A Great Day For Geese

Eager to get to the migration watchpoint for the morning we (Thomas, Simon, Søren and Hayley) left the bird observatory around 07:00am. The cycle down was very windy and there were hopes for some interesting sea birds that may have been blown across the North Sea overnight. Amongst the group there were varying expectations with Sooty Shearwater [Sodfarvet Sråpe] and Sabines Gull [Sabinemåge] mentioned a couple of times by the others. As it was my first time to the migration watchpoint, I was excited to see anything!

Figure 1: The migration watching team this morning within the dunes. Picture by Søren Wilhelmsen.

Walking around the dunes there were already birds moving and Simon quickly spotted a Hen Harrier [Blå Kærhøg] hunting the area and a small flock of Pink-footed Geese [Kortnæbbet Gås] migrating over our heads having just arrived off the sea. We arrived at the watchpoint around 07:20 and joined Knud on the dunes. Knud had already been watching the sea for ten or fifteen minutes, so we weren’t too far behind him. After being set our bird counting roles for the count we began counting (see Figure 1).

Figure 2: A Herring Gull (Sølvmåge) adult and juvenile on the beach today with part of the gull flock behind. Picture by Søren Wilhelmsen.

 The flocks of gulls on the beach (see Figure 2) varied throughout the morning but included large numbers of Herring Gull [Sølvmåge], Great-black Backed Gull [Svartbag], a few Lesser-Black Backed Gulls [Sildemåge] and up to 5 Caspian Gull [Kaspisk Måge], including a mix of juveniles and near-adults. Ring reading was successful with at least five colour rings read too. Wading birds were on the move this morning with small flocks of Dunlin [Almindelig Ryle], Sanderling [Sandløber], Knot [Islandsk Rye], and Golden Plover [Hjejle] recorded, as well as a single Grey Plover [Strandhjejle] on the pool. An exciting moment was when a small wader followed one of the Golden Plover [Hjejle] from the sea and landed in front of us. It was a juvenile Ruff [Brushane]! Out at sea there was a nice movement of ducks, with small flocks of Teal [Krikand], Velvet Scoter [Fløjlsand] and Wigeon [Pibeand] moving both SE and NW. Common Scoter [Sortand] were ever present but there were flocks moving NW too. Seabirds were few and far between but included a few Kittiwake [Ride], Fulmar [Mallemuk] and flocks of Guillemot [Lomvie] and Razorbill [Alk]. Simon was very good at spotting birds of prey today and saw a Merlin [Dværgfalk] and a Peregrine [Vandrefalk] migrating to Denmark.

A personal highlight, and one that the others enjoyed too, was the migrating geese. Due to the sun, flocks of around 20-50 geese were counted migrating at distance but were not identified to species level. However, as the morning continued, the geese flocks began to arrive from a slightly different angle. It was incredible to witness, with some flocks really struggling with the wind before heading SE. Identification became easier as the morning continued with both Greylag Geese [Grågås] and Pink-footed Geese [Kortnæbbet Gås] seen in the flocks.

We arrived back just after midday, ready for some afternoon birding! Due to the windy weather this morning and rain in the afternoon there was no ringing undertaken today though tomorrow is looking more ideal.

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

People: Hayley Land, Gustav Nyberg, Simon Kiesé, Thomas Weston, Simon S. Christiansen, Knud Pedersen; Søren Wilhelmsen.