No such thing as bad weather

I had the pleasure of being joined today by Ib Krag Petersen from Aarhus University for my Fulmar (Mallemuk) walk. Ib brought wonderful company but unfortunately no luck in finding fulmars. We did however find three more Common Guillemots (Lomvie) to collect for Ib to take back with him to the university for analysis. Again, Ib was aware of the rule that guests must bring the luck of new/exciting birds and, while not spectacular, we did see the Fuglestation's first Common Ringed Plover (Stor præstekrave) of the year.

The hunt still continues for a new left shoe for Simon S.Christiansen. I found the third right shoe in a row (perhaps the container was for a one-legged shoe shop...). The hunt is like a sequel to Cinderella, we know the person the shoe fits, we just need to find the shoe. I am not sure Disney will buy this script...

We did though find quite a few dead seals on the beach, including this blind one. Interestingly, research has shown that that seagulls target the eyeballs of baby seals to blind them and make them more vulnerable to further attacks. It could also be that it is a soft entrance point to get to the meat inside the body. 

A 5 hour walk also provided the opportunity for a lot of conversation (like a sugar rush to my system after the recent isolation). The expected topics came up between two birders from England and Denmark: exciting birds, conservation and Brexit. 

For once, Brexit talk did not sour the mood and we must have been having so much fun as we decided to walk back to the lighthouse after our 10km beach walk. This is where the adventure began as we took a cross-country route back home. Google Maps told us that there was a path, or maybe there once was a path, or maybe it just looked like a path...but it was not a path. There is no such thing as bad weather or conditions though, just the wrong clothing. I had the wrong clothing. As you can see from the photos below, it got a little wet. Ib resorted in the end to taking his shoes off and I resigned myself to some very cold feet. Regardless of the discomfort, we felt like heroic intrepid explorers and arrived back home having conquered the moor looking soaked and not so heroic.  

Link to today's observations from observers in the area

People: James Wareing, Ib Krag Petersen and Michael Anker

Michael Anker continued his ringing efforts with the results below:

Ringing (Nordstjernevej):

Nordlig Gråsisken (Common Redpoll) - 9

Grønirisk (Greenfinch) - 3

Gulspurv (Yellowhammer) - 3

Total: 15