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

Hej!

The anticipation for the last night of storm petrel catching was high, but it brought no rewards. Not a single bird was caught the entire night, leaving Rosa who was controlling the nets to occupy herself. After several coffees, she closed the nets just as Augustin and I were getting up at 5. We had better luck at Kabeltromlen, where we caught 12 birds. A reed bunting (Rørspurv) and a spotted flycatcher (Grå Fluesnapper) were the highlights in our nets today.

A young spotted flycatcher.

Between rounds, we were treated to a great view of a honey buzzard (Hvepsevåge) flying right over our heads, and in the distance, we spotted an osprey (Fiskeørn)—a first for me! Over at World’s End 3, migration was quiet, but Frederick and Ragnar spotted two ospreys, a hobby (Lærkefalk), a honey buzzard, and the first goldcrests (Fuglekonge) of autumn.

Nice sunrise at the observation point.

We didn’t have any tasks this afternoon, so everyone could enjoy the warm and sunny weather. After lunch and a quick nap, Ragnar and Frederick went birdwatching at Nordstrand, looking for warblers. Augustin spent three hours with his scope near Nordstrand, hoping to spot some raptors, and was lucky enough to see a hen harrier.

First year hen harrier (Blå Kærhøg)

Rosa also went for a walk, and I took a stroll into Skagen to explore the city like a real tourist—and treated myself to some ice cream.

A nice ice cream to reward me for my first whole week at the station.

In total we saw 9 different species of raptors today. The weather seems to be shifting, with a lot of rain expected tomorrow. We're looking forward to seeing what new observations and catches the change will bring!

Ringing (Kabeltromlen):

Solsort: 1

Rørsanger: 3

Grå Fluesnapper: 1

Munk: 3

Blåmejse: 2

Rørspurv: 1

Gransanger: 1

Total = 12

Link to todays observations in Skagen

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

Today Ragnar and I went for observation at a new location on the worlds end three dune row. We made this decision to try to get a better view on the passerine migration. All-in-all I think it's a pretty good solution, because all of the passerines turned around almost right above us.

Ragnar focused on the sea migration and I focused on the in-land migration.

All ready when we began I could see a good amount of passerines flying around in land. Suddenly I saw a flock of meadow pipits coming straight towards us where on of them seemed a bit deviant. But I finished my scanning of the terrain to wait for them to approach us.

In my deep day-dreaming I suddenly hear a call which I immediately id as a GREATER SHORT-TOED LARK (korttået lærke)! I find it and put my binoculars on it. And there it was; a light sand-coloured small lark. Thank you for yet another rarety.

Later in the day after we'd ended the morning obs, Ragnar and I went to try to relocate it. We didn't find it but we found two CRESTED LARKS (toplærker) instead! SHIT!

The ringing at Kabeltromlen was supervised by Lisa today. And she brought luck! They had 25 new birds today including a beautiful male redstart (rødstjert) and a young pied flycatcher (broget fluesnapper). 

Today was the first saturday of the month so it was big cleaning day. That took some hours and we all fell asleep afterwards...

Tonight we are trying the last storm-petrel-catching of the year, so we all cross our fingers. LET'S GET A STORM-PETREL TAK!

Ringing (Kabeltromlen)

Musvit - 1

Rødhals - 4

Rørsanger - 2

Rødstjert - 3

Broget Fluesnapper - 1

Munk - 2

Blåmejse - 1

Tornsanger - 1

Gransanger - 9

Total = 25

Link for today's observations in Skagen

People at the station: Ragnar Smith, Rosa Hicks, Simon Sigaard Christiansen, Lisa Vergin, Augustin Sticksel, Frederik Johansen, Mara Glane, Henrik, Ole and Birgitte

Hej!

We started today a little extra sleepy after yesterday’s big adventure. We set the nets up at Kabeltromlen, joined by Augustin today, who was keen to be back after last ringing in Skagen in 2021. While only 17 new birds were ringed, passerine migration seemed to have picked up with common Sylvia warblers moving through the shrubbery and wagtails and Tree Pipits (Skovpiber) overhead. Highlights of the ringing included two new species in the hand for Mara - a first-year Lesser Redpoll (Lille Gråsiskin) and Reedbunting (Rørspurv). We were also joined by guests Ole and Birgitte, who got to see many new species in the hand and learn about the ringing process.

Out at Worlds End Three, Ragnar and Fredrik were conducting the daily observations. Their count started off with a Black Scoter (Amerikansk Sortand) roosting on the Skagerrak. There was also a variety of raptors migrating including one young male Osprey (Fiskeørn), one Hen Harrier (Blå Kærhøg), and three Merlin (Dværgfalk).

After lunch, the crew split up to tackle some tasks. Augustin and Mara headed to Solnedgangspladsen Gammel Skagen to begin a Northern Fulmar (Mallemuk) survey. They spent several hours walking around the tip of Grenen back to the station, searching for washed up dead Fulmar, for research coordinated by Aarhus university, investigating fulmar diets. They didn’t find any Fulmar, however, did bring the scopes to spot some other wildlife on the route home. And it was a good job that they did, because at Højen Fyrvej they spotted a ringed Red Knot (Islandsk Ryle) and were able to read the ring! It was a Norwegian ring, so we’re excited to discover more about this bird.

The ringed first year red knot read by Augustin and Mara. 

Meanwhile, Ragnar, Fredrik, and I went to the Skarvsøen to collect old net poles form the 2024 summer CES project. We returned in time for a quick swim as our guests Ole and Birgitte were kindly cooking dinner for us all.

The crew with empty plates after clearly enjoying the delicious pasta cooked by Ole and Birgitte - thank you!

We have a busy day planned for tomorrow with early observations and ringing and a night tour – hopefully we will have the excitement of some nice birds to keep us going over the day.

Ringing (Kabeltromlen)

Rørsanger – 4

Gransanger - 6

Rørspurv – 1

Tornsanger - 1

Munk - 2

Løvsanger – 1

Lille Gråsiskin – 1

Rødstjert – 1

Total = 17

Link to today's observations from observers in the area

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

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

The day started as usual with the ringers going to kabeltromlen and the observers going to Worlds End 3. The counting never really started as there were quite few birds migrating and roosting out, but we still managed to pick up nice species such as Mediterranean Gull (Sorthovedet Måge), Pale-bellied Brent (Lysbuget Knortegås), Common Merganser (Stor Skallesluger) and Caspian Gull (Kaspisk Måge) and our neighbour Ole came out and visited us, this time I remembered to bring a scope for him, so he could join us.

Identifying gulls is a sadomasochistic exercise, yet we persist, here we are trying to document a strange lesser black-backed gull (Sildemåge)

But during the counting we got a message that a Stilt Sandpiper (Klireryle) was found in Vestamager! Second record for Denmark since 1998 and it is one of my dream waders!!! We started planning if we should twitch the bird and we decided to do it. We returned to the station and while the others were getting ready, I went out on a guided tour with two American birdwatchers from Michigan. We went out to Grenen and we managed to see a very nice Black Guillemot (Tejst), Merlin (Dværgfalk) and a very nice Gannet (Sule). They were just as pleased with the outcome as I was, I was a bit afraid that there would be any birds to show due to the way too nice weather. We came and I said my goodbyes and then it was roadtrip time with the whole SKAF gang. But the worst case scenario happened as we received a message that the bird hadn’t been seen for a long time and people were looking for it. So before we got too far we decided to turn around and instead go to Lille Vildmose near Aalborg.

Augustin and me - BWA (Birders With Attitude)

hough there were no Stilt Sandpiper, we still managed to see some really nice birds! Golden Eagles (Kongeørn), Common Crane (Trane), Black-necked Grebe (Sorthalset Lappedykker), Whooper Swan (Sangsvane) and some really cool views of stag Red Deers (Kronhjort).

Looking at the many birds of Lille Vildmose

After Lille Vildmose I took over the wheel from Frederik who had been driving for last 4 hours and then we went to a spot where I knew a pair of Eurasian Eagle Owls were roosting, and got some really nice views of sitting on the ground while three kestrels (Tårnfalk) were mobbing it.

Looking at Eurasian Eagle Owl, everyone are happy

The star of the show!

When everyone were satisfied with the views we went straight back Skagen, got some nice pasta with tomato sauce cooked by Augustine and then straight to bed (Though im still up writing this blog-post, c’est la vie).

Goodnight!

Ringing (Kabeltromlen):

Rødhals - European Robin: 1

Rørsanger - Eurasian Reed Warbler: 3

Tornsanger - Common Whitethroat: 1

Havesanger - Garden Warbler: 1

Gransanger - Chiffchaff: 3

Total: 9

Link to today's observations from observers in the area

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

Hi all!

Today was off to a great start as I smashed one of our three remaining bowls, and a rain shower delayed our birding duties. Luckily the rain passed… unluckily the bowl didn’t unsmash. But by 06:00, we were out at Grenen opening the nets and setting up the scopes.

The observation team had a quiet morning, with a Caspian Gull (Kaspisk Måge), Northern Shoveler (Skeand), and Pintail (Spidsand). The highlight of the morning was a second calendar year Long-Tailed Skua (Lille Kjove), which hung around for a few minutes, although unfortunately this bird couldn’t be spotted by the ringing team from Kabeltromlen.

The observation team making sure all angles are covered.

The ringing started with high hopes, as many passerines were spotted in the bushes on the journey to the site. However, bird numbers quickly dropped off after the first round, ending the day with 11 new birds ringed. The species included the usuals of Greater Whitethroat (Tornsanger), Reedwarbler (Rørsanger), and Blackcap (Munk), as well as a Robin (Rødhal), which are becoming a regular as autumn sets in.

We can finally go around Kabeltromlen without mosquito nets!

After lunch Ragnar and Fredrik had their sites set on a slightly different type of sea-watching: fishing! They bought some gear and set off to Højen Fyrvej, where they caught a mackerel. They are currently out as this blog is being written, trying to catch enough to feed the hungry volunteers, who can eat for 5000.

In the afternoon, we were joined by our guests Ole and Birgitte for a skull ossification masterclass by Lisa. The skulls of young birds take time to fully ossify, or harden with bone, similarly to young babies. This means a difference in the colour of the ossified and unossified cranium can be seen in a “limit,” and be an incredibly useful tool when ageing birds in the hand in autumn. Lisa demonstrated this on some donated specimens, and it was fascinating to see the different ossification limits and patterns between species. Thank you Lisa – we’re looking forward to testing out these methods in the field from tomorrow!  

The team being shown the partially ossified skull of a young blackbird.

Ringing (Kabeltromlen):

Munk: 5

Rødhals: 1

Rørsanger: 4

Tornsanger: 1

Total: 11

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

Link to todays observations in Skagen

People at the station: Ragnar Smith, Rosa Hicks, Simon Sigaard Christiansen, Lisa Vergin, Augustin Sticksel, Frederik Johansen, Mara Glane, Ole and Birgitte

Hej!

Today, instead of catching birds at Kabeltromlen, we caught some leaves, reeds, and a lot of wind. After catching three birds (one of them a beautiful Redstart / Rødstjert) and spending four hours with open nets, we decided to close them. The vegetation around the nets was getting quite high, so Rosa trimmed all the reeds back down after I closed the nets. Now, we're prepared for a better ringing day tomorrow (hopefully).

The boys had a nice morning at World End's 3, spotting a Great Skua (Storkjove), two Arctic Skuas (Almindelig Kjove), and two Fulmars (Malleuk). Augustin was pretty happy to get some more practice identifying the Fulmars.

In the afternoon, Rosa, Augustin, and I went on a walk along the beach to Nordstrand. We saw many adorable Sanderlings (Sandløber) and Common Ringed Plovers (Stor Præstekrave), a Bar-tailed Godwit (Lille Kobbersneppe), and two little seals chilling on the beach.

Seal laying on the beach

On our way back through the dunes, we took the opportunity to bring some poles left out from the CES ringing back to the station. We also got a nice view of a Marsh Harrier (Rørhøg).

Augustin and I looking over the cormorant lake for some grebes.

Then we had a chill evening with a nice pasta dinner with our guest at the station.

Until tomorrow!

Ringing totals (Kabeltromlen):

Gransanger - 2

Rødstjert - 1

Total - 3

Link to todays observations in Skagen

People at the station: Ragnar Smith, Rosa Hicks, Simon Sigaard Christiansen, Frederick Johansen, Augustin Sticksel, Ole & Brigitte and Mara Glane

G'day ladies and gentlemen

I hope your day has been just as good as mine, or better!

So get ready for a nice day-telling from all of us to you :)

Last night we attempted to catch storm-petrels (stormsvaler). It was Augustin who took on the heavy duty to be the nightwatcher and keeping an eye on the nets the whole night. We didn't unfortunately catch any storm birds, but we caught three common ringed plover (stor præstekrave).

Meanwhile at around 23 our new volunteer, Mara, arrived all the way from Germany!

Today I started going to world's end three together with Ragnar. Later Augustin and Knud joined our observation. Today there weren't as many gulls on the beach as there were yesterday. We didn't have 12 (!) Mediterranean gulls (Sorthovedet måge) but we had around three of them today, which was quite nice anyways. The observation also gifted us a beautiful Black Scoter (Amerikansk sortand) which layed close in skagerak and gave some good veiws. Later ROC called out a roosting Shag (Topskarv) on zello. It was quite active fouraging, so it was limited how good the views ended up being. Our guest Ole came around 9 am to try and get the Black Scoter and Shag, but without any luck unfortunately. Hopefully he will get some more success tomorrow when he joins the obs with us.

We didn't spend that much extra time after the standerdised-observation-period ended. That meant Ragnar and I got to finish, and sending our rarity commity bird descriptions on both the Brown booby (Brun sule) and the Balearic shearwater (Balearskråpe) and some more.

The ringing, let by Rosa, Mara and Simon gave a good surprise. It concerned not one, but two eisvogels (kingfisher, martin pescador, alcedo atthis, isfugl)! But otherwise the total couldn't keep up with the coolness from the kingfishers.

Later we all went on a driving trip to show Mara a bit of Skagen. Ragnar and I hadn't taken our scopes with us, so of course there were a shit ton of birds. But anyways, we then went to do some shopping, and now we have eaten a lovely lasagne made by Rosa, and we're all ready for tomorrow's surprises.

Ringing totals (night catching):

Stor Præstekrave – 3

Ringing totals (Kabeltromlen):

Tornsanger - 1

Gransanger - 3

Løvsanger - 1

Grå Fluesnapper - 1

Isfugl - 1

Munk - 4

Rødhals - 5

Rørsanger - 3

Total: 19

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

Link to todays observations in Skagen

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

1/9 is the first autumn day in started with the usual routine of going to Worlds End 3. The day didn’t bring about another rarities BUT we completely blew apart the old Skagen-record for Mediterranean Gulls, with 12 individuals counted at the same time! All of them 1k birds, no nice adults, but still cool to see so many of this once quite rare bird in Denmark! Of other nice birds was a Common Kingfisher that flew by us before sunrise at the OP. My first ever seen in Skagen, same goes for Frederik. Of other rarities was the fact that the entire observatory was out doing the obs, so everyone got a share in fun that is counting migration as we had no one with a C-license at the Kabeltromlen today. With nice observations of arctic skuas and other seabirds it was still nice, though there was no migration. Everyone went back when the obs stopped, but me and Frederik stayed longer since a trawler was heading towards harbour with a bunch of fulmars following, so we tried to see if we could find another Balearic Shearwater or something better, but no dice, except 18 fulmars

SKAF's emotional support pet - Igor, has probably seen more bird species than most birdwatchers

Ezra had to leave though as he had to return to the UK, we wish him safe travels and good luck with all future endeavours, it was nice having you here! After the obs me and Frederik went through Ellekrattet where we found a quite late brood of Icterine Warblers with younglings getting fed. We hope they have a safe travel to Africa, if not, we hope that they will make some rarity finder very happy somewhere.

The finnstick - here implemented expertly by Frederik Johansen

At the station we all took long naps and Hans had to leave, it was a great joy to have him also, had we hope returns soon and bring some more rare birds with him to Skagen. We then got ready for storm petrel catching and greeted the new guests that were going to stay at the Apartment, Ole and Birgitte, who are going stay with us for the week and along with them Mara our new volunteer from Germany also joined us! Two people left, three more arrived, There is always people at the station, an international revolving door.

Prepping the nets for storm petrel catching

Now we wait for a Storm Petrel to be caught, otherwise fingers cross for a good morning obs!

Ringing (Kabeltromlen):

Total: 0

Link to today's observations from observers in the area