Hello everyone! This is Isis tuning in for the first time. It would appear as though I have quite a high standard to adhere to in this blog. I will try my best not to disappoint James (our recently departed) by overriding all his wise teachings regarding the English language. Skagen is truly beautiful, my first couple of days were cloudy and foggy, unfortunately, but when the sun came out yesterday we were all overjoyed to see the beautiful horizon again. 

Beautiful view of the sunny sky and sea from our lodgings. 

With the sun, however, came a toe-curling cold spell. After our windy, and sandy morning yesterday, we did not believe things could get worse.. (this will be followed up later). 

Since we were not able to go night catching last night (due to Simon C. being on a quest out of town), we spent the night playing Wingspan (Magnus had never played before!). It may be a bit stereotypical, to say the least, for bird observatory volunteers to spend their evening bonding over bird-themed board games, but it was a great way to unwind and tap into our competitive sides! Although some -Ahem, Simon and Mira- may have taken this competitive nature a bit too far, as they were caught in the very act of cheating (usually by accident, I must confess). During this, Magnus generously prepared some Danish sweets for us and tested our ability to swirl sugary icing over the top, Simon excelled at this task.

Simon had the most points! Whether he continued to cheat his way to the top remains a mystery…

When we woke up at our regular, painfully early, hour of the morning, we were horrified to find out that it could, in fact, get worse. This morning was not only colder, but also more windy than yesterday. Nonetheless, we swung our cold-resistant gear on and made our way over to World’s End 3. The cold did not stop the morning from being stunning, the way the wind carried the sand across the beach looked very mesmerizing. 

A group of gulls flying into the sunrise.

Migration was slow, as can be expected by the heavy winds. Most of us were in an ongoing battle with the unrelenting wind and the constant sting of sand in our face. The sand got everywhere.. And I mean everywhere. In fact, I can still feel it in my eyes as I am typing this right now. We decided to finish an hour early, since little migration was happening due to these unfortunate weather conditions. Magnus believes he may have seen a White-Tailed Eagle [havørn], but whether it was that or an Osprey [Fiskeørn] remains a mystery due to how far away it was from our observation point. Based on other observations around Skagen (and the time of year), it was most likely a White-Tailed Eagle [havørn] though. In addition to this, we saw four Common Buzzards [Musvågen] and another European Shag [Topskarv] today (yet again Magnus failed to see it). 

The sun slowly rises over the team.

After we had done the migration monitoring, we returned to the apartment for some food. To our surprise, after eating we came to find out that the bike keys were not in their usual place, so we had to go on a little scavenger hunt. We were not successful, but luckily a kind lady from downstairs was able to help us open the shed and take out the bikes. Although quite a few bikes are broken, we still had some fun riding around and picking out our bikes. 

Mira trying out her new bike.

We also received a beautiful delivery from Peter Jürgensen today. This involved a taxidermy of an Atlantic Puffin [Søpapegøje] and a Bohemian Waxwing [Silkehale]. Both were collected by members of the Skagen Bird Observatory team.

Atlantic Puffin [Søpapegøje] and Bohemian Waxwing [Silkehale].

To wrap up the day, Johanna baked a delicious banana cake and then Magnus and Simon went out to attempt some night catching. They were unsuccessful, but when they returned they had some delicious pizzas waiting for them (which I’m sure were most appreciated)!

Johanna’s banana cake. It was extremely delicious.

That’s all for today, I look forward to the next few months at Skagen. I have heard the weather might still have a couple more evil tricks up its sleeve though…

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: Johanna Veentjer, Mira Kieckbusch, Isis Khalil, Magnus Houen Lauritsen, Simon Kiesé, Simon S. Christiansen.

This question will be answered in a few seconds, but before that I have to tell you about yesterday evening. Isis and I went out nightcatching to Grenen. Unfortunetely, we did not find any birds. In anyway some sleeping Seals (Sæl) and a cute Yellow-necked Mouse (Halsbåndmus – Apodemus flavicollis) were nice to see. When we looked into the sky, a weak greenish shine colored the sky between the clouds: aurora (Nothern Lights)! We continued round round and I finally spotted a Woddcock (Skovsneppe) in the thermal camera. It was Isis’s first attemp with the handnet, but she nailed it so a few seconds later we hold the bird in our hand and walked back to ring it.

Such a cool bird: look at it's eyes, which can look 360 degree around.

The only bad thing about this evening was, that I lost one of the torches. Spoiler – I found it again the next day and it still works.

Finally, the question „What is that?“ will be answered! It’s the sun! When we left the station to head to World’s End 3 for the daily count, we saw a warm colored, shiny object coming out of the sea and rising at the sky. After some discussions and a look into the field guide we agreed, that it must be the sun, we have not seen for a while. What a beautiful morning!

The mystery is solved - it's the sun!

The count started busy, since there were many Razorbills (Auk) and Guillemots (Lomvie) migrating. While Magnus was focussed on getting good numbers of those, the other volunteers (including me) counted the various remaining species.

Nice view from World's End 3. In this hour Magnus focussed on the Auks in Kattegat.

It was a nice mix of songbird migration and seabirds (havfugle), quantity and quality. Since they are super hard to see back home in Germany, I really hoped to get the chance to see a Iceland Gull (Hvidvinget Måge) in Skagen. When I spotted a young gull in the size of a Common Gull (Stormmåge) with shining through white primaries I directly knew that it has to be this species. Yeah! Unfortunately, it was quite far away, so I’m still hoping there will be a roosting one soon. The second highlight of the day was much closer: A Shag (Topskarv) showed up in the best sunlight and a short distance. That was really nice to see, since it was also for Mira the first pretty one. Also a Grey Wagtail (Bjergvipstjert) attempted to migrate. Since the wind was pretty cold, we were happy to leave after the standardised four hours to have a nice breakfast in the Bird Obs.

In the afternoon, Johanna and I entered the numbers from the count in dofbasen. Afterwards Simon Sr. showed us the plans, the station has this year. There are some exciting projects and there will be many highlights, but I don’t want to look to far in the future right now, because every day here is a lot of fun right now. Then we went for a walk to Nordstrand. The beach was super pretty in the afternoon sunshine and we looked for stones, shells and other potentially interesting objects close to shore. It was a really nice walk.

When we passed Kabeltromlen on the way back, we stopped in hope to hear a Bittern (Rørdrum) but except for calling Waterrails (Vandriksen) we could not hear any birds in the wind. So I tried to immitate the deep call of a Bittern. Just one moment later a real Bittern called. How cool is that?! Let’s just believe, it really answered to me for a moment. Don’t steel me my imagination. ;-) Isis prepared a nice dinner and afterwards we started with some nice evening activities. I’m really happy to be back at the station. It is just a beautiful place and there are so many nice people around. I really enjoy to see good friends again, but it’s also great to meet new awesome people. You can see – I’m ready for a super fun exciting season!

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

People: Johanna Veentjer, Mira Kieckbusch, Isis Khalil, Magnus Houen Lauritsen, Simon Kiesé, Simon S. Christiansen.

So, Wareing, James Wareing, also known as Athletic James, has unfortunately migrated south, which is a bit reversed compared to the birds' usual migration pattern. Sometimes the German/Danish humor can be quite a mouthful - even for an undercover agent like James.

After a nice dinner, during which Simon (SK) showcased his talent as the chef, we decided to make use of the access we had to my car before my younger brother picked it up. Firstly, we went to “Brænderpasset” - a quite well-known location for birders in Skagen. Disappointingly, the fog made it impossible to see anything in the thermal camera.

The third spot - which is located at the southernmost part of Hulsig Hede, is also one of my favorite nature spots on Skagen Odde. Sadly, the fog completely shattered our hopes of seeing anything.

The next day, we woke up at 06:15 for bird observation in cold conditions, but with weaker wind than the day before. Therefore, the day turned out to be pretty good from a birder's perspective, with good numbers of both Razorbills and Guillemots in Kattegat. My family also came to visit the bird observatory. They brought a surprise with them, namely my nature-sensei, Hugo, who was teaching me to go looking for species in nature.

Ringing (Jennes Sø):

Nordlig Gråsisken (Mealy Redpoll) - 14
Grønirisk (Greenfinch) - 1
Solsort (Blackbird) - 1

Total: 16

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: Johanna Veentjer, Simon Kiesé, Magnus Houen Lauritsen, Mira Kieckbusch, Isis Khalil.

Hej, this is James for what will unfortunately be my last blog. It has been a pleasure describing to you the mysteries of what goes on at the bird station in the winter. I am also happy to have taken on a rather mythical status myself. As the local birders start to wake up from their hibernation, I have had the fortune to meet a few of them and be greeted with ‘ahh, you are the James’. To maintain this mythical status, I shall now be migrating south, firstly to Husum in the north of Germany and then to England.

For those of you who have enjoyed the blog, do not worry, as you will be left in the very capable hands of the spring volunteer team. For those few who may miss the jokes, Simon Jnr. (Kiesé) assures me that he has a very funny Gannet joke that he just cannot wait to share with you all. We have also found that Magnus also has some things to share, some of which are appropriate for this blog. For those die-hard fans of the blog (my family), I may well be turning up as a rare vagrant in Blåvand Bird Station in April, so keep an eye on their website.

After that it is the Seychelles for two years for me, working as a conservation officer on a small island. It will be like Skagen in February, only warmer and with far fewer people. It is a tough life hopping between birding hotspots, but someone has to take up the burden.

That though is far too much about me and not what you came here to read about. As spring has officially started here, we did our daily seawatch from Nordstrand. Seawatch being the operative word, as we saw very few birds worthy of reporting. My dreams of seeing either an orca or a wolf here had to be contented by a harbour porpoise and the visit of a rather playful dog. There were not even enough ‘exciting’ ships for me to give my shipping forecast.

Nevertheless, fun was had by all and I can tell that Skagen has a strong team for the months ahead. While the other took advantage of Magnus’ car, I ran back home from Nordstrand and finished with a dive in the sea. I can confirm that it is still cold but refreshing. The call of the Indian Ocean rings strongly now.

In the evening, Magnus and Simon picked up the final volunteer to join the team. Naturally they had to have the obligatory harbour visit for Simon’s much sought-after Iceland Gull. It remains so, but they did have find a blond female….eider. Our new volunteer is Isis, born in Belgium, brought up in Panama and currently studying in Canada. Perhaps, therefore, this is a like-for-like swap as she will now provide the exotic background. Although, I do worry that all my work on English pronunciation lessons will be undone though. Thus starts a new season in Skagen. As I have mentioned before, to leave just before the main act starts, is teasingly frustrating, but the bird observatory is left in some most able hands.

When camping you are encouraged to take care to leave two things behind. Firstly: nothing. Secondly: your thanks. I have been kindly welcomed by all I have met here, and for that I am most grateful. A special thanks is also due to Simon Snr., for giving me the opportunity to come and spend five weeks here. As a sign of my gratitude, Simon, you can now have your chair back.

I do very much hope that I have the opportunity to return to what is a special place and maybe even to see a few more people (but not too many) and birds (many please).

James Wareing

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: James Wareing, Johanna Veentjer, Simon Kiesé, Magnus Houen Lauritsen, Knud Pedersen, Mira Kieckbusch, Michael Anker

Michael has continued his ringing work with the results below:

1^st March

Ringing (Nordstjernevej):

Nordlig Gråsisken (Common Redpoll) - 18

Blåmejse (Blue Tit) - 1

Bogfinke (Chaffinch) - 1

Total: 20

Hej everyone!

my name is Mira and this is my first time here in Skagen, so everything is still new to me at this point and every time I go out I’m overwhelmed by the fantastic landscapes. Something that is also new to me is the amount of sea birds you can see here and also the distance in which you can observe them. This I realized when we started the day with four hours of morning observation at the Nordstrand with Knud. It was still quiet windy, but we saw some long-tailed ducks (Havlit), a white tailed eagle (Havørn) and one shag (Topskarv), from which Knud could say that it was an adult, while I only saw a dark bird at the horizon, heading to the west.

After the observation we went to Kabeltrommlen and checked the situation around there and then we went to the end of the tractor track to look for gulls. We didn’t find the Iceland gull (Hvidvinget måge) we were hoping for, but we saw an 2 calendar year Caspian gull (Kaspese måge), sitting in the front row of a flock of gulls and two Red kites (Rød Glente), which were the first Red kites in Skagen this year.

In the afternoon we went grocery shopping, but we wouldn’t be birding obsessed people, if we wouldn’t have used that to look for the Iceland gull (Hvidvinget måge) in the harbour, but even if we probably looked at nearly every gull, there were no white wingtips in sight. But we will continue our hunt in the next days.

The last two hours of daylight (I would’ve loved to write sunlight, but the fog didn’t disappear the whole day) we spend with a little walk along the beach and the dunes around World end 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: James Wareing, Johanna Veentjer, Simon Kiesé, Magnus Houen Lauritsen, Knud Pedersen, Mira Kieckbusch

Hej everyone!

This is Johanna, one of the new volunteers that have arrived yesterday. It’s my third time at the station in Skagen now and I am very exited for the two weeks ahead. While Skagen welcomed us with sun yesterday evening, today started not bright. The rain and the storm made a count impossible, so we started the day a bit slower and then the three of us went for a long walk around the tip, where we saw some Sanderlings (Sandlober), a couple of hooded crows (Gramage)  feeding on a harbour porpoise cadaver, and of course some groups of gulls and cormorants (Skarv). We also saw two Merganser ( Toppet Skallesluger), Gannets (Sule), one Guillemot (Lomvie), and a Red throated diver ( Rødstrubet lom  ), as well as a group of Oystercatchers ( Strandskade). Besides we also found a dead Crested Grebe (Toppet lappedykker), a dead Guillemot (Lomvie) and a lot of dead seals.

What a surprise, we were the only persons walking at the beach today, and I always enjoy those walks where you are just surrounded by nature. Especially when you are walking around the tip, it is hard to imagine that it is flooded by tourists, not gulls, during the summer.

Seaweed fight at Grenen

In the afternoon the two other new volunteers arrived. Simon has been spotted before in Skagen, and having overwintered at the Wadden Sea he now migrated north. He was aided by some strong southernly winds and so arrived ahead of schedule. Magnus is from Danmark, so he hadn’t such a long travel to the station. He also brought some typical Danish cake for us, which was delicious.

In the evening, Simon K. and James decided to go out night catching and after half an hour they came back with a Rock pipit (Skærpiber)! We were all very excited, what a success! Now Mira, Simon and Magnus went out again for a second try. We will keep you updated!

Ringing (Ellekrattet):

Rock Pipit (Skærpiber) - 1

Total: 1

Today’s observations in Dofbasen from observers in the area

People: Mira Kieckbusch, James Wareing, Michael Anker, Simon Kiese, Magnus, Johanna Veentjer

The solitude of the lighthouse has been shattered by the arrival of the volunteers Johanna and Mira, the first newcomers of the spring. They have migrated north this spring from Kiel in Germany. The arrival of some company has of course been lovely, although it has led to me nearly losing my voice having not spoken so much for a long time. We have also discovered that the world of birding and birders is a typically small one, with it not taking too long to find links between us. What this does mean though, is that I can justifiably start eating the chocolate that the Autumn volunteers kindly left for the Spring team. Tomorrow two more volunteers will arrive and the lighthouse will suddenly be back to life.

Back to life was not what I felt like this morning when my alarm went at six to tell me to go birding. The wind and the rain could be heard from within my bedsheets and sitting at the beach was the last thing on my mind. I quickly sent a message to Knud asking whether perhaps the weather was too poor for birding. He was ever positive and assured me that the forecast would be rewarding. He was, as always, right and the rain soon abated, even to be overcome by sun towards the end of our stint. That Knud was also questioning his life choices when cycling through the rain was though reassuring to hear.

I was rewarded with two new birds for me, a Glaucous Gull (Gråmåge) and a Red-necked Grebe (Gråstrubet lappedykker), which I felt as the bare minimum payment for the courage to get going this morning. Other notable sightings were Iceland Gull ( Hvidvinget Måge) and Shag (Topskarv). The horizon was often quite misty so there are none of the usual ship sightings for me to needlessly digress onto. 

With us being treated tomorrow to an extra day of February, the weather forecast has taken this a little too literally and predicted rain and wind again. The forecast was sure enough for Knud and I to agree not to go birding, which I will be a little grateful for. The arrival of new volunteers means that the responsibility of the writing of the blog will be shared around, but I am sure you will not be too disheartened to hear that. I will be leaving Skagen reluctantly on Sunday so am looking forward to making the most of my final days here. 

Link to today's observations from observers in the area

People: James Wareing, Knud Pedersen and Michael Anker

Michael has continued his ringing work with the results below:

28th February

Ringing (Jennes Sø):

Nordlig Gråsisken (Common Redpoll) - 5

Ringing (Nordstjernevej):

Nordlig Gråsisken (Common Redpoll) - 14

Lille Gråsisken (Lesser Redpoll) - 1

Musvit (Great Tit) - 1

Solsort (Blackbird) - 1

Blåmejse (Blue Tit) - 1

Grønirisk (Greenfinch) - 1

Total: 24

On Sunday, I took another day-trip outside of Skagen to the Råbjerg Mile, which is the largest moving dune in Northern Europe. Each year it moves by around 15m, gradually making its way towards Kattegat. It is quite a spectacle and most unexpected to find something akin to a desert. They used to be more common in the area and quite prohibitive to efficient agriculture given how much they can move, but the Danish government stepped in to control them. Råbjerg Mile was left and given conservation status to act as a demonstration of this natural phenomenon and I was grateful for it.

This week has also seen the return of Knud Pedersen from his short migration north to Norway. Knud holidays there every year, so his return is a reliable indicator of spring coming. The weather though disagreed and has remained stubbornly cold (around 2 degrees first thing in the morning). It was a pleasure to have my birding partner back and we have been out for three hours each morning this week.

Yesterday, we had just been talking about Walruses (Hvalros) and how rare a sighting they were here, when I spotted one on the horizon. Knud has this remarkable ability to talk about something and then see it. This was no ordinary Walrus though, but in fact a Dutch walrus-class submarine. This was as unexpected as it was exciting to find. Flying proudly above the submarine was a flag with red, white and blue colours. It is important to correctly establish the orders of these colours, as they are the difference between retreating hastily for the bunkers and casually watching on. Fortunately, they were Dutch (could have been Luxembourg, but instinct told me that landlocked countries probably do not have navies) and it happily cruised along the horizon with two men sitting on the top. They must have been undoubtedly cold but I imagine fresh air is at a premium for submariners and I like to imagine them as birdwatchers.

In terms of sightings of the avian variety, the most notable have been Shag (Topskarv), Black-throated Diver (Sortstrubet lom), Glaucous Gull (Gråmåge) and White-tailed Eagle (Havørn) - the last two unfortunately seen by Knud alone.

Today marks the last day that I will be alone at the lighthouse before the spring season volunteers join us. It therefore means the end of all those habits that one can get away with when living alone but they will of course be welcomed! I am of course looking forward to the luck that each new birder brings on their first trip out.

Link to today's observations from observers in the area

People: James Wareing, Knud Pedersen, Michael Anker

Michael Anker has been busy ringing in the last three days, with the results below:

25th February

Ringing (Jennes Sø):

Nordlig Gråsisken (Common Redpoll) - 20

Musvit (Great Tit) - 1

Ringing (Nordstjernevej):

Nordlig Gråsisken (Common Redpoll) - 28

Gulspurv (Yellowhammer) - 3

Blåmejse (Blue Tit) - 2

Grønirisk (Greenfinch) - 4

Total: 58

26th February

Ringing (Jennes Sø):

Nordlig Gråsisken (Common Redpoll) - 3

Gærdesmutte (Wren) - 1

Ringing (Nordstjernevej):

Nordlig Gråsisken (Common Redpoll) - 26

Grønirisk (Greenfinch) - 2

Musvit (Great Tit) - 3

Blåmejse (Blue Tit) - 3

Rødhals (Robin) - 1

Total: 39

27th February

Ringing (Jennes Sø):

Nordlig Gråsisken (Common Redpoll) - 2

Blåmejse (Blue Tit) - 5

Ringing (Nordstjernevej):

Nordlig Gråsisken (Common Redpoll) - 33

Lille Gråsisken (Lesser Redpoll) - 1

Musvit (Great Tit) - 1

Total: 41

Good afternoon from sunny Skagen after a couple of days' radio silence (you can all stop worrying about me now). We were hit by a storm yesterday, producing winds of near 100km/h, so there was nothing of any note to report. I generally remained caved away other than for a brief run to town and back. Running against the wind, I was all but jogging on the spot, which much have looked as strange as it did foolhardy to the few onlookers in their cars. Having said that, the return with the wind on my back was a joy. When not at the lighthouse, I also displayed my troglodytic tendencies by spending some time in one of the old bunkers watching the waves crash in front of me. 'Fun' fact: 'Troglodytic', deriving from the Ancient Greek for cave dwelling, produces the scientific name of the Wren (Gærdesmutte) genus, as they tend to enter small crevices in their search for food. But I significantly digress...

My seawatching cave, no wrens were found here

Today was another beautiful Skagen morning for which its light deserves its reputation. I headed out to watch the seabirds and what they lacked in numbers, they made up for in variety. I believe, I may have seen an Iceland Gull (Hvidvinget måge), so I reached for my camera to get definitive proof. My camera had other ideas, telling me there was no SD card inserted. If there is a quality I do not like in people, it is lying. At least with people though, you can try to beat this with logic and proving them wrong. When inanimate objects lie, it is even worse. They are immune to logic, and no matter how hard I tried to persuade my camera that there really was an SD card inside, and it had actually used said SD card 10 minutes before, it remained steadfastly stubborn. Annoyed by this wanton and abject laziness, I returned to my scope to find the putative Iceland Gull had disappeared.  

The signs of spring are continuing to emerge (when the weather allows) and the Sky Larks (Sanglærke), were in full voice this morning. Green-winged Teal (Krikand) and Goldeneye (Hvinand) were notable passers by, while 6 Common Ringed Plovers (Stor præstekrave) dropped in. With the camera going on strike, we have to make do with a photograph of a plover through the scope itself...

Having declared Denmark Viking-free a few days ago, I was perturbed to find on the horizon the ship 'Magne Viking', which was heading on a course directly for Britain. I can only imagine its intentions...

If Celine is reading this post, good morning 

Link to today's observations from observers in the area

People: James Wareing

After nearly a month of being here in Skagen, today was the first day that I ventured out further than a few kilometres. Having arrived in Denmark at night, I did not know what to expect from the rest of the country. Would it be just like Skagen or a land of febrile Vikings? But more of that later.

The day started with another beautiful full blue sky and so I decided to do a seawatch. The birds though, did not seem to have received the invitation and it was incredibly quiet. So I decided to change my plan and go for a walk instead. On my fourth attempt of trying to find the Common Kingfisher (Isfugl) that we ringed 10 days ago, I was still unsuccessful and with the slightly warmer weather it may have decided to move on. I look forward with hope to finding out where she goes next. 

There was a nice surprise of seeing two Common Cranes (Trane), potentially the pair that breed here. This, big movements of Jackdaws (Allike) and a seeming increase in the number of Common Blackbirds (Solsort), was definitely a sign of the seasons changing. There were also quite a few Crested Tits (Topmejse), which I always enjoy seeing. If ever a bird rock band was formed they would be one of the first names on the list. Either that or they look like me after I take my hat off after a long walk. 

In the afternoon Simon and I ventured out of Skagen. The primary reason was to see if we could find some 110 Ruddy Turnstones (Stenvender) that had been reported at Jerup Strand, but I also enjoyed to see more of the landscape here. We saw 5 (and no Vikings)....but it turned into a productive scouting mission for a potential future visit for catching and ringing birds. Snow Buntings (Snespurv), Common Ringed Plovers (Stor præstekrave) and Sanderlings (Sandløber) were also present so it may prove to be a productive spot. 

On the way back, we stopped off at the lovely Ålbæk harbour. This unfortunately produced nothing to report home on in terms of the birds and my vain attempts to find a Purple Sandpiper (Sortgrå ryle) are growing increasingly frustrating, leaving me only 11 days...Noting how short the time is left here is rather sad but I will endeavour to make the most of it before I am forced to move on. 

On that note, good night from Det Grå Fyr.

People: James Wareing, Simon S.Christiansen

Link to today's observations from observers in the area