Cormorants and Divers

Early this morning I set off on my first visit to World’s End Three to do the migration count with Knud and Jan. It was a beautiful calm day and although the migration was slow, I really enjoyed the experience and learnt a lot of new things about migration. We saw some good birds including several Arctic Skuas (Almindelig Kjove) and two Great Skuas (Stor Kjove). I really liked seeing the Velvet Scoters (Fløjlsand) but the most exciting spot of the morning was a White-billed Diver (Hvidnæbbet Lom). This is the largest species of diver found here and has a very striking plumage.

Meanwhile, Simon (junior), Gustav and Bjørn were doing Cormorant (Skarv) counts at the harbour with Simon (senior). This is for a new project which will look into the effects of shooting Cormorants in the harbour by recording their numbers and movements before, during and after the shooting. It will also help determine any long-term effects and effects on other species. Karina also joined the Cormorant count. She has now finished researching for her article on the bird observatory for DOF magazine and is leaving later today.

The sighting of the White-billed Diver (Hvidnæbbet Lom) was put out over Zello and Simon (junior), Gustav and Bjørn came at top speed to World’s End Three to see it. Luckily, they made it in time and were rewarded with some great views of the bird. It has been a day of divers with Red-throated Divers (Rødstrubet Lom) and Black-throated Divers (Sortstrubet Lom) also seen from World’s End, and a Great Northern Diver (Islom) spotted in the harbour.

In the afternoon, Gustav, Bjørn and I returned to the harbour to complete another Cormorant (Skarv) count. Data was entered, the evening meeting held, and we were cooked a delicious meal by Jan and Kristine, the guests in the apartment. Our newest volunteer Rebecca arrived last night and has spent the day settling in and learning where everything is. She is from Scotland and would love to see Bluethroat (Blåhals) during her time at here. Fingers crossed!

People: Hayley Land, Gustav Nyberg, Rebecca Cheape, Simon Kiesé, Bjørn Laursen, Simon S. Christiansen, Lisa Vergin, Kristine og Jan Hjort Christensen, Karina Demuth

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