Another day, another early wakeup. Despite having done the 02:30 AM wakeup almost everyday since the middle of May, it does not get any easier (at least for me). At 3 AM, we once again headed out to open the nets at Kabeltrommelen. The sunrise was remarkable this morning and one of the things I love most about the mornings. They make the day so much better!

Ringing was fairly successful the first few rounds considering the late date. We were able to catch a nice Lesser Redpoll (Lille Gråsisken) and several Munk which made Isis very happy. Then the highlight came: As I was walking around the north loop, I had not caught any birds up until that point in the round and while I was walking by I initially did not notice the bird. Then as I got closer, hanging in the lowest net ring was a female Common Rosefinch (Karmindompap). I immediately called over Simon who was not far away and we hastily brought it back to the ringing site once we had finished our round. I (somewhat embarrassingly) made a Zello call and in my excitement, made many mistakes (oops!). Later in the morning, Mette and Simon joined the rest of us for the remainder of the morning.

Of other note, while we were waiting between rounds, the crew spotted two Arctic Skuas (Almindelig Kjove) and a Black-throated Diver (Sortstrubet Lom) and a singing male Rosefinch!

Batman is occupied! Call the Joker!

The afternoon was full of much needed rest and data entry!

Ringing (Kabeltrommelen)

Common Reed Warbler (Rørsanger) - 5

Marsh Warbler (Kærsanger) - 1

Icterine Warbler (Gulbug) - 2

Blackcap (Munk) - 3

Lesser Whitethroat (Gærdesanger) - 2

Common Whitethroat (Tornsanger) - 1

Lesser Redpoll (Lille Gråsisken) - 1

Common Rosefinch (Karmindompap) - 1 

Total: 16

People: Lucas Corneliussen, Isis Khalil, Simon Kiese, Simon S Christensen, Sean Walsh, Mette Møller Christiansen, Magnus Houen Lauritsen 

A link to today's observations from volunteers and local observers.

After ringing last night, there was nothing for us to do. Around sunrise, I went out to listen for songbirds, and heard very little, so I was satisfied with our decisio not to ring.

Thanks to Søren Leth-Nissen's contributions to the station, we were finally able to put up the worldmap he bought for us. Simon SC and put up two new hangers for it so it would hang evenly. Then, we put pins onto it to represent where all of the volunteers came from.

Later on in the day Simon, Simon, Lucas and Isis went to Gyvelmarkene to look for rare waders. They saw the usual migrants like Spotted Redshank (Sortklire), Ruff (Brushane), Dunlin (Almindelig Ryle) and also two Hobbies (Lærkefalk).

A link to today's observations from volunteers and local observers.

Sum of observations of raptors on DOFbasen from today.

 People: Isis Khalil, Seán Walsh, Lucas Corneliussen, Magnus Houen Lauritsen and Simon Kiesé, Simon S. Christianen, Jesper & Anne

Hello everyone! It’s good to be back, I hear Rika did a wonderful job filling in during my absence, and I’m sure no one even noticed a thing. Although the day yesterday was chill, we got busy catching during the night… and we managed to get one beautiful little House Martin (Bysvale)! Magnus, Simon, and Lucas (full of hope) then bravely put on swimming trunks and rushed off to the shore to try to catch some waders, props to them for their effort! They were almost successful. 

Western House Martin (Bysvale).

The Swim Team.

Either way, the day dragged on through the night, until we started to see the morning light shining through the windows. We were almost inclined to rush to Kabeltromlen to open the nets, but then we remembered: the standard period is over! So we submitted to our exhaustion and crumbled into bed. I must admit, seeing “No Alarm” on my phone felt very, very, VERY nice. But once the morning came, we were somewhat at a loss. If we can’t go out, what do we do? Well, we enter and check data sheets of course! Until those ran out… and we were again lost. Simon did a wader count (highlights being 17 Dunlins (Ryle) and 1 Bar-tailed Godwit (Lille Kobbersneppe)) and Magnus was out celebrating his little brother’s birthday.

Seán tried to do some catching during the day, but to no avail. 

We shared a lovely meal with our guests Jesper and Anne, mange tak! It was delicious. 

Since the day was so slow, Simon, Lucas, Seán, and I decided to go set up nets to catch waders. 

Setting up nets. 

Seán fighting off demons (mosquitoes) as we wait for birds to fly into the nets.

Although we ran a couple times, we only ended up catching one Dunlin (Ryle). It was very cute! Our efforts did not feel wasted. We also recaught several of the Common Ringed Plover (Stor Præstekrave) chicks (pulli). Nice to see them so grown! They used to only be as small as half our palm or less!

Dunlin (Ryle).

Common Ringed Plover (Stor Præstekrave).

We also got to see a Fox (Rød Ræv) which was cool! I also heard some deer bellowing by the Sandormen Track, which was a little intimidating. 

Anyway, it is very late now, so we must try to get as much sleep as we can.

Goodnight!

Ringing (Fyr)

Western House Martin (Bysvale) - 1

Total: 1

Ringing (Grenen)

Dunlin (Ryle) - 1

Total: 1

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

Sum of the raptors in the area based on observations typed into Dofbasen the same day.

People: Isis Khalil, Seán Walsh, Lucas Corneliussen, Magnus Houen Lauritsen and Simon Kiesé, Simon S. Christianen, Jesper & Anne

Since we finished our ringing standard, it was the first morning this year, we were able to sleep in. To be honest - I really needed this after getting up at 2:30 am for many days in a row and the fun night with the Ringed Plover (Stor Præstekrave) catching made me a bit tired the last days. Now we could finally get the sleep, we needed. I woke up around 9, but Séan managed it to sleep longer, that the past 4 nights summed up. That's crazy!

The morning at Grenen was good, too. Knud counted the high amount of Fulmars (Mallemuk), that flew out of Kattegat since the wind slowed down. The day total of over 1000 Fulmars is really impressive. A late Shag (Topskarv) and a immature Great Skua (Storkjove) rewarded the effort one more time.

Rika headed back to southeastern Denmark. It was nice to meet you, have fun at your local CES site!

It was very warm, but that did not stop Lucas and me to go for a walk. The highlight was a Black Kite (Sort Glente), which enjoyed the warm air. Afterwards we tried to trap Stonechats (Sortstrubet Bynkefugl), which flew around with their chicks. We did not suceed, but I saw a Skylark (Sanglærke) flying with food to a possible nest. So we sat down to try to locate the nest, when Isis walked towards us. She just came back from Belgium, where she visited her niece for the first time. It was very nice to see her again!

Roadtrip!

Then we headed south to Lille Vildmose, where a Collared Pratincole (Rødvinget Braksvale) was found. Unfortunately, it was flushed by a White-tailed Eagle (Havørn) right before we arrived. It was still a nice trip, because we saw Whooper Swans (Sangsvane), Corn Buntings (Bomlærke) and many Black-necked Grebes (Sorthalset Lappedykker).

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

People: Isis Khalil, Lucas Corneliussen, Seán Walsh, Magnus Houen Lauritsen, Simon Kiesé, Rika Pydde, Lisa Vergin, Simon S. Christianen, Jesper & Anne.

After a night with only low winds, we had some refreshed hope for our final day of the Spring ringing following the standard protocol.

Simon and I departed the Grå Fyr at 03:00 to go to open the nets for ringing. There were nice weather conditions this morning and when Seán joined us, the mood was good and energy levels high (... no comparison to the ringing yesterday, where the tiredness from the nightly excursion was heavily noticeable ).

 Our outdoor "office" in the morning sun

Since I just recently joined, let me quickly introduce myself: My name is Rika and I am joining the station as a stand-in for a few days. I started ringing birds at CES Vestamager and CES Rungstedlund this year and I am trying to get as much hands-on experience as possible. Therefore, I am very grateful for the opportunity to join the volunteers a Skagen Fuglestation.

We had very low expectations for this last ringing day, especially after the low number of birds in our nets on the previous day. The wind on the day before had also made the extraction of birds from the nets very challenging. However, this day started good, with varied species of birds in the first round and no big extraction challenges. The second round brought us back to Kabeltrommen empty-handed.

Part one of today's ringing team: Seán and Simon enjoying the sun

Part two of today's ringing team: Rika with a recaptured Chiffchaff

One slightly unusual capture today was a very small bird, that on first sight seemed to show the facial features and some coloration features of a Willow Warbler. However, based on the measurements and the indents on the outer webs of the primary feathers (emargination), which were only present on Primaries 3 to 6, we identified the bird as a Chiffchaff.

Chiffchaff with interesting supercilium

After catching a handsome male Common Chaffinch, we thought we had gotten the final bird for the day, but got an additional Chiffchaff recapture and a newly caught Reed Warbler thereafter. Unfortunately, the wind started picking up on speed, so we had to close the nets already at 07:45.

Thus, the Reed Warbler became the final bird of this season, and was ringed by Seán. It was time to put up those waders and get some food!

Last bird of the season: Reed Warbler

Return of the waders

The extremely active day and night of the past day (with nightly bird capturing on the beach and guided tours for school classes as you can read on the previous blog post) had left everyone on the team quite exhausted. And despite the effort to catch up on sleep during the day, we decided to take it slow and leave any extraordinary activities for the coming days.

On the last status meeting we had decided to celebrate the finalization of the Spring ringing season by meeting up in the evening, enjoying food and beverages and watch the match of Denmark playing against England at the UEFA European Football Championship together.

We enjoyed a nice meal prepared by Simon K. and then moved to the conference room to watch the match. Luckily, the game ended in a tie!

Dinner time

UEFA Champions League - Denmark against England

After the celebrations of the evening and he high number of activities and successes from the recent days, everyone is looking forward to a good and proper night of sleep, without having to leave the bird station at 3:00 in the morning for ringing.

The team is excited about the opportunities of the upcoming days that allow to plan for more flexible and unusual activities when early morning ringing is no longer required.

Ringing (Kabeltromlekrattet):

Reed Warbler (Rørsanger): 2

Icterine Warbler (Gulbug): 1

Common Chaffinch (Bogfinke): 1

Chiffchaff (Gransanger): 1

Total: 5

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

People: Lucas Corneliussen, Seán Walsh, Magnus Houen Lauritsen, Simon Kiesé, Rika Pydde, Jesper & Anne.

Yesterday evening, Simon Kiesé and I fell into the trap of checking data from our morning observations during spring. A task that got us so excited, that we ended up doing it until 11 PM. And since we were awake for so long, we decided not to go to bed, but instead go night catching on the beach, hoping for terns, gulls or waders. We had a cup of black coffee before we headed out. Sean joined os as well.

The night team. Photo: Simon Kiesé.

Unfortunately were the gulls and terns super jumpy and shy, while the waders were out of sight. Or except for one wader. Ringed Plover (stor præstekrave). We were lucky to locate a clutch of chicks with their parents. We ringed the chicks first, before we went for the adults.

Ringing Ringed Plover chick. Photo: Simon Kiesé.

Adult Ringed Plover. Photo: Simon Kiesé.

Seven Ringed Plovers were ringed, before it got brighter, and we decided to head back. We were in a bit of a rush, because we needed a bit of breakfast, since it’s been eight hours since we had dinner.

Ringing Ringed Plover chick. Photo: Magnus Houen Lauritsen

I offered to open nets alone, so Sean and Simon could get some breakfast, which we agreed on. It took me about an hour to open the nets - just in time for me to be able to get back to the station, having breakfast for 10 minutes, grab the equipment for counting and head back out to Worlds End 1 together with Lucas, where we did four hours of morning observations. It was rather slow - maybe due to the westerly winds.

It was oddly slow in the ringing as well. Only eight birds were caught, which is around one third compared to recent days.

Both ringers and observators packed their stuff and went back to the station, where two school classes from Frederikshavn had booked a tour. It was super exciting to teach them about ringing and they were super easy as well, since they were calm and wanted to learn about birds. Especially when Simon Kiesé caught a 2, calander year Common Whitethroat (tornsanger). It made us forget about how tired the three of us were at that point.

One of the classes at the beach. Photo: SSC

After guiding the two school classes, we finally got some needed rest and sleep, before senior woke us up for the evening meeting approximately 5 or six hours later. And shortly after that, we had dinner, with Rika as the chef.

A bit of football was watched, before we again headed for bed, called it another successful day, and could let the silence fall upon the northernmost bird observatory in Denmark.

/Magpie/Krøllebille/Magnus/MHL.

Ringing (Kabeltromlekrattet):

Subtotal: 8

Ringing (Sandormesvinget):

Ringed Plover - Stor præstekrave - 7 RI

Subtotal: 7

Ringing (Den Gamle Fyrhave):

Common Whitethroat - Tornsanger - 1 RI

Subtotal: 1

Total: 16

A link to today's observations from volunteers and local observers.

Sum of observations of raptors on DOFbasen from today.

People: Lucas Corneliussen, Seán Walsh, Magnus Houen Lauritsen, Simon Kiesé, Rika Pydde, Jesper & Anne.

With just a few days left of the spring standard ringing protocol, Sean and I left the Grå Fyr at 03:00 and departed for Kabeltrommelen to open the nets for the morning. Conditions were nice in the morning with light wind and partial overcast so we were hoping to have better luck, and unexpectedly, it was much better than anticipated. 

A small bit about me: my name is Lucas Corneliussen, I am 20 years old and am from San Francisco, USA. I will be at the station for the next few months and am excited to be here after being at Blåvand Fuglestation for a month in May. 

After a very slow ringing season in Blåvand in May, I have been excited to find more than 1 bird in the nets each round. This morning was particularly successful because we had several very nice species in the net including a nice Spotted Flycatcher (Grå Fluesnaper), the first of summer Crested Tit (Topmejse) and a recapture female Brambling (Kvækerfinke); which Simon had caught a few weeks ago. Beyond the more “exciting” catches, the abundance of Blackcap (Munk) and Acrocephalus warblers in the area continue to amaze me. It seems almost never ending. We had a surprisingly nice morning for numbers this time of year, surpassing 35 individuals and decided to keep the nets open an extra hour. Unfortunately, the productivity slowed and we closed the nets at 09:45, no more than 10 minutes before a stray thunderstorm rolled through!

The team rendezvoused at the station for some much needed rest during the middle of the day before introducing Rika to the team in the afternoon! She joins us from Copenhagen for the next few days.

After dinner, Simon and Rika headed to beach and recaught 2 of the Common Ringed Plover (Stor Præstekraver) chicks. They have gained 19 grams in 11 days! - Wow. They are so cute and we are really enjoying being able to watch them as they grow.  

And so, another day passes. Who knows what tomorrow will bring as the strong westerly winds pick up!

Ringing (Skarvsøen):

Lesser Redpoll (Lille Gråsisken): 1

Crested Tit  (Topmejse): 1

Reed Warbler (Rørsanger): 2

Marsh Warbler (Kærsanger): 3

Garden Warbler (Havesanger): 1

Common Whitethroat (Tornsanger): 1

Lesser Whitethroat (Gærdesanger): 4

Spotted Flycatcher (Grå Fluesnapper): 1

Common Chaffinch (Bogfinke): 1

Chiffchaff (Gransanger): 3

Blackcap (Munk): 14

Total: 32

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

Sum of the raptors in the area based on observations typed into Dofbasen the same day.

People: Lucas Corneliussen, Seán Walsh, Magnus Houen Lauritsen and Simon Kiesé, Jesper & Anne, Rika Pydde

These days are slow as the season is reaching its close. Nonetheless, Simon, Lucas, and I were abruptly awoken from our slumber by our alarms at 02.15. This morning felt particularly rough, since we had stayed up watching the Euro Football match last night. But, not long after opening the nets at Kabeltromlen, were we rewarded by one of Skagen’s specialties: a gorgeous sunrise.

Kabeltromlen Sunrise.

The sun reached out from the heavens and gave us a big warm hug, and suddenly we remembered where we were: Skagen. Truly a place like no other. Though there were a few birds, the species were not particularly interesting (nor worth discussing further in this blog, but that’s not to say that we don’t appreciate all birds!). The biggest highlight would be that we had our very first hatchling Lesser Whitethroat (Gærdesanger) and it was sooooo cute! It still had big cheeks and dark little eyes, and so much fuzz on its belly! As you can probably tell, I was a fan. 

Unfortunately we did not take ANY pictures of the cute little one, we must not have been in the best mindstate. (How could this happen!) We will not make such a careless mistake again… It could be that we were distracted by the Honey Buzzards (Hvepsevåge) flying over us, but that is no excuse. 

Instead, the only compensation I have to offer is this beautiful male Eurasian Blackcap (Munk - Han) in the golden sunshine:

Eurasian Blackcap (Munk). Isn’t he dapper?

Anyway, while all this was happening Seán, who had failed to sleep through the night, was running side-quests. As it rained, he worked on some raptor summaries, then, when the rain cleared, he headed out to the dunes for some birdwatching. Not long after, he met us out at Kabeltromlen as we arrived to open the nets. God morgen! He then went on to count some hours. Migration was slow, but he did see a European Shag (Topskarv)! 

Magnus was also counting, but his birds did not have wings, instead they wore a nice coat of fluffy wool… zzzzz…

In the afternoon, Simon, Lucas, and Magnus biked to Flagbakken to attempt to see if the Eurasian Griffon Vultures (Gåsegrib) from Germany had made their way up to Skagen. They did not see the vultures, but still had fun birdwatching:

Simon, Magnus, and Lucas at Flagbakken.

I, on the other hand, faced a massive battle: going downtown during the cumulative load of two cruise ships docking in our harbour. There were people EVERYWHERE. Mette told us that today we’d had the record number of guests at the lighthouse for the season! You may be wondering why I decided to go into town on a day like today, well… I needed to buy a seagull onesie for my niece. It was imperative I go today since over the weekend the shops were closed, and tomorrow I will be leaving (I will explain more about this later). 

When I got back to the station from town, I had an email in my inbox that one of the birds I ringed earlier in May had been caught in Norway! That is cool! This young male Eurasian Blackcap (Munk - Han) flew from Skagen, Denmark to Bygland, Norway in just 3 days! That is 197,6 km flown in across the ocean, what a powerful little bird.

I am very proud of my little Blackcap (Munk). 

Anyway! I will be going home for a couple days tomorrow so that I can visit my niece (and renew my passport…), but don’t worry, I will be back very soon to finish up the season. 

Vi ses!

Ringing (Kabeltromlekrattet)

Reed Warbler (Rørsanger) - 1

Eurasian Blackcap (Munk) - 11

Lesser Whitethroat (Gærdesanger) - 6

Marsh Warbler (Kærsanger) - 1

Willow Warbler (Løvsanger) - 1

Tree Pipit (Skovpiber) - 1

Common Whitethroat (Tornsanger) - 1

Common Chiffchaff (Gransanger) - 3

Total: 25

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

Sum of the raptors in the area based on observations typed into Dofbasen the same day.

People: Isis Khalil, Seán Walsh, Lucas Corneliussen, Magnus Houen Lauritsen and Simon Kiesé, Our New Guests

Finally, the standardized counting period is over, but Magnus was keen enough to go out for an additional count. There was not much migration – this proofes, why it makes sense to end the standardized count in summer. Otherwise there are still birds you don’t want to miss. One of them was an Arctic Skua (Almindelig Kjove) and Magnus also found a Black Tern (Sortterne).

 Another beautiful morning at Grenen.

It was the first morning for Lucas to join us ringing at Kabeltromlen. It was an average late June day without many surprises but we appreciated the Acrocephalus Warblers in anyway. Our goal now is to make Lucas (who arrived yesterday) Batman. That means, we have to teach him everything we know about out tasks and the station, that he can share it with the summer team, because everyone except him leavs the station on the first of July. Lucas is doing really good, so he will easily manage that!

 Look at this nice Reed Warbler (Rørsanger). The warm rump color is typical for this species.

My highlight might have been a family of young Chiffchaffs (Gransanger), we had ringed a few days ago and which made its way into our nets again. They were all in good condition! When a rain shower came, we closed and headed back to the station.

 Isis is enjoying the ringing.

While we keep the station running, Simon Sr. is on vacation right now. He really earned some calm and fun days after working like twenty hours per day for the entire season without weekends or days off. It seems like his trip is fun, since they got a look on the Pygmy Cormorant (Dværgskarv) in southern Denmark. Funnily they met Søren – our guest from the past two weeks – there.

 Meeting old friends.

In the afternoon our new guests arrived and we did office work as soon as we finished our nap.

Ringing (Kabeltromlekrattet):

Total: 16

A link to today's observations from volunteers and local observers.

Sum of observations of raptors on DOFbasen from today.

People: Isis Khalil, Seán Walsh, Lucas Corneliussen, Magnus Houen Lauritsen and Simon Kiesé.

Today was probably the earliest start we would ever have to endure, as the sunrise has finally reached its earliest for the summer (04:16). And since we had to go to the CES site at Skarvsøen, that meant leaving the station at 02:45 to open nets from 03:15 to be completely open at 03:45. So that's a very long, early morning. And Simon was convinced it wouldn't be worth it.  Opening didn't take so long as usual, just that the nets were a bit harder to open because we don't open them so often. 

The first round yielded the usual birds; an early morning Solsort (Blackbird) and Rørsanger (Reed Warbler). What surprised Simon the most was the number of birds in this and in the subsequent rounds. Because of the wind, he had expected a day far worse for numbers, but it turned out to be an average of 5 birds per round right until the end. The big highlight in the first round was a Landsvale (Barn Swallow), a species we rarely catch but often see in their dozens. Simon got to ring this bird, which was his first, and he hadn't seen this bird in hand for a few years. 

While birding in the morning while I was walking a net round, Simon found a (probable) Sandterne (Gull-billed Tern), which are very rare up here. The nearest breeding colony is on the north-west coast of Germany. Later, while in between rounds, he was preparing a ringing bag when he looked up and found a Rovterne (Caspian Tern) flying along the lake! That was two strokes of luck that morning, all while I was busy doing something else.

Isis and Magnus did the morning count today; the very last one of the season. As dramatic as that sounds, the actual observations were underwhelming, with the highlights being an Almindelig Kjove (Arctic Skua). Later, they went to Grenen beach to try to see our rare terns, but to no joy.

After ringing and counting Isis, Simon and I made an unsuccesful attempt to ring Stor Præsterkrave chicks at Nordstrand, and later (while I was asleep) welcomed newcomer Lucas Corneliussen to the volunteer team.

Ringing (Skarvsøen):

Barn Swallow (Landsvale): 1

Reed Warbler (Rørsanger): 15

Garden Warbler (Havesanger): 1

Common Whitethroat (Tornsanger): 2

Chiffchaff (Gransanger): 1

Total: 20

A link to today's observations from volunteers and local observers.

Sum of observations of raptors on DOFbasen from today.

Seán Walsh, Isis Khalil, Magnus Houen Lauritsen and Simon Kiesé.