Goodbye From a Tornsanger

This morning was my last morning opening nets for the Skagen Fugelstation this summer, and as usual we were greeted with a beautiful sunrise and several mosquitoes. As I walked down the same winding paths I walked countless times this summer, I thought of everything I learned, my colleagues who helped me, Esben and Martina who trained me, and of the many birds I extracted, bagged, and rung. I find that it's easy to get caught up on all the things you need to improve on, that you ignore the progress you are making and on that early morning net check it all came flooding back to me. In 40 days I have met colleagues who have come and gone, different supervisors with different ways of closing mist nets, a member of parliament, countless photographers, all whom are interested in birds and in love with Skagen. The enthusiasm and breathtaking scenery that draws people to this location every year makes Skagen Fuglestation a unique place to work, and my time here has made me a little more curious, a little more skilled, and definitely a little more interesting.

The morning itself without nostaligia and introspection was much like earlier in the week. Martina and I opened the nets around 4 AM and we had a low number of birds in the first few rounds, but by the end we did manage to process 10 different species. One of the species we processed is one that is common to many, but uncommon in the nets and is the skovspurv ( tree sparrow), and it brought a smile to Martina’s face as it brought back memories of her early ringing days. But the last bird I rung was a perfect representation of my time at the ringing table this summer. Ater we closed the nets, I pulled out a fresh tornsanger out of a little red bird bag as I had done many times before. I don’t doubt I will come across other tornsangers in the future, but it was definitely the perfect way to say goodbye to KAB.

Skovspurv. Photo credit: Martina

My last night here is far from over, after a nice dinner at an Italian restaurant in downtown Skagen with the team, we all got ready for the long night ahead that will hopefully be filled with interesting birds including the sought-after storm petrel (Stormsvaler). Last night’s first attempt this summer to catch the small petrel with the aid of mist nets and a megaphones with playback was not fruitful, but the team remains hopeful. Check back tomorrow for updates on the night catching, and the activities of the Skagen Fugelstation team!

Nets on the beach near the lighthouse for nightcatching. Photo credit: Rita DeLucco

Thank you and Goodnight!

- Rita M. DeLucco

Solsort (Blackbird) 1

Gærdesanger (Lesser Whitethroat) 3

Tornsanger (common Whitethroat) 7

Munk (Blackcap) 3

Kærsanger (Marsh Warbler) 1

Rørsanger (Reed Warbler) 1

Gransanger (Chiffchaff) 1

Musvit (Great Tit) 1

Skovspurv (Tree Sparrow) 1

Gråsisken (Redpoll) 1

Total 20

Local observations of the day in DOFBasen