This was really fun. Lisa and Simon joined us to enjoy the Redpolls and also the snow. Two Redpolls were really interesting:

First of all: 

Following to ordinary birdguides, the whitish and neraly not marked undertail coverts are a feature for Arctic Redpolls (Hvidsisken). But this one was a obvious 2k+ male Common Redpoll (Stor Gråsisken/Nordlig Gråsisken). This proofs (again), that this feature is not relieable. Just if the other features also fit, it can support the argumentation, but the variation is so big, that even Lesser Redpolls (Lille Gråsisken) can show whitish undertail coverts and even Arctic Redpolls (Hvidsisken) are allowed to have streakes here (even if it might be more unusual).

The second interesting one was this one:

This bird had a white PC (Primary Covert) on both wings. On the left wing (photo) it was really white and on the right wing it was brownish with a whitish surrounding. The innermost alula also looked more white than usual. It was nice to pick out this wrong coloration. There can be various reasons for this "wrong" feather. In anyway it will not affect the bird. 

In the meanwhile and after closing the nets, we focussed on doing office works like SoMe posts, entering the data from our trip yesterday to dofbasen and the ringingdata from today to fuglering. My Mom and a good friend have birthday, so I also called both and had a nice chat with them. It's a crazy feeling, that the station shuts down soon. The time runs and I enjoy every second here. I'm already looking forward to come back in spring. But until than there is much fun stuff to do. And we have already started the fun stuff like playing games with Thomas and Mathilde. It's really fun with you.

Ringing (Fyrhaven):

Total: 68

Today’s observations on Dofbasen from observers in the area.

People: Thomas Weston, Mathilde Ducroz, Simon Kiesé, Lisa Vergin and Simon S. Christiansen.

We woke up to a cold flat as the heating gave up on us again this morning. Thankfully someone was sent to fix the issue and the flat is warmer this evening. Not in time for Thomas’s shower this morning though.

As migration count ended yesterday, we had no imperative and were free to do what we fancied. We woke up for 30 minutes before sunrise to set up nets for garden ringing. I went to open the one in the old lighthouse garden while Thomas and Simon Jr. set up a net and a trap on the beach in the hopes of attracting a Rock Pipit (Skærpiber). The weather was nice and sunny but windy which meant the beach net was not successful. The old lighthouse net caught two recapture Great Tits (Musvit) and six Common Redpolls (Nordlig Gråsisken). Overall though not the busiest day, we therefore closed around 10:30am.

As we closed early, Simon Sr. took us on a little road trip around the local ports. We started at the port of Albæk. 25 Ruddy Turnstones (Stenvender) were roosting on sea breaker rocks with two Rock Pipits (Skærpiber) while 4 Sanderlings (Sandløber) flew by. I got a bit distracted, as did Simon Jr. and Thomas, by the huge mass of shells on the beach in particular the pelican feet shells. I’m pretty sure Simon Sr. noticed and made us move to the otherside of the harbour where no shells were visible. We did see a Purple Sandpiper (Sortgrå ryle) on the rocks. We then continued on to Strandby harbour and started by looking at the sandy part. There we observed quite a few different wader species including Oystercatchers (Strandskade), Redshanks (Rødben), Bar-tailed Godwits (Lille kobbersneppe) and Dunlins (Almindelig ryle), as well as a few Mallards (Gråand). We moved onto the more industrial part of the harbour and looked through the gulls for any rare species but nothing was found. A few ducks were in the harbour but the real interest were the two White-tailed Eagles (Havørn) flying over our heads. We also had very nice views of six Purple Sandpipers (Sortgrå ryle). We then did a quick stop at Bratten but not much was seen there.

Simon Sr. kindly let us stop at a supermarket to buy a few bits and bobs while he stocked up on cleaning stuff for next week. A nice surprise appeared on the way back, Thomas spotted a male Hen Harrier (Blå kærhøg). Simon Jr. and Thomas were very productive this evening as they checked through all the rings while I have been writing the blog.

Ringing Totals (Fyrhaven)

Common redpoll – Nordlig Gråsisken 6

Today’s observations on Dofbasen from observers in the area.

People: Thomas Weston, Mathilde Ducroz, Simon Kiesé and Simon S. Christiansen.

It was another cold day with snow still settled on the ground from the previous two days. Although there was no new snow, a cool northernly breeze dominated and temperatures were forced to stay in the low single digits. With the sun shining in the afternoon, it was pleasant in the sheltered spots, and provided some very nice snowy scenes.

Mathilde, Simon Jr, and I awoke for our last migration count of the year. The walk to Worlds End 3 was, as always, very nice and it was nice to see lots of gulls roosting near the tip, avoiding the snowy spots. Northernly winds are not ideal to be sat in for too long, but we managed two hours before calling it quits. The first hour was slow but included a Purple Sandpiper [Sortgrå ryle], a Little Auk [Søkonge] and roughly 125 Redpoll [Gråsisken] amongst a good mix of other species. Second hour was tough but was nice to see a super close Lapland Bunting [Lapverling], over 150 Redpoll [Gråsisken] and the Knot [Island Ryle] that has been hanging around for a couple of weeks now. We soon left Worlds End 3 and quickly found 2 Purple Sandpipers [Sortgrå ryle] roosting near the bunker as well as many Rock Pipits [Skæpiper]. This included a colour ringed Norwegian ringed bird near the lighthouse which Simon Jr got some photos of. Unfortunately, due to technical issues he currently cannot use his phone and can barely use his camera but that should be sorted soon.

The higher-than-normal abundance of Rock Pipit [Skæpiper] led us to put out the traps whilst we had lunch. No luck with the traps but they were super close at times. We also opened the old lighthouse garden net and put a Redpoll [Gråsisken] tape lure to attract any passing migrants. This net was the most sheltered and with frequent checks every fifteen to twenty minutes ensured the welfare of the birds was maintained. In the meantime, we checked net lengths and sorted the nets into boxes for next year. The net opening was successful in catching a few birds (see ringing totals below) including a small flock of Common Redpoll [Stor Gråsisken] and an Arctic Redpoll [Hvidsisken]. Simon S.C was super impressed we had caught a Hvidsisken, as he had been talking all day about this species and it was a beauty of a bird. In fact, the chairman of Birdlife Denmark arrived just in time to see the bird before it was released, his first ever which was super exciting and what a view to have. A super snowball in a super snowy environment.

Figure 1: Arctic Redpoll [Hvidsisken] profile.

Figure 2: The old greater coverts in the wing confirming the age.

Figure 3: Arctic Redpoll [Hvidsisken] rump.

Figure 4: Comparison between Common Redpoll [Stor Gråsisken and Hvidsisken]

Figure 5: Arctic Redpoll [Hvidsisken] standalone.

Look at this little stunner! This bird was easily identifiable from the net and was even more distinctive when compared to the Common Redpoll [Stor Gråsisken] in the net too. The moult limit within the greater coverts (the inner four being old in the picture compared to the outer six), the old tertials and the pointy tail feathers led to the bird being aged as a juvenile (EURING age 3/Danish Age 1k). The amount of red on the rump was enough to sex this bird as a male, they are more restrictive than their Common Redpoll [Stor Gråsisken] counterparts.

After sorting nets, the sun set just after 3pm today, the equivalent to 2pm for our British readers. This meant we had a nice evening with me completing the blog, Mathilde helping to input Michael A’s ringing data and Simon Jr cooking a really nice Tofu meal with an additional couple of bottles of wines on the side to congratulate the completion of the migration counts. Thank you to Mathilde and Simon for inputting the ringing data this evening, and for making this evening really nice with good music, favourable wine, a rendition of Kesha's Tik Tok!

Have a great evening everyone!

Ringing totals

Ringing (Fyrhaven)

Total: 9

Today’s observations on Dofbasen from observers in the area

People: Egon Østergaard, Thomas Weston, Mathilde Ducroz, Simon Kiesé, Simon S. Christiansen.

Thomas looks out of the window and everything is white. Mathilde and I join him immediatley and yes: everything is now covered in snow! 

More snow and less wind made the migration count today more enjoy able than the one yesterday. The amount of birds, which are migrating, is now pretty low, but even in this cold day around 300 Redpolls (Gråsisken) flew towards the sea at World's End 3. Luckily, they decided to turn around and don't risk the long fly over the dangerous water in these conditions. A Great Nothern Diver (Islom) passed by. The danish and german name of it (Eistaucher) fit now well to the weather, since there is now Ice on all small ponds in the area. Since the sea was very flat, I cunted the roosting ducks. I counted 446 Common Scoters (Sortand), which were more than I would have expacted. A Scaup (Bjergand) was feeding with some Scoters. Maybe the best bird of the morning was a young Lesser Black-backed Gull (Sildemåge). At this time of the year there should be realistic chances for the northeastern subspecies fuscus. Espacially in this plumage they can look very similar to intermedius, so the identification of the subspecies by plumage is not possible. If you know from where the bird is, you can concluse the subspecies often from its breeding range. Unfortunately, our bird was not ringed. So it stays just a late LBBG. 

In the afternoon, Mathilde, Thomas and I walked to the supermarket to buy in loads of stuff. On the way we enjoyed the snow and took more nice pictures. In Batteriskoven we flushed a Woodcock (Skovsnepe). The way back was tough, since we had headwind and it started snowing again.

Tomorrow is our last migration count. The conditions will be rough again, but we are looking forward to count there one last time this year. 

Today’s observations on Dofbasen from observers in the area.

People: Mathilde Ducroz, Thomas Weston, Simon Kiesé.