Today, I slept in, while Sean and Simon headed to World’s End 3 for sunrise. They did, however, not stay very long, since soon it started raining and even though they tried to sit it out, more and more bouts of rain came over and they finally gave up. Before that they saw the regular arctic skuas (almindelig kjove) and, again, Simon managed to take very good pictures of one of them (an immature bird).

Besides, another manx shearwater (almindelig skråpe), and, a not so common sight in Grenen: a golden plover (hjejle), but only passing. And antoher of Simon's pictures to brighten up a rainy day: of a common ringed plover (stor præstekrave):

I got up at six, looked out of the window and saw a rainbow, which intensified over the morning, so I went to take a picture, which looks quite nice:

Simon and I went shopping in town, we cleaned and oiled the station's bicycles (lots of rust because of the salty air by the sea) and did some office work afterwards. I also went downstairs to visit the exhibition (which is new every year, so I haven’t seen this one. I think I discovered there a nest of a reed warbler (?) that we found last year when cutting the net lanes at Skarvsøen. Also, a lot of stuffed birds made it feel a little like home on Grenen beach – they made a very good choice there and I can totally recommend – if you are not too familiar with the local birds – to visit the exhibition before going to the beach, because it will help you to recognize a lot of the birds you will see out there.

Mind you, the skuas are not part of the display. Maybe in future series they have to be added if they keep hanging around. On the other hand, the so-called sandstorm indoors does not really feel much like a Grenen sandstorm at all, so for that, you will have to go to the real beach on a windy day. But in the exhibition, you (or your children) get to play with sand quite a bit and to try out really fancy, high-tech microscopes!

Most of all, however, the day was spent relaxing, reading novels, playing computer games etc. For my part, I checked the weather forecast about every 5 minutes, really hoping that tomorrow will be good for ringing. It will be, I am sure!

Also, as announced earlier, we will try to ring storm petrels (stormsvale) this weekend. Due to the weather forecast, we will have a first try tomorrow night (Thursday to Friday), then a second try the night after. If the announced activity on Saturday night can happen, depends on the weather. We will keep you posted.

People: Seán Walsh, Martina Hillbrand, Simon Kiesé, Simon S. Christiansen, Lisa Vergin & Benjamin Bech.

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

Postscript: Simon cooked his first communal dinner tonight. I am not quite sure if it was the first time ever that he cooked. Sean was a great mentor to him, in any case, and shoutout to Simon’s mum: you can be proud of your son, he did very well!

Today, again, we could not go out ringing, this time because of wind. Instead, all of us went to World’s End 3 for a seawatch. We were greeted by the by now resident Arctic Skuas (Almindelig kjove) and a rather beautiful sunrise, which is quite common here but it was Simon's first so he took this nice picture:

Other than that, it was a rather slow day for migration – the wind probably stopping especially smaller birds from migrating when they are not in a hurry. There were some rare species seen, however, including a pomarine skua (mellem kjvoe) which was playing cat and mouse with one of the arctic skuas right at the tip. Also, several manx shearwater (almeindelig skråpe) were seen roosting far out at sea.

Some of the shorebirds seem to have left over night but a few sanderlings (sandløber) and 5 dunlins (almindelig ryle) were left together with the locally breeding common ringed plovers (stor præstekrave). Also, the terns are still on the beach, hunting in the shallow waters and taking the fish to their always hungry offspring.

Since there were so many people already doing the sea watch, after the first hour I left the group to go look for coulor-ringed gulls, with quite some success.

The greater black-backed gulls (svartbag) are all registered in a data base, so we can immediately get their information: these two were both ringed in July 2013 as chicks, so they just celebrated their 10th birthday each. Both were ringed in Nordjylland, however for the last 10 years the one on the left in the picture has spent them mostly around Hirtshals, whereas the one on the right spent most of the last 10 years in the Netherlands and was frequently reported from there.

In the afternoon it was the usual office work of entering data, cleaning and cutting reeds – this time a Skarvsøen to get ready for the next CES ringing which is going to be on Friday.

Besides that, I had the privilege of ringing a kestrel, although the circumstances were a little sad: The poor bird had flown into a window and was picked up by animal rescue. They kept and fed him for three days, after which they decided he should be well enough to release. They were kind enough to drive by the station before for him to be ringed. When we wanted to finally let him go, though, it seemed he was not yet strong enough to fly, so the rescue team had to take him back. But they say he has been eating well, so we hope that in a day or two he can finally fly off again!

Simon and Lisa picked up a swedish friend in Frederikshavn and went afterwards to Stensnæs where they swam to a small sandy island with the basestation in hope that it will download data from GPS-tagged Sandwhich Terns that potentially roost in the area down there.

In the evening, we had another of Sean’s famous dinners and went to bed early to be ready for another seawatch tomorrow, seeing that the wind will again be too strong for us to do anything else.

People: Seán Walsh, Martina Hillbrand, Simon Kiesé, Simon S. Christiansen, Lisa Vergin & Benjamin Bech.

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

Ringing (Lighthouse):

Tårnfalk (Kestrel) - 1

Total: 1

For the first time in a while, I slept in today. Martina was unfortunate though, as she was woken up by the lighthouse alarm going off at 1am. At 5am, she went out to Grenen to attempt to do a roost count of gulls and terns in the poor weather.

Unlike most weeks recently, there were very little in the way of roosting birds. And to add to the despair, a person walking the beach kept walking back and forth between gull roosts, flushing them and re-flushing them as they tried to settle back down somewhere. Martina gave up the roost count after a while. She was, though, happy to see five Almindelig Kjove (Arctic Skua) resting on the beach when she arrived.

Today we also welcomed a young birder, visiting Skagen for the week, Benjamin Bech. After he arrived, we opened the nets in the lighthouse garden for a while but only caught one Gransanger (Common Chiffchaff). We saw a few birds go directly over the nets.

A while after Benjamin left the station and the nets were closed, Martina and I went into Skagen town to check out the gulls and cormorants at the harbour, but didn't find much there either. Afterwards, we headed to Netto to meet the newest volunteer, Simon (the 2nd)! He is an 19 year old birder & trainee ringer from Germany who is staying at the station until December. When Martina and Simon went out to the beach at night to place the base station for hopefully recording tagged terns at Grenen beach, Simon could already proof his photography skills on the skuas:

Tomorrow he, and Benjamin, will join us on our morning observations from sunrise.

Skagen People: Seán Walsh, Martina Hillbrand, Simon Kiesé, Simon S. Christiansen & Benjamin Bech.

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

Ringing (Fyrhaven)

Gransanger (Chiffchaff) - 1

Total: 1

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.