The day started with the four of us waking up to a winter wonderland where snow had settled on all the surfaces a little making the Skagen scene very wintery. The vegetation had already shed most of the snow but the floor had a cm or so worth of settled snow and ice.

The route past Elle Krattet on the way to Nordstrand

Due to the NE winds, we decided last night that we would go to Nordstrand and complete migration watch from there. With the whole team heading out, cycling was difficult with frequent snow showers and the bikes struggling to get through the snow/ice. One by one we lost a member, Mara went first deciding to walk, Emma made it to the radar station before walking and Ragnar and I getting to the observatory location. With us two knowing the site and the other two not, we clearly cleared a little snow whilst we walked so the others could follow the route to the Sea buckthorn we were sitting behind.

Our migration viewpoint from today.

Migration started well, with Common Scoter (Sortand), Red-throated divers (Rødstrubet Lom), auks (Lomvie og Alk) and Velvet Scoter (Fløjlsand) moving. A Great-crested Grebe (Toppet lappedykker) and Red-necked Grebe (Gråstrubet lappedykker) were both very nice to see plus the odd flock of Whooper Swans (Sangsvane) and even a couple Canada Geese (Canadagås) that both flew over South. Excitement came in the form of a distant, but identifiable Bewick Swan (Pibesvane) who looked pretty lost and never came close to land but continued West. The numbers slowed as the morning went on, and in the second hour talk of cycling into Skagen to get hot drinks became very appetising as the temperature continued to drop. Bird numbers in the second hour continued to drop, with a flyby Caspain Gull (Kaspisk Måge), but the standout highlight was a Little Auk (Søkonge) which everyone saw, and small flocks of the first hour species too.

When at a French café

The third hour became increasingly cold, and a lot like the waterfowl, we got cold feet and had to move. When three of us got cold feet and slowly cold hands that was enough to make us all want to go. Snow began falling again, this time quite heavy. This caused the migration of observers towards the city. Cycling through the snowy streets and paths, we made it to the centre. After a few breaks to regroup, the ‘flock’ continued in search of hot drinks and food. The team ended up seeing Bullfinch (Dompap), Blackbirds (Solsort) and Goldcrest (Fuglekonge) in the bushes and decided upon a French inspired café. We ended up getting hot drinks and a pastry, a well-earned snack. Discussing plans for the afternoon quickly turned into a trip to get bread and head to the harbour to feed gulls and find any Alcids that wanted to rest in the shelter of the harbour whilst the wind was northernly.

Gull feeding crew....

The face of a Caspian Gull (Kaspisk Måge) coming at you for food.

And a sightly more content Caspian Gull (Kaspisk Måge)

 The gulls were a lot more responsive than the last gull feeding attempts and resulted in a flock of about 75 Herring Gulls (Sølvmåge), a single Black-headed gull (Hættemåge), a few Common Gulls (Stormmåge) and a single Caspian Gull (Kaspisk Måge). Plus Ragnar's Barking Spider.

A snowy atmospheric harbour.

A Black Guillemot (Tejst) the only storm blown Alcid.

A quick check of another section of harbour resulted in a Black Guillemot (Tejst). Snow showers came back and the team started to getting hungry so a cycle back to the observatory lead to lots of ice snow in the face but some very lovely scenery which we hope will stay.

And that sums up a snowy day at Skagen Fuglestation.

Highlights from the observatory:

• Little Auk (Søkonge)
• Bewick’s Swan (Pibesvane)
• Two Caspian Gulls (Kaspisk Måge)

Ringing totals

Too snowy so far…

Overall total: 0

Today’s observations on Dofbasen from observers in the area

People: Thomas Weston, Emma Fabre, Mara Glane, Ragnar Smith.

Back on the morning obs after a few days of doing some sidequests, it was really cold and you could feel winter was coming. Me and Emma went out to Worlds End 3, where Knud was waiting for us. With the cold winds, the birds followed, though quiet, some movement of razorbills (Alk) was going on, but the star of the show was definitely a nice Glaucous Gull (Gråmåge) 1k resting with all the other gulls on the beach in front of us! First of the season and a new species for Emma! Though it was only sitting there for five minutes, it was plenty of time to enjoy it, until a bunch of hapless tourists scared them away, a daily occurrence but c’est la vie. Other highlights were a nice White-tailed Eagle, same from yesterday, sitting on the beach and a Merlin migrating southeast. While at the obs we got a visit from Magnus and Johanna, volunteers from the spring team, which was nice, a pleasant break from the monotony.

Magnus and Johanna lending a hand at the ringing

While all that was going on at Worlds End 3, the ringers were having their last standardized ringing season, as the ringing season stops 20/11, but tomorrow the weather will be horrible for ringing, so today is the last one and we also had to close down the nets.

Greenfinch

Last bird of the season: a Bullfinch male!

So almost immediately after obs, we went back to the observatory, packed some hot water, cookies and went out to Kabeltromlen to help packing it down. It only took three hours of going back and forth with all the ringing stuff before the Kabeltromlen was officially shut down until spring! But we still got the Old Lighthouse Garden were we are going to  do plenty of ringing and hopefully catch something cool. Tomorrow the northly winds really kick in and the snow has already set in with “Thunder Snow” hitting area.

Shutting down the ringing among rising tides of winter

Highlights from obs:

Glaucous Gull 1k, first of the season

White-tailed Eagle 2k, danish ringed bird

Ringing (Kabeltromlen)

Rødhals – Robin: 1

Solsort – Blackbird: 1

Fuglekonge – Goldcrest: 1

Skægmejse – Bearded Tit: 4

Grønirisk – Greenfinch: 1

Dompap – Bullfinch: 2

Total: 10

Link to today's observations from observers in the area

People at the station: Thomas Weston, Emma Fabre, Ragnar Smith, Mara Glane, Simon Sigaard Christiansen, Knud Pedersen, Johanna Veentjer, Magnus Houen Lauritsen

This morning I went to the obs. I spend the first hour alone and it was a busy one. All of the birds, which were stuck in Kattegat, were able to leave. I counted 170 Kittiwake (Ride), some auks very far away. Then Knud joined me for the next three hours. The migration slowed down, but the light was better and the birds much closer. We saw two Fulmars (Mallemuk) not so far to the shore. Then, we spotted an Atlantic Puffin (Lunde), which landed somewhere in Kattegat. We also saw a Sooty Shearwater (Sodfarvet Skråpe) going northwest.

Knud found 4 young Caspian Gulls (Kaspisk Måge) and one young Lesser black-backed Gull (Sildemåge) among the flock of resting gulls.
We also saw a flock of 41 tired Snow Buntings (Snespurv), coming from the sea. They tried to land on the water, but they decided it was not a good idea, so they continued flying over the sea.

Blackbird (Solsort), named Volten

I met the ringers in the apartment when I woke up. They left later because of the rain. They ringed 12 birds. They caught the tenth Blackbird (Solsort), a male named Volten. They equipped him with the last GPS track. I joined them and I processed some recaptures. Then Mara and Thomas stayed until 3:30 PM to sew the holes in the nets by which point the sun was setting and they were hungry.

Preparing the GPS track for the Blackbird (Solsort)

People at the station: Thomas Weston, Emma Fabre, Ragnar Smith, Mara Glane, Simon Sigaard Christiansen, Knud Peterson

Highlights from observations:
Lunde - 1
Sildemåge 1k
Sodfarvet Skråpe - 1

Ringing (Kabeltromlen)
Gærdesmutte - 6
Solsort - 1
Vindrossel – 1
Musvit – 2
Bogfinke - 1
Dompap - 1
Total : 12

Today’s observations on Dofbasen from observers in the area

The day started with Mara, Emma and I getting up and ready for migration counts at World’s End 3. Ragnar away from the obs doing other jobs. The wind was a strong North/North westerly wind that blew a few clouds over throughout the morning, but stayed predominantly sunny throughout which was most welcome. However, the wind’s direction meant a cold chill in the air which is a good sign for migration over the sea, and a near clear out of passerines in the bushes.

Me at migration, thanks to the sneaky photo by Mara.

We arrived at our spot and began counting. The first hour was really good, there was over 1000 Common Scoter (Sortand) moving NW with over 50 Velvet Scoter (Fløjlsand) moving the same way. The auk numbers were high, but migrating into Kattagate, so SE. Full details on DofBasen at the bottom of this post. There was nice numbers of Kittiwake (Ride) but surprisingly few Gannets (Sule). Maybe the have already headed south ahead of the cold? Mara became quite cold and left to go shopping which was much appreciated as we were running out of food. Emma and I continued to count the remaining three hours.

A very apt photo for this hour, taken by Emma this evening but fits nicely here in the blog.

The second hour slowed but there were still good numbers of auks (Lomvie og Alk) and Common Scoter (Sortand) moving. However, the diversity was low and nothing outstanding flew by. The Sanderling (Sandløber) were enjoying their new pools created by the high spring tides and full moon.

The third hour was different again. Colder and slightly sandier lead to a sandy breakfast for Emma and a face full of sand for myself. Highlights in this hour included a large flock of Red-throated diver (Rødstrubet Lom) heading NW totalling 75 individuals which was impressive and a brief view of what was probably a Porpoise. A nice little bit of cetacean action in the very high winds.

The 2K/2nd CY White-tailed Eagle (Havørn) by Emma.

The fourth hour was an hour of sitting watching and enjoying the view. Numbers of Kittiwake (Ride) increased again, and some Common Scoter (Sortand) were moving. But the standout highlight was at 11:55am when a Little Auk (Søkonge) flew about 5-10m off the beach and was flying just behind the first wave crashing. We watched it for about a minute or two and a pleasure to see – it was an amazing little bird and a sign of the wind change bringing some Arctic goodies. Exciting enough, I peered over the dunes packing up my equipment to see a White-tailed eagle (Havørn) being mobbed by Hooded Crows (Gråkrage). The eagle was heading straight towards us, being blown by the wind, and resulted in some epic views of the bird as it flew right overhead. It even spotted us, dropped slightly and then headed back NW. We could see it had colour rings from Denmark but unfortunately not enough to see where it was from. So two very nice species and worth the sub-optimal conditions. Hence the blog title for today. Good fun!

Nocturnal migration sonogram with Redwing calls.

We returned for lunch, Lone and Lars have no departed but left some nice treats and some Christmas goodies – thank you very much!! We all did some personal tasks whilst taking a breather from the wind. Nocturnal migration listening was completed for myself so totals will be published on Trektellen very soon. In the meantime, here is a screenshot of the most frequently recorded species, the Redwing (Vindrossel).

A little arrival of Hooded Crow (Gråkrage) on the beach this evening.

I went for a short walk to the south, enjoying the last of the sun, and Emma ended up going North. Mara stayed put and called up family. Personal walk highlights included Hooded Crows (Gråkrage), an Eider (Ederfugl) and some Red-breasted mergansers (Toppet skallesluger). All three species are daily occurrences up here and we can never get complacent with their presence.   

Highlights from the observatory:

• First Little Auk of the autumn (Søkonge)
• White-tailed sea eagle (Havørn)

Ringing totals

Too wind today.

Overall total: 0

Today’s observations on Dofbasen from observers in the area

People: Thomas Weston, Emma Fabre, Mara Glane.

Hej!

Rattled by the wind this morning, Emma and Thomas were on their way to World's End 3. The duty of counting sea miration called them, so they wore 5 layers of clothes today, to try and stay warm in the weather conditions for 4 hours. The first hour of migration was good, with Razorbills/Alk, Kittiwakes/Ride and Scoters/Sortand flying by. One large diver was also briefly spotted, but couldn't be identified. Migration slowed down, with the temperatures dropping, wind increasing and rain starting. After the four hours Emma and Thomas came back to the station, partly frozen and full of sand. I stayed in the warmth during the morning, because I had a look at the weatherforecast before commiting to doing the count. I worked on my presentation, so i spent the morning in the books, reading about identification and ageing of buntings.

Raincloud over Skagen

Sunset at 4 pm!

After lunch, I headed out for a walk and enjoyed the sun before it went down and created a nice sunset. Emma also did her tour around Grenen and Thomas stayed in to be productive and listen to some recordings of nocturnal migration. After it got dark - and rainy - we gathered to do our weekly cleaning and Thomas cooked us a somewhat experimental meal. Even though the cook voiced some scepticism, it tasted good in the end.

Highlights from the observations:

Large diver, either Yellow-billed/Hvidnæbbet Lom or Great Northern/Islom

Ringing:

no ringing, due to the strong wind

Today’s observations on Dofbasen from observers in the area

People: Thomas Weston, Emma Fabre, Mara Glane, Ragnar Smith, Simon Sigaard Christiansen.

The day started with the moon setting and a change in the weather resulting in more wind and a decrease in the temperature too. The team awoke a little tired today after a late night watching a movie in the conference room which was really nice.

The morning of ringing summed up in one photo, need I say any more??

Ragnar left quite early this morning to go to university so he could complete some lectures. Mara and I said goodbye to him as we were leaving for ringing and continued to Kabeltromlen. The wind was moderate, but it looked to be a sunny day and sheltered around some of the nets. Alas, 11 nets were opened, and the sun rise was quite nice with a mix of colours with every cloud passing. We sat, waited for the rounds, tried to see if there was any migration, but unfortunately the wind was slightly too strong. However, in one of the alders I saw a couple of Redpoll (Gråsiskin). The only bird caught in the couple of hours we ended up keeping the nets open was a recapture Goldcrest (Fuglekonge). We came back.

 With Ragnar gone, Emma undertook migration with Knud at World’s End 3 today. She had the wind but had a lot more birds. The Razorbills (Alks) were moving in numbers again, several thousand yesterday heading SE, and good numbers of Kittiwake (Ride) and Gannets (Sule) moving too. Other than that, the standout highlight was a Great-northern Diver (Islom) and there is some hope for something special in the next few days with the wind increasing and turning colder and more from the NW. Emma returned to find us eating brunch.

I completed some personal work; Mara fell asleep for most of the afternoon and Emma was keen for some more Waxwings (Silkehale). As a result, a trip into Skagen to find some Waxwings (Silkehale) and to buy some food for the next few upcoming meals led to none being found, and the return of the grey and cloud. However, birding highlights included 14 Woodpigeon (Ringdue) and a few passage flocks of Redwing (Vindrossel) and Fieldfare (Sjagger). Amongst the food highlights were croissants, fresh bread and a nice mix of vegetables. The wind gradually increased and it took no time at all to get back as the cycling was super fast!

It's me and a Herring Gull (Sølmåge) in the lab.

On arrival, cake dropped off earlier by Simon and Lisa was had and all three of us say a big thank you to both of you. A Herring Gull (Sølmåge), a 1^st calendar year (probably male), that was initially picked up by Ragnar last week after being found a little underweight in the carpark and taken into care, was rehabilitated, and brought to the station for ringing and release today which was nice. The gull flew off from the beach and rested in the water before joining the other passage gulls. Let’s hope he lives a long and prosperous life. He certainly had attitude.

Darkness fell, and with just us as a trio, we had a short evening meeting, and an evening of odd jobs and chill is the plan. We may have a short wander looking for Woodcock (Skovsneppe), but we shall see, keep posted….

Jack Snipe (Enkeltbekkasin) weighing in at 91.7g, a real chunky bird and ready to migrate south ahead of the cold next week!?

.... An update I saw 6 Woodcock (Skovskeppe), 6 Jack Snipe (Enkeltbekkasin) and caught one of the latter. It was 91.7g and a fat 9!!! The heaviest ever Jack snipe (Enkeltbekkasin) I have ever handled or seen. Where are you off too???

Highlights from the observatory:

• A passage of Razorbill (Alk)
• Great-northern Diver (Islom)

Ringing totals

Jennes Sø

Elle Krattet

Jack snipe         Enkeltbekkasin        1

Fyrhaven

Herring Gull       Sølmåge                  1

Overall total: 10

Today’s observations on Dofbasen from observers in the area

People: Thomas Weston, Emma Fabre, Mara Glane Ragnar Smith, Simon Sigaard Christiansen & Lisa Vergin.

This morning I went to Kabeltromlen with the ringers, to count the birds migrating inland. The first hour was good, with 12 species, including a large diver (Great Northern or Yellow-billed) flying toward the northwest but remained too far to see. The next hours were very quiet, however the weather was nice.

Blackbird (Solsort), Merlin with a GPS track

For the ringers, it was also a quiet. No birds were caught for the first round, and one or two birds per round for the next few hours. They ringed 7 birds, a slow day to say the least. Among them, was one female Blackbird (Solsort), so they attached a GPS track on her. We named this bird Merlin. They closed the nets early due to the absence of bird.

Ragnar went to World’s end III to count the seabirds migrating. Knud joined him. They saw a Yellow-billed Diver (Hvidnæbbet Lom) flying east early in the morning, so this was a different bird than mine. They also spotted a good number of Razorbill (Alk), around 3 000 individuals. When Ragnar was about to leave, he heard on Zello a possible Great Shearwater flying and landing somewhere out at sea. Ragnar searched for it during one hour, without success.

Waxwings (Silkehale)

In the afternoon, I heard on Zello there were some Waxwings (Silkehale) in Skagen, so I went to try to see them. I waited for one and a half hour in the cemetery. When it begin to be dark, two birds finally flew into a berry bush. They took some berries and perched at the top of a tree to eat. They stayed ten minutes then they flew away.

Jay (Skovskade)

Meanwhile, Thomas and Mara opened the nets in the garden to try catching some Blackbirds (Solsort). They caught two : one male, we named Rowan, and one female, named Marie. They equipped them with a GPS tag. They also ringed a Jay (Skovskade)

This evening, we enjoyed the nice sunset.

Highlights from observations:
Yellow-billed Diver (Hvidnæbbet Lom) – 1
Waxwing - 2 (Skagen)

Ringing (Kabeltromlen)
Gærdesmutte - 1
Rødhals - 1
Solsort - 1
Sangdrossel - 1
Blåmejse - 2
Bogfinke – 1

Total : 7

Ringing (Det Grå)
Blåmejse - 1
Solsort – 1
Gærdesmutte - 1
Skovskade - 1

 Today’s observations on Dofbasen from observers in the area

People at the station: Thomas Weston, Emma Fabre, Ragnar Smith, Mara Glane, Simon Sigaard Christiansen, Lars & Lone; Jorgen

Once again, we saw the sunrise, a sore sight for the eyes after a long time of overcast skies, but with the clear sky came the cold. I went out to Worlds End 3 to do the seabird migration count, joined by Knud Pedersen, while Emma went to Kabeltromlen to do inland migration count along with the ringers. The sea didn’t have much migration outside razorbills (Alk) which showed in okay numbers alongside some kittiwakes (Ride). Migrating eiders (Ederfugl) offered the possibility of a king eider (Kongeederfugl) but it didn’t materialize today and overhead migration of a few finches and thrushes didn’t turn into arrivals of more Pine Grosbeaks (Krognæb). But the movement of alcids and kittiwakes kept us busy, with two Little Gulls (Dværgmåge) roosting out in Skagerrak was a nice addition for the day totals. A short walk in the immediate area behind worlds end 3 offered a nice and somewhat late song thrush (Sangdrossel), two stonechats (Sortstrubet Bynkefugl) and the highlight of today was a quite late barn swallow (Landsvale) and two migration attempting hen harriers (Blå Kærhøg). They went out over the sea but turned around and went back inland, not today hen harriers, not today. Ringing was equally quiet but the season’s first Fieldfare (Sjagger) being caught and an additional blackbird (Solsort) for the GPS-tracking project.

Say hello the "Raclette"

A short trip west of the sandworm track didn’t bring any additional birds, but Knud had 9 1k Caspian Gulls (Kaspisk Måge) along with a 2k Caspian Gull. Otherwise, the day was spent on admin-work, though Thomas opened the nets in the old lighthouse garden and caught a robin and house sparrow and recaught a blackbird that was caught last year in Skagen.

Robin

Tomorrow the wind turn to N-NE and clear skies which passerines love, cross fingers for Pine Grosbeaks, four pine grosbeaks is a tease with 100s waiting for making their trip across Skagerrak in southern Norway.

Clear skies means cold nights

Highlights from the obs:

Hen Harrier (Blå Kærhøg) 2 migr. Attempt

Barn Swallow (Landsvale) 1, very late

Caspian Gull 10, very high count

Ringing (Kabeltromlen):

Jernspurv – Dunnock: 2

Solsort – Blackbird: 1

Sjagger – Fieldfare: 1

Vindrossel – Redwing: 1

Fuglekonge – Goldcrest: 2

Total: 7

Ringing (Old Lighthouse Garden):

Rødhals – Robin: 1

Gråspurv – House Sparrow: 1

Total: 2

Link to today's observations from observers in the area

People at the station: Thomas Weston, Emma Fabre, Ragnar Smith, Mara Glane, Simon Sigaard Christiansen, Lars & Lone

Hej!

Today finally was the day! We got to use the tags that we where preparing the last night and looking forward to the past week. So before sunrise, as Thomas and I were opening the nets, we were excited about all the Blackbirds/Solsort we could here calling in the bushes. Together with Simon we managed to tag 5 Blackbirds today. They got a little backpack with an antenna, that was fitted to their size and weight. Now the route they take to and the location of their winter quarter can be uncovered and used for research. Hopefully they have a good and long trip!

Blackbird male first-year with a tag called "Sauron"

Otherwise we had some nice birds in the nets, 14 in total. One of them was a Bearded Reedling/Skægmejse which already had a ring. Turns out it was ringed here at Kabeltromlen last year on the 4th of November.

Bearded Reedling/Skægmejse recaptured a little over a year later

Because Emma joined us at Kabeltromlen today, to do the passerine migration count, Ragnar went alone to World's End 3. He was quickly joined by Knud and Jørgen and later by Erik. The had a quit morning until a Black Guillemot/Tejst that was unusually white got their attention. They suspected it could be a Mandtii's Black Guillemot. Erik managed to get some good photos of it, but it still needs to be decided if it is a Black Guillemot (mandtii) or "just" a normal one.

Three Pine Grosbeaks/Krognæb were also spotted at Grenen today. One was sitting on a mast close to the Radarstation, so we could see it with our scopes from Kabeltromlen. Check out this video made by the Finder Alex, where you can hear the excitement. Two flew over World's End 3 in the direction to the lighthouse and could be seen by all observers at the tip. So in the afternoon all of us got into Simons car and we drove to different places in Skagen with berry bushes to find them.

Because we were unsuccesfull with that we visited the harbour. Our goal was to attract the gulls with our tasty bread, but they were not interested in our offer. But we got to see a huge american ship and two Long-tailed Ducks/Havlit, all hanging around in the harbour.

Look at all those gulls!

After that we went and did some much needed shooping for food and snacks, to keep us through the week.

Highlights from the observations:

Pine Grosbeak/Krognæb - 3

wierd coloured Black Guillemot/Tejst

 Lapland Bunting/Lapværling

Ringing (Kabeltromlen):

Vindrossel - 1

Sangdrossel - 1

Solsort - 4

Rødhals - 3

Gærdesmutte - 1

Lille Gråsisken - 1

Skægmejse - 1

Blåmejse - 1

Lille Dompap - 1

Total = 14

Today’s observations on Dofbasen from observers in the area

People at the station: Thomas Weston, Emma Fabre, Ragnar Smith, Mara Glane, Simon Sigaard Christiansen, Lars & Lone

The day started with calm weather but another cloudy day for the team, getting progressively wetter throughout the morning and early afternoon and then a dry evening and we even saw the sun for a few minutes – the first time in about a week!

Spectrogram of the Pine Grobeak (Krognæb) lifted from a phone sound recording.

Mara, our guest Lone and I went out ringing and had a busy first two rounds with the catch mainly consisting in Blackbirds (Solsort) and Goldcrest (Fuglekonge). We are very excited about the coming few days and starting to GPS tag the Blackbirds (Solsort) so keep reading to find out more… The third round was a bit quieter, so I decided to leave the ringing team to sew some nets. It was a good shout as when I got to the north nets, I heard a call which seemed somewhat familiar but not one I have heard in real life before, just from a recording. It was a siskin-like double ‘pew pew’ which was heard a few times as the bird flew over unseen. It was a Pine Grosbeak (Krognæb)!! A sidenote: we have been listening to the calls of Pine Grosbeak (Krognæb) for a while now due to a large invasion of the species in Norway and Sweden, so the call ran some bells. I quickly started recording on my phone and messaged Ragnar, Emma, and the team at Worlds End 3. During the recording, I heard another local birder call out Pine Grosbeak (Krognæb) confirming my initial sounds and a great record with this being the first of the autumn and first since 2019, I think. The full writeup can be seen on DOFBasen link below... The bird flew over East, then back West unseen by all but heard by two observers, one voice recorder on a phone and the SM4 recorder at World’s End 3, crazy! There should be more to come.

Slavonian Grebe (Nordisk Lappedykker) off Worlds End 3 by Ragnar.

Migration was quite good this morning and was undertaken by Emma, Ragnar, and Jørgen. The highlights included a White-tailed Sea Eagle (Havørn) who came across the beach flushing all the gulls. a flock of 4 Slavonian Grebe (Nordisk Lappedykker) that were resting offshore and 10 Caspian Gulls (Kaspisk Måge) including three colour ringed gulls. There were the ‘usuals’ noted including good numbers of Common Scoter (Sortand), a few Gannet (Sule), Eider (Ederfugl), Kittiwake (Ride) and some auks moving.With the news, Emma came rushing over to the join the team and birds caught included a Bearded Tit (Skaegmejse), and a mix of new and recapture birds, but no grosbeak overhead or in the nets. I ended up sewing holes in four nets which was a success, and we closed all nets by 11:30 due to rain.

Sanderling (Sandløber) mist netting.

Migration and ringing done we came back to the observatory for food and to dry off for a little bit. The afternoon plans including catching slightly more unusually caught species such as Rock Pipit (Skærpiber) undertaken by Mara, and Sanderling (Sandløber) undertaken by myself and Emma. Both were equally unsuccessful but great to be out when there is no wind and a little bit of sun too!

One of eight tags prepared and ready for use. The 'tails' of the tag will be cut off once uniquely fitted to the individual.

Simon stayed to prepare tags and with the help of Mara and I after our ringing attempts, we ‘made up’ eight tags which is a big success covering all weight limits we have seen in the Blackbird (Solsort) ringing. Jørgen treated us to a takeaway as a thank you to the team for his time in Skagen and the birding from migration and around the area.

Highlights from the observatory:

• Pine Grosbeak (Krognæb)
• 10 Caspian Gulls (Kaspisk Måge)
• White-tailed sea eagle (Havørn)

Ringing totals

Kabeltromlen

Overall total: 17

Today’s observations on Dofbasen from observers in the area

People: Thomas Weston, Emma Fabre, Ragnar Smith, Mara Glane, Simon Sigaard Christiansen, Lars & Lone; Jorgen