With a weather forecast almost identical to the one yesterday, we knew what to expect. Rosa and Mara went to Kabeltromlen as per usual while me, Augustin and Emma went out to Worlds End 3. The sea was somewhat quiet, but we got some good looks at migrating Black-throated Divers (Sortstrubet Lom), Mediterranean Gulls (Sorthovedet Måge) and Little Gulls (Dværgmåge). Again today we also had some good migration of passerines with highlights being Grey Wagtail (Bjergvipstjert) and this autumn seasons first siskins (Grønsisken). Far away a perching Goshawk (Duehøg) 1k caused some initial headaches, but the migrain of the day was when Augustin, while covering the inland migration, called out “Pochard!”. I immediately swung the scope in the general direction he was looking and I simply couldn't find the bird. While I was looking he started saying strange stuff like “It looks like a Red-crested Pochard (Rødhovedet And)” and right before it went below the bushes above the Cormorant Lake I saw a dark duck with seemingly pale/whiteish wings. Red-crested Pochard is more rare than Black-browed Albatros (Sortbrynet Albatros), with only one record ever in Skagen. After some quick deliberation I jumped on the mountainbike and went to the track that leads to the Cormorant Lake and started walking. After some wet shoes and quick walking, I was finally at the lake, but no Red-crested Pochard. Instead a nice female-type Garganey (Atlingand) was swimming around! Not as rare as the pochard, still a really good bird in Skagen during the autumn, with three autumn records ever in Skagen, it was a nice consolation price.

From a strictly local perspective, this is the bird of the day, but in broader sense, long-tailed got it beat.

While looking for the pochard I received a call from Eric about a Long-tailed Skua (Lille Kjove) 1k roosting in reef out of the tip, so I called Augustin and told him that there was a Long-tailed Skua at the tip, but they had already seen it and videoed, nice! I started my long walk back, and out at the Simon was out with us looking for the Long-tailed Skua, but they hadn’t seen it for some time. Otherwise it was quiet, except the Snow Bunting (Snespurv) had returned and we could see from close range feeding until a Wheatear (Stenpikker) scared it away!

confiding small snowball, though this one is a bit early

When the standardized period was over, Emma went back and Augustin went to the Cormorant Lake to look for the pochard, while I stayed back. It resulted in some of the best views of a Long-tailed Skua I have ever had. After two hours I went back to the station, cleaned up and went to the Skagen Art Museum to experience something other than birds. Sadly the birds followed me as I found a taxidermied Spectacled Eider (Brilleederfugl) female! Quite a surprising location to a taxidermied individual of a species that is otherwise restricted to the NE parts of far east Russia and NW most Alaska, combined with the fact that is a relatively small population makes we wonder where this specific individual is from…

A live one would be quite the sensation, as there is only five records in the western palearctic, all of them from Northern Norway

After watching art and eating ice cream I returned back to the station to have a half-way meeting with Simon about my stay at the station, as I have now been at SKAF for two months and three days. The others had also returned, Rosa had also been out for a walk and have had a meeting with Simon, Mara was out with her boyfriend and Augustin didn’t find the pochard. A quick evening meeting later we were down at the birders club to hear a special talk about the orcas (Spækhugger) in Skagerrak by Peter Østrin, a very interesting presentation with some very interesting data, thank you so much Peter! Now we are all heading back to bed after a long day.

Ringing (Kabeltromlen):

Gærdesmutte - Wren: 6

Rødhals - Robin: 14

Jernspurv - Dunnock: 2

Munk - Blackcap: 5

Rørspurv - Reed Bunting: 1

Gransanger - Chiffchaff: 5

Fuglekonge - Goldcrest: 2

Rørsanger - Reed Warbler: 2

Total: 37

Highlights from the observation:

Long-tailed Skua - Lille Kjove 1 1k light morph, very scarce migrant, third recorded by SKAF this autumn

Garganey - Atlingand 1 female-type, very rare autumn visitor, third autumn record ever

Mediterranean Gull - Sorthovedet Måge 2, still hanging around

Possible Red-crested Pochard - Rødhovedet And 1, second record for Skagen if refound

Goshawk - Duehøg 1k, scarce autumn visitor

Snow Bunting - Snespurv 1, still hanging around

Link to today's observations from observers in the area

People at the station: Ragnar Smith, Rosa Hicks, Augustin Sticksel, Mara Glane, Emma Fabre, Simon S. Christiansen, Erik Christophersen, Peter Østrin, Jean Østrin

On my first day at the station, I was happy to see a Snow bunting (Snespurv) and a many Common Eiders at the World’s End 3. They are rare in France. Otherwise, seebird migration was slow. But there are some interesting birds set on the beach like Kaspian Gull (Kaspisk Måge). Also some Meadow Pipit (Engpiber) flew over us, calling. For the ringers, there were more birds than yesterday, with many European Robin (Rødhals) and Eurasian Blackcap (Munk).

My first observation

In afternoon Ragnar went to a walk on the beach. Augustin, Rosa and me wanted some adventure, so we tried to find a way through into the stamp to reach the dunes. From the dunes, we spotted some nice birds like Horned Grebe (Nordisk Lappedykker) or Artic Skua (Almindelig Kjove). So Ragnar join us to see these birds.

Seewatching on the dunes

Highlights from the observations:

Kaspian Gull (Kaspisk Måge)
Little Gull (Dværgmåge)
Snow bunting (Snespurv)

Ringing (Kabeltromlen):
Vandrikse - 1
Rødhals - 12
Rørsanger - 2
Gærdesmutte - 2
Rødstjert - 1
Munk - 13
Gransanger - 5
Fuglekonge – 2
Total 38

Link to today's observations from observers in the area

People at the station: Ragnar Smith, Rosa Hicks, Augustin Sticksel, Mara Glane, Knud Peterson, Emma Fabre, Simon S. Christiansen, Jørgen Kabel og Erik Christphersen.

We started the morning full of pep for the week ahead. As the sun rose, the nets were opened, and the scopes were raised to the skies.

The ringing started with a Water Rail (Vandrikse), several Wrens (Gærdesmutte), and a few Chiffchaffs (Gransanger). While we were busy looking for moult limits within the feathers to age the chiffchaffs, we received a very exciting message – “Rosenstær ved Sandormen sti.” Just as Mara and I had figured that this might be a Rosy Starling (Rosenstær), with our Duolingo-limited Danish, Ragnar called to confirm this, much to our excitement. Having finished processing the birds and with a bit of time to spare between net rounds we took our waders on a rare excursion from Kabeltromlen and managed to spot the beautiful bird in the flock – success!

The young Rose-Coloured Starling (Rosenstær), photographed by Ragnar.

The remaining ringing was steady, with 21 new birds processed. The highlight was a Jay (Skovskade), a new species for both Mara and me. It was super cool to see the blue of the covert feathers, but just as cool to see the blue tones elsewhere that you can’t see in the field – on the tail, the forehead, and the iris!

The Eurasian Jay (Skovskade) caught at Kabeltromlen.

The observers were joined by Knud this morning. After the excitement of the Rosy Starling (Rosenstær), they had a quieter second half of the observations, seeing a Great Skua (Storkjove), Red Kite (Rød Glente), and the same young Black Tern (Sortterne) that's been hanging around Grenen.

We came back home to a lunch of fried rice cooked by Augustin in an attempt to use some of the 2kg of rice Ragnar cooked last night – good job the fried rice was delicious, as we barely made a dent in our rice-stock.

In the afternoon, Augustin went to Buttervej, while I headed South of Skagen to Sandmilen. Our trips were quiet bird-wise, aside from Stonechats (Vestlig Sortstrubet Bynkefugl) and a Purple Sandpiper (Sortgrå Ryle). Meanwhile, Ragnar got on with some admin, and Mara her university assignment. Before long we had arrivals in the form of new guests and lovely Emma, a new volunteer from France who will be with us until the end of the season. We’re about to head off for an early night’s sleep, excited to see what tomorrow will bring and show Emma the ropes of observations at Skagen!

Highlights from the observations:

• Black Tern (Sortterne) 1k - 1
• Great Skua (Storkjove) - 1
• Arctic Tern (Havterne) - 5
• Rose-Coloured Starling (Rosenstær) 1k - 1, the eigth autumn record for Skagen!

Ringing (Kabeltromlen)

Vandrikse - 1

Lille Gråsiskin - 1

Tornsanger - 1

Skovskade - 1

Musvit - 1

Blåmejse - 2

Gærdesmutte - 4

Jernspurv - 1

Rødhals - 1

Gransanger - 8

Total = 21

Link to today's observations from observers in the area

People at the station: Ragnar Smith, Rosa Hicks, Augustin Sticksel, Mara Glane, Knud Peterson, Emma Fabre.

Hej!

The day started with a very majestic sunrise as Rosa and I finished opening the nets. Ringing was slow, with a total of 19 birds. Between handling a cute Goldcrest/Fulekonge and a feisty Great Tit/Musvit and Reed Bunting/Rørspurv we had time to practice our ageing skills with Esben.

A picture worthy sunrise at Kabeltromlen

Cute madame Goldcrest

The morning with Augustin and Ragnar found a Horned Grebe/Nordisk Lappedykker at World's End 3. Also the Black Tern was still around. As a nice change the boys got bamboozled by a calling weasel that sounded like a wader.

After lunch, we said goodbye to Esben, and he and Ragnar hurried to the train station. Ragnar joined because he had to do a little trip to Hjørring. Augustin went on a long walk to Nordstrand over Skagen Vest Fyr. He spotted a Bar-tailed Godwit/Lille Kobbersneppe on the way. Rosa also went on a walk and saw a lot of Meadow Pipits/Engpiber, Jays/Skovskade, Adders/Hugorm and a friendly cow. My afternoon was much like yesterday - I stayed in to write page after page, determined to finally finish my uni assignment.

Enjoying the sun, animals and nature on a nice walk!

Highlights from the observations:

Horned Grebe/Nordisk Lappedykker - early and unusual record; last sightings in Skagen 0-2 annualy and then later in the autumn

Black Tern/Sortterne - still around

2-3 Little Gulls/Dværgmåge

Ringing (Kabeltromlen):

Musvit - 1

Gærdesmutte - 3

Jernspurv - 1

Rørsanger - 1

Rødhals - 1

Munk - 3

Tornsanger - 1

Blåmejse - 1

Rørspurv - 1

Gransanger - 5

Fuglekonge - 1

Total = 19

Link to today's observations from observers in the area

People at the station: Ragnar Smith, Rosa Hicks, Augustin Sticksel, Mara Glane, Esben Hansen.

Today started as every other day with the ringers going to Kabeltromlen and the observers going out to Worlds End 3. Already on the way I heard what sounded like the call of a Yellow-browed Warbler (Hvidbrynet Løvsanger), but it only called once, so we will never know. Out at Worlds End 3 we could hear all the pipits calling, so Augustin kept an eye on the sea and I looked up. It was quite nice to see the migration slowly getting kicked into gear, with dozens of meadow pipits (Engpiber) trying to migrate along with small numbers of other passerines. Though nothing too crazy was seen, we still had a Black Tern (Sortterne) out fishing amongst all the gulls and six Mediterranean Gulls (Sorthovedet Måge).

Fencepost Jumping Spider - Stor Springedderkop enjoying the sun at the lab

The ringers weren’t as busy as us, but managed to catch a Treecreeper (Træløber), a nice bird up here. They were also joined by two young children (aged 6 & 3). It is always a privilege to show birds to children in ringing demonstrations and hopefully inspire the next generation of bird enthusiasts.

Our small guests captivated by an even smaller Goldcrest (Fuglekonge).

When we were all done, we went back to lighthouse and started cleaning as it was sanitation Saturday aka cleaning day. When we were done, we all went out, while Mara and Esben stayed at the lighthouse. I went to World End 1 and 3 to check all the gulls and terns, in the hope of a Sabine’s Gull (Sabinemåge) would turn up, but no dice, though there were some rock pipits, which was nice. Rosa caught an Adder (Hugorm) and recorded a tree, while Augustin got lost in Nedermose. When we all came back, dinner was ready, which was eaten with great gusto. Now we are all tired and are going to bed, autumn has started and its only going to be better from now on.

Wart-biter - Vortebider, one of the largest grasshoppers in Denmark, if there is no birds in the air, you look down

Ringing (Kabeltromlen):

Rørsanger - Reed Warbler: 1

Rødhals - European Robin: 2

Jernspurv - Dunnock: 1

Gransanger - Chiffchaff: 1

Fuglekonge - Goldcrest: 1

Gærdesmutte - Eurasian Wren: 2

Træløber - Treecreeper: 1

Total: 9

Highlights from obs:

Sortterne - Black Tern 1, scarce species in Skagen

Sorthovedet Måge - Mediterranean Gull 6, high count for Skagen

Link to today's observations from observers in the area

People at the station: Ragnar Smith, Rosa Hicks, Augustin Sticksel, Mara Glane, Esben Hansen, Mads Hagen, Helge and Inga.

Today I went out with Ragnar to Worlds End 3 for our observations. We saw a Spottet Redshank (Sortklire), a young Black Tern (Sortterne) along with some Caspian Gulls (Kaspisk Måge) and mediterranean Gull (Sorthovedt Måge). After our obervations we stayed out a bit longer and met a birdwatcher from america called ScottRosa and Mara went out to Kabeltromlen to open the nets, they had abit of a slow morning. The ringed ten birds today, highlights were a Reed Bunting (Rørspurv), Water Rail (Vandrikse) and a recaptured Kinfisher (Isfugl).

Ragnar and me in the observations wit Scott. credit: Sarah McKinney

In the afternoon I went out to go shopping with Ragnar, Mara continued working on her university assignment and Rose walked to Højen Fyr where she found a Purple Sandpiper (Sortgrå Ryle). After that Mads Hagen arrived at the station, he is going to give a talk about wildlife photography tomorrow in the lighthouse museum. Me and Rose went out to go for walks around the lighthouse where we saw a beautiful adult male Hen Harrier (Blå Kærhøg), what a stunning bird!

Helge takig a piture of a Golden Plover (Hjeile) on the beach

After that Ragnar found a Snow Bunting (Snespurv) at Worlds End 3 while observing Gulls on the beach. This is the second earliest record of this species in Denmark! So I rushed to the beach to see it as well, there I met up with Ragnar and Mads and we walked home for a delicious dinner Rose had prepared. Esben joined us for dinner he arrived moments earlier, he is going to say at the station until Sunday to join the ringing.

Picture of the Snow Bunting (Snespurv) 

Observations of the Day:

Kaspian Gull / Kaspisk Måge -11

Snow Bunting / Snespurv – 1

Hen Harrier / Blå Kærhøg - 1

Spotted Redshank / Sortklire – 1

Black Tern / Sortterne - 1

Ringing (Kabeltromlen)

Munk – 1

Blåmejse – 1

Jernspurv – 1

Rødhals – 1

Vandrikse - 1

Rørspurv – 1

Gransanger – 4

Total = 10

Link to today's observations from observers in the area

People at the station: Ragnar Smith, Rosa Hicks, Augustin Sticksel, Mara Glane, Oluf Lou, Mette, Meds Hagen, Esben Hansen, Helge and Inga.

Hej!

After a slightly rainy start to the ringing today, we were rewarded for our early rise with a beautiful rainbow and some great species, including a Water Rail/Vandrikse and a Tree Pipit/Skovpiber. Oluf, Mette and Helge joined us todaz - thanks for the help and the great company! We caught 27 birds in total and had a great chance to further develop our ageing skills with dunnocks/Jernspurv, which we seem to be catching more frequently now.

The Tree Pipit/Skovpiber in front of a faint rainbow

Ringing in front of a rainbow

Ragnar and Augustin, at the Observation, spottet some migrating Grey Watails, a Honey Buzzard flyig over and two Arctic Skuas. Surprises where two Swifts - quite late for the seasos- and and a first-year Yellow-legged Gull, which is the first report of this species in the area in years!

Yellow-legged gull (1k) / Middelhavs-sølvmåge

After a quick refuel of energy at the station, itwas back to birding. Ragnar spotted eight Spotted Flycatcher at Elle Krattet before meeting Augustin and Rosa for seawatching at World's End 3. While they where out, they noticed that the air was filled with Dunnock/Jernspurv calls and the sky was showing a beautiful rainbow (again). Ragnar, who went home earlier to cook us a delicius dinner, missed the sight of 40 Fulmars/Mallemuk following a fishing travler.

Sun + Rain = Rainbow

Hightligts from the observations:

Yellow-legged Gull / Middelhavssølvmåge - 1 1k (first record for Skagen since 2019)

Caspian Gull / Kaspisk Måge - 2 1k, 2k

Mediterranean Gull / Sorthovedet Måge - 3 1k

Arctic Skua / Almindelig Kjove- 2 1k

Honey Buzzard / Hvepsevåge - 1 1k (migration attempt for the fourth day in a row)

Ringing (Kabeltromlen):

Vandrikse - 1

Musvit - 1

Grå Fluesnapper - 1

Rødhals - 8

Løvsanger - 1

Jernspurv - 9

Munk - 5

Skovpiber - 1

Total: 27

Link to today's observations from observers in the area

People at the station: Ragnar Smith, Rosa Hicks, Augustin Sticksel, Mara Glane, Oluf Lou, Mette, Helge and Inga.

Hi folks!

Autumn was well and truly here this morning so we put our thermals on and packed our flasks of coffee ready for morning observations and ringing.

Ragnar and Augustin were at World's End Three, joined by Knud and guests Helge and Inga. The team spotted 11 Fulmar (Mallemuk) and 555 Gannets (Sule). They also spotted a single Great Northern Diver (Islom) and a few Rock Pipits (Skærpiber).

Great Northern Diver (Islom).

Meanwhile, Mara and I were joined by Oluf for the ringing. The cold weather had brought with it the first Dunnock (Jernspurv) of the season in the first net. This was followed by 7 more - so we quickly got to work trying to wrap our heads around Dunnock ageing. The session also saw 14 Blackcaps (Munk), 2 Redstarts (Rødstjert), and 1 Wren (Gærdesmutte), with 40 new birds brought in with the colder weather.

After lunch we went out on some independent galavants: Augustin went on his second trip of the day to Grenen, where he counted Sandwich Terns (Splitterne) and spotted a Sparrowhawk (Spurvehøg). Ragnar went on his second trip of his stay to the Skagen Barbers, where he looked out the window wishing he was birding.

We then got on with some admin and cleaning tasks, discovering a dead Hummingbird Hawk Moth (Duehale) in the process, quite an unusual lepidoptera species for the region. We then enjoyed a warming soup cooked by Augustin and are all looking forward to an early night.

Augustin cleaning the bikes, before treating himself to a trip up the lighthouse for being such an industrious worker.

The weather tomorrow looks similar to today's, so we are looking forward to some more autumn migration action - good night!

Ringing (Kabeltromlen)

Munk - 14

Rødhals - 4

Blåmejse - 1

Rødstjert - 2

Rørsanger - 1

Gransanger - 5

Løvsanger - 3

Jernspurv - 8

Solsort - 1

Gærdesmutte - 1

Total = 40

Link to today's observations from observers in the area

People at the station: Ragnar Smith, Rosa Hicks, Augustin Sticksel, Mara Glane, Helge, Inga, Oluf Lou.

If you wanna learn more about the current volunteers, or previous volunteers, then you can learn more about them here!

Westerly winds are finally upon us, so with high hopes and closed nets, we went out to world end 3, with everyone out there plus some company, but even though we got good numbers, no rarities dropped by. Gannets (Sule) were the dominating bird with over a thousand migrating and feeding in both Kattegat and Skagerrak, other good birds were two arctic skuas (Almindelig Kjove), Caspian Gull (Kaspisk Måge), Mediterranean Gull (Sorthovedet Måge) and a very nice 1k Honey Buzzard (Hvepsevåge) that came in the from see and passed by in perfect light.

Cover from the wind is essential for seabird watching

After the obs ended, we had sadly had to say goodbye to Frederik, though he was only here for a relatively short time, he surely managed to hit the nail on the head bird-wise with his stay! After he left, we only managed to sit down indoors for a short time before leaving again, to do some more obs at World End 1.

Autumn season looking so bright, we have to wear sunglasses

With the strong winds from south, surely some seabirds must be pushed out of Kattegat. Augustin had been talking about wanting to see shearwaters and this seemed as a good time as any other time. And boy we weren’t disappointed! Within 20 minutes we had booked our first Sooty Shearwater (Sodfarvet Skråpe) and within the hour we had seen two. Rosa joined us and we feared that the show was over, but thankfully it wasn’t, two hours of sea bird watching in periodic rain and strong winds booked us a total of four Sooty Shearwater, one Manx Shearwater, eight fulmars (Mallemuk), three arctic skuas and nice numbers of other cool species, and we managed to get good views of them all, weather permitting. After a quite successful evening obs, we went back to eat some homemade dinner cooked by Mara and enjoy the rest of the evening. What a perfect way to end a windy autumn day.

Intense staring at the Kattegat, hoping for that straight winged silhouet passing through the scope view at high speed

Ringing (Kabeltromlen):

Total: 0

Link to today's observations from observers in the area

People at the station: Ragnar Smith, Rosa Hicks, Augustin Sticksel, Frederik Johansen, Mara Glane, Helge, Inga

Today ringing got canceled due to bad weather, so we only went out for a quick observation session at Worlds End before we rushed home before the rain storm hit Grenen, the highlights of that were probably an Arctic Skua (Almindelig Kjove) and a Curlew Sandpiper (Krumnæbed Ryle). On our way back home we made a quick stop at Elle Krattet to look for some Passerines that might have gone to shelter there.

Golden Plover (Hjele) near Råbjerg Kirke

After a little break we headed out to Råbjerg Kirke during a rain break there we found a White-tailed Eagle (Havørne) and a Golden Plover (Hjeile) that looked very long leged! So we set up our scopes and tried to see if it could be a Pacific Golden Plover (Sibirsk Tundra Hjeile), wich it unfortunately wasn’t so after around forty-five minutes we headed back home to eat lunch. After lunch we got some leftover cake ad sandwiches gifted from the SKAF Board meeting this morning, thank you for that!

Inspecting the Golden Plover (Hjeile) during the bad weather

In the afternoon I went out to Grenen with Ragnar, Rosa and Frederick to look for some rare warblers in the bushes but unfortunately weren’t successful with that. After that we relaxed a bit at home and I went out for a beautiful sunset walk around the lighthouse were I found two skylarks (Sanglærke). After that Rosa made delicious Pizza for dinner and we went to bed a bit earlier than usual to be prepared for a promising day tomorrow!

The lighthouse with a rainbow at sunset

Link to todays observations in Skagen

People at the station: Ragnar Smith, Rosa Hicks, Simon Sigaard Christiansen, Augustin Sticksel, Frederik Johansen, Mara Glane