Goodbye

Hej, this is James for what will unfortunately be my last blog. It has been a pleasure describing to you the mysteries of what goes on at the bird station in the winter. I am also happy to have taken on a rather mythical status myself. As the local birders start to wake up from their hibernation, I have had the fortune to meet a few of them and be greeted with ‘ahh, you are the James’. To maintain this mythical status, I shall now be migrating south, firstly to Husum in the north of Germany and then to England.

For those of you who have enjoyed the blog, do not worry, as you will be left in the very capable hands of the spring volunteer team. For those few who may miss the jokes, Simon Jnr. (Kiesé) assures me that he has a very funny Gannet joke that he just cannot wait to share with you all. We have also found that Magnus also has some things to share, some of which are appropriate for this blog. For those die-hard fans of the blog (my family), I may well be turning up as a rare vagrant in Blåvand Bird Station in April, so keep an eye on their website.

After that it is the Seychelles for two years for me, working as a conservation officer on a small island. It will be like Skagen in February, only warmer and with far fewer people. It is a tough life hopping between birding hotspots, but someone has to take up the burden.

That though is far too much about me and not what you came here to read about. As spring has officially started here, we did our daily seawatch from Nordstrand. Seawatch being the operative word, as we saw very few birds worthy of reporting. My dreams of seeing either an orca or a wolf here had to be contented by a harbour porpoise and the visit of a rather playful dog. There were not even enough ‘exciting’ ships for me to give my shipping forecast.

Nevertheless, fun was had by all and I can tell that Skagen has a strong team for the months ahead. While the other took advantage of Magnus’ car, I ran back home from Nordstrand and finished with a dive in the sea. I can confirm that it is still cold but refreshing. The call of the Indian Ocean rings strongly now.

In the evening, Magnus and Simon picked up the final volunteer to join the team. Naturally they had to have the obligatory harbour visit for Simon’s much sought-after Iceland Gull. It remains so, but they did have find a blond female….eider. Our new volunteer is Isis, born in Belgium, brought up in Panama and currently studying in Canada. Perhaps, therefore, this is a like-for-like swap as she will now provide the exotic background. Although, I do worry that all my work on English pronunciation lessons will be undone though. Thus starts a new season in Skagen. As I have mentioned before, to leave just before the main act starts, is teasingly frustrating, but the bird observatory is left in some most able hands.

When camping you are encouraged to take care to leave two things behind. Firstly: nothing. Secondly: your thanks. I have been kindly welcomed by all I have met here, and for that I am most grateful. A special thanks is also due to Simon Snr., for giving me the opportunity to come and spend five weeks here. As a sign of my gratitude, Simon, you can now have your chair back.

I do very much hope that I have the opportunity to return to what is a special place and maybe even to see a few more people (but not too many) and birds (many please).

James Wareing

Today’s observations in Dofbasen from observers in the area

Sum of the raptors in the area based on observations typed into Dofbasen the same day

People: James Wareing, Johanna Veentjer, Simon Kiesé, Magnus Houen Lauritsen, Knud Pedersen, Mira Kieckbusch, Michael Anker

Michael has continued his ringing work with the results below:

1^st March

Ringing (Nordstjernevej):

Nordlig Gråsisken (Common Redpoll) - 18

Blåmejse (Blue Tit) - 1

Bogfinke (Chaffinch) - 1

Total: 20