Where Did The Sun Go?

Hello everyone! This is Isis tuning in for the first time. It would appear as though I have quite a high standard to adhere to in this blog. I will try my best not to disappoint James (our recently departed) by overriding all his wise teachings regarding the English language. Skagen is truly beautiful, my first couple of days were cloudy and foggy, unfortunately, but when the sun came out yesterday we were all overjoyed to see the beautiful horizon again. 

Beautiful view of the sunny sky and sea from our lodgings. 

With the sun, however, came a toe-curling cold spell. After our windy, and sandy morning yesterday, we did not believe things could get worse.. (this will be followed up later). 

Since we were not able to go night catching last night (due to Simon C. being on a quest out of town), we spent the night playing Wingspan (Magnus had never played before!). It may be a bit stereotypical, to say the least, for bird observatory volunteers to spend their evening bonding over bird-themed board games, but it was a great way to unwind and tap into our competitive sides! Although some -Ahem, Simon and Mira- may have taken this competitive nature a bit too far, as they were caught in the very act of cheating (usually by accident, I must confess). During this, Magnus generously prepared some Danish sweets for us and tested our ability to swirl sugary icing over the top, Simon excelled at this task.

Simon had the most points! Whether he continued to cheat his way to the top remains a mystery…

When we woke up at our regular, painfully early, hour of the morning, we were horrified to find out that it could, in fact, get worse. This morning was not only colder, but also more windy than yesterday. Nonetheless, we swung our cold-resistant gear on and made our way over to World’s End 3. The cold did not stop the morning from being stunning, the way the wind carried the sand across the beach looked very mesmerizing. 

A group of gulls flying into the sunrise.

Migration was slow, as can be expected by the heavy winds. Most of us were in an ongoing battle with the unrelenting wind and the constant sting of sand in our face. The sand got everywhere.. And I mean everywhere. In fact, I can still feel it in my eyes as I am typing this right now. We decided to finish an hour early, since little migration was happening due to these unfortunate weather conditions. Magnus believes he may have seen a White-Tailed Eagle [havørn], but whether it was that or an Osprey [Fiskeørn] remains a mystery due to how far away it was from our observation point. Based on other observations around Skagen (and the time of year), it was most likely a White-Tailed Eagle [havørn] though. In addition to this, we saw four Common Buzzards [Musvågen] and another European Shag [Topskarv] today (yet again Magnus failed to see it). 

The sun slowly rises over the team.

After we had done the migration monitoring, we returned to the apartment for some food. To our surprise, after eating we came to find out that the bike keys were not in their usual place, so we had to go on a little scavenger hunt. We were not successful, but luckily a kind lady from downstairs was able to help us open the shed and take out the bikes. Although quite a few bikes are broken, we still had some fun riding around and picking out our bikes. 

Mira trying out her new bike.

We also received a beautiful delivery from Peter Jürgensen today. This involved a taxidermy of an Atlantic Puffin [Søpapegøje] and a Bohemian Waxwing [Silkehale]. Both were collected by members of the Skagen Bird Observatory team.

Atlantic Puffin [Søpapegøje] and Bohemian Waxwing [Silkehale].

To wrap up the day, Johanna baked a delicious banana cake and then Magnus and Simon went out to attempt some night catching. They were unsuccessful, but when they returned they had some delicious pizzas waiting for them (which I’m sure were most appreciated)!

Johanna’s banana cake. It was extremely delicious.

That’s all for today, I look forward to the next few months at Skagen. I have heard the weather might still have a couple more evil tricks up its sleeve though…

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: Johanna Veentjer, Mira Kieckbusch, Isis Khalil, Magnus Houen Lauritsen, Simon Kiesé, Simon S. Christiansen.