Windy day

As luck would have it, I have the honour of writing this blog on this rather boring day. But it wasn't completely boring, as was already evident in the morning.

We didn't mind wind force 8, so Martina and I set off for Grenen at 5 am. Visibility was too bad for the migration count, but due to the storm the beach is now flooded and some Waders (Ryle) and even more Kittiwakes (Ride) than yesterday are sitting there. Birds already spotted in previous days, such as Red Knot (Islandsk Ryle), Little Sandpipers (Dværgryle) and Temminck's Stint (Temmincksryle) showed up again and it was fun to watch them running around. My hope that the visibility would clear up again for some seawatching was dashed when it started to rain. At least I was delighted to see two resting Black Terns (Sortterne) moulting from breeding plumage into summer plumage. It rained and didn't stop. Luckily I had taken the overall with me, which withstood even this weather.

roosting Kittiwakes (Ride) at the beach

Back home we entered the data and took a break. We checked the weather forecast every minute to see when the rain would finally stop. The rain break was also nice to watch an episode of the new series 'Good Omes 2' with a hot chocolate. Just normal human stuff.

When the rain stopped in the early afternoon, I went straight to World's End 3. Hoping for shearwaters, I was happy about the now quite good visibility. But hours passed and nothing came. Well, that's life as a birder. The time was nevertheless entertaining, as some Common Scoters (Sortand) and a few Velvet Scoters (Fløjlsand) passed through. I also saw three Fulmars (Mallemuk) and another Black Tern (Sortterne). Among the waders we had already looked through this morning, there were now also two pretty Curlew Sandpipers (Krumnæbbet Ryle) and a Bar-tailed Godwit (Lille Kobbersneppe). The guests in the apartment used the bad weather to go to town into the art museum.

Meanwhile, Martina went shopping in town and Simon (the first) picked up the new volunteer Bjørn from the station. He is Danish and has only been birdwatching this year. So he is looking forward to the impressions and experiences he will gain during his stay here for the next two weeks.

People: Martina Hillbrand, Simon Kiesé, Bjørn Laursen, Simon S. Christiansen, Lisa Vergin, Karen and Henrik Toft

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