It was a blustery day today, with strong winds from the south east. Despite that the four younger volunteers were up at Grenen nice and early with our guest Preben, a return visitor from last year, one of the three volunteers at Skagen that saw the Blå glente last summer! They had a good time, and saw a lot of birds.

I was intending to go out to Grenen to makes some adjustments to the nets and perhaps erect the last one, but the wind defeated me and instead I chose to do some migration monitoring from behind the ringing lab. I had a GREAT morning, seeing a lot of the birds that ended up at Grenen and at least one (ringdrossel) that wasn’t. It was good to get my first rørhøg and fiskeørn for the year, the ringdrossel was also a ‘year tick’. When the migration died down I headed back indoors to update some paperwork. The others joined me within the hour and Joakim and Preben went food shopping for the next few days. The wind does not die down and so Anna, Dante, Hebe and I head into the harbour looking for the Iceland gull (hvidvinget måge) which we found and the gråmåge was also present.

When we returned home, we discovered it was Preben’s birthday! He’d made a fantastic meal of vegetarian patties followed by a delicious Swiss cake.

The weather looks the same for the next few days, so apart from splitting into three groups to cover Grenen, North Strand and the Observatory, the planned activities remain the same. .

The glaucous gull (gråmåge)

Iceland gull (hvidvinget måge)

Anna, Hebe and I  headed up to Grenen for a beautiful windless morning. We saw a Sooty Shearwater, only the 4th ever in April in Denmark, and 25 Shags. What a spring it has been for Shags in Skagen this year, way over a hundred so far! We were joined by a Danish film crew who were filming a documentary about birders in Denmark. 

Peter and Joakim ringed at Grenen for the first time of the year. It was a pretty quiet trip for them with just a few Chiffchaffs, a Song Thrush and a Dunnock. However, they had better luck back at the lighthouse, with a beautiful male Brambling! Others ringed included Blue Tits, a couple of Great Tits, and a gorgeous male Goldcrest.

In the evening, we headed out for a wander along the beach, accompanied by the sound of Yellowhammers. We watched the gulls and the odd wader as the sun set.   

Waking up to a bit of a wild and windy morning, Anna, Dante and i headed out to Grenen to join Rolf again. It was quite a good morning, Anna and i, once again equiped with hotwater bottles, counted over 1000 Rød Strubet lom passing by! I am still completly enthralled by the huge number of birds that we see in one morning! The morning ended for us with a fantastic veiw of a female Hugorm resting by the path, really gorgeous!
Meanwhile, Peter headed out to Grenen in the morning to continue setting up the nets etc, and Joakim stayed back to guide a tour.

After a lovely morning of birds, catterpillars, snakes and lots of chattering, we headed back to the obs for lunch. Then Joakim, Anna and I headed out to join Peter at Grenen and Dante headed out to see his Dad who is visiting for a wee bit!
A few hours of wrestling with nets, wading through reeds and listening to the Rødrum later, we were finished setting up at Grenen!

We had quite a quiet evening, with Anna, Peter and Joakim getting on with things back at the obs, and me scampering off for a wee adventure on the bike to pick up some supplies and watch out for birds!

After a meal of leftovers and Icecream, we eventually hit bed!

The Hugorm at Grenen

Ringing at Jenne sø:

Gransanger -1 

Nordlig Gråsisken- 13

Gulspurv - 1

Today marks my third day in Skagen (still struggling with the Danish pronunciation), and my first time in Denmark! My name is Anna, I’m a Zoology graduate from England, and will be in the station for a month to help out with observing/ringing.

This morning was another early start for Dante, Joakim, Hebe and me as we headed up to Grenen. I’m still not used to this, or the bitter wind, so, while Dante and Rolf dissected the skies effortlessly, Hebe and I cradled our cups of coffee and hot water bottles. We counted around 300 red-throated divers, Scoters, Gannets and all manner of other seabirds.

To warm up, I wandered down to the beach to watch the Mergansers, Cormorants and Eiders rise and fall among the waves. A Tern flew overhead, occasionally diving into the freezing ocean, shaking itself off and continuing it’s aerial acrobatics. I watched the plovers and sanderlings survey the ocean, fluffed up against the wind. Avoiding the urge to attempt to cuddle one, I headed back up to the others, to hear that two bearded tits were hiding in the reeds below.

It was a pretty good morning, complete with a Great Skua, and a group of over 100 Common and Rough-legged Buzzards soaring on the thermals. Occasionally, a male Sparrowhawk would cut across the reedbeds, and the Bittern would boom his song, just to ensure we knew he was there- but would never see him.

Joakim left early to join Peter back at the house to carry out a ringing tour for the public. It was greatly successful, with many birds caught. Among the most exciting were a tree sparrow (below) and a goldcrest. Good job boys!

After lunch we all headed out to put up mist nets. After struggling with poles, getting caught in nets, testing waders and a fair amount of posing later, we headed home for much needed showers (Peter).

It didn’t take long for us to get itchy feet, so Dante and Joakim headed out in search of the Icelandic gull, with Hebe and I following (after fixing Hebe’s bike). Unfortunately, it seems Hebe and I share a lack of sense of direction. While lost in the harbour, we received a call that the boys had found aforementioned gull. What followed was a mad racing around the harbour to find them, and many wrong turnings. Of course, just as we arrived the Icelandic gull decided to disappear. Figures. It didn’t matter, we watched the others in the evening light, with the experts teaching us about aging gulls and their ridiculous 4ish years of immature plumage and the delicious scent of rotting fish setting the mood. We watched a Glaucous gull for a while, before heading home for the day.

We feasted on pitta breads, spilling half the filling over the table, prepared by our guests Ida and Hans. They even bought us wine! (Mainly for Hebe to get tipsy on). Sadly, this was their farewell dinner- to them, thank you so much for staying, we’ve loved having you here!

I rounded off the evening with a stroll to see the stars. They are truly incredible here, with Mars showing nicely. What an awesome place, with equally awesome (and crazy) inhabitants.

Today started like usual, with Dante and Hebe heading up to Grenen for some observations. Joakim and Anna needed a later start but they headed out a little later. I was out of the door a little time after that when a firecrest (toppet fuglekonge) was reported at Ellekrattet, a first for me in Denmark. We were joined by Ida and Hans.

After this Anna, Hebe and I headed into town with Ida and Hans to do some shopping for Hebe’s dinner night and to get some supplies. Whilst we were doing this Joakim was working on the diary and his personal post for the website and Dante was entering DOFBasen.

As the afternoon wore on Dante headed out to the harbour where an Iceland gull was reported. We all rushed down straight away (except poor Hebe who was still cooking), but after a windy and cold 40 minutes we had to give it up as a bad job.

Firecrest (rodtoppet fuglekonge) in Ellekrattet

Dagen startede rigtigt smukt med sol og nærmest ingen vind. Selvom vinden dog tog til op ad dagen forblev solen fremme hele dagen. Det betød også at sigtbarheden var rigtigt god hvilket vi havde håbet på. For ingen dis/tåge og lav vind betyder nemlig topskarv! Derfor var forventningerne for netop topskarv i dag skruet helt op. Dante, Hebe og jeg drog ud på grenen omkring kl 06:00 for at observere dagens træk. Dante sad med Rolf og Hebe og jeg sad sammen med Knud. Til at starte med var det de forventelige fugle der fløj forbi. Lidt lommer, nogle sortænder, suler, lidt alkefugle og et par rider kom forbi. Det blev dog hurtigt rigtigt sjovt da det allerede viste sig, at vores forventninger holdte stik og der kl ca. 07:30 kom to topskarver flyvende mod nordvest. De smed sig på vandet og vi kunne rigtigt nyde synet af fuglene med deres fine toppe. Herligt syn! Allerede en halv time efter, altså kl ca. 08:05 kom en flok på hele 4 topskarver i vores teleskoper da de fløj forbi os MEGET tæt på kysten! Virkelig noget af en oplevelse og ikke mindst en ny DK-art for mig. Dante havde to topskarver mere denne morgen, men de kunne kun ses fra verdens ende.

Imens vores fantastiske morgen forløb ude på grenen ringmærkede Peter lidt i fyrhaven. Det blev til årets første ringmærkede gransanger på Skagen Fuglestation. Nu lugter det virkelig af forår!

Hans og Ida gik en tur ud og besøgte os på Grenen og var senere en tur inde i Skagen. Her samlede de vores nye frivillige Anna op.

Dante og jeg tog en hurtig på havnen og ellers skete der ikke meget mere denne dag, da blæsten lidt lagde en stopper for de planer vi havde. Dante lavede et par tærter til aftensmad og de blev en stor succes. Det tog ham dog nogle timer og køkkenet lignede en slagmark da han var færdig, men gode blev de. I morgen kommer blæsten også til at dominere dagen, så vi må se hvad der sker.

Ha’ det godt derude.

Folk på stationen: Peter, Hebe, Dante, Ida, Hans, Anna og Joakim.

Fugle ringmærkede i dag:

Grønirisk – 1

Gulspurv – 2

Gransanger – 1

Bogfinke -1

Her ses året første gransanger, som ringmærkes på Skagen Fuglestation

Sådan ser køkkenet ud når det er Dante som står for maden....

At Grenen in the morning Joakim and I saw a Puffin. Only the third in Denmark this year and a lifer for him! Hebe and Peter were ringing in the garden but didn’t catch very much, just a few Blue and Great Tits. Ida and Hans decided to go on a walk along the beach from the lighthouse to Nordstrand via Grenen and the Cormorant colony. Apparently the Cormorant colony is starting to smell like fresh coffee!

In the afternoon Peter, Hebe, Joakim and I went to Grenen to put some nets up. We got only 5 up but it took a while to get the hang of it and I’m sure we will be more efficient soon! After Joakims Swedish sausage dinner him and I nearly caught the Magpie in the garden again, so close!

The weather was looking good so we were all up early this morning. Dante, Hebe and Joakim went up to Grenen for some observing and I opened some nets. Joakim came back early because of a rain storm and he helped scribe for me in the banding lab. Not much was caught, a few chaffinch, dunnock and redpoll but it was a fun morning and very educational for Joakim and I. As it died down, Joakim and our guests, Ida and Hans went to the cormorant colony to do the weekly count. A few more nests in the eastern part of the colony, it won’t be long before we do two visits a week and start some nest mapping.

Dante and Hebe came back midday and spent the afternoon entering DOFBasen. Joakim and I had entered and checked the ringing data. I also created some allowance spreadsheets for everyone.

Towards late afternoon, as I was busy with some personal things, everyone else went down to the harbour where they saw the glaucous gull (gråmåge) and watched some fishermen freeing a guillemot (lomvie) from some netting. They returned late and I made a mushroom pasta dish for everyone (except Hans who was allergic to mushrooms!). We then had the evening meeting and were all early to bed.

Birds ringed

Bogfinke - 5

Gulspurv - 2

Stor gråsisken - 3

Jernspurv - 1

Chaffinch (bogfinke) Male.

I dag var min første dag tilbage på Skagen Fuglestation efter, at jeg ankom i går aftes. Det var et glædeligt gensyn med stationen og Skagen samt nogle mennesker jeg ikke har set siden sidste sommer. Dejligt at være tilbage!

Dagen i dag startede kl 05:15 hvor turen, efter en omgang morgenmad gik til Grenen for at kigge på trækfuglene. Morgenholdet bestod af Dante, Hebe og mig selv samt 7 andre birdere som brugte nogle timer ude på Grenen. Der var rigtigt godt gang i sortænderne og totallen nåede op på imponerende 21.200 eksemplarer! Derudover kunne vi også nyde synet af eksempelvis Duehøg, fjeldvåge, musvåger, traner, mange rødstrubede lommer mm.

Klokken 11 var jeg tilbage ved stationen og stod sammen med Niels for en guidet tur rundt i området. Vinden var taget til, hvilket vanskeliggjorde det lidt, men det lykkedes os da både at se traner, bjergvipstjert og lidt musvåger. Turens bedste oplevelse blev dog en gråmåge som fløj syd langs stranden ved fyret lige da vi var ved turens afslutning. Herefter sagde vi farvel til Niels, samt Gitte og Jens Peter.

Hebe og Dante lagde et hurtigt stop forbi havnen og lavede lidt indkøb på vejen hjem. Peter brugte dagen på lidt ringmærkning i fyrhaven hvilket bød på lidt forskellige fugle. Heriblandt kan nævnes: Grønsisken han, jernspurv, gråsisken samt blåmejse.

Omkring klokken 16:00 ankom Hans og Ida som vil bo i lejligheden den næste uges tid. De havde været så søde at tage mad med hjemmefra så aftensmaden var hurtigt klaret. Tak for det! De glæder sig begge til at følge stationens arbejde og opleve nogle af fuglene i Skagen.

Efter middagen holdte vi vores daglige aftenmøde og fik snakket om morgendagens aktiviteter, samt hvilke opgaver som skal klares i løbet af den kommende uge. Så var det ellers i seng tidligt så vi kunne være klar til nye eventyr næste dag!

Ringmærkede fugle i dag:

Blåmejse - 3

Musvit - 2

Jernspurv - 1

Grønsisken - 1

Gråsisken - 2

Bogfinke - 7

Folk på stationen: Peter, Dante, Hebe, Gitte, Jens Peter, Niels, Ida, Hans og Joakim.

Her ses en meget flot grønsisken han, som var en af de fugle der blev ringmærket i dag. Det er første gang i år at en grønsisken ringmærkes på Skagen fuglestation.

Her er det en blåmejse der er gået i nettet. Det er også første gang i år at en blåmejse ringmærkes på Skagen Fuglestation også blev det endda til hele 3 eksemplare.