Departing

It's strange to think that I have made some new great friends in just a week here at Skagen Bird Station. After having spent just one week with Lauren, Dante and Søren at the observatory, I feel like I have gained some new great friends. Today I said goodbye to all three of my new friends as they went home, leaving me alone at the bird station until Simon comes back and the new volunteer arrives on the 10th. Although my stay with them has been short, I am very grateful to Lauren for showing me all of the intricacies of ringing birds and to Dante for his knowledge of the general birding of Skagen. To Søren, I am grateful for his friendship and for him showing me all of the local birding sites nearby. In the end they have all taught me something.

The morning was slow for birding due to the poor weather and my fellow volunteers leaving the bird observatory. I went to Grenen in the afternoon to go search for some Kjove, with no luck. I was later informed by Lars that he saw an Arctic Skua from the lighthouse, but the Lille Kjove (Long-tailed Skua) seems to have left us for good. I was also blessed with a Red-throated Diver flying close to the shore. As I left Grenen, I spotted something sticking out of the dunes close to the beach. It turned out to be the skull of a dolphin, with the first vertebrae attached and missing the lower jaw. I brought it back on my bicycle to be cleaned at the laboratory at the station.

Later in the evening, Lars and Janne were very kind to invite me to join them for dinner in Skagen town and we had a great time trying local Danish food, beer and Snaps.

A list of today's observations can be viewed here.