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The arrival of the first Oystercatchers "Strandskade"
fredag 18. februar 2022
Hi everyone!
Wednesday morning I shouldered the telescope early and headed to Grenen to meet Knud at Verden's End 3 at sunrise. I had another bag of seeds for the Snow Buntings "Snespurv" in my backpack, which I spread before observing. And of course, they came again in large numbers to feed. But even apart from my little friends, it was going to be a successful day. I saw my first living Fulmar fly by very far out. That was nice. Knud also spotted another Iceland Gull "Hvidvinged Måge" in the flock of gulls. It was there for a long time, preening itself and we could observe it very well. A Glaucous Gull "Gråmage" was also among the gulls. There were also a lot of Red-throated Loons "Rødstrubet Lom" migrating that day. Even though I couldn't do the whole Morning Obs with Knud, it was a nice start to the day.
I went back to the station earlier, as Mads was coming to the station at 11 am for a tour. This involved a bit of showing the contents of the freezer and feeding the birds in the garden. Then we went to the beach near Det Grå Fyr and guess what? We saw the Iceland Gull "Hvidvinged Måge" again! So it was a really nice tour and after the eventful morning I could devote myself to some more quiet work: The nets were already waiting for me in the attic.
The next morning, Grenen again, this time alone and without Iceland Gull "Hvidvinged Måge", even though I searched in the flock of gulls for it. Instead, four Whooper Swans "Sangsvane" and a Canada Goose "Canadagås" flew over Grenen, which was also quite a nice change.
As I was packing up, Rolf came and told me that the tide would be particularly high around sunset today. Because even though the storm in Germany didn't reach here, the water here was backed up against the land. So I had a good reason to stop sewing nets in the late afternoon and go to Grenen again.
Grenen, 17.02.2022
And yes, indeed, the headland had changed and was now much, much narrower than it was this morning. It was quite impressive. As I walked back to the station, the moon was rising, it had been full on Wednesday, so it was already waning a bit, but of course, it wasn't visible yet, so it was a very nice evening walk.
Today it was time for the Fulmar "Mallemuk" survey again.
This time Rie picked me up in the morning and drove me to Gammel Skagen and also accompanied me to Nordstrand.
A smile at the beginning of the survey, Photo: Rie Voertmann
It was very nice to have some company but it was not the best day to collect Fulmars "Mallemuk". We found one, but it was only a skeleton. There was no stomach left, so nothing for Aarhus University to examine for plastic. There was also a 2K Puffin "Lunde", but unfortunately in a similar condition. Otherwise only Guillemots "Lomvie" for the freezer, maybe next time there will be something better.
On my way back I made a nice observation: An Oystercatcher "Strandskade", very close to the lighthouse, flying to the southeast, probably one of the first this year.
I am looking forward to the arrival of more Oystercatchers "Strandskade" when the beach gets more and more populated.
Keep your eyes open and see you soon!
Hanelie
People at the bird station: Knud Pedersen, Mads Kjeldgaard Odderdhede, Rie Voertmann and Hanelie Sidhu
