Road Trip!

After nearly a month of being here in Skagen, today was the first day that I ventured out further than a few kilometres. Having arrived in Denmark at night, I did not know what to expect from the rest of the country. Would it be just like Skagen or a land of febrile Vikings? But more of that later.

The day started with another beautiful full blue sky and so I decided to do a seawatch. The birds though, did not seem to have received the invitation and it was incredibly quiet. So I decided to change my plan and go for a walk instead. On my fourth attempt of trying to find the Common Kingfisher (Isfugl) that we ringed 10 days ago, I was still unsuccessful and with the slightly warmer weather it may have decided to move on. I look forward with hope to finding out where she goes next. 

There was a nice surprise of seeing two Common Cranes (Trane), potentially the pair that breed here. This, big movements of Jackdaws (Allike) and a seeming increase in the number of Common Blackbirds (Solsort), was definitely a sign of the seasons changing. There were also quite a few Crested Tits (Topmejse), which I always enjoy seeing. If ever a bird rock band was formed they would be one of the first names on the list. Either that or they look like me after I take my hat off after a long walk. 

In the afternoon Simon and I ventured out of Skagen. The primary reason was to see if we could find some 110 Ruddy Turnstones (Stenvender) that had been reported at Jerup Strand, but I also enjoyed to see more of the landscape here. We saw 5 (and no Vikings)....but it turned into a productive scouting mission for a potential future visit for catching and ringing birds. Snow Buntings (Snespurv), Common Ringed Plovers (Stor præstekrave) and Sanderlings (Sandløber) were also present so it may prove to be a productive spot. 

On the way back, we stopped off at the lovely Ålbæk harbour. This unfortunately produced nothing to report home on in terms of the birds and my vain attempts to find a Purple Sandpiper (Sortgrå ryle) are growing increasingly frustrating, leaving me only 11 days...Noting how short the time is left here is rather sad but I will endeavour to make the most of it before I am forced to move on. 

On that note, good night from Det Grå Fyr.

People: James Wareing, Simon S.Christiansen

Link to today's observations from observers in the area