Howdy y’all, it is an honour to finally bring to you our daily blog as scheduled, although there are still some wifi issues at the lighthouse. Today was bittersweet in every which way, on one hand, the mosquitoes were blown away by the wind (god bless!), on the other hand, we lost our legendary Cake Man, expert birder, and kind Dane: the one and only Jørgen Hulbæk. We all wish him the best of luck in his migration back to Copenhagen, though his absence will be felt heavily here. 

Departure gifts from Jørgen Hulbæk, mange tak Jørgen!

As for ringing, the numbers were okay, and the day passed by very fast. There were no crazy species, but we enjoyed a very late (and quite sick) Redwing (Vindrossel).

Opening the nets.

Hayley caught a Blackbird (Solsort) she had ringed last autumn, which was also a very cute surprise!

Hayley with her Blackbird (Solsort).

We were also joined in the field by our guests Karen-Marie and Søren Leth-Nissen at Kabeltromlen, Karen-Marie even helped with ringing! She got to ring 3 Eurasian Blackcaps (Munk). I think they’re a wonderful species, especially to practice with, since they are a nice size and have a very calm personality. So we had plenty of fun regardless of the lack of variety in species!

I also stumbled upon the cutest little Newt today, we named him Isaac.

Isaac NEWTon. Smooth Newt - Lissotriton vulgaris (or Lille Vandsalamander in Danish).

At the count, there was also nothing in particular worth mentioning. Their highlights were high numbers of Northern Fulmars (Mallemuk) and a Montagu’s Harrier (Hedehøg).

When we got back to the station, we indulged in two traditional forms of herring on rye bread (thank you Magnus). They were very delicious, though I definitely prefer the curry sauce method. Then we had some pineapple, which was also delicious!

Magnus cutting the pineapple.

So overall, our day was not very interesting bird-wise, but we definitely had a lot of delicious things to remember. 

In the evening, we made an effort to catch up on all our data entry and blog posts which we’ve fallen behind on due to the lack of internet. We also heard from Simon (Sr) that Jan Eske and our guests made generous donations to our food collective today, mange tak! We will be sure to use your donations for good purposes, and we will continue to work hard!

Simon (Sr) also brought Colin McShane and his wife to the station, they were both very kind. Colin tags Jack Snipes (Enkeltbekkasin) in the UK, which is very interesting! You can find some footage of the region where he works in you search Jack Snipe Winterwatch into Youtube. (I have also linked to his video in this sentence).

At the evening meeting we were joined by Lars Yttte, Morten Christensen, our guests, and the SKAF team, so our little living room felt very lively and full. We planned our trip to Hirtshals and shared about our days, as well as preparing for the field tasks we need to complete throughout the week. 

That’s all I have for you today! 

Skifte.

Ringing (Kabeltromlekrattet)

Reed Warbler (Rørsanger) - 1

Eurasian Blackcap (Munk) - 10

Lesser Whitethroat (Gærdesanger) - 1

Marsh Warbler (Kærsanger) - 2

Icterine Warbler (Gulbug) - 1

Common Whitethroat (Tornsanger) - 1

Redwing (Vindrossel) - 1

Willow Warbler (Løvsanger) - 1

Total: 18

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: Seán Walsh, Hayley Land, Isis Khalil, Magnus Houen Lauritsen, Simon Kiesé, Simon S. Christiansen, Jørgen Hulbæk, Karen-Marie and Søren Leth-Nissen, Jan Eske, Lars Yttte and Morten Christensen

In the jungle, the Skagen jungle, the volunteers did not sleep tonight.

In the jungle, the Grenen jungle, the volunteers went out early in the morning.

Auuuuuuuuuuuuueeeaaaaeeaaaeaaambaammbaaaeeeeeeeee.

At 3.55 am I looked on the time and all nets are opened, another day in Skagen starts. The first round in the ringing was pretty fine and several Blackcaps (Munk) showed up. Even if the numbers lowered during the morning, some more Garden Warblers (Havesanger) got a new ring. In the last round two Lesser Redpolls (Lille Gråsisken) surprised us. Since there were not so many birds, we could spend some more time on looking on the extend of the moult of some of the birds.

In the meanwhile, the count was not really better, but since Skagen is a great spot for birding, there are still good birds around. The highlight was a Red-breasted Flycatcher (Lille Fluesnapper) calling at World’s End 1. Four Arctic Skuas (Almindelig Kjove), Corn Bunting (Bomlærke), Black-thorated Divers (Sortstrubet Loms), Rosefinchs (Karmindompap) and again a late Brambling (Kvækerfinke) show, that there are always good birds around. Later some Honey Buzzards (Hvepsevåge) passed by very lose, so beautiful!

In the afternoon, we met Simon Sr. in town at a Café and had nice Icecream/Icecoffee. That was really chilled. Then I put my letter for the EU-parlament-elections in the mail box and we went shopping. We bought a Pineapple, that was another highlight of this calm and sunny day. It is the best food when it is so warm like today. Isis prepared nice Kebap for dinner and it was really really really tasty. I’m not kidding. It was amazing, the best stuff I have eaten for a long while. Afterwards Karen-Marie and Søren – our new guests in the apartment – arrived. Hayley, Seán and and I knew them before, so it was great to see them again. Really nice people! Tomorrow there will be some westerly winds. The change in wind is very interesting and it can bring some good birds, but it can also be a bit slow. Let’s hope the best, we will be out in anyway and hope for some nice surprises. Since the WiFi is not working at the moment, data entery is a bit hard at the moment. At least the blog is online now, so we can enjoy the last sunlight outside before we fall into our bed. Station’s life is fun!

Ringing totals can not be added right now due to wifi problems. The highlights are mentioned in the blog in anyway. ;-)

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: Seán Walsh, Hayley Land, Isis Khalil, Magnus Houen Lauritsen, Simon Kiesé, Simon S. Christiansen, Jørn and Marianne, Karen-Marie and Søren Leth-Nissen.

When Simon Sr joined us at Kabeltromlen early this morning he told us that June is usually a very good month for rare birds in the ringing. With that in mind, we set off on our next round with renewed excitement for the upcoming days. What we weren’t expecting was for Simon to be proven correct so quickly. On that very round Sean found a Greenish Warbler (Lundsanger) in one of the nets!

We were all very happy to catch this pretty little warbler, only the fourth ever individual to be caught by the station. You can clearly see the white wing bar and prominent supercilium (eye stripe) in the pictures below.

Greenish Warbler (Lundsanger)

After that, we decided that we already liked June a lot. And this month’s good luck didn’t end there! On our closing round Isis extracted a Rosefinch (Karmindompap), a new hand species for us all. Not much is known about the moult of this species so they cannot be aged. Although our bird wasn’t a bright red adult male, it was still a very pretty individual. Amazingly, these birds fly all the way from south-east Asia where their wintering grounds are.

Rosefinch (Karmindompap)

After the Rosefinch (Karmindompap), we all decided we really really liked June. Hopefully today’s birds will be the first of many more ringing rarities this month! We’re really looking forward to what the next few days may bring.

We arrived back at the station in time to grab some snacks and then sit on the front steps and watch the Svogerslev Harmoniorkester performing. It was very nice to listen to them play their music out in the sunshine whilst drinking coffee (tak Mette!). We particularly enjoyed ‘can you feel the love tonight’ from the Lion King.

Svogerslev Harmoniorkester

Afterwards, Jens from the lighthouse appeared with a bubble machine which was lots of fun. There were so many bubbles everywhere!

We then had to focus on some actual work; data was inputted and the weekly cleaning completed. We have also found out that the Swedish ringed Sedge Warbler (Sivsanger) that we caught earlier this week was originally ringed in Järnbron, Sweden in September 2023 as a first calendar year bird.

What a great start to June!

Ringing (Kabeltromlekrattet):

Total: 31

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: Seán Walsh, Hayley Land, Isis Khalil, Magnus Houen Lauritsen, Simon Kiesé, Simon S. Christiansen, Jørn and Marianne.

I got up for counting on my own at 03.25 - an hour before sunrise. I because of the recently lack of bikes, I have to leave a bit earlier. I arrived around sunrise at Worlds End 1, as the 3rd person. To my big surprise, the talented german (SK) arrived just a minute later, to join me in the count. Even Though the migration is almost done, we always hope for a rarity to show up. Unfortunately, nothing really happened, and it turned out to be the ringing that had the best numbers of the day, with 11 Black Caps and four Marsh Warblers as the best.

Simon and I joined the rest of the volunteers at Kabeltromlen when the count was done. Simon stayed until the ringing was done an hour later, and I for two hours, because I started chatting with Henrik Knudsen and Ole Zoltan Göller. They told me stories from way back. Before Zello was invented. Back when there was no electricity in regular houses, and they had to dig themselves out through 2-3 kilometres of snow to the nearest road to go shopping by foot. In a thunderstorm. With hail. Against the stormy wind. Not to forget it was uphill in both directions. Back when birds had wings and could fly away before you got to see them. They told about their heroic findings and legendary twitches for rare birds. I don’t know who of them to believe the most, but they were good story tellers and the little kid (me) listened very carefully to the legends about birds like Rock Bunting (klippeværling), Elegant Tern (aztekerterne) and Roseate Tern (rosenterne).

Back at the station, I felt fresh like a white-tailed eagle (at least a danish saying/phrase), until I sat down on the couch and fell asleep for five hours. When I woke up again, it was time for data entering, before having dinner with SK as the chef and at last heading for the pillow once again.

Another day passed by at the Grey Lighthouse.

/Magpie/Krøllebille/Magnus/MHL.

Ringing (Kabeltromlen):

Total: 33

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: Seán Walsh, Hayley Land, Isis Khalil, Magnus Houen Lauritsen, Simon Kiesé, Simon S. Christiansen, Jørgen Hulbæk, Jørn and Marianne

Our routine broke today as for the first time in what feels like forever, there was rain in the early hours of the morning; during our usual hours of operation. All of us were awake by 4am, but none of us, neither ringers nor observers, could do our jobs with the rain. We waited and waited and watched the radar continually extend the rain forecast from stopping at 4am, to eventually stopping at 7am. Only then could we leave to open nets.

Simon left a bit earlier than us ringers with some excitement on his face to go observing, even as there was still some rain. His instincts were right, as he managed to find a Sydlig Nattergal (Common Nightingale) singing at Grenen! These birds are only seen (more often just heard) once or twice a year at Skagen, so it was a nice find.

Opening nets at Kabeltromlen was a grueling task this morning. The nets were sopping wet, and heavy with water. Putting the nets up often resulted in a quick spraying of one of us with rainwater. I had two sticks break trying to put up the water-logged net shelves, which was very inconvenient. Thankfully, once opened, the nets dried themselves out fairly quickly. They also began catching birds immediately, as we had two Kærsanger (Marsh Warbler) in nets as we opened them. Even though we began ringing three hours after sunrise, the rain clearing brought us many migrants. On the radar, it looked like Grenen was the only place in Denmark, or at least in Jutland, that was raining, so there must have been lots of passerine birds waiting to migrate once the rain cleared. The next rounds would be full of birds, with anywhere up to eight birds each net check round. The highlight of the day was a late Kvækerfinke (Brambling) which should have left long ago by now. There was also a male Gulspurv (Yellowhammer) recapture from 2021, which was a very pretty bird to have brighten up our day.

Due to our late start, we were all quite sleepy and just napped the rest of the afternoon away. Simon decided to go 'twitch' some Skovspurv (Tree Sparrows) because he has not yet seen them this month.

And that brings us up to date.. it feels weird, despite the long day due to the late start we really didn't get up to much.

Reed Warbler (Rørsanger) - 5

Eurasian Blackcap (Munk) - 8

Willow Warbler (Løvsanger) - 2

Common Chaffinch (Bogfinke) - 3

Icterine Warbler (Gulbug) - 2

Blackbird (Solsort) - 1

Marsh Warbler (Kærsanger) - 4

Sedge Warbler (Sivsanger) - 1

Common Whitethroat (Tornsanger) - 1

Chiffchaff (Gransanger) - 1

Common Whitethroat (Tornsanger) - 3

Hawfinch (Kernebider) - 2

Total: 28

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

Sum of observations of raptors on DOFbasen from today

God morgen friends, today I joined Magnus at the count for a change! The extra sleep felt incredible, and the whole walk to World’s End 1 was very scenic. It felt as though my energy had doubled… or maybe even tripled! Unfortunately, I did not have much of an outlet for all my newfound energy, as there was very, VERY, little to count this morning. As Magnus said, “the spring migration is officially over.” But not only that, a couple birds (including a Sparrowhawk - Spurvehøg) were even seen migrating South. Does this mean Autumn migration is already beginning? 

Look how beautiful and green Grenen is now!

A couple of highlights from the count this morning were a Golden Oriole (Pirol) and a Little Stint (Dværgryle - sadly we did not see this one though). I was happy to click away some of the regular Chaffinches (Bogfinke) and Magnus was excited to see quite a few Northern Fulmars (Mallemuk). Magnus also spent some time trying to teach me the Danish æ, ø, and å, and I tried my best to pronounce all the bird names correctly. I also got to hold some fun beetles including two weevils and a Black Snail Beetle (Phosphuga atrata - or Snegleådselbillen in Danish). 

Black Snail Beetle (Phosphuga atrata - Snegleådselbillen).

Magnus counting ALL the birds.

The ringers had a more productive day, with quite a few birds in the early rounds. The highlight of their day being a male Hawfinch (Kernebider - we have only caught females thus far!) along with a female, what a cute pair of lovebirds. 

Female (left) and male (right) Hawfinch (Kernebider). Photo by Simon Kiesé. 

I joined Seán, Hayley, and Simon at Kabeltromlen after Magnus and I finished the count, and got to see a nice adult male Chaffinch (Bogfinke) before helping close the nets. Jørgen Hulbæk, who was birdwatching at Kabeltromlen, also told us there were 6 Black Kites (Sort Glente) passing by and 1 Red Kite (Rød Glente), that was cool to see! A lot of raptors (Rovfugle) were flying rather low around the area. 

Simon (Sr) had a busy day too, joining us at Kabeltromlen and World’s End 1 in the morning, and then meeting up with an old school friend of his (who is also the son of our current guests). They went around and saw some birds - among them a Mantagu's Harrier and a very odd and big falcon without a tail. One that surely has escaped from captivity. It's a bit of a problem that falconeers can't manage to hold their hybrid birds away from escaping into the wild. It's something that happens too often. Anyway, they had a great day walking around on northern part of the peninsula.

Simon (Sr), his friend Rasmus, and our guest Jørn.

We also received news from Simon (Sr) about a great generosity which has been bestowed upon the station (in the form of a donation) from Melsen Fonden. With this donation, we can finally buy new bikes and a brand new scope for the station! We are all incredibly grateful (and excited), mange tak!

In the afternoon, Seán prepared a lovely vegetarian Paella for us, and Simon (Jr) went out on a small adventure. He came across many birds, including the Little Stint (Dværgryle) which we missed earlier today.

This time, unlike the last time I wrote the blog, I really think we will have an early night. We expect (and hope) tomorrow will be a busy day.

Ringing (Kabeltromlekrattet)

Reed Warbler (Rørsanger) - 2

Eurasian Blackcap (Munk) - 8

Lesser Whitethroat (Gærdesanger) - 2

Common Chaffinch (Bogfinke) - 2

Wren (Gærdesmutte) - 2

Robin (Rødhals) - 1

Marsh Warbler (Kærsanger) - 2

Icterine Warbler (Gulbug) - 1

Common Whitethroat (Tornsanger) - 3

Hawfinch (Kernebider) - 2

Total: 25

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

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

People: Seán Walsh, Hayley Land, Isis Khalil, Magnus Houen Lauritsen, Simon Kiesé, Simon S. Christiansen, Jørgen Hulbæk, Jørn and Marianne

And with this blog title it should be obvious, what the daily blog should be related to: cake!

If there is one thing, we volunteers love even more than birds, it is cake!

Strawberry cake, chocolate cake, we are very tolerant for all the variety of cake, but if you want to do us a favor, you know how to do it now. 

Finally, it should be a good day for cake migration. At the cake count at pie end 1 there were not many birds at all, but a Great Nothern Cake - ehm Diver - (Islom) in breeding plumage (with whip creme) passed by and gave nice views. Still hungry we continued the count at Kabeltromlen, because a rare cake was caught in the nets. Jørgen Hulbæk visited us and brought a good cake, this made the low numbers in the count very acceptable. In the meanwhile, the ringers - ehm bakers - were following the recipie and doing net checks. There were more birds than yesterday including one Spotted Flycatcher (Grå Fluesnapper) and a very pretty Marsh Warbler (Kærsanger). 

The cherry on the cake should follow soon: a Red-breasted Flycatcher (Lille Fluesnapper). Look at this cuty:

It is already the second one, we could ring this year. The white pattern and the small size are very characteristis in this species. A fun thing was that is had a pronounced brood patch. Not because it's breeding but brood patch is among some species developed homonally when the breeding period comes.

Brood Patch on the Red-breasted Flycatcher 

After taking a nap, the afternoon started the same for everyone of us: doing data entry and getting up to date with all the administrative tasks, so we do not have to do them on the hopefully more busy next days. I worked on the quality check of our entered data. This is a very important task and it gives you a nice overview about the data we collect in the counts.

Then it was time to celebrate - the Lesser Kestrel (Lille Tårnfalk), Isis birthday and maybe even Jørgen Hulbæks birthday again?

For this Simon Sr. brought Champagne and the typical danish Strawberry Cake (it is amazing!!). It was very nice and the mood is like always - in contrast to our amount of sleep - on a high level. 

From Sweden we recived a picture from the Chairman of the Board of our Bird Observatory; Niels Eriksen. He is right now on Öland visiting our friends at Ottenby Bird Observatory. We hope you have a nice trip there!

Niels Eriksen at Ottenby Bird Observatory on the southern point of Öland, Sweden.

Ringing (Kabeltromlekrattet):

Total: 19

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

Sum of observations of raptors on DOFbasen from today.

People: Seán Walsh, Hayley Land, Isis Khalil, Magnus Houen Lauritsen, Simon Kiesé, Simon S. Christiansen, Jørgen Hulbæk, Jørn and Marianne.

Divide and conquer was the plan today with the station team splitting into three groups for the morning field tasks. And conquer we did!

Magnus was at World’s End 1 for the count and saw the first immature Arctic Skua (Almindelig Kjove) of the season. There was also a Corn Bunting (Kornværling) and several Rosefinches (Karmindompap).

Simon Jr, Seán and Oluf were nearby at Kabeltromlen and had a fairly quiet morning. Their ringing highlights were a Tree Pipit (Skovpiber), Bullfinch (Dompap) and Spotted Flycatcher (Grå Fluesnapper).

Isis and I went to Skarvsøen for the third CES session of the season. Simon Sr also joined us with Emma Ellis, a visiting bird ringer from France and we were very happy to see the pair of Ferruginous Ducks (Hvidøjet And) flying over Skarsøen. Between rounds Simon heard a Blyth’s Reed Warbler (Buskrørsanger) singing in the bushes near our nets so got out his recorder. Then the bird stopped singing. We were a little confused about why but then checked the nearby net and realised it had stopped singing because we had caught it!

Blyth’s Reed Warbler (Buskrørsanger)

Simon Sr took lots of measurements to confirm the species whilst Simon Jr ran at lightning speed from Kabeltromlen to see the bird, as did Jørgen from Nordstrand. It is only the third of this species to be caught by the station since 2017!

It was particularly interesting to compare the Blyth’s Reed Warbler (Buskrørsanger) with a Reed Warbler (Rørsanger) which we had also caught. On the right you can see that the Blyth’s Reed Warbler (Buskrørsanger) which has a greyer plumage and a strong supercilium. It also has short wings (a short primary projection) and a long beak.

Reed Warbler (Rørsanger) – Blyth’s Reed Warbler (Buskrørsanger)

Otherwise it was also quiet for us at the CES site. As Isis and I were closing the nets, the clouds were starting to roll in and rumbles of distant thunder could be heard; as we cycled back the rain started and we got absolutely soaked!

After drying off and refuelling, data was entered and with the rain now stopped Magnus headed off on an entomology trip with a friend to look for a rare spider which they were very pleased to eventually find. A bit later in the afternoon a Short-toed Eagle (Slangeørn) was reported south of Skagen so of course Seán, the two Simons, Mette and I all sprinted to Simon Sr’s car to try and see it. We stopped at several places on our way south and searched the sky but unfortunately didn’t see the bird.

Short-toed Eagle (Slangeørn) by Jeppe Therkildsen Madsen.

We didn’t have much time to keep searching as we had to return to the station to ring a Tawny Owl (Natugle) chick from the Jerup Rescue Centre. It was a very fluffy stinky little thing!

Tawny Owl (Natugle)

And then an unexpected visitor was found walking in the lighthouse shop, a Feral Pigeon which Knud has now taken to look after.

We hope it likes its new home!

Ringing (Kabeltromlekrattet):

Total: 19

CES Ringing (Skarvsøen):

Total: 14

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

Sum of observations of raptors on DOFbasen from today

People: Seán Walsh, Hayley Land, Isis Khalil, Magnus Houen Lauritsen, Simon Kiesé, Simon S. Christiansen, Oluf Lou, Emma Ellis, Jørgen Hulbæk, Jørn and Marianne.

Simon and I went up an hour later than the ones that put up the nets for ringing, because we went for the count. We had breakfast together with Freya, before heading out for counting birds. Simon by bike and I by foot, because we are low on bikes. There was fog in the air. Quite a lot actually. We could barely see the sea, and that’s why we decided to move down to Kabeltromlen, where we could hear and see the passerines even better.

After four hours of counting, it was clear to us that it was one of the slowest days of the year so far, and that not even the passerines were migrating in high numbers. But we were able to participate in the ringing and mostly just see what they caught. Unfortunately, it was quite slow as well, but with a nice variety of species. Among the species were the Redbacked Shrike, which mostly are seen from distance. Also a sparrowhawk showed up, which always is a nice species in hand.

Sparrowhawk 2. calender year, male. Poto by Simon Kiesé.

Redbacked Shrike. Photo by Simon Kiesé.

In the afternoon, the weather turned better and the migration increased. My family and friends came by to invite me for lunch at a restaurant in town. I gave them a room tour at the lighthouse, before we had coffee and cake in the garden. Unfortunately, the weather turned bad after a few hours, and turned into a thunderstorm at the end.

The late afternoon and evening was spent with data entering and having a nice dinner, with SK as the chef.

We said hi to the new guests in the apartment, Jørn and Marianne, and bye to Kirsten and Freya.

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: Seán Walsh, Hayley Land, Isis Khalil, Magnus Houen Lauritsen, Simon Kiesé, Simon S. Christiansen, Kirsten, Jørn and Marianne.

Ringmærkning (Kabeltromlen)

Spurvehøg (Sparrowhawk) 1

Rødrygget Tornskade (Redbacked Shrike) 1

Solsort  (Blackbird) 1

Gulbug (Icterine Warbler)1

Tornsanger (Common Whitethroat) 3

Bogfinke (Chaffinch) 6

Munk  (Blackbird) 3

Sum: 16

This morning the other volunteers and I bravely woke up to begin our morning duties as professional mosquito breakfasts. To add to our pain, midgets/knats had also mass spawned the day after some mild wet weather, completely eating alive any part of our uncovered (and sometimes even our covered) bodies. It was completely not worth it on the migration counting side of things. The most exciting time of the morning was when four Sortstrubet Lom (Black-throated Divers) flew right over our heads. Later, a little after 7am, Simon found an Orca which later turned out to be one of three in Skagerak, which were the first to be seen from Grenen this year. Simon also managed to guide a research ship in the area close to the Orcas, though unfortanately they couldn't get a biological sample. They did manage to get some pictures which were enough to identify each individual uniquely.

Foto af Olga Filatova, Syddansk Universitet

The ringers could only have been subject to more torture than us counters at World's End, with zero birds in some of the net check rounds. There were some cool birds though; notably a Landsvale (Barn Swallow) and a Blåhals, ssp. cyanecula (White-spotted Bluethroat) - the first colorful male ringed in Skagen of this subspecies.

Later in the day, Simon SC and I went to the Naturmødet in Hirtshals to see the various stalls and talks. We participated in a Danish gull quiz, and because of my lack of proficiency in Danish, proceeded to get 9th place, which isn't horrible. We also met with Simon's family while we were there, at which point the conference became a little less nature oriented and more food and beer oriented which was very fun.

Proof of me third-wheeling Simon's family while looking like the main character.

Ringing (Kabeltromlekrattet)

Reed Warbler (Rørsanger) 1

Marsh Warbler (Kærsanger) 2

Icterine Warbler (Gulbug) 3

Garden Warbler (Havesanger) 3

Bluethroat (Blåhals) 1

Spotted Flycatcher (Grå Fluesnapper) 1

Common Redstart (Rødstjert) 1

Lesser Whitethroat (Gærdesanger) 3

Common Whitethroat (Tornsanger) 1

Willow Warbler (Løvsanger) 1

Common Chaffinch (Bogfinke) 2

Barn Swallow (Landsvale) 1

Total: 20

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

Sum of observations of raptors on DOFbasen from today

People: Frya Mørup-Ptetersen, Seán Walsh, Hayley Land, Isis Khalil, Magnus Houen Lauritsen, Simon Kiesé, Simon S. Christiansen, Kirsten Bregn