Friendly encounters

The morning opened up with plenty of rain and wind to rival yesterday’s. Søren and I decided that the one minute drive to Grenen and walking from there was the best option rather than biking. We started our morning not long before 07:00, bracing the winds of Grenen point and managed once again to see the Lille Kjove (Long-tailed Skua) along with three Almindelig Kjove (Arctic Skua) at close range. The wind seemed to bring good waders as we were also blessed with a Hvidklire (Common Greenshank) and some Almindelig Ryle (Dunlin).

We pursued south from there, stopping off at the Nordstrand and later Jerup Strandenge. The weather at Jerup was far better than Grenen Point and the Nordstrand as it was far better sheltered than the other locations, and we were blessed with some more Almindelig Ryle and Svaleklire (Green Sandpiper) here.

Søren and I decided after a hardy, cold morning that we would visit his friends in Tolne to warm up further inland and have some coffee. Along the way, I called out a pair of Trane (Common Crane), and Søren abruptly pulled the car over to check them out. As we were parked on the side of the road, I looked away from the Trane and noticed from afar what I thought to be some herons, but was actually an immature Havørn! The bird showed no shyness at all and flew almost directly over our heads and gave us some great views as it flew north-west. The two sightings gave us some nice things to talk about with Sørens friends.

Lauren & Dante had their final meetings with Simon as they prepare to leave the observatory on Thursday. They went out seawatching in Grenen in the afternoon and also managed to catch sight of the Lille Kjove and even spotted two Almindelig Skråpe!

It also looks like the worst of the weather has passed now, and all of us at the station are looking forward to potentially going ringing later in the week. Sadly, it would also be Lauren & Dante’s last session with us.

We also learned that a Spurvehøg (Sparrowhawk) recaptured at Kabeltromlekrattet on 09-05-2023 was ringed on Fair Isle on 04-09-2022! Very far to have travelled for a Spurvehøg.

A list of todays observations can be viewed here.

Skagen Fuglestation: Seán Walsh, Dante Shepherd, Søren Leth-Nissen, Lauren Evans, Lars & Janne.