Birthdays, Kestrels and Orcas....just another Manic Monday

Hey everyone, 

This is my first blog as a new volunteer at the observatory, so a perfect opportunity to start to learn the Danish names for the local birds!

Monday proved a lot busier than yesterday….! The Bangles would be proud (for those interested, search for the song 'Manic Monday' for a bit of musical nostalgia)!

The morning’s observations at World’s End 3 were strong with 2,539 Mallemuk (Fulmar), 10 Storkjove (Great skua), 4 Almindelig Kjove (Arctic skua) and the first 1K Curlew Sandpiper ( Krumnæbbet Ryle) of the year. The excellent birding was topped off with a sighting of four hunting Spaekhogger (Orca).

Check out this video of the whales in action:

The beautiful, clear sunrise brought low winds and perfect conditions for ringing, so we made the most of the opportunity. I was delighted to see my first Kærsanger (Marsh warbler), which is a rare bird in England, where I do most of my ringing. It was fantastic to compare the bird with the Rørsanger (Reed Warbler) and to test some of the methods we use at home to try and identify the elusive Kærsanger! These include the length of the notch on the second primary feather, wing length, the distance between the tips of the inner and hind toes, and the shape of the nostrils!

Me, falling in love with my first Kærsanger 

Our guests, Grethe and Stig, joined us for some of the ringing session, and they were delighted to see Havesanger (Garden Warbler) and Skovpiber (Tree Pipit) up close and in the hand!

The totals (new birds) for our morning ringing session were as follows:

Kærsanger 3

Løvsanger 4

Gærdesanger 2

Gransanger 2

Skovpiber 1

Blåmeise 1

Havesanger 2

Tornsanger 2

Rørsanger 2

Solsort 1

TOTAL = 20 (all ringed at Kabeltromlen)

In the afternoon, we travelled as a group with Simon to Jerup to an animal rescue and rehabilitation centre. The task was to ring a young (1K) Tårnflak (Kestrel) that was due to be released back into the wild after a period of recouperation. It was great to see the bird in good health, as it flew strongly and had a decent amount of stored fat for a safe return to the skies! We were also joined by a local television crew to document the ringing process, so the Wildlife Oscars should take note of this blog!

Tårnfalk being ringed, measured and weighed

After a dinner of pizza and birthday cake to celebrate one of our volunteers, Joe, striding confidently into his second decade....... we have a busy night planned. The nets will go up to try and catch and ring Lille Stormsvale (Storm Petrel) and Almindelig Skråpe (Manx Shearwater). Stay tuned for an update tomorrow to see whether the night brings success!

Link for today's DOFBasen 

Cheers for now, Andrew

People: Andrew Commins, Lucas Corneliussen, Ragnar Smith, Rosa Hicks, Asia Kane, Simon Christiansen, Joe Zeno, Magnus Houen Lauritsen, Mette Møller Christiensen and our guests, Grethe and Stig