Quality over quantity

Quality over quantity was the operative word of the day. The morning started with a late migration watch, due to the weather, once the rain stopped me and Myrthe went out to do one hour of standardized counting on top of a dune just east of the Sandworm track (Sandormesvinget), even though there was a severe lack of migrating birds, we still managed to find a very nice Caspian Tern (Rovterne) that was foraging right in front of us before migrating northwest. But the highlight was definitely a Pied Avocet (Klyde) that we found while setting, after two minutes it disappeared without a trace. It was the first record in two years for Grenen, so definitely a hit. Other goodies were Black Guillemot, plenty of waders with Little Stint and Curlew Sandpiper in summer plumage, which are always very nice and attractive birds to enjoy, especially when you get them at close range and in scope.

While everyone was recharging at the observatory and getting ready for the next days, I took a trip to Gyvelmarkerne and Kanalvej to look for any overstaying waders. Nothing of note was seen but a very nice High Brown Fritillary (Skovperlemorsommerfugl) posed for me for a bit. A very nice butterfly species that is quite rare and has a quite restricted range in Denmark.

While I was out the rest of the team were organizing dinner and bowling, which resulted in a very nice and cozy evening at Skaw Grillen with Myrthe trying some “real” Danish food, in the shape of a fish burger made from freshly caught European plaice (Rødspætte). After that we enjoyed a very nice late evening at Skaw Bowling. Now we are getting ready for a few days of western winds blowing through and even though it might be sub-optimal for ringing, it might throw off some nice seabirds, we are especially crossing fingers for a Great Skua (Storkjove), since Benjamin still needs it on his list. So dear reader please cross your fingers for us.

DOFbase-Observations from Skagen

People: Myrthe Van Brempt, Benjamin Bech, Ragnar Smith, Lucas Corneliussen, Asia Kane, Nick, Jesper and Mette