Who Pooed Over There?

Good evening friends! Today has been an interesting day to say the least. Simon and I were up by 04:20 this morning to have all the nets opened and ready before sunrise. There was not so much songbird activity, but enough that we already had our first three birds during the net set up (before the first round)! One of those three first birds was a Redwing [Vindrossel] which I’d been whining all March about, so naturally I was overjoyed when Simon showed me it. I was even allowed to ring it! My first Redwing [Vindrossel]. Needless to say, my day was already perfect before it even started. Aside from that, we had significantly better bird numbers and species today, with three foreign recaptures. Many Eurasian Blue Tits [Blåmejse], one Common Chiffchaff [Gransanger], a few Eurasian Blackbirds [Solsort], some European Robins [Rødhals], two Dunnocks [Jernspurv], and a few more species. We also had a lovely visit from Jørgen and his charming dog Igor while at Kabeltromlen, which was a very welcome surprise. 

 

Simon and I ringing at Kabeltromlen. (Picture by: Simon S. Christiansen)

 

Dunnock [Jernspurv].

 

While Simon, Simon, and I were ringing at Kabeltromlen, Magnus and our newest member Hannes were hard at work at World’s End 1. Migration today was decent, the fog was not as bad as yesterday, although it was still quite cold and cloudy. The cloudy weather cleared up in the late morning, and we got some beautiful blue skies and sunshine. Hannes was excited to see the local Glaucous Gull [Gråmåge] this morning. They also saw two Great Egrets [Sølvhejre] today, maybe we’ll get a chance to catch one…

 

View of the sun from Kabeltromlen in the late morning.

 

After our busy morning, we all came together and had a lovely lunch at the apartment. 

 

Then…

 

Who pooed? You pooed? No, no, no.. Hoopoe [Hærfugl]! Thanks to a local birder by the name of Peder Dannow we were informed that there was a Hoopoe [Hærfugl] in the area. Not only was it in the area, but it was in the very parking lot at Grenen, just a couple meters away from the lighthouse! What luck! This might be only around the 40th record in Skagen. In a frenzy of flying coats, binoculars, and scopes, we were out in the field looking for it. We ran into Jørgen and Igor again, as well as several other local birders, and had the pleasure of observing the bird for an extended period of time. 

 

Hoopoe [Hærfugl]. (Picture by: Simon Kiesé)

 

After seeing the Hoopoe [Hærfugl] we had to rush back to the apartment so that Knud Pedersen could present to us the identification, ageing, and sexing of Harriers. We were joined then by our newest arrival, Haley! Slowly our team is growing again. Like his presentation yesterday, Knud was very captivating and shared many pieces of valuable information to help us distinguish different species, ages, and sexes of migrating raptors. All of this information will prove incredibly helpful in the field during the next few months. 

 

Presentation by Knud Pedersen on Harriers. (Picture by: Simon S. Christiansen)

 

Finally, we entered data into DOFbasen and onto the Danish Ringmærkningsadministrationen website, planned out the day tomorrow, and updated the daily task board with Big Simon. Magnus prepared a delicious dinner, and we got to have ice cream as dessert thanks to Mette from the Welcome Center downstairs!

 

Thank you Mette!

 

Ringing (Kabeltromlekrattet)

 

Wren (Gærdesmutte) 5

Dunnock (Jernspurv) 2

European Robin (Rødhals) 2

Eurasian Blackbird (Solsort) 8

Redwing (Vindrossel) 1

Eurasian Blackcap (Munk) 1

Common Chiffchaff (Gransanger) 1

Goldcrest (Fuglekonge) 5

Eurasian Blue Tit (Blåmejse) 26

Great Tit (Musvit) 2

 

Total: 53

 

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: Simon S. Christiansen, Hannes Schäfer, Hayley Land, Isis Khalil, Magnus Houen Lauritsen, Simon Kiesé, Knud Pederson, Jørgen and Igor