Ringing Rails

Waking up at 03:30 AM, Asia and I headed out to Kabeltromelen for another day of ringing. We were able to get all the nets open on time and we were then joined by former guests Jeppe and Linda Rørbæk. Jeppe was eager to join us for rounds today, so we suited him up with a pair of waders and headed out on a round once Rosa arrived. The first round was still quite dark with the heavy cloud cover, and unfortunately Jeppe and I did not find any birds in our nets -- but Rosa and Asia arrived back to the ringing site with not ONE but TWO different Water Rails (Vandrikse). I had previously missed out on ringing the last few individuals caught at Kabeltromelen for one reason or another, so I was quite excited to catch them.

Vandrikse (Water Rail)

One was an adult and the other a hatch year (1k). The rest of the ringing morning was quite slow with a mere 6 new passerines and a single recapture. The highlight of which was a 1k Tree Pipit (Skovpiber). 

Skovpiber (Tree Pipit)

On the observation front, Joe was once again not feeling too well so he did not join for very long, but Robbie and Ragnar stood strong for the duration of the counting period at Worlds End 3. Despite a relatively slow morning, they were happy to see the (somewhat resident) Crested Lark (Toplærke), a beautiful alternate plumage Little Stint (Dværgryle) and a nice flock of 19 Common Snipe (Dobbeltbekkasin). 

The crew arrived back at the station at around 10:00 AM and had a quick morning meeting to plan the rest of the day. Robbie, Ragnar and I headed out to Elle Krattet soon thereafter and had relatively few birds with the storm brewing from the south while Rosa cycled south of Skagen to chase the Swallowtails (Svalehale) - successfully. During the rain, the crew entered in their data from the day and completed the remaining quality assurance checks from the recent week. Fortunately, the rain was short lived and the crew headed out to Grenen to check the beach for downed migrants. Not much was around, but two 1k Little Gull (Dværgmåge) and a dark morph Arctic Skua (Almindelig Kjove) stole the show. 

Dværgryle (Little Stint)

Dværgmåge (Little Gull)

In the evening, we did a quick check of the beach and went for a quick swim - swimming streak day 10! (it was significantly colder today haha). Robbie made a great chili dinner which was perfect for a cooler evening. And so another day passes at Skagen Fuglestation. What will tomorrow bring? We will have to wait and see!

Vi Ses!

Ringing (Kabeltromelen)

Water Rail (Vandrikse) - 2

Blackcap (Munk) - 1

Common Chiffchaff (Gransanger) - 2

Reed Warbler (Rørsanger) - 1

Marsh Warbler (Kærsanger) - 1

Tree Pipit (Skovpiber) - 1

Total: 8

Link to today's observations from observers in the area

People at SKAF: Lucas Corneliussen, Ragnar Smith, Rosa Hicks, Robbie Lawler, Asia Kane, Joe Zeno, Jeppe & Linda Rørbæk