Morgenobs ved grenen stod på programmet da vi tidligt i morges ved 04.30-tiden stod op. Det var ikke så hårdt at komme op af sengen i dag som nogle af de andre dage, da vi skulle kigge efter sortbrynet albatros som i går var set ved den svenske vestkyst og senere på dagen set rastende ved Gilbjerg. Den dukkede desværre ikke op i dag (den må simpelthen komme imorgen ????) men vi så nogle andre fede fugle i stedet. Det blev bla. Til en del mallemukker, 17 ringdrosler, nogle seje almindelige kjover og 2 MEGA FEDE TOPSKARVER! Daniel og Michaela blev dog enige om at Igor var det bedste i løbet af morgenen.  På dagens morgenobs var vores mad sponsoreret af det grå fyr, vi fik i går aftes nemlig alle de overskydende sandwich som de ikke fik solgt. De var til stor glæde for alle og især Jonas elskede dem, se selv hans glade ansigt nedenunder - det da kan man da kun blive i godt humør af!

Desuden havde Jonas flottet sig i dag da han havde medbragt den legendariske feltroulade (en klassiker på alle DOFUNG ture) på Grenen. Jeg er imponeret over hvor lige og præcist du skar den Jonas, det må jeg alligevel give dig.  

Som den kunstner jeg nu engang er har jeg selvfølgelig givet mig i kast med nogle yderst detaljeret tegninger nede i Birders Club. Det har kostet blod sved og rigtig mange tårer, da jeg aldrig kunne få det til at ligne det jeg prøvede på. I kan jo selv prøve at gætte jer frem til hvilke fugle jeg har ”forsøgt” at tegne. Det skal lige siges at det er de 3 fugle tegnet med blå.

Jeg gik senere på dagen en tur over storsig - gennem ellekrattet - ud omkring grenen og så hjem af stranden. Det blev ikke til mange fugle, men så da alligevel fiskeørn og fjeldvåge. Jeg glæder mig til at gå denne tur i Maj og Juni hvor der er chance for at finde hvad som helst. Vi går jo på stationen og drømmer lidt om en pileværling, det kunne være fedt! Jeg fik her til aften også sagt hej til min far, der er kommet langvejs fra. På dagens aftenmøde var der ikke vildt meget at fortælle fordi vi har lavet det samme alle sammen, men Anders og Elisabeth kunne dog fortælle om deres tur ned af kysten. Daniel bruger sin sidste aften på at lave pizza til alle, og de dufter sindsygt godt! Jeg vil runde bloggen af for i dag da vi snart skal spise og på hovedet i seng lige bagefter - Vi ses i felten i morgen!

Dagens Ringmærkning: Ingen rinmærkning idag

Klik her for at se dagens observationer indtastet i Dofbasen af observatører i området 

Klik her for at se opsummeret observationer af rovfugle i Skagen

Folk: Simon S. Christiansen, Jonas Pedersen, Rasmus Matthiesen-Juhl, Daniel Bloche, Laima Bagdonaite, Mikkel Friborg Mortensen, Michaëla Berdougo, Jørgen Kabel, Igor og Anders og Elisabeth

Hi folks :)

Hope you are all having an incredible week!

Mikkel and Rasmus went to Verdens Ende 1 on this sunny, but very windy and cold morning. They had an old female Pallid Harrier (Steppehøg) which was Mikkel's first ever!! He managed to identify it before it got called out on Zello so he was really happy. :) Other highlights were Northern Fulmar (Mallemuk) and Arctic Skuas (Almindelig kjove).
On our side, most of us were able to sleep in today, including Jonas who is usually always out observing! It's only his second sleeping in, in nearly two months... :|
We had some nice breakfast (tortilla wrap with banana, peanut butter, jam, chocolate, shredded coconut, maple syrup, and cinnamon) and then worked on fixing one of the broken dressers so that Rasmus could finally have somewhere to put his clothes in! We moved it from one room to the other and are now all set for the rest of the season. :)
Following that, Jonas and I worked on two different nights of nocturnal migration recordings with analysing calls and entering data on Trektellen, while Laima worked on the Blackcap ageing video, and Daniel worked on organising the picture archive.

Jonas working on the night recordings

When we were done, I cut Daniel's hair (so much pressure here) but it turned out pretty good!

The afternoon consisted of cleaning the apartment, the lab, and the attic. It took us slightly less than two hours but was very satisfying. :) We then had an early evening meeting, after which we all did our own thing. Rasmus cooked a very nice curry, and we are now finishing tasks and relaxing a bit.

Today wasn't as exciting as previous days, but resting was very much needed after some full-on days.

Wishing you a lovely end of the week, be safe, and talk to you soon!

Klik her for at se dagens observationer indtastet i Dofbasen af observatører i området 

Klik her for at se opsummeret observationer af rovfugle i Skagen

Folk: Simon S. Christiansen, Jonas Pedersen, Rasmus Matthiesen-Juhl, Daniel Bloche, Laima Bagdonaite, Mikkel Friborg Mortensen, og Michaëla Berdougo

I dag startede med at Jonas og jeg tog på Verdens ende for at tælle træk. Det blæste en hel del og det satte lidt en stopper for det gode træk fra land, havfuglene kom der tilgengæld lidt af og vi fik nogle ret tæt på land bl.a. Almindelig kjove hele tre styks på en gang næsten inde ved stranden, mega fedt! Selvom der ikke kom særligt mange fulge over land, var vi så heldige at være omgivet af havørne hele dagen, hele 7 stk, som blev blæst ud på Grenen af den hårde vind. Så dem fik vi både flyvende, rastende og helt tæt på! (billede af Laima Bagdonaite)

De fleste var ungfugle men der var god mulighed for at lære lidt om aldersbestemmelse med hjælp fra Jørgen Hulbæk, det samme gjaldt de enkelte Blå Kærhøge som og røg ud på Grenen i dag. På grund af blæsevejret endte vi alle frivillige ude og kigge på træk, Rasmus, Daniel, Laima og Michaela stødte til efter de havde prøvet at fange Sandløbere på stranden uden held, men endte derfor også med at få det fede ørne helt tæt på (billede af Daniel Bloche). Det samme gjorde vores gæster fra lejligheden ved siden af, Anders og Elisabeth, som efter at have gået den lange tur ud på Grenen, hen til Sandormesporet og ud på Verdens ende og stødte til i løbet af formiddagen.

Simon lavede en podcast sammen med Ottenby og Lista Fuglestationer som nok bliver udgivet til fuglefestivalsdagene, spændende!

Efter middagen gik stille og roligt, da der ikke var nogle fugle arbejdede vi  hver i sær med forskellige ting på computerene. Daniel, Rasmus og jeg endte ude ved Skarvsøen for at notere status på kolonien, der var nu allerede flere fugle som så ud til at ligge på æg og helt op til 60 reder i alt med fugle i! 

Men lige før det tog jeg selv ud og cykle en tur først på eftermiddagen, hvor jeg ville kigge efter en Vendehals som der var meldt ud i går eftermiddags. Der var ingen Vendehals at finde i dag, men jeg nåede ikke langt på cyklen før jeg så en stor fugl over mig! Jeg fik store øjne da det viste dig at være en ung (2. kalender år) Kongeørn der lå lige over hovedet på mig! Jeg meldte den ud og den blev set over Skagen by på vej sydpå igen. Jeg fandt senere ud af at det var set flyve nordpå fra Hulsig hede kl. 13:21 og forbi mig 13:45 og tilbage på Hulsig kl. 14:14 - Helt fantastisk at kunne følge hvor hurtigt sådan en fugl kan bevæge sig over en distance på i alt 30-40 km bare lige for at tage ud og vende, fantastisk! 

Det blæste for meget til at kunne ringmærke i dag, derfor fugle ringmærket = 0.

Folk: Simon S. Christiansen, Anders og Elisabeth, Jørgen Hulbæk, Michaëla Berdougo, Jonas Pedersen, Rasmus Matthiesen-Juhl, Daniel Bloche, Laima Bagdonaite og Mikkel Friborg Mortensen.

Klik her for at se dagens observationer indtastet i Dofbasen af observatører i området 

 Klik her for at se dagens observationer på dofbasen af Rovfugle i Skagen

A fantastic day for everyone!

This morning Jonas and I went out to Nordstrand for migration count! Sunny and calm weather brought many birders out there and everyone got to enjoy the continuing migration of thrushes, finches and raptors! After three hours of observing, we got rewarded with a White-billed diver (Hvidnæbbet lom)! Rasmus and Simon also got a chance to see it from Kabeltromlen where they were ringing with Michaela and Daniel! It was a fun day there too, with many birds – 97 ringed, new record of the season! The first Willow warbler (Løvsanger) for the spring and a Blue tit (Blåmejse) with a Norwegian ring! Daniel was happy to see (not only hear) his first Ring ouzel (Ringdrossel) just flying over but a little disappointed for Sparrowhawks (Spurvehøg) jumping out of the nets! And Michaela found a Viviparous lizard (Skovfirben), which was very nice!

Black Kite (Sort glente)

First Willow warbler (Løvsanger) of the spring 

Chiffchaff (Gransanger) Left - Willow warbler (Løvsanger) Right

After ringing, Rasmus went out birding with his uncle Mikkel, they saw 9 White-tailed eagles and Rasmus discovered a Golden eagle (Kongeørn)! Meanwhile, Mikkel, who visited us a few weeks ago, returned to the station in the afternoon and will stay with us for the rest of the spring! He also got to see Rasmus’ Golden eagle which he was very happy about!

Viviparous lizard (Skovfirben)

Michaela and Daniel came back to the station and got well deserved naps. While Daniel and I were entering ringing data, Rasmus came back from birding with his uncle. However, 10 minutes later we got an alert about Bonelli’s eagle (Høgeørn), so Rasmus’ uncle came back again, picked us up and we drove to see it! We had very nice observation, and it was a new species for me and Rasmus! We met Simon there who was having beers and birding at Andreas Egelund’s summer house, so they both rushed out to see the eagle too! The bird had a gps-logger on its back, also!

Bonelli's eagle (Høgeørn) photo: Knud Pedersen 

Our guests Anders and Elisabeth also had a very lovely day, they went out birding to Kapgadegung where they saw many raptors flying over, then they did some shopping in Skagen, and luckily for them got scheduled for a covid-19 vaccine next week! I hope we all can get vaccinated soon, too :D After that they also went out to Nordstrand and saw the Golden and the Bonellis eagles!

Ringmærkning (Kabeltromlen):

Blåmejse (Blue tit) - 5
Bogfinke (Chaffinch) - 7
Fuglekonge (Goldcrest) - 40
Gærdesmutte (Wren) - 2
Gransanger (Chiffchaff) - 13
Jernspurv (Dunnock) - 12
Løvsanger (Willow warbler) - 1
Rødhals (Robin) - 15
Rørspurv (Reed bunting) - 1
Vindrossel (Redwing) - 1

Sum: 97

Folk: Simon S. Christiansen, Anders og Elisabeth, Knud Pedersen, Oluf Lou, Andreas Egelund Christensen, Michaëla Berdougo, Jonas Pedersen, Rasmus Matthiesen-Juhl, Mikkel Friborg Mortensen, Daniel Bloche og Laima Bagdonaite

Klik her for at se dagens observationer indtastet i Dofbasen af observatører i området 

Klik her for at se dagens observationer på dofbasen af Rovfugle i Skagen

After the amazing migration day yesterday, the hopes were high for another great day in the observations and ringing. In the end it ended up being a very good day. Laima, Rasmus and I went ringing this morning and finally it wasn´t too windy, so we opened all our 23 nets. The morning started amazing with a beautiful sunrise from Kabeltromlen (I really enjoy these 30 min after opening the nets and just sitting there watching these stunning sunrises over Grenen) and a quite good thrush migration. Some of them also went quite low so we were hoping to catch some of the thrushes. Our hopes got satisfied in the first round with three thrush species (one new one for the season): one Redwing (Vindrossel), two Song Thrushs (Sangdrossel) and a Fieldfare (Sjagger). We all were really happy about the Fieldfare, it´s a really pretty thrush and so powerful. Also, we don´t catch that many of them. During the net opening I had a Long-eared Owl (Skovhornugle) flying just a few meters over me, always a crazy moment. Moreover, several Sparrowhawks (Spurvehøg) were hunting just by the net site, so we were hoping to catch one again. I was really happy when I came to the last net (one of the new ones) on the Northern site and saw that there was a big bird in the net. Finally, I got to extract my first Sparrowhawk. It went actually very well, I didn´t got clawed like when I extracted the Owl a few days ago and feel more confident handling these raptors. Every time again just an incredible experience to hold and ring these fantastic birds! Later we caught a second Sparrowhawk in the same net, I had to run for it but again got it out quite easy from the net. Both Sparrowhawks were females, so quite big birds, and the first one was a 3K bird, because it retained a few juvenile feathers in its wing which was nice to see. Also, Rasmus got to hold both birds, which was quite cool, since that was his first time handling this bird. Simon and his mother joined us in the beginning of the ringing. Later on during the day Jørgen and Igor, Andreas Egelund Christensen, the guests, Anders and Elisabeth, came by for a visit in the ringing. Another Highlight of the ringing was, that Rasmus got to ring his first two birds, two Robins. After the first hours it slowed sown a bit, so Laima and I had some more time to help Rasmus ringing his first birds. He did really good. Besides the birds in the ringing we had also great migration observations from Kabeltromlen. Simon counted 11 Green Sandpiper (Svaleklire) and later on during the noon the raptor migration started. Andreas reported a Steppe Buzzard (Steppevåge) from Ellekrattet, so we tried to watch out for it between ringing and doing the rounds. We didn´t saw it but enjoyed the raptor migration anyway. It was amazing to see all the Common Buzzards (Musvåge) and Red Kites (Rød Glente). Besides these ones we also had several other raptor species, e.g. my first Black Kite (Sort Glente) for this year. It was circling together with a Red Kite close to Kabeltromlen, a observation I remember to already had quite exactly like that last spring when was here. We ended up ringing from 05:30 until 14:20. The time was just flying by, since the birds in the nets only slowed down but never really stopped and the raptor migration was so amazing to observe. In the end we ringed 88 birds, that’s the best for the season so far. While closing the nets, Laima and I had a Hobby (Lærkefalke) flying over us, a really nice observation in the end of a long and great ringing day.

Sparrowhawk

Rasmus ringing his first bird

Meanwhile Michaëla and Jonas went out observing together with Knud from Nordstrand. They had a really good day, Michaëla enjoyed the observation, spotted her first Artic Skuas (Almindelig kjove), had several chances to get good comparisons of Pallid Harriers (Steppehøg) and Hen Harriers (Blå kærhøg), counted a lot of Common Scoters (Sortand) and got many new species, like Black Kite, Glaucous Gull (Gråmåge), Common Tern (Fjordterne) and Wheatear (Stenpikker). Jonas had also a good day, his 3^rd best day up here. Besides the nice raptor observations from Nordstrand, they also had again many finches, in less intensity though compared to the last two days. However, there was again a Whale spotted from Nordstrand. This time it was a Minke Whale, first they were in doubt if it might be a Orca. However, Jonas had no doubt when he got to see it. Unfortunately, not everyone got to see the Whale from Nordtrand and also, we couldn´t find it from Kabeltromlen. Afterwards Michaëla and Jonas went to Kap Gadagung to get some more raptors really close. Just when Jonas got frustrated for not finding the Steppe Buzzard and they were about to call it, Michaëla found the probable Steppe Buzzard and even got the chance to take some pictures.

In the afternoon we had a very late lunch, due to the long and amazing ringing/observing day, however it was great to finally eat and drink water. While Michaëla, Laima, Jonas and I enjoyed some ice cream, Rasmus went out to Flagbakken with his uncle. After ice cream, Michaëla, Jonas and I went for a swim, which really nice and refreshing.

Afternoon swim

Ringmærkning (Kabeltromlen):
Spurvehøg 2
Vindrossel 1
Sjagger 1
Sangdrossel 2
Dompap 1
Musvit 1
Rødhals 31
Gærdesmutte 3
Jernspurv 9
Rørspurv 2
Bogfinke 1
Fuglekonge 20
Gransanger 14

Sum: 88

Klik her for at se dagens observationer indtastet i Dofbasen af observatører i området 

Folk: Simon S. Christiansen, Anders og Elisabeth, Jørgen Kabel, Knud Pedersen, Andreas Egelund Christensen, Michaëla Berdougo, Laima Bagdonaite, Jonas Pedersen, Rasmus Matthiesen-Juhl og Daniel Bloche

Dagen startede for mit vedkommende på Nordstrand sammen med Jonas, Daniel og Simon imens Laima og Michela fik halet lidt ind på deres søvnunderskud. Der var crazy mange fugle på Nordstrand i dag, og især Jonas kom på arbejde da han sagde ja til at tælle alle de 82.000 finker der kom. I dag blev også en rigtig god dag for blå kærhøg hvor vi havde 32 eksemplarer på morgenobsen og yderligere 19 fugle op ad dagen. Af andre bemærkelsesværdige arter kan der nævnes gråmåge, årets første skovpiber og mange dværgfalke. Michela og Daniel var også et smut forbi skarvsøen som nu indeholder 65 reder.

Michael Ancher var ude og mærke ved bl.a. Jennes Sø og der var også godt gang i nettene med finkefuglene.

Da vi kom hjem ved 12-tiden fra en formidabel morgen, var vi alle sammen godt brugte. Vi brugte derfor de næste par timer på at sove, spise burgere og drømme om de næste par dage. Der blev selvfølgelig også tid til fuglestationsarbejde. Klokken 16 besluttede Jonas og undertegnede at cykle mod Nordstrand i håb om at se endnu flere rovfugle. Det viste sig hurtigt at være en fremragende ide, da vi på halvanden time så 2 steppehøge, 5 fiskeørne, 6 almindelige kjover, 46 spurvehøge, 14 tårnfalke, 1 dværgfalk og 1 vandrefalk. Imens vi nød livet ved Nordstrand stod Daniel og Michela ved Kapgadegung og havde 3 digesvaler (ankomst) og ellers mange af de samme fugle som på Nordstrand.

I dag har vi sagt farvel til Marianne og Kurt. Det har været super hyggeligt at have jer på besøg her oppe den seneste uge. Jeg tror og håber at I har nydt jeres ophold og at I har lært en masse her på stationen. Vi håber at I kommer igen til næste år for flere gode oplevelser. I dag er Anders og Elisabeth flyttet ind i lejligheden. De er kørt hele vejen fra Hillerød. Det er jo lige før man får jetlag af den tur. Vi glæder os meget til at vise dem fuglene i Skagen i løbet af den næste uges tid

Nu vil jeg runde bloggen af, da jeg må en tur i Netto fordi vi akut mangler ost til vores madpakker i morgen.

Ringmærkning (Jennes Sø):

Gransanger 12

Bogfinke 12

Lille Gåsisken 12

Rødhals 5

Kvækerfinke 5

Fuglekonge 3

Grønsisken 3

Gærdesmutte 1

Jernspurv 1

Stor Gråsisken 1

Rørspurv 1

Ringmærkning (Nordtjernevej)

Bogfinke 7

Gransanger 4

Musvit 4

Rødhals 2

Grønsisken 2

Fuglekonge 1

Skovspurv 1

Kvækerfinke 1

Total:  78

Klik her for at se dagens observationer indtastet i Dofbasen af observatører i området 

Klik her for at se dagens observationer på dofbasen af Rovfugle i Skagen

Folk: Simon S. Christiansen, Jørgen Kabel, Knud Pedersen,  Rasmus Matthiesen-Juhl, Michaela Berdougo, Daniel Bloche, Laima Bagdonaite, Jonas Pedersen og Anders og Elisabeth

Nu er vi nået midten af april og der er ikke kommet mange fugle udover vinterhavfuglene. Det seneste østenvind har dog ændret på dette og vi har haft lidt steppehøge og nogle kjover, dog intet stort. Det skulle ændre sig idag.
Morgenen blev delt i at Simon og Knud tog på morgenobs fra Nordstrand og Daniel, Rasmus, Michaela og jeg tog til kabeltromlen for at ringmærke. Laima sov længe og Michaela og jeg åbnede nettene.
Første rundte lovede godt med lidt fugle, bla en vindrossel men det skulle ikke holde og vi lukkede nettene tidligt pga mangel af fugle. Vi fik dog fragtet nogle ting ud til kabeltromlen som vi skal bruge fremover og vores kære gæster hjalp til med transport og fik da også set nogle fugle der fik ring på. Bla. denne vindrossel

Da vi var kommet hjem mødte vi Laima der heldigvis havde kunnet sove længe og fik senere klaret noget godt arbejde som videoen på jernspurve aldersbestemmelse, Whooshnettet og syning af net. Lige da jeg havde lagt mig kommer der en melding fra Nordstrand om en springende pukkelhval fundet af John Frikke. Vi fræser derud på cykel og Laima og Michaela kører med gæsterne. Vi bliver mødt af en hær af mennesker der desværre må meddele at pukkelhvalen ikke ses. Vi møder dog Simon der har haft den og en fin morgen med bla. Steppehøg, mange blå kærhøge, over 50.000 finker?!?!?!?(de kommer sent formentligt på grund af det kolde vejr) og nordisk lappedykker.

Video af dagens pukkelhval på Nordstrand

Simon tog efterfølgende til byen for et møde og derefter hjem for at besøge sin mor. Vores kære gæster var jo også ved nordstrand, og på trods af mangel af pukkelhval var de imponerede over mængden af fuglekiggere, de har også skaffet en lille kost til os så vi kan få fejet trappen ordentligt, mange tak for det!

Da vi igen kom hjem og lige da jeg havde lagt mig igen kom bomben. Rolf melder om sortbrynet albatros. Der er komplet kaos og panik i os og Rasmus og jeg løber mod cyklerne. Vi kigger på hinanden og konstaterer hurtigt at der ikke er noget at gøre. Rolf melder at den trækker vest og er ud for batterivej snart. Det er håbløst men adrenalinen pumper rundt og kroppen og vi skal afsted uanset hvad, vi SKAL give det en chance. Vi tager den samme tur til Nordstrand, bare dobbelt så hurtig denne gang. Men det var håbløst og selv dem ved nordstrand havde ikke set albatrossen. Sådan går det bare nogle gange... Det var Alex Sand Frich der fandt den og det har været det største for ham, stort stort STORT tillykke til ham herfra.

Feltskitse og udmeldinger på dofbase indtastning af ASF

Wow en dag... Vilde oplevelser og det er fedt der sker noget nu, og at der er flere birdere der befinder sig i Skagen. Man kan virkelig mærke den fede forårsmagi der sker heroppe i det nordligste Danmark

Ringmærkning(Jennes sø(Michael Ancher)):
Rødhals 2
Solsort 1
Gransanger 5
Musvit 2
Skovskade 1
Bogfinke 5
Grønsisken 1
Lille gråsisken 2
Sum: 19

Ringmærkning(Nordstjerne-Nordlysvej(Michael Ancher)):
Rødhals 2
Gransanger 2
Musvit 2
Bogfinke 3
Kvækerfinke 1
Sum: 10

Ringmærkning(Kabeltromlen):
Gærdesmutte 1
Jernspurv 3
Rødhals 2
Solsort 1
Vindrossel 1
Gransanger 5
Musvit 1
Sum: 14

Klik her for at se dagens observationer indtastet i Dofbasen af observatører i området 

Klik her for at se opsummeret observationer af rovfugle i Skagen

Folk: Simon S. Christiansen, Michael Ancher, Jørgen Kabel, Igor, Knud Pedersen,  Rasmus Matthiesen-Juhl, Michaela Berdougo, Daniel Bloche, Laima Bagdonaite og Jonas Pedersen

Hi folks!

I really hope you had a great week and are now looking forward to the weekend ahead! :)

This morning was extremely exciting for us!
Laima and Daniel left to open nets at 4:50 am as sunrise was at 6 am. Jonas and Rasmus woke up at 5:20 am, and I tried to sleep in as I had the day off. I woke up very confused to Rasmus waking me up, telling me that a Long-eared Owl (Skovhornugle) had been caught at Kabeltromlen! Since they didn't have the rings and Jonas had to bring them, I had about 10 minutes to get ready and go to see it, and it was the best thing ever!! She was a very calm, lovely second-year female.
Now a bit of a backstory: Daniel flushed a bittern while opening the nets on the south side, and activated the reed trap. Once he opened the last net, he saw a big bird in the first net on the north side. Because it was dark, thinking it was a Woodcock (Skovsneppe), he ran towards the net but failed to see the rope holding the pole up, tripped over it, and faceplanted in the mud. The bird was still in the net, and after that fall, he was super excited to see it was a Long-eared Owl (Skovhornugle)! He got caught by her talons though, but succeeded in the extraction. :)
Long-eared Owl :))))

Daniel practicing wing measurement on a bigger bird

While Laima ringed the owl, Daniel went on the next round and actually came back with the first Redwing (Vindrossel) of the season!! What a great start to the day. :)

After the Redwing got processed, Jonas and Rasmus left for Nordstrand to meet up with Knud for morning observation, I went back home and started sorting the 1 000 pictures I took with the station's camera.
The day slowed down in the ringing area with a total of 17 birds ringed. Marianne and Kurt came to see the ringing, and so did Oluf, Jorgen, and Igor.
After closing the nets at 10:30, Laima and Daniel got surprised by flushing a really closeby Bittern (Rørdrum), and that was the first ever for Laima; and a Great-grey Shrike (Stor tornskade) was hanging around the nets. :) They then set the two new nets up, making it a total of 23 nets.
Jonas and Rasmus came back at 10:30, with highlights such as a total of 12 Arctic Skuas (Almindelig kjove) and 1 Great Skua (Storkjove).

Simon is a brand new man as he got his hair cut and his beard trimmed. He went to meet Michael Ancher at Jennes Sø this morning and caught 3 Redpolls. Here you can see a comparison between Mealy Redpoll (Stor Gråsisken) and Lesser Redpoll (Lille Gråsisken).

Mealy and Lesser Redpolls

Marianne and Kurt went to Frederikshavn to see the harbour.

After lunch, Jonas left to see his nephew, his sister and her partner as they are here to visit for a week, and in the meantime, we all took a nap. Daniel entered Data, Laima worked on preparing the lecture video we had the other day, Rasmus then went to Storsig and saw two Black Kites (Sort Glente) and an Osprey (Fiskeørn)! He then prepared dinner with Laima, while Daniel and I went for a walk and failed at taking pictures of Sandwich Terns (Splitterne) feeding really close by. We did get to see a Long-tailed Duck (Havlit), and Common Eiders (Ederfugle) displaying.

As the days are getting longer, we will soon be going to bed! Have a lovely evening and talk to you soon. :)

Ringing (Kabeltromlen):

Skovhornugle 1
Gransanger 1
Fuglekonge 1
Rødhals 4
Jernspurv 6
Gærdesmutte 2
Musvit 1
Vindrossel 1

Sum 17

Ringing (Jennes Sø - Nordstjernevej):

Jernspruv 1
Rødhals 3
Solsort 1
Fuglekonge 2
Musvit 3
Bogfinke 5
Nordlig Gråsisken 2
Lille Gråsisken 1
Grangsanger 1
Kvækerfinke 1

Klik her for at se dagens observationer indtastet i Dofbasen af observatører i området 

Klik her for at se opsummeret observationer af rovfugle i Skagen

Folk: Simon S. Christiansen, Michael Ancher, Jørgen Kabel, Igor, Knud Pedersen, Oluf Lou, Marianne and Kurt, Rasmus Matthiesen-Juhl, Laima Bagdonaite, Jonas Pedersen, Daniel Bloche og Michaela Berdougo.

The gorgeous flaming sunrise

Hey hey!!

It was another sunny and not so windy day! The morning started with Michaela and Jonas opening the nets. Rasmus and I joined for the first round on which we had some birds, but that slowly changed and the rest of the morning was not so interesting ringing-wise. Simon joined us too, and set up the recorder in case there was a rare bird flying by!

The recorder

During some of the later rounds we had two song thrushes (Sangdrossel) at the same time – one adult and one second calendar year, so it was very educational and fun to see them side by side and look at the differences. Same later happened with two Chiffchaffs (Gransanger)!

Two song thrushes (Sangdrossel) Top - Adult, bottom - juvenile due to a constrast in the greater coverts. 

Michaela and I, happy to see Igor. 

Apart from that, we had the nice company of Oluf and Soren, Jorgen and Igor who stayed with us the whole morning. We got to see the first Pallid harrier (Steppehøg) of the spring flying low over water! It was a nice adult male and we were all super happy!

A photo of the second individual, taken by Knud from his garden! What a gorgeous bird!! An adult male. 

We didn’t ring for very long as there were not so many birds. After coming back to the station, eating lunch and then napping, we all enjoyed the nice sunny weather. Jonas spotted spring’s first wheatear through the living room window and all of us went out to see it, but it took some time until we spotted it again! There were some raptors flying over, so Jonas and Rasmus went up to Kap gadagong where I joined them just as the second Pallid harrier of the way has passed by. Some minutes later we had another one flying by quite close! Three adult male Pallid harriers in one day!!!

Newly returned Wheatear!

Jonas and Rasmus on Kap gadagong

After that, we split up, the guys went back to the station, and I went for a walk in Elle Krattet and walked back on the beach where I watched some Sandwich terns (Splitterne) and saw some Rock pipits (Skærpiber)!

Rock pipit (Skærpiber)

Daniel spent the afternoon going shopping with Simon for the supplies needed to make the new whoosh-net as the one we made before got stolen last weekend.. He also went to help Michael Ancher to set up some nets in Jenne Sø with Rasmus. Michaela also went for a walk in the afternoon, she found and photographed some snakes, and also saw some lizzards.

Common European Adder (Hugorm)

It was a nice day with nice birds and lovely sun, and the most amazing sunrise and sunset! 

Amazing sunset.

Dagens ringmærkninger (Kabeltromlen):

Sangdrossel (Song thrush) - 2
Musvit (Great tit) - 1
Gærdesmutte (Wren) - 2
Rødhals (Robin) - 2
Gransanger (Chiffchaff) - 5
Fuglekonge (Goldcrest) - 2

Klik her for at se dagens observationer indtastet i Dofbasen af observatører i området 

Klik her for at se opsummeret observationer af rovfugle i Skagen

Folk: Simon S. Christiansen, Michael Ancher, Jørgen Kabel, Igor, Knud Pedersen, Søren Skov,  Oluf Lou,  Rasmus Matthiesen-Juhl, Michaela Berdougo, Jonas Pedersen, Daniel Bloche og Laima Bagdonaite.

This morning Laima, Jeppe and Rasmus opened the nets. Finally, the wind weather was predictable without showers or wind. They had a cold but beautiful sunrise with mist, frost and amazing colours. For me personally they had the best found already before they even opened the nets, since they found my glove on the road, which I lost yesterday. Although the day started freezing cold, it turned out to be a very warm and sunny day. Also, it was a lovely ringing day with 34 birds and 8 different species. Meanwhile, Jonas was observing together with Knud at Nordstrand. They had a good day with 15 Long-tailed Ducks (Havlit), an Artic Skua (Almindelig Kjove) and a Black Guillimot (Tejst).

Frozen nets during sunrise

I slept in today to be fit for my university exam at noon. After breakfast I went for a walk to go through some lecture notes again and joined a bit in the ringing. We didn´t had many exciting bird observation from Kabeltromlen, however, our guests Marianne and Kurt spotted a Submarine in the Kattegat, what was quite exciting to see. Michaëla took 37 tick samples from a Blackbird (Solsort), which had 43 ticks in total on it. That is quite impressive and I guess the bird is happy to got them removed. Unfortunately for Michaëla who began to enjoy the tick sampling, we will stop soon to sample more ticks, because most Blackbirds are stationary ones now, since the migration mostly stopped. The highlight in the ringing was a Chiffchaff (Gransanger) recapture ringed in Sweden. Just after I left the others to go back for my exam, they caught it in the last round while closing the nets.

2k Chiffchaff (Gransanger) from Sweden

After Jonas observation morning, he spend the day with his Sister´s family, who came visiting us later this afternoon. Also, Rasmus and Jeppe went to Saftevandsbakken and spotted a Great Grey Shrike (Stor Tornskade). Unfortunately, Jeppe had to leave us today. It was really nice and funny with him here and we are looking forward to his next visit. In the afternoon Simon came back from his summerhouse, were he went a bit birdwatching but didn´t found many exciting birds. That can change now that he´s back in Skagen.

Dagens ringmærkninger (Kabeltromlen):

Lille Dompap - 1

Gærdesmutte - 6

Rødhals - 13

Jernspurv - 3

Rørspurv - 2

Bogfinke - 2

Fuglekonge - 6

Gransanger - 1

Total: 34

Klik her for at se dagens observationer indtastet i Dofbasen af observatører i området 

Klik her for at se opsummeret observationer af rovfugle i Skagen 

Folk: Simon S. Christiansen, Knud Pedersen, Marianne and Kurt, Michaëla Berdougo, Laima Bagdonaite, Jonas Pedersen, Rasmus Matthiesen-Juhl, Jeppe Overgaard og Daniel Bloche