Shearwaters bring sheer delight

Hi folks!

Being a volunteer at Skagen Fuglestation you get accustomed to late nights and early mornings, but every so often the limited sleep catches up with you – today was one of those days.

The ringers opened the nets and were greeted by 11 Wrens (Gærdesmutte) in the first round. To the non-ringers wrens are a sweet songful scrubland bird, however any ringers reading this will know how wrens like to spin, spin, and then spin some more when they are caught in the mist nets. We disentangled them all and quickly gave them a unique ring and took some biometric measurements before sending them happily on their way. In total we had 57 new birds, with highlights being a young male Bullfinch (Dompap) and adult Jay (Skovskade). We were also joined our guests John Stenum and Iben Jørgensen who got to see birds in the hand for the first time, and visitors Anders Østerby, and Alfred, who later joined the observers.

A young male Bullfinch (Dompap). Males have pink breasts, while females are brown.

Joined by a dragonfly after extracting a Goldcrest (Fuglekonge)

The remaining team had a good observation, for Augustin’s penultimate morning. They saw a Short Eared Owl (Mosehornugle), Hen Harrier (Blå Kærhøg), Puffin (Lunde), and SIX Sooty Shearwater (Sodfarvet Skråpe). Having such a nice time, Ragnar stayed until 13:30, seeing an additional 12+ Kittiwake (Ride).

Not only is Ragnar so dedicated to the birds that he extends his observations by 2 hours, he lies in the dirt to get all their best angles.

After a lunch, Augustin and I went for a swim to see how much colder the water was from his first day here a month ago. It was a lot colder.

We then spent the remainder of the afternoon taking a few short walks and a few long naps and are about to treat ourselves to a dinner out to say goodbye to Augustin and to celebrate Mara receiving a scholarship for her studies. September was a great month and we’re looking forward to a busy October as migration increases!

Highlights from Observations:

Sodfarvet Skråpe - 6

Lunde - 1

Mosehornugle - 1

Blå Kærhøg - 1

 

Ringing (Kabeltromlen)

Gærdesmutte - 18

Fuglekonge - 12

Gransanger - 7

Blåmejse - 3

Skovskade - 1

Munk - 4

Havesange - 1

Rørsanger - 1

Rødhals - 4

Dompap - 1

Rørspurv - 5

Total: 57

 

Ringing (Jennes Sø)

Gærdesmutte - 5

Jernspurv - 1

Munk - 1

Gransanger - 5

Sortmejse - 1

Musvit - 6

Lille Grasiskin - 30

Skovspurv - 5

Blåmejse - 1

Total: 55

Link to today's observations from observers in the area

People at the station: Ragnar Smith, Rosa Hicks, Augustin Sticksel, Mara Glane, Emma Fabre, John Stenum, Iben Jørgensen, Alfred