Birding in Nordjylland's harbours

We woke up to a cold flat as the heating gave up on us again this morning. Thankfully someone was sent to fix the issue and the flat is warmer this evening. Not in time for Thomas’s shower this morning though.

As migration count ended yesterday, we had no imperative and were free to do what we fancied. We woke up for 30 minutes before sunrise to set up nets for garden ringing. I went to open the one in the old lighthouse garden while Thomas and Simon Jr. set up a net and a trap on the beach in the hopes of attracting a Rock Pipit (Skærpiber). The weather was nice and sunny but windy which meant the beach net was not successful. The old lighthouse net caught two recapture Great Tits (Musvit) and six Common Redpolls (Nordlig Gråsisken). Overall though not the busiest day, we therefore closed around 10:30am.

As we closed early, Simon Sr. took us on a little road trip around the local ports. We started at the port of Albæk. 25 Ruddy Turnstones (Stenvender) were roosting on sea breaker rocks with two Rock Pipits (Skærpiber) while 4 Sanderlings (Sandløber) flew by. I got a bit distracted, as did Simon Jr. and Thomas, by the huge mass of shells on the beach in particular the pelican feet shells. I’m pretty sure Simon Sr. noticed and made us move to the otherside of the harbour where no shells were visible. We did see a Purple Sandpiper (Sortgrå ryle) on the rocks. We then continued on to Strandby harbour and started by looking at the sandy part. There we observed quite a few different wader species including Oystercatchers (Strandskade), Redshanks (Rødben), Bar-tailed Godwits (Lille kobbersneppe) and Dunlins (Almindelig ryle), as well as a few Mallards (Gråand). We moved onto the more industrial part of the harbour and looked through the gulls for any rare species but nothing was found. A few ducks were in the harbour but the real interest were the two White-tailed Eagles (Havørn) flying over our heads. We also had very nice views of six Purple Sandpipers (Sortgrå ryle). We then did a quick stop at Bratten but not much was seen there.

Simon Sr. kindly let us stop at a supermarket to buy a few bits and bobs while he stocked up on cleaning stuff for next week. A nice surprise appeared on the way back, Thomas spotted a male Hen Harrier (Blå kærhøg). Simon Jr. and Thomas were very productive this evening as they checked through all the rings while I have been writing the blog.

Ringing Totals (Fyrhaven)

Common redpoll – Nordlig Gråsisken 6

Today’s observations on Dofbasen from observers in the area.

People: Thomas Weston, Mathilde Ducroz, Simon Kiesé and Simon S. Christiansen.