This morning, I went to the obs with Ragnar. The wind was cold and the birds were quiet. We saw a few flocks of auks and scoters migrating. We also saw some Kittiwake (Ride) flying by. However, there weren’t many birds migrating. However, around 9 AM, a Yellow-billed Diver (Hvidnæbbet Lom) flew over us. Another good thing was the large flock of resting Gulls, right in front of us. So we scanned it to find some rare gulls. There were some Caspian Gulls (Kaspisk Måge), a total of nine birds (for all the morning). Then someone found an Iceland Gull (Hvidvinget Måge) hiding behind some other gulls. It was very difficult to see it because it was facing us. It stayed like this for a while. Unfortunately, some people with dogs flushed the gulls. We tried to find it again, without success.

Iceland Gull (Hvidvinget Måge), 3k

The rest of the day was also quiet. Ragnar went for a walk around Word’s end III. He saw one Stonechat (Sortstrubet Bynkefugl), some Reed Bunting (Rørspurv) and Yellowhammer (Gulspurv). I also walked around the spot and I found a Shore Lark (Bjerglærke). At the end, Mara join us at the observation to try to find the Iceland Gull (Hvidvinget Måge), but it had already disappeared. After the obs, Ragnar went to gulling. He counted 955 Hearing Gulls (Sølvmåge), 645 Great Black-backed Gulls (Svartbag) and some of the nine Caspian Gulls (Kaspisk Måge).

For the ringers it was also a slow morning with 10 birds ringed and 12 recaptures. As yesterday, there were many Blackbirds (Solsort), 5 in total. In the next days, the ringers plan to put GPS track on the Blackbirds (Solsort) to see where they travel.

Thomas with the thermal camera

In the afternoon we enjoyed the cake that Mara cooked. Then, Thomas and I went to try catching some birds. We tried to catch the Sanderlings (Sandløber) but they flew away. We didn’t find any Purple Sandpipers (Sortgrå Ryle). We tried to catch the Shore Lark (Bjerglærke) at Word’s end II, but it also flew away. We returned at the lighthouse, a little bit wet and without any birds.

Highlights from observations:
Yellow-billed Diver (Hvidnæbbet Lom) – 1
Iceland Gull – 1
Shore Lark - 1

Ringing (Kabeltromlen)

Blåmejse - 2
Fuglekonge - 1
Vindrossel - 1
Solsort - 5
Rødhals – 1
Total: 10

People at the station: Thomas Weston, Emma Fabre, Ragnar Smith, Mara Glane, Simon Sigaard Christiansen, Lars & Lone; Jorgen

Link to today's observations from observers in the area

Today we went out to the obs and the ringers went out to open the nets. Even though we can sleep a bit longer than before with late sunrise, the dreary weather puts a damper on the mood, today was no different. The morning obs was quiet, though a effort was made to relocate a tick-bunting found by one of the many visiting birders that are in Skagen at the moment, as the danish rarity committee are having their meeting in Skagen to assess the many rarity reports that they receive. The fruits of their hard labour can be seen by the fact that the Balearic Shearwater (Balearskråpe) and Greater Short-toed Lark (Korttået Lærke) that me and Frederik Johansen found earlier this year have been accepted! But back to morning observations. The weather was still a bit rainy which made it somewhat hard to count the few birds that were migrating, with a very nice Great Skua (Storkjove) being the highlight of the morning!

Great Skua over the beach

Otherwise a Shorelark (Bjerglærke) and a Woodlark (Hedelærke) were nice additions. The ringers had a quiet day too, with thrushes dominating the nets. Plenty of blackbirds so they focussed on weighing them for the harnesses that are planned to be put on the blackbirds for GPS-tracking them.

Redwing!

But we packed up the equipment and went back to the station were we have had a quiet evening to reload after a whole day of no sunshine. Tomorrow looks the same but hopefully we can refind the bunting from today and HOPEFULLY it will turn out to be a black-face bunting (Gråhovedet Værling)

Get ready for this little fella tomorrow!

Highlights from obs:

Great Skua

Woodlark

Shorelark

Jack Snipe 

Caspian Gull 6

Ringing (Kabeltromlen):

Jernspurv - Dunnock: 1

Rødhals - Robin: 1

Solsort - Blackbird: 14

Vindrossel - Redwing: 8

Fuglekonge - Goldcrest: 2

Blåmejse - Blue Tit: 1

Bogfinke - Chaffinch: 2

Total: 29

Link to today's observations from observers in the area

Hej!

The observations today were done by Emma alone this morning. Luckily, or not, the counting of birds was very well possible to do alone, as not many birds were flying by World's End 3. Emma got some company by Knud and Jørgen. They saw a Great Skua/Storkjve, a Great Northern Diver/Islom flying and 3 Turnstones/Stenvender resting at the beach. Ragnar and Simon in the meanwhile had a look again at the 'Eastern' Lesser Whitethroat/Gærdesanger to take some better photos of it. 

'Eastern' Lesser Whitethroat/Gærdesanger

At Kabeltromlen Thomas and I had a busy start to the ringing morning, as a flock of Redpolls/Gråsisken flew in one of our nets. Also a couple of Bearded Reedlings/Skægmejse got ringed in that round and released together. But it didn't get boring after that round, as we caught a Firecrest/Rødtoppet Fuglekonge.

Goldcrest/Fuglekonge and Firecrest/Rødtoppet Fuglekonge

In between the rounds we enjoyed to watch the passerine migration, with Hawfinches/Kernebider flying over and many Blackbirds/Solsort migrating. In a later round we caught another Redpoll/Gråsisken. Becuase Emma really wanted to see a Redpoll up close she stopped migration count for a bit and came over to Kabeltromlen. While ringing all the Blue Tits we also caught in that round, Thomas voiced his suspiciuons about the Redpoll, it gave Arctic Redpoll/Hvidsiskin vibes. But because we where so busy with the other birds, we took some pictures and send it on his way. We later concluded that it was indeed an Arctic Redpoll! It was quite a good ringing day with 38 new birds.

Artic Redpoll/Hvidsiskin

In the still grey and cloudy afternoon, Ragnar had a walk and found a White Wagtail/Hvid Vipstjert on the beach south to the lighthouse, but other than that nothing special came across his path.

White Wagtail/Hvid Vipstjert

Thomas spent the afternoon with Lone in Skagen to do some food shopping and they enjoyed a hot chocolate in a cafe. Perfect activity for weather like this. I spent my afternoon freezing on the beach, as I tried to catch some Rock Pipits/Skærpiber, they of course only showed up after I took down the trap. Thomas joined me later as the sun was setting (in theory, we never even saw the sun today), to try and catch Purple Sandpipers/Sortgrå Ryle. Emma spotted and photographed them on her walk earlier. We indeed found the flock of 5 individuals resting on the beach, but one catching attempt and they all flew of, probably to the harbour.

Purple Sandpiper/Sortgrå Ryle

Highlights from the observations:

Great Skua/Storkjove

Great Northern Diver/Islom

White Wagtail/Hvid Vipstjert - very late individual

'Eastern' Lesser Whitethroat/Gærdesanger

Ringing (Kabeltromlen):

Gærdesmutte - 1

Rødhals - 2

Solsort - 5

Fuglekonge - 5

Rødtoppet Fuglekonge - 1

Skægmejse - 2

Blåmejse - 7

Bogfinke - 2

Hvidsisken - 1

Nordling Gråsisken - 2

Lille Gråsisken - 7

Total = 38

Today’s observations on Dofbasen from observers in the area

People at the station: Thomas Weston, Emma Fabre, Mara Glane, Knud Pedersen, Jorgen Hulbaek, Ragnar Smith, Lone & Lars, Simon Sigaard Christiansen

The day started with a swap in the job roles today with Emma joining Mara at ringing and myself joining Ragnar at Worlds End 3 for observations and migration counts. The day started with some sun, yay, and then it went cloudy and grey again but it was kinda warm and no wind = no sand in the face!

Whooper Swans (Sangsvane), including one 1st year/cygnet completing its first ever migration, and 3 Greylag Geese (Grågås) migrating from their breeding grounds further North and East to wintering areas further South.

Mara and Emma left before dawn to open the nets. The duo had a quiet day with few birds per round and few birds’ overhead. Although there were few birds being caught, there were apparently quite a few thrushes, finches, tits, and Goldcrest (Fuglekonge) present in the bushes. One of the highlights was a Blackbird (Solstort) with an older ring series than the present. Possibly a bird ringed in a previous year or another location – we will find out soon when we input the data this evening. The team closed at the five-hour mark with Mara ending up staying to sew some of the nets as it was nice and calm, and not damp in the air today. A few birds were migrating overhead including some Whooper Swans (Sangsvane) and some juveniles amongst them too. Looking in the flocks, it has been a mixed bag for the swans with some broods of 4 noted and others of just 1. It will be interesting to see how this translates across the flyway and throughout the coming weeks.

One of two Sooty Shearwaters (Sodfarvet Skråpe) from the observations.

Whilst the other two were ringing, Ragnar and I had a very good migration count from World’s End 3. In the first half an hour, I found a Great Northern Diver (Islom) heading out of Kattagat and getting more distant went low NW. Simon at Kabeltromlen could see it which was very nice. Soon after, and following along the same route, I saw a small black bodied bird with very long wings and a distinctive bat-like flight fluttering over the waves also heading NW. I could see it was a petrel species (Stormvale spp.) and the size, behaviour, plumage features, and lack of a large white on the rump pointed it to be a Leach’s Storm Petrel (Stor Stormsvale). The most likely Storm petrel spp (Stormvale spp.) at this time of year. I quickly got Ragnar and the others on to the bird, and we enjoyed about 20-30 seconds of activity as it flew more and more distantly NW. This was the second of the week, second individual seen in Skagen this autumn and the second seen in Denmark this autumn too! So, a very good record, and always nice to pick up one of the smallest seabirds in the area in November. Following the same trajectory again, Ragnar saw a Sooty Shearwater (Sodfarvet Skråpe) close inshore coming out of Kattagat. The bird landed with a Gannet (Sule) just next to the tip before heading off NW and out of view. The same line also hosted Fulmar (Mallemuk), including a very nice ‘Blue’ Fulmar (Mallemuk) and several gulls throughout the morning. Another standout highlight was a flock of 26 Shorelarks (Bjerglærke) which flew over and landed on the beach, a nice count for Skagen and the highest of the autumn so far.

More Whooper Swans (Sangsvane) migrating south just overhead allowing us to see their yellow on the bills.

We decided to do an extra hour due to the last hour being really good for Whooper Swans (Sangsvane) migrating south.

I recognise you! A Grey Seal who matched to a previous Grey Seal female who was seen last year on the beach near the Bunker but now hanging out near the tip.

Ragnar then stayed an extra extra hour. After the fifth hour of migration, I left to check out the Grey Seals. This species is quite uncommon here and I was lucky to see two females and a large bull on the tip. One of the females looked familiar and looking at photos from this year and last year when I was here, it looked identical to the female from last year! They have unique patterns on their neck and chest and this one matched, very cool and nice to see here again at Grenen.

The 'Eastern' Lesser Whitethroat (Gærdesanger) in Skagen.

We ended up all having lunch at random times with Emma coming and then going for a walk. I had food and then went for a walk, bumping into Emma on the beach near the tip and seeing some Snow Buntings (Snevspurv). I went down the Sandormen track where a pair of Stonechat (Sortstrubet bynkefugle) and a Reed Bunting were the additional highlights. Emma continued to Nordstrand not adding too much to the tally. Mara ended up caring for our mealworms and making sure they were all good and healthy. Ragnar came back from migration and got a call from Simon. Simon found an ‘eastern’ Lesser Whitethroat (Gærdesanger) near his house and came and picked up Mara and Ragnar who were at the obs to see it and hope to confirm the identity of this individual in the next couple of days. They picked up some ringing equipment but no luck today.

Jack Snipe (Enkeltbekkasin) to finish the day before dinner and bed!

All back for evening meeting and chill. We decided on a quick nightcatching session before dinner and ended up seeing 7 Woodcock (Skovsneppe), 3 Jack Snipe (Enkeltbekkasin), a Common Snipe (Dobbeltbekkasin), and 20+ Blackbirds (Solsort) overhead. Talking of Blackbirds (Solsort), we have some very interesting news coming your way, but you will just have to keep reading the blog for more details…

Highlights from the observatory:

• A Leach’s Storm Petrel (Stor Stormsvale)
• Two Sooty Shearwaters (Sodfarvet Skråpe)
• A ‘blue’ Fulmar (Mallemuk)
• 24 Shorelarks (Bjerglærke)
• Caspain Gull (Kaspisk Måge)
• ‘Eastern’ Lesser Whitethroat (Gærdesanger)

Ringing totals

Ringing (Kabeltromlen)

Overall total: 12

Today’s observations on Dofbasen from observers in the area

People: Thomas Weston, Emma Fabre, Mara Glane, Knud Pedersen, Jorgen Hulbaek, Ragnar Smith, Lone & Lars, Simon Sigaard Christiansen.

This morning Ragnar and I went to the obs. The weather was not good, we had an alternation of light rain, clouds and sunshine. The migration was quiet, no movement during the rain and then a few migrating birds when it stopped. We saw some Red-throated Divers (Rødstrubet Lom) flying over us in flocks of 2 to 6. Among these Divers, we spotted 3 Yellow-billed Divers (Hvidnæbbet Lom) migrating alone, flying over us, forcing us to kept an eye on the sky and Kattagate. Ragnar heard the first Waxwing (Silkehale) of the season but we didn’t see it. We also saw three Barn Swallows (Landsvale) coming in from the sea as well as two male Long-tailled Duck (Havlit).

Then, around 12h, when the migration decreased, we stayed to see if any more Yellow-billed Diver (Hvidnæbbet Lom) might appear. We scanned the sea and the sky, hoping to find a rare bird. We began to discuss about what bird we would like to see. I said to Ragnar “Maybe we can try to find a Black Scoter (Amerikansk) among the resting Common and Velvet Scoter (Sortand og Fløjlsand)”. He resplied to me “No that’s boring. We need to find a Surf Scoter (Brilleand), it’s a beautiful bird”. So he was explaining me how it looks like when we heard on Zello “Surf Scoter (Brilleand) going east”. We grabbed our scopes, and there it was! It flew in and landed among the other scoters, a beautiful adult male. It stayed for about 30 minutes on the water, giving the time to Mara and Thomas to join us. We went down on the beach to try to take some photos. Later we saw it flew away, with a flock of Velvet Scoter (Fløjlsand), going southeast. Nice obs!
Then we returned to the dune to try spotting a Yellow or a Great Diver (Hvidnæbbet Lom eller Islom) but without success.

Surf Scoter (Brilleand)

Mara and Thomas went to the ringing, they caught 21 new birds despite of the bad weather. They ringed many Blackbirds (Solsort) and a nice Redpoll (Gråsisken). They heard and saw a Waxwing (Silkehale), maybe the same as us. Then, they closed the nets around 11h due to the cold and the dampness.

Redpoll (Gråsisken)

We all returned around 14h, had some lunch and went to the rescue center. We made a quick stop at the beach, just before the center, to see the Kentish Plover (Hvidbrystet Præstekrave). We found it quickly, put it in the scope, and continued to the center.

We arrived to the rescue center to ring a Barn Owl (Slørugle) and a Wood Pigeon (Ringdue).

Barn Owl (Slørugle)

Feather of the Barn Owl (Slørugle), we can see the comb, it is why the fly of the Owl is silent

Highlights from observations:
Yellow-billed Diver (Hvidnæbbet Lom) - 3
Surf Scoter (Brilleand) – 1 adult male
First Waxwing (Silkehale) of the season

Ringing (Kabeltromlen)
Sangdrossel – 1
Gærdesmutte - 3
Rødhals – 1
Solsort - 6
Munk - 2
Musvit - 1
Gråsisken, Nordlig (ssp. Flammea) – 1
Gråsisken, Lille (ssp. Cabaret) – 2

Gråsisken sp. - 1
Dompap, Lille (ssp. Europaea) – 3

Total: 21

Link to today's observations from observers in the area

People at the station: Thomas Weston, Emma Fabre, Ragnar Smith, Mara Glane, Simon Sigaard Christiansen, Lars & Lone; Jorgen; Knud Peterson

Hej!

How many Yellow-billed Divers do you want to see today? Ragnar: Yes!

But first, let's start with the rigning. Finally, the wind let us open all the nets today. And our first round started with 8 birds and we were joined by Lorna and Lars. We then caught a very yellow and fancy looking adult Yellowhammer/Gulspurv.

Yellowhammer/Gulspurv - sophisticated gentleman

Now we come to the exciting day at the migration count. During the regular 4 hour count Ragnar and Emma saw a Great Skua/Storkjove, a European Shag/Topskarv and good numbers of Whooper Swans/Sangsvane. The Leach's Storm Petrel/Stor Stormsvale thought it was sneaky, when it passed by World's Ends 3 only after it saw that Emma left to visit the ringing. But it did not realize that Ragnar was still hiding in the dunes with the scope ready for every bird that flies by. And so it was seen by Ragnar, who was really happy about the first record of this species for this year in Denmark!

The nice observations only continued from there and Ragnar stayed almost until sunset. He was very busy counting all the Yellow-billed divers/Hvidnæbbet Lom flying by. He had some nice views on these beautiful birds. Today the record of 9 Yellow-billed Divers/Hvidnæbbet Lom in one day for Skagen was almost broken, but it ended up being a tie.

Because the last days where so stormy, today was the perfect day for a Fulmar-Survey, where we walk 10 km along the beach and collect/note down all the dead birds washed up on the shore (with a special focus on Fulmars/Mallemuk). Thomas, Emma and Lone went out to do the survey and found one dead fulmar among some other interesting (mostly dead) findings. At Højen they spotted a very late Northern Wheatear/Stenpikker.

Norther Wheatear/Stenpikker

I spent my afternoon/evening trying out some night catching by myself. I was not succesfull, but I think I got better with every Snipe/Dobbeltbekkasin I sneaked up on. They all flew away eventually, but I'll keep on practicing.

Highlights from the observation:

Yellow-billed Divers/Hvidnæbbet Lom- 7 seen by the Skaf-team and 2 more seen in around Grenen today!

Leach's Storm Petrel/Stor Stormsvale

Great Northern Diver/ Islom

"Viking Gull" - Hybrid of a Herring Gull/Solvmåge and a Glaucuis Gull/Gråmåge

Ringing (Kabeltromlen):

Vindrossel - 3

Solsort - 2

Gulspurv - 1

Rødhals - 2

Gærdesmutte - 5

Jernspurv - 2

Blåmejse - 3

Munk -1

Dompap - 1

Fuglekonge - 1

Total = 21

Ringing (Jennes Sø):

Gærdesmutte - 2

Fuglekonge - 1

Stor Gråsisken - 1

Lille Gråsisken 21

Total: 25

Ringing (Nordstjernevej):

Sortmejse - 1

Musvit - 1

Skovspurv - 1

Total: 3

Grand total: 49

Link to today's observations from observers in the area

People at the station: Thomas Weston, Emma Fabre, Ragnar Smith, Mara Glane, Simon Sigaard Christiansen, Lars & Lone

This morning I went to the obs with Ragnar. I was getting settled when Ragnar said, “large diver over us !”, he put it in the scope and it was a Yellow-billed Diver (Hvidnæbbet Lom), a nice start! We oberved the migration of the usual species : auks (Alk/Lomvie), Kittiwakes (Ride), Common and Velvet Scoters (Sortand og Fløjlsand) and Gannets (Sule).
During the whole morning, a large flock of Snow Buntings (Snespurv) flew around us, making me want to try to catch them during the next days.

Female Rough-legged Buzzard (Fjeldvåge)

In the first hours, a Great Skua (Storkjove) came close, chasing some gulls then went to the Northwest. We saw a Woodcocke (Skovsneppe) coming from the sea and disappearing into the dunes and some late Barn Swallows (Landsvale) flew toward the tip, circled around, and then continued south. A beautiful female Rough-legged Buzzard (Fjeldvåge) flew close to us and we also saw some Water Pipits (Bjergpiber), calling around us. During the last hour the number of Fulmars (Mallemuk) increased, but we didn’t do extra time because of the wind and the blowing sand.

Thomas and Stella woke up for the ringing and cycling through the rain. They flushed a Woodcocke (Skovsneppe) on the path. They opened 11 nets because of the wind. They didn’t catch many birds, only 4, including one recapture. So they close the nets early and returned to the lighthouse.

Feeding the gulls

Caspian Gull (Kaspisk Måge), 1k

In the afternoon, we said goodbye to Stella. Then, Simon took us to the harbour, to feed some gulls. We counted a total of 7 Caspian Gulls (Kaspisk Måge). Near to the rocks we spotted 15 Purple Sandpipers (Sortgrå Ryle) with some Sanderlings (Sandløber), 2 Rock Pipits (Skærpiber) and some Eiders (Ederfugl). But the highlitght was watching Ragnar try to retrieve his cap, after it fell into the water among the gulls, because of the wind.

Purple Sandpipers (Sortgrå Ryle)

Ragnar

Then we came back to the station. Ragnar and I took a nap, leaving Thomas alone in the apartment. Then we did some cleaning. Our new guests arrived Lorna and Lars.

Highlights from observations:
Great Skua (Storkjove)
Yellow-billed Diver (Hvidnæbbet Lom)
Rough-legged Buzzard (Fjeldvåge)

Ringing (Kabeltromlen)

Blackbird/Solsort 1
Bullfinch/Dompap 1
Siskin/Grønsiskin 1

Total: 3

Link to today's observations from observers in the area

People at the station: Thomas Weston, Emma Fabre, Ragnar Smith, Stella Bråmer, Simon Sigaard Christiansen.

After ten days of recharging on Zealand with the family, it is business as usual with me and Emma going to Worlds End 3, while Thomas and Stella went to ringing. At worlds end 3 Troels, Knud and Jørgen at beaten us by two minutes and were ready to take on the observation counting. And what a day it turned out to be, with plenty of kittiwakes (Rider), alcids (alkefugle), divers (lommer), corvids (kragefugl) and snow buntings (Snespurve)! Even when the standardized counting stopped, we stood fast and kept counting as birds don’t adhere to stuff like timekeeping, but one by one the observers went back inland as they had other stuff do, such as twitching a record late Kentish Plover (Hvidbrystet Præstekrave) at Jerup Strand and other everyday tasks, but I held on till the last banana and lollipop. Before I finally went back to the observatory at 1442; a whooping 7 hours and 22 minutes at Worlds End 3 had netted me 8 Sooty Shearwaters (Sodfarvet Skråpe), 1 Lapland Bunting (Lapværling), 1 Great Northern Diver (Islom), 1 Yellow-billed Diver (Hvidnæbbet Lom) and a very nice European Shag (Topskarv). But the target species of today Pine Grosbeak (Krognæb), didn’t materialize, though one was seen 45 minutes south for Skagen, so Monday might be the day we get them!

I also reached a milestone in the shape of a Woodlark (Hedelærke), which now means I have seen five lark-species this season in Skagen! Four lark species for a whole year anywhere in Denmark would be crazy, but you are hard pressed to get five species in the span of two months in Denmark, considering there has been recorded six lark-species in Denmark!

Bullfinch male and female

Goldfinch!

While the seabird bonanza was going at Worlds End 3, the ringing was a bit more modest with the highlight being the ever beautiful Goldfinch (Stillits) and two chiffchaffs (Gransanger), “sadly” they were merely the common ones, we are still waiting for the Siberian subspecies to arrive! After ringing they went back to the observatory and while they were supposed to ring a Barn Owl (Slørugle) at the rescue center in Jerup, it was cancelled so they went to Jerup to look at the Kentish Plover. After a long day in the field, some light cleaning was done, evening meeting and some dinner, now we are getting ready for a windy day tomorrow. Hopefully we are going to get even more seabirds tomorrow, because there are few things in life better than seabird watching!

Kentish Plover-twitch

Highlights from observations:

8 Sooty Shearwaters (Sodfarvet Skråpe), continues an amazing autumn for this seabird

1 Yellow-billed Diver (Hvidnæbbet Lom), fifth for this autumn

1 Great Northern Diver (Islom), regular, but scarce

1 European Shag (Topskarv), very scarce autumn visitor

1 Lapland Bunting (Lapværling), now a rare autumn visitor

2 Barn Swallows (Landsvale), quite late but somewhat expected

Ringing (Kabeltromlen)

Gærdesmutte - Wren: 6

Rødhals - Robin: 4

Solsort - Blackbird: 4

Redwing - Vindrossel: 1

Gransanger - Chiffchaff: 2

Fuglekonge - Goldcrest: 2

Blåmejse - Blue Tit: 2

Musvit - Great Tit: 1

Stillits - Goldfinch: 1

Dompap - Eurasian Bullfinch: 2

Rørspurv - Reed Bunting: 1

Total: 26

Ringing (Nordstjernevej)

Blåmejse - Blue Tit: 1

Træløber - Treecreeper: 1

Skovspurv - Tree Sparrow: 1

Bogfinke - Chaffinch: 1

Grønirisk - Greenfinch: 1

Grønsisken - Siskin: 2

Total: 7

Ringing (Jennes Sø)

Gærdesmutte - Wren: 2

Rødhals - Robin: 3

Vindrossel - Redwing: 1

Fuglekonge - Goldcrest: 3

Blåmejse - Blue Tit: 2

Stor Gråsisken - Mealy Redpoll: 2

Lille Gråsisken - Lesser Redpoll: 22

Dompap - Eurasian Bullfinch: 1

Total: 36

Link to today's observations from observers in the area

The day started with a draught through the observatory that woke us a little earlier than planned this morning. It was windy day to say the least with the wind consistently above 30mph and sometimes gusting 60mph which was a bit of a crazy one even just walking around outside. This led to no ringing today and the whole team going out migration counting.

Long tailed ducks (Havlit) drawn by Emma during migration count showing differences between male and female.

Migration counts were not much lower than expected. West winds mean a lot of the bird’s head to Norway and Sweden ending up in Kattagat until the wind eases or turns southernly. Three days of west winds turning NW today means there should be a lot of birds waiting to exit Kattagat, some potentially originating from a lot further North in the Atlantic/North Sea. This is what tomorrow looks great for so keep posted. In the meantime, today’s sightings. West winds do not mean that birds would not be passing, and the migration was very good for NW moving Common Scoter (Sortand), Gannet (Sule), Kittiwake (Ride) and Long tailed duck (Havlit) with hundreds of the first, tens of the second and a little less for the third and fourth. Once the haze lifted off the sea and visibility improved around the third hour of wind and sand being pummelled into the face (and ending up everywhere), singles of Fulmar (Mallemuk) turned into small flocks resulting in a moderate passage of 20-30 birds.

The two Common Cranes (Trane) flying through the waves this morning.

The biggest personal surprise was two pairs of Common Cranes (Trane) who independatly came from the North and tried to fly NW into the very strong winds. Observations of the first pair were phenomenal and this pair tried for 5 minutes to continue their migration varying from just above the waves, to high in the sky. Alas heading SE and being lost to view. The second pair took a slightly different route and quickly ended up heading past SE about half an hour later.

Ragnar's 'Viking' Gull (Sølvmåge x Gråmåge hybrid)

Two Caspian Gulls (Kaspisk Måge) by Ragnar. The left hand bird is a 2nd calander year individual and the bird on the right is a 1st calander year bird.

Migration done we walked back to the observatory for food and then Simon needed to drop off Alexander after his five days here. He tied this into some gull feeding at the harbour where we fed the gulls a loaf of bread. This may sound a little odd but with the strong winds the number of Herring Gulls (Sølvmåge) were in their several hundreds, Great Black Backed Gulls (Svartbag) totalled low hundreds, a nice 7 Caspian Gulls (Kaspisk Måge) including 3x 1st cy/3 x 2nd cy/1 x Adult, a few Black-headed Gulls (Haettemåge), Common Gulls (stormmåge), and a ‘Viking Gull’ that is a hybrid between Herring Gull (Sølvmåge) and Glaucous Gull (Gråmåge), all joined the feeding flock.

Ragnar's Brunnuch’s Guillemot (Polarlomvie) drawing from Nordstand this afternoon showing the main features of the bird seen.

We then said goodbye to Alexander, dropped Ragnar off at Nordstand where he found over 511 Fulmar (Mallemuk), 2 Sooty Shearwaters (Sodfarvet Skråpe) and a Brunnuch’s Guillemot (Polarlomvie) which is a crazy rarity if accepted. The weather and the views point to this being a very good candidate plus a good description by Ragnar too.

We all came back, and a new guest arrived who will be present until Sunday, her name is Stella and is another DOF ung birder who would like to get to know Skagen a little better and the birds here. Welcome.

Highlights from the observatory:

• A movement of Fulmar (Mallemuk)
• At least 7 Caspian Gulls (Kaspisk Måge)
• Two Sooty Shearwaters (Sodfarvet Skråpe)
• Brünnich's guillemot (Polarlomvie)

Ringing totals

No ringing was undertaken today due to the wind.

Overall total: 0

Today’s observations on Dofbasen from observers in the area

People: Thomas Weston, Emma Fabre, Alexander Nyholm, Morten Jenrich, Ragnar Smith, Stella Bråmer Simon Sigaard Christiansen.

I dag er min sidste fulde dag på fuglestationen og jeg fik lov til at være med til ringmærkningen sammen med Thomas og Morten. Jeg ankom lidt sent til kabeltromlen, lige I tid til første netrunde, men der var ingen fugle I første omgang. Næste omgang var der lidt mere gang I fuglene og vi fangede en fuglekonge (goldcrest) og en kvækerfinke (brambling) som var lidt sur og jeg fik lov til at holde begge fugle og jeg satte fuglekongen fri. vi fangede også en solsort (blackbird) i næste runde. Alle var nye fugle og fik ring på.

Kvækerfinke (brambling) holdt af mig.

Emma stod for havobsen I dag og det var meget stille, der var massere af sorttænder (Common Scoter) der trak I første time og derefter døde det lidt ud. Mallemukker (fulmar) og en skeand (shoveler) der træk frem og tilbage blev det også til. Der var ogsaa alkefugle sp (auks), men ikke tæt på samme mængde som I går og sulerne (gannet) er der stadig ikke så meget gang i.

Senere tog Thomas, Emma og jeg ud og købte ind, det er ikke det mest spændene, men det skal jo gøres. Alle 672kr betalte Thomas I mønter, så det tog nogle minutter at betale imens køen ophobede sig bag os. Da vi kom hjem spiste vi frokost og derefter kom Ragnar tilbage.

Ragnar fandt denne britiske sildemåge så jeg tog nogle gode billeder af den.

Denne uge har været meget hyggelig og jeg har fået set nogle gode arter som fx. Lunde(puffin), topskarv(shag), snespurv(snow bunting), nordisk lappedykker(Slavonian grebe) og storkjove(great skua) og de har allesammen taget sig rigtig godt af mig. Jeg havde håbet på lidt skråper, men de kan stadig nå at komme imorgen.

Mange tak til Skagen fuglestation for at lade mig komme I praktik deroppe denne uge.

Highlights from the observatory:

• Skeand (shoveler)
• Mallemuk (fulmar)
• 28 Snespurv (Snow Bunting)
• Kaspisk Måge (Caspian Gull)

Ringing totals

Ringing (Kabeltromlen)

Overall total: 3

Today’s observations on Dofbasen from observers in the area

People: Thomas Weston, Emma Fabre, Knud Pedersen, Jorgen Hulbaek, Alexander Nyholm, Morten Jenrich, Ragnar Smith, Simon Sigaard Christiansen.