First record for Denmark!!!

Let me say this much in advance - today's blog post is really something! With so many highlights, it's really hard to keep this blog short enough that it doesn't become a novel. But let's start at the beginning.

The day started like any other - half of us went ringing at Kabeltromlen and the other half went to the tip for the seabird count. Two Black Guillemots (Tejst), close Fulmars (Mallemuk) and Dark-bellied Brent Goose (Knortegås) delighted us, even though there was not much other bird migration.The highlight were two flocks of Parrot Crossbills (Stor Korsnæb) flying overhead. Meanwhile, the ringers at Kabeltromlen made their first round and the first surprise came. A crossbill did the ringing team the honour. Thankfully they notified us and when I asked if it was a Common Crossbill (Lille Korsnæb) Simon the first replied "it is always Common Crossbill". Nevertheless, we set off to get a close-up look at the species, which is rarely caught here. When Hayley took the bird out of the bag, we immediately noticed the large head and neck as well as the strong beak. Simon, who was also seeing the bird for the first time, now realised that it was something special. "But it is always Common Crossbill" said Simon and we realised that we had indeed caught a female Parrot Crossbill (Stor Korsnæb). What a brilliant first catch for the station and just the second one ever ringed in Skagen. It was super interesting to see the identification features of the species up close and also to hear the typical calls (click here for the calls) when releasing it.

Very satisfied we went back to World's End 3 and continued the count. When it was over we walked back towards the Sandormen track. Suddenly Hans and I heard calls that sounded like a Yellow Wagtail (Gul Vipstjert). But when I found the bird in the binoculars, it was completely white and grey. This is not a Yellow Wagtail! I saw where the bird landed and we immediately started the search. When we finally found the bird, the Wagtail flew up and was now calling very harshly, a bit like a Citrine Wagtail. Then we finally saw the bird sitting free too, but visually Citrine Wagtail did not fit and my comment "we have to check for tschutschensis, the rare eastern Yellow one" became increasingly real. The first photos were taken and within minutes experts from Germany confirmed my suspicions. This is indeed an Eastern Yellow Wagtail!!!! Wow!!! I then made another Zello announcement and shortly afterwards the first observers from the surrounding area arrived. Quickly we got better clay evidence and photos and were able to observe the young Wagtail super beautifully.

And that is exactly what determined the day. The evidence is particularly important for this species, as it is quite difficult to identify. Then I sent the recordings to the expert Magnus Robb, hoping that he will confirm the identification soon. If you want to hear the calls, click here. As the four subspecies of the Eastern Yellow Wagtail are not visually identifiable, we then tried to collect a faecal sample. This was more difficult than expected, but after about an hour we managed to collect the DNA sample. Now we just have to hope that this will be enough to identify the bird by genetics. If it is recognised by the raritee committee (which should work with the good evidence) it will be the 1st record for Denmark. Wow! Simon wants to bring champagne and Hans (with whom I found the bird) has already given a bottle of wine. What a brilliant bird. This is probably the rarest bird I have ever found myself. I am at a loss for words (that doesn't help when you are writing a blog) and I am overjoyed. All the observers and twitcher were also very nice and I got many congratulations. Thanks for that!

Lapland Bunting (Lapværling) at the Sandormen-Track

 What a day! A wonderful Parrot Crossbill (Stor Korsnæb) and a putative super rare EASTERN YELLOW WAGTAIL. You can read more about the finding of that one on Netfugl.dk

Ringing (Kabeltromlekrattet):

Total: 43

People: Antonia Greil, Hayley Land, Rebecca Cheape, Simon Kiesé, Simon S. Christiansen, Hans Christophersen, Knud Pedersen, Lina Kotschi, Dorothea Engert, Joel Münch.

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