Today began with an unusual and exciting morning...! Ringing started at 03:30 as usual, with Michele, Joakim, Rasmus and I heading out to open the nets. Our time out there was short lived however, as the sky decided to go wild!!! Big black clouds arrived bringing with them thunder and lightening all around us, and of course, ALOT of rain. Very very exciting!!!! But not exactly ideal for ringing. Though! We still managed to ring a few birds before the weather hit!! So a successful morning all the same.

Dante and Marie, who had left a little later for to go observing, also were defeated by the storm.. Staying out in the open at worlds end with metal tripods while lightening zips around is not so appealing!!!! We all headed back to the observatory.  This meant we got a litttle bit of extra sleep which is always welcome with such early mornings!!! Our lovely guests, quite sensibly, woke up to the sounds of the storm, and stayed in to sleep in the warm and dry tilll it passed!! The weather soon turned and became really lovely!!! Marie, took her chance and headed out to search again for Snipe/Vibe chicks. Sadly nothing this time..!! They are good at hiding! But an adult pair hanging around still, aswell as a Tarnfalk… probably also looking for Vibe chicks!

Heading out into the sun, the guests headed out to Grenen for a while and saw lots of birds! They then took a walk out to Nordstand and around the Skarv colony. Very strange to see it empty still!! This is a bit of a mystery to us for now…. They were very happy to see three seals though!!! A youngster on the beach, and adults watching from the sea.

Wednesday is cleaning day.. So once all back at the observatory, we got down to it!!!! We had two very large tour groups today, and so we also spent some time chatting with them. I spent some of the afternoon planning for a little Bird/field drawing course/demonstration which will happen this sunday at 16:00 in the birders club!!! After running around on the beach in the sun, and looking at all the jelly fish which have appeared all along the shore, We had a delicious dinner of Lasagna cooked by Rasmus!!  This ended abrubtly as Zello casually informed us of a Stor Rorsanger close to Buttervej!! So we all raced off in the cars. Sadly we had no luck… but… i was as happy as happieness can be to spot three little fox cubs rolling around in the long grass and flowers only forty meters or so from where we stood!!!! My heart may have melted beyong repair!!!!! Ahhhhhh!!! Anyway. That was pure bliss!!! The ticks we aquired while hiding in the grass watching them… not so much.

Back at the observatory, with some beers and a sea fog coming in, Simon spoke to us a little about the history of the constitution and then we played some rowdy rounds of viking!!!! A seriously great game!!! Off to bed then, at the end of another great day. The days here are always great!  Till next time, Ciao!

Todays quick doodles.. more of this on sunday!!!

VIKING! 

Ringing at Sardinkrattet:    

Rorsanger - 2,

Tornsanger - 1

Total 3

People:Folk: Hebe Denny, Dante Shepherd, Joakim Matthiesen, Marie Heuberger, Michéle Pes, Simon S Christiansen, Rasmus Matthiesen, Bruno & Lene

I dag er det mig ( Rasmus Matthiesen-juhl) der har fået æren af at skrive dagbogen for tirsdag den 4 juni. Vækkeuret var som altid på denne tid sat til 03.00, og med lidt morgenmad i maven var vi klar til at gå kl 03.30. Jeg syntes det er vildt spændene at være med til at overvære en ringmærkningsmorgen. I dag var der dog særlig grund til at glæde sig fordi vi både fangede den sjældne lille fluesnapper og en flot rødrygget tornskade. Senere på dagen gik Hebe og Marie ud for at se om de kunne finde vibe - og dobbeltbekasinunger. Det blev desværre ikke til nogen unger, men en sjov oplevelse med en gammel dobbeltbekasin som de fik set rigtig tæt på mens den vuggede op og ned. En sjov adfærd man til tider ser hos bekkasinerne.

Farvemærket fjeldvåge. Foto: Jørgen Kabel

Af fuglene på Grenen i dag var det en fjeldvåge som stjal billedet. Noget usævandeligt var den nemlig malet rød på svingfjer og hale. Sandsynligvis fordi man på den måde kan følge fuglen. Det røde vil dog snart forsvinde når den har fældet hele sin ungfugledragt. Vi prøver, at finde ud af hvor den kommer fra, da det jo selvfølgelig kunne være rigtigt spændende at vide.

Ringmærkning (Sardinkrattet):

Rødhals - 2

Kærsanger - 3

Rørsanger - 2

Gærdesanger - 2

Tornsanger - 1

Havesanger - 2

Munk - 2

Gransanger - 4

Løvsanger - 1

Grå fluesnapper - 1

Lille fluesnapper - 1

Rødrygget tornskade - 1

Bogfinke - 2

Total: 24

Folk: Folk: Hebe Denny, Dante Shepherd, Joakim Matthiesen, Marie Heuberger, Michéle Pes, Simon S Christiansen, Rasmus Matthiesen, Bruno & Lene

Although the weather was not to good today, we still caught some birds. The highlights were a Redstart (Rødstjert; the first since a long while) and a Tree Pipit (Skovpiber). The mosquitoes were quite bad today, so we all walked around with a sexy accessorize. Our new intern Rasmus, who joins us for a week during a school internship, had his first working day. While Michéle, Joakim, Rasmus and me were ringing, Hebe and Dante went out to Grenen for some observations. They saw a lot of Hvepsevåge, found a new Stor Præstekrave nest and unusually many jellyfish. We really hope the Stor Præstekrave will have chicks soon!

After a chilled afternoon we had our daily meeting and afterwards our new guest Bruno and Lene cooked an amazing dinner for us. Thanks for that! And another nice day at the observatory comes to an end. Tomorrow Hebe and I are planning to search for Doppeltbekkasin chicks, so wish us good luck, we will need it.

Ringing (Sardinkrattet):

Skovpiber                            1                                       

Rødstjert                             1                                                       

Kærsanger                          4                                          

Gærdesanger                     1                              

Tornsanger                         2                                           

Havesanger                        1                                           

Munk                                   2

Gransanger                         1

Løvsanger                           1

Grå Fluesnapper                 1

Total:                                  15

Folk: Hebe Denny, Dante Shepherd, Joakim Matthiesen, Marie Heuberger, Michéle Pes, Simon S Christiansen, Rasmus Matthiesen, Bruno & Lene

After a late start I went out for a walk in the Bøjlevejen area. The first time I have worn a t-shirt outside my entire time here I think. I didn’t see very much, a few gulbug which are always nice to see for a brit. I also saw a camper van with my name on it! In the afternoon we got on with things back at the observatory such as catching up on dofbasen and ringing data. New guests Bruno and Lene arrived in the apartment. Marie cooked roast vegetables for dinner.

People: Hebe Denny, Dante Shepherd, Joakim Matthiensen, Marie Heuberger, Michele Pes, Simon S Christiansen, Jan Hjorth og Kristine Vik Kleffel, Asger Lykkegaard Møldrup, Lene og Bruno

This morning the weather is not good, it rains early in the morning.
Dante and Asger leave early to make observations in Grenen. Joakim and I wait for it to stop raining to be able to open the nets in Grenen. We open the networks at 6:30 am. A little later Dante joins us for the first check.
Let's take some birds, including some Robins, and some interesting recapture, but after a while it starts to rain again and at 8:30 we are forced to close the nets and return to the Observatory.

Immediately after Joakim reaches Hebe and Marie and together they capture and ring a pull of Lapwing.
Back home I set about updating the data on Dofbasen, and after the ringing data with Hebe.
Shortly after Asger returns to the observatory, happy with the observations made during the morning in Grenen, many species including Golden oriole and Pendulin tit.
After lunch we rest a bit and we gather at 16:00 pm to take stock of the situation and plan all the activities for next week.
After we are all invited out to dinner, Simon has booked at an Italian restaurant in Skagen, we are a group of 13 people including Morten and Anderss that I was pleased to review and greeting after a year.
Then we stayed to watch the Champions League match and drink some beer in the Skagen's pubs, a very fun evening!

Ringing (Sardinkrattet and Storsig)
- Gransanger – Chiffchaff                       1
- Rødhals – Robin                                   3
- Gærdesanger – Lesser whitethroat      1
- Tornsanger – Whitethroat                     1
- Vibe – Lapwing                                     1
Tot: 7

People: Hebe Denny, Dante Shepherd, Joakim Matthiensen, Marie Heuberger, Michele Pes, Simon S Christiansen, Jan Hjorth og Kristine Vik Kleffel, Asger Lykkegaard Møldrup.

Vejrudsigten så god ud. Derfor var vi spændte på, at se hvad dagen kunne bringe. Især da vejret de sidste dage ikke har været noget, at skrive hjem om. Derfor var nettene tidligt oppe kl 04:00. Ddet var Micheal og jeg, som stod for ringmærkningen i dag. Dante, Marie og Hebe stod for observationerne ude på Grenen.

Det var ikke fordi der skete der stor på obs-posten i dag og de 3 oberservatører drog derfor også tidligt hjem igen. Nogle tog ud og kiggede på de rastende fugle i området og andre tog en lur. 

Lille fluesnapper 2k fra i dag

Tilgengæld gik ringmærkningen rigtigti fint, klart den bedste dag vi har haft i et stykke tid nu. Det var nu ikke fordi, at det vrimlede med fugle, men der var da fugle i nettene hver eneste runde. Det gode ved dagen var helt klart artsdiversiteten. Vi fik håndteret mange gode og forskellige artert. Heriblandt kan nævnes arter som skovskade, grå fluesnapper, lille fluesnapper, kærsanger, rørsanger, dompap og bjergvipstjert. Helt klart en mere end godkendt dag! Det er altid godt, at få noget erfaring med nogle af de arter, som vi ikke ser så meget i nettene.

Da vi kom tilbage stod Michele og jeg for en guidet ringmærkningstur i området. Der var 7 deltagere på turen og de var meget interresseret, hvilket altid er rart. Vi fangede en tornsanger på turen, så det var godt, at de fik en fugl i hånden at se. 

Herefter forsøgte Hebe, Marie og jeg, at fange enndu en af vibe-ungerne i området. De var dog ikke til, at finde i dag, så vi må prøve igen i morgen. 

Jan og Kristine, som bor i lejligheden lige nu brugte dagen diverse stedet i området og fik set en del forskellige fugle. Herudover stod de for middagen, som var yderst vellykket, tak for det!

Til sidst ankom også Asger Lykkegaard Møldrup, som bliver her weekenden over.

Ringmærkning på Sardinkrattet og Jennes Sø:

Bjergvipstjert: 1 

Gærdesmutte: 1

Rødhals: 1

Solsort: 2

Kærsanger: 1

Rørsanger: 4

Gærdesanger: 2

Tornsanger: 3

Havesanger: 2

Munk: 1

Gransanger: 4

Løvsanger: 1

Grå fluesnapper: 2

Lille fluesnapper: 1

Musvit: 2

Skovskade: 1

Bogfinke: 1

Dompap: 1

Total: 31

Folk: Hebe Denny, Dante Shepherd, Joakim Matthiensen, Marie Heuberger, Michéle Pes, Simon S Christiansen, Asger Lykkegaard Møldrup, Jan Hjorth og Kristine Vik Kleffel.

Some time after midnight, Marie and I sleeping at last, cosy in our beds.. were woken by an excited Dante telling us something about a Ride (Kittiwake).. Him and Joakim had caught a Ride in theyre wee hand held net down on the beach!!!! We all stumbled out of bed and hurried down to the lab, where joakim put a ring on the stunning bird. This was the first ride ever to be caught at the station, and it was quite an event for us! Aside from that.. what a gorgeous creature... it was something quite magic to see it so close, and look into those dark eyes. After releasing the bird back onto the beach, we all retreated back to out beds in awe. 

Only two hours later, we were woken this time by our alarms, and while Dante and Joakim cought up on some precious sleep, Marie, Michele and i made out way over to Jenne So for CES ringing. The weather was not so much on our side: wind blew and the rain was ready to fall, but it was a good morning, with 10 new birds in the nets, and 9 recaptures. A Grå Fluesnapper, Topmejse, Skovskade and Rorsanger were some of the highlights. The weather came in and we closed the nets, in time to meet Michael Anchor, who let us help him ring eight little Musvit chicks nestled in a nest box near the ringing site.. what incredible little beings!! once they were snuggled back into their nest, we headed back through the now very wild weather! 

Excited by the storm, Marie and I couldnt resist the waves and bobbed about in the shallows for a moment. This was by far our most exciting swim here yet.. the sea is so powerful and beautiful.. Anyway.. after this excitement, ringing data was entered and blog posts etc.. and we had a chat with Flemming downstairs.. and then had a good long nap!!

Our new guests, who arrived late last night, were just in time to see the Ride! and then after catching up on sleep, spent the day walking into town and heading out to grenen. After a delicious Pasta Carbonara from Michele, we all headed to bed. A full and brilliant day.

The beautiful outstreatched wing of the Ride.. so elegent!

dark eyes and freckled brow

Ringing at Jenne Sø and Grenen

Ride - 1

Rødhals - 1       

Rørsanger - 1           

Geardesanger - 1         

Munk - 1         

Gransanger - 1                 

GråFluesnapper - 1

Total 7

  People: Hebe Denny, Dante Shepherd, Joakim Matthiensen, Marie Heuberger, Michéle Pes, Simon S Christiansen, Jan Hjorth og Kristine Vik Kleffel

Today started calm, because of the windy weather, only Hebe and Dante went out to observe in the morning and the camera team went with them. The rest of us could sleep long. After a relaxed morning and sleeping until 7 o’clock, which is super late for us, I went out to watch lapwings (they are one of my favorite birds!). I found them quickly and watched them for a while. I saw two adults hanging around and chasing away some Kestrels (Tårnfalk) and Gulls. I tried to find out, where the Lapwing nest is. One time, I thought I found it, but when I walked there, there was nothing. So I went back to my observation point. And after a while a saw a chick! I was so excited to see it, I have never seen lapwing chicks before! Then suddenly another chick appeared. There two tiny and healthy Lapwing chicks!

Excitedly I zelloed the others and Simon told us, we can ring it. Joakim and Michéle hurried to me and we tried to catch it. After one failure, we changed our strategy. I watched the chick through the telescope and told the boys via Zello where to go. And with this strategy we caught the chick! We hurried to ring it to keep the disturbance as short as possible. It was only 91,8 g heavy.  

Ringing (Storsig):

Vibe                1

Total:              1

Folk: Hebe Denny, Dante Shepherd, Joakim Matthiensen, Marie Heuberger, Michéle Pes, Simon S Christiansen, Jan Hjorth og Kristine Vik Kleffel

Hebe and I heard a Thrush Nightingale at Ellekrattet in the morning. What a beautiful song! At the ringing site Michael, Joakim and Marie caught nice variety of warblers including Garden and Icterine. On the last round they caught a Red-breasted Flycatcher! The rarest bird caught in the ringing this year which was enjoyed by a group of assembled birders who came to see it. In the evening Hebe, Joakim and Simon went south to have a guided tour on waders. 32 people showed up and enjoyed a Grey Plover, some Dunlin and lots of seashells!  I cooked pasta pesto for dinner.

Folk: Hebe Denny, Dante Shepherd, Joakim Matthiensen, Marie Heuberger, Michele Pes, Simon S Christiansen, Daviel Krøyef and Alexander Brucki, Jorgen Hulbeck

Ringmarkening Sardinkrattet: 

Rorsanger - 1 

Gulbug - 2

Gaerdesanger - 4

Tornsanger - 1

Havesanger - 3

Munk - 1

Gransanger - 1

Lovsanger - 1 

Lille Fluesnapper - 1

Total 15

This morning me Joakim and Hebe woke up early to open the mist-nets in Grenen at 4:00 am, the weather forecasts are good, it will not be a windy day and we are hopeful. A little later, Simon joins us.

Dante and Marie also wake up early to go to Verdens Ende, to Grenen, to count birds.

As we had hoped, the conditions are good and we catched a good number of birds, including a Northen wheatear and the first Marsh warbler of the season.

We close the nets at 11:00 am, with 21 ringed birds and 5 recaptures, and we return to the Observatory to rest a little.

In the afternoon I update the ringing data in the database, Hebe proposes a super adventurous experience: the exploration of one of the beach bunkers! We are all a bit disappointed, all except Marie, who feels a little at home. Afterwards we have fun helping Marie with an online species recognition quiz.

Later we have a meeting to plan next week's activities.

Shortly afterwards for dinner we welcome two new guests who will stay with us for a few days to do filming during our work, Daviel Krøyef and Alexander Brucki.

Ringing (Sardinkrattet)

- Gransanger - Chiffchaff                    5                        

- Gærdesanger – Lesser whitethroat  2           

- Kærsanger – Marsh warbler             1              

- Rørsanger – Reed warbler               2                                                                              

- Løvsanger – Willow warbler             2  

- Gulbug – Icterine warbler                 1   

- Rørspurv – Reed bunting                 1

- Tornsanger - Whitethroat                 5

- Stenpikker - Northen wheatear        1

- Havesanger – Garden warbler         1

                                                        Tot: 21

Folk: Hebe Denny, Dante Shephard, Joakim Matthiensen, Marie Heuberger, Michele Pes, Simon S Christiansen, Daviel Krøyef and Alexander Brucki.

Comparison between Reed warbler and Marsh warbler