Munks Gone North

These days are slow as the season is reaching its close. Nonetheless, Simon, Lucas, and I were abruptly awoken from our slumber by our alarms at 02.15. This morning felt particularly rough, since we had stayed up watching the Euro Football match last night. But, not long after opening the nets at Kabeltromlen, were we rewarded by one of Skagen’s specialties: a gorgeous sunrise.

 

Kabeltromlen Sunrise.

 

The sun reached out from the heavens and gave us a big warm hug, and suddenly we remembered where we were: Skagen. Truly a place like no other. Though there were a few birds, the species were not particularly interesting (nor worth discussing further in this blog, but that’s not to say that we don’t appreciate all birds!). The biggest highlight would be that we had our very first hatchling Lesser Whitethroat (Gærdesanger) and it was sooooo cute! It still had big cheeks and dark little eyes, and so much fuzz on its belly! As you can probably tell, I was a fan. 

 

Unfortunately we did not take ANY pictures of the cute little one, we must not have been in the best mindstate. (How could this happen!) We will not make such a careless mistake again… It could be that we were distracted by the Honey Buzzards (Hvepsevåge) flying over us, but that is no excuse. 

 

Instead, the only compensation I have to offer is this beautiful male Eurasian Blackcap (Munk - Han) in the golden sunshine:

 

Eurasian Blackcap (Munk). Isn’t he dapper?

 

Anyway, while all this was happening Seán, who had failed to sleep through the night, was running side-quests. As it rained, he worked on some raptor summaries, then, when the rain cleared, he headed out to the dunes for some birdwatching. Not long after, he met us out at Kabeltromlen as we arrived to open the nets. God morgen! He then went on to count some hours. Migration was slow, but he did see a European Shag (Topskarv)! 

 

Magnus was also counting, but his birds did not have wings, instead they wore a nice coat of fluffy wool… zzzzz…

 

In the afternoon, Simon, Lucas, and Magnus biked to Flagbakken to attempt to see if the Eurasian Griffon Vultures (Gåsegrib) from Germany had made their way up to Skagen. They did not see the vultures, but still had fun birdwatching:

 

Simon, Magnus, and Lucas at Flagbakken.

 

I, on the other hand, faced a massive battle: going downtown during the cumulative load of two cruise ships docking in our harbour. There were people EVERYWHERE. Mette told us that today we’d had the record number of guests at the lighthouse for the season! You may be wondering why I decided to go into town on a day like today, well… I needed to buy a seagull onesie for my niece. It was imperative I go today since over the weekend the shops were closed, and tomorrow I will be leaving (I will explain more about this later). 

 

When I got back to the station from town, I had an email in my inbox that one of the birds I ringed earlier in May had been caught in Norway! That is cool! This young male Eurasian Blackcap (Munk - Han) flew from Skagen, Denmark to Bygland, Norway in just 3 days! That is 197,6 km flown in across the ocean, what a powerful little bird.

 

I am very proud of my little Blackcap (Munk). 

 

Anyway! I will be going home for a couple days tomorrow so that I can visit my niece (and renew my passport…), but don’t worry, I will be back very soon to finish up the season. 

 

Vi ses!

 

Ringing (Kabeltromlekrattet)

Reed Warbler (Rørsanger) - 1

Eurasian Blackcap (Munk) - 11

Lesser Whitethroat (Gærdesanger) - 6

Marsh Warbler (Kærsanger) - 1

Willow Warbler (Løvsanger) - 1

Tree Pipit (Skovpiber) - 1

Common Whitethroat (Tornsanger) - 1

Common Chiffchaff (Gransanger) - 3

Total: 25

 

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: Isis Khalil, Seán Walsh, Lucas Corneliussen, Magnus Houen Lauritsen and Simon Kiesé, Our New Guests