Hello everyone, it’s good to be here again! I arrived on Friday evening and since yesterday we already went out ringing, I have not done or seen much this far. Today again, we went out ringing, although, since Kalina, Mark and his kids all left early this morning it was a bit different with only Sean and me out. We had some visitors, though, which was nice for a change. Among them, Marcus and his two boys came by. They have been visiting the ringing for several years in a row and I was happy to meet them again. Also, we met Rolf’s sister’s family and I have a feeling that the two little girls will become very good birders one day. They were very into the ringing in any case.

As for birds, we did see the green woodpecker (grønspætte) again, but not much else out of the common. Also, we did not catch any foreign recoveries but I am not saying I am spoiled ;). Also, although it felt a little slower than yesterday, we actually caught the same number of birds, maybe a few fewer recaptures. But it is also that Sean is already getting very good and rather fast at ringing it felt like less work.

We did catch a greater spotted woodpecker (Stor Flagspætte), which was nice, also to give Sean a bit more feisty bird to hold for a change. Also, the two crested tits (Topmejse) were very cute to see in hand – and, as I am learning from Sean – no topmejse in Ireland, nor green woodpecker, or marsh warbler. I am wondering what they do have… Not mosquitos, anyway, as I am told, but I think I’d rather put up with some mosquitos if I get birds in return.

We did some net fixing after we finished the ringing, so all in all it was a very long day again for Sean and me out at Kabeltromlen. With less wind today, it was much warmer, which was not necessarily an advantage seeing that the mosquitos make it rather necessary to wear long sleeves and a head cover, and we have to wear waders anyway, in order to walk through the ditches filled with water. But no complaining, it was a very nice and sunny day out this morning.

After doing the “office work” and getting a little nap, I went out to Grenen beach for the first time since I arrived, paying a visit to the terns, mostly, but also looking at other birds, sometimes, and recovering the device we had out in the hope of it getting data from any tagged terns. I did see arctic, common and sandwich terns (havterne, fjordterne og splitterne) and also a flock of 8 dunlins (almindelig ryle). When I just wanted to leave, suddenly an arctic skua (almindelig kjove) showed up right above me. It was flying around for a while, with all the gulls present very angry and moving to a different roosting site. Then, it also tried (unsuccessfully, luckily) to hunt terns. Finally, it picked up half a fish that one of the gulls must have left, swallowed it, and went to roost in the seas just 20 meters offshore from Grenen beach.

Simon is back tonight to give a night tour of Grenen, which will probably be quite wet, therefore having good conditions for amphibians, but the rain will stop us from ringing tomorrow morning. Instead, we can either sleep in or go out on a wet migration count. We will decide on the spot and depending on weather which option we will take.

Ringing  (Kabeltromlekrattet)

Stor Flagspæette (Great Spotted Woodpecker) - 1

Solsort (Blackbird) - 1

Munk (Blackcap) - 2

Tornsanger (Common Whitethroat) - 7

Gærdesanger (Lesser Whitethroat) - 1

Rørsanger (Reed Warbler) - 1

Kæersanger (Marsh Warbler) - 1

Gulbug (Icterine Warbler) - 1

Gransanger (Chiffchaff) - 7

Topmejse (Crested Tit) -2

Grønsisken (Siskin) – 3

Rørspruv (Reed Bunting) - 2

Total: 30

People: Seán Walsh, Martina Hillbrand, Knud Pedersen, Simon S. Christiansen

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

Today was my last day at the station. It began at 2:40 am when me, Sean and Martina woke up to go ringing at Kabeltromlen. We put on our waders and left the station to bike to the site at 3:30 am. We got there around 3:45 am and started opening the nets around the site. We made rounds around the nets every 30 minutes to collect the birds. After bringing them back, Sean and Martina measured, sexed, aged and ringed the birds, while I took notes. We caught and ringed many Tornsanger (common whitethroat), Gærdesanger (lesser whitethroat), Gransanger (common chiffchaff), and also some Solsort (blackbird), Munk (eurasian blackcap), Blåmejse (blue tit), Grønsisken (siskin), Rørspurv (reed bunting) and a single Gulbug (icterine warbler)!

Icterine warbler. Photo by: Sean Walsh

There was also a very interesting recapture made today. We caught a Rørsanger (reed warbler), which came all the way from Norway! 

Reed warbler. Photo by: Martina Hillbrand

Around 9 am, Sean heard the Cistussanger (zitting cisticola) at the site, near the nets. We hoped to catch it and ring it, but were unfortunately unlucky. Many local birders also came to the site to watch out for the cisticola and Mark, Malthe and Lærkebjørn also accompanied us for most of the morning.

All ringing participants. Photo by: Mark Desholm

After the ringing, we came home to eat breakfast, take a nap and input our data. Afterwards, we cleaned the apartment.

Lærkebjørn who had been filming during her last stay at the guest apartment finished compiling her video about bird ringing and showed it to a fair crowd in the birder's club. It was great to get the view from an outsider about our activities here.

Martina then went back out to Kabeltromlen to cut the hedges, I started packing, and Sean cooked dinner. In the evening, we all ate together and said our goodbyes as me and Mark and his children are all departing tomorrow. 

Ringing  (Kabeltromlekrattet)

Solsort (Blackbird) - 2

Munk (Blackcap) - 3

Tornsanger (Common Whitethroat) - 11

Gærdesanger (Lesser Whitethroat) - 5

Rørsanger (Reed Warbler) - 1

Gulbug (Icterine Warbler) - 1

Gransanger (Chiffchaff) - 4

Blåmejse (Blue Tit) - 2

Rørspruv (Reed Bunting) - 1

Total: 31

People: Seán Walsh, Kalina Siwek, Martina Hillbrand, Knud Pedersen, Simon S. Christiansen, Mark & his children.

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

Last night, Lisa and Simon spent a long time trying to download data from the base station (which he keeps accidentally refering to as the space station) we had left near a tern roost on Grenen. It's meant for a project for Aarhus University, tracking Splitterne (Sandwhich Tern) but unfortunately we did not get any hits. Tern numbers have been a little lower this week than last. Later I took it out again around 5pm and moved its position slightly to be closer to the tern roost, in hopes of it managing to download data from a radio-tagged tern.

There were many birders, including Simon and Knud, at Grenen today from sunrise onwards. They all spent many hours looking for the Cistussanger (Zitting Cisticola) and were blessed with better views and better audibility than yesterday! Today it kept a more consistent location, hanging around the rushes behind World's End 3. It regularly flew, allowing for nice views and even for some pictures. I didn't get to see it today, though. As usual, Erik managed somehow to get some pretty good pictures.

Aside from the Cistussanger, we also observed two Almindelig Skråpe (Manx Shearwater) not too far, and later very far, at sea.

A new volunteer also arrived today from Germany, Martina! She has been here twice before and will this time stay until mid August.

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

Skagen People: Seán Walsh, Kalina Siwek, Martina Hillbrand, Knud Pedersen, Simon S. Christiansen, Mark & his children.

Today, for me and Sean, the day began at 4 am. It was a brisk, windy morning. We headed out to Grenen for sunrise (4:45 am) to begin our morning migratory count. Other than the usual flocks of Sølvmåge (herring gull), Svartbag (great black-backed gull), Sildemåge (lesser black-backed gull) and Fjordterne (common tern), we also observed 6 Almindelig kjove (arctic skua) and one Lille kjove (long-tailed skua)! After the observations we came back home to eat breakfast and nap. 

Photo by: Sean Walsh

A Zitting Cisticola (Cistussanger) was found by Rolf Christensen at Grenen in the morning, which Sean heard and saw later in the day. Only the 6th record for Denmark but the 5th for Skagen.

Documentation of Zitting Cisticola (Cistussanger). Photo: Erik Christophersen

 In the evening, we had a big dinner together with all the volunteers, Simon and Lisa, and the apartment guests, Mark Desholm and his three children. Some of us later played the Viking Game in the garden.

Skagen People: Seán Walsh, Kalina Siwek, Simon S. Christiansen, Mark & his children

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

For the first time in two weeks, we went ringing again at Skarvsøen for the standard CES ringing. This required an earlier start than for the usual morning observations, as we left the station by 03:30 and the nets at the lake were open by 04:15. With the wind, we weren't expecting much to be caught, but in the end it turned out that the first two or three net rounds were wuite productive! We caught many juvenile birds, including a scarcely ringed bird here at Skagen; a Grønsisken (Siskin). This Grønsisken ended up being the first ever bird I have ringed, which is a great bird to start on as some people have been unlucky as they started with the Tit family, which are quite bitey.

Juvenile Blåmejse in Mark Desholm's hand.

The latter half of the ringing session didn't go as productively, however. Many of our net rounds ended in zero birds caught due to the wind. After six hours of the nets being open, we finally closed them and headed home to enter the data (and sleep). We didn't really do anything else of note today.

Knud spent the morning at World's End 3 on our behalf doing the morning observations. There he saw a couple Almindelig Skråpe (Manx Shearwater) and a Sorthovedet Måge (Mediterranean Gull).

In the afternoon we watched Tour De France at Simons place where we could enjoy the yellow jersey coming closer to victory. And of course there where served Guiness for the Irish guests.

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

Skagen People: Seán Walsh, Kalina Siwek, Knud Pedersen, Simon S. Christiansen, Mark & his children, and Marcus, Matthis & Robin.

Ringing totals:

Solsort: 1

Musvit: 1

Gærdesanger: 1

Rørsanger: 17

Gransanger: 1

Grønsiskin: 1

Munk: 1

Yesterday evening, at 11 pm, me, Sean, Mark and Malthe met with Simon and Lisa and we all headed out to Grenen. Our task was to capture waders, terns and gulls to ring. We went at 11 pm because it was important to carry this out after nightfall, in the dark. Simon brought a high power torch to momentarily blind the bird, while Lisa captured it in a net. Me, Sean, Mark and Malthe kept a distance behind them, to allow them to carry out this task without us distracting and scattering the birds. Lisa and Simon managed to capture a Sildemåge (lesser black-backed gull). We brought it back to the lighthouse laboratory, where we measured the gull's wingspan and head and beak length and put a metal ring on its leg. Afterwards we released the gull on the beach and got back home to sleep around 1:30 am. During the walk in the night we "unfortunately" also saw the invasive Racoon Dog (Mårhund) around the small dunes on the beach.

Sean got up again at 4 am to go to Grenen and carry out the morning migratory count. The most unusual sighting was a Toplærke (Crested lark). 

Photo: Erik Christophersen.

Later in the day, Simon and Sean went out to Grenen again to place a base station near a flock of roosting sandwich terns, so that it can collect data from GPS-tagged terns. This is as part of a project from Aarhus University. Afterwards we held a meeting with all volunteers and apartment's guests to discuss the plans for the week and around 6 pm, we had dinner, which Sean cooked.

There was also a very interesting recapture documented today. We received word from Spain that a garden warbler that was ringed here, at Skagen Fuglestation, on the 23rd of August last year, was recaptured in Catalonia, Spain, on the 2nd of June this year!

People: Seán Walsh, Kalina Siwek, Knud Pedersen, Erik Christophersen, Simon S. Christiansen, Mark & Malthe

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

The morning bird observations were laiden with rare birds today. Migration seemed to have picked up since the high winds & waves yesterday. Aside from the usual Sortand (Common Scoter) and Ederfugle (Eider), there was high(er) numbers of waders again today! It started with more than the usual Almindelig Ryle (Dunlin) and Krumnæbbet Ryle (Curlew Sandpiper), as well as a Lille Kobbersneppe (Bar-tailed Godwit). Later on, I managed to spot a Sortklire (Spotted Redshank) and refind the Kærløber (Broad-billed Sandpiper). Gulls and terns were in exceedingly high numbers today, as I counted over 2 thousand of the various gull species alone, including a Mellemkjove (Pomarine Skua), Rovterne (Caspian Tern), a Dværgterne (Little Tern) and a Sortterne (Black Tern).

Broad-billed Sandpiper (Kærløber) Photo: taken yesterday 16/8 at Grenen by Erik Christophersen.

Our guests today also participated in the Skagen Pride Festival! While the volunteers were busy sleeping after the morning observations, Mark & his children visited the town centre for the pride parade which had nice turnout this year.

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

Skagen People: Seán Walsh, Kalina Siwek, Knud Pedersen, Simon S. Christiansen, Mark & his children.

Last night, looking at the weather forecast, I thought that I might have gotten lucky, because there would be rain most of the early morning. That I would get a little sleep in before starting the morning migration counts. Thunder roared most of the night, but as it started to brighten up outside, it becalm unseemingly calm, so I went out to Grenen for sunrise anyways. It couldn't have started out quieter. The Ederfugle (Eider) were way down in numbers, and there was barely any Sortand (Common Scoter) movement. While migration was mostly slow, the first interesting bird of the morning caught my eye. An adult Sortterne (Black Tern) flying with the wind at sea. The interesting birds at sea stopped there, though. I sorted through the small waders on the pools of the flooded beach, and found 10 Krumnæbbet Ryle (Curlew Sandpiper), 3 Dværgryle (Little Stint), 1 Sandløber (Sanderling) and 3 Islandsk Ryle (Red Knot). After having counted all the roosting birds, I eagerly watched the sea to see if anything popped up, but nothing. After a couple hours of not much, Knud and Kalina arrived and I left to return to the station to nap.

I woke up only a couple hours later to some zello messages, telling me about a Kærløber (Broad-billed Sandpiper) that was seen at World's End 3 not long after I left! By that point, the weather had become spotty, and I managed to take advantage of one of the hours around lunchtime to try to find the Kærløber again, as tourists and tractors had likely scared away it and the flock it stuck to. Knowing this, I decided to take the tractor trail to the east of Grenen, where it was usually quieter on the foot traffick. There were several pools therefrom the recent flooding with many waders seen earlier, and to my luck, the Kærløber as well.

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

Skagen People: Seán Walsh, Kalina Siwek, Knud Pedersen, Simon S. Christiansen, Mark & his children.

Today the weather was not appropriate for any counts or ringing. It was a slightly rainy, windy morning. I woke up around 8 and Sean around 12. In the morning I went on a short walk along the beach. Afterwards I had breakfast. I then busied myself with baking some scones and then Sean and I cleaned the apartment. Sean also went on a walk to Grenen, where despite the poor weather, he saw a Blå kærhøg  (hen harrier), a Tårnfalk (kestrel) and a Hvepsevåge (honey buzzard). We finished the day with dinner and an evening meeting with Jesper and Margrit. 

Skagen People: Seán Walsh, Kalina Siwek, Simon S. Christiansen, Jesper & Margrit

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

Although not required to, Kalina and I woke up before 4am to do a morning migratory count for seabirds at Grenen. It was windy, so luckily there was a distinct lack of mosquitoes. There was also a distinct lack of warmth, despite the presence of the sun and no clouds. The count started out as usual, a couple hundred Sortand (Common Scoter) flying by in either direction and some gulls and terns roosting near the dunes. Once again, Almindelig Kjove (Arctic Skua) made their presence known to the terns on the beach by harassing them. As the hours drew by, migration rapidly slowed. Despite the wind, the numbers of passing birds was quite slow, so we decided to count the roosting birds and leave after just three hours. On my return to the lighthouse, I spotted two Spætmejse (Eurasian Nuthatch) in flight and calling above me.

Kalina and I went back home to nap, and I didn't get up again until nearly 1pm. I took the free time I had to clear out the attic of the laboratory and take the waste cans and bottles to the town. Later on I cleaned up and cooked dinner. 

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

Skagen People: Seán Walsh, Kalina Siwek, Simon S. Christiansen, Jesper & Margrit