A Sunny Day and a Yellow-Browed Warbler

In the reedbeds!

After what feels like a few days of no sun and constant cloud and wind, it was lovely to see the rays and feel some nice warmth on the face. It really does bring a smile to the team and the birders around as everything glows in a Skagen way.

Our 'Crossbill' Blue tit (Blåmejse)

The day started well. Mara, our guest Søren, and I went to ringing at Kabeltromlen and it was certainly dark to begin. We were there earlier than the first birds started moving and there was surprisingly no thrush migration which was the theme of the last week. The morning was lovely with the sun appearing after a while and a nice mix of species coming through with each round. The Bullfinches (Dompap) have really started to move with flocks circling around as well as Southern (Lille Dompap), Northern (Stor Dompap) and intermediate Bullfinches (Dompap) all caught. The ringing was consistent with birds caught in each round. We had a funky looking Blue tit (Blåmejse) who had a bill similar to a crossbill, and another Goldfinch (Stillits) adding a big splash of colour to the ringing. Overhead, migration was strong with nice numbers of finches moving: Crossbill (Lille Korsnæb), Brambling (Kvækerfinke), Siskin (Grønsisken). A Ring ouzel (Ringdrossel) feeding on berries only a few metres away was a personal highlight, making all kinds of calls and vocalisations. This bird has been seen/heard a few times over the last week, so it seems very set. No photos from the team yet.

An amazing picture by our guest Søren of the Yellow-browed Warbler (Hvidbrynnet løvsanger).

One slightly quieter round where a quick close of the eyes and a little sunbathe by the team lead to the distinctive single call of a Yellow Browed Warbler (Hvidbrynet Løvsanger) in the bushes just below us. The single call was not enough for Mara, who had yet to see the species in the field, and only once in the hand a few weeks ago. However, the next round, the Yellow browed Warbler (Hvidbrynet Løvsanger) had made it into the net, and it was good timing as the migration team were passing so they popped on in. A couple of close by birdwatchers came too and saw the bird. Søren took some amazing photos for the photo archive, and the bird was soon back in the bushes.

Close encounter with a Rough legged Buzzard (Fjeldvåge).

Emma remained and joined the ringing team and had the delight of ringing Blue tits (Blåmejse), a lovely species who have great personality and look incredible! Mara and I started to close the nets very soon after as we had gone past the 5hr ringing mark, making it even past the 6hr mark today – a great effort! It was lucky we did as it start to rain rather heavily as we closed the last few nets. After an incredible flypast by our 6^th Rough legged Buzzard (Fjeldvåge) over the last 3 days, and the 18th over the past couple of weeks, we cycled back and had some lunch before getting on with a mix of personal and observatory tasks.

We said goodbye to Simon as he is taking some holiday birding elsewhere (our mission to find some good birds here we come). Mara posted the new recruitment video for next year’s team, a massive achievement and if you are interested, please do get in contact - no matter how old you are! Emma inputted this morning’s migration count data from Worlds End 3. This morning, data was collected by Knud and Emma with the standout highlights including 2 Great northern Diver (Islom), a Sooty Shearwater (Sodfarvet Skråpe), a passage of 221 Gannet (Sule), 159 Kittiwakes (Ride), the 2 Arctic Terns (Havterns) and a Black Guillemot (Tejst). I ended up helping with data inputting from this morning’s ringing, some Greylag stuff and a short walk south to the bunkers. We all had a lovely meal cooked by Mara this evening, a festive pumpkin pasta dish. Emma also got some cheese from her family back home but we do not have any photos of that for the blog unfortunately. It's a little bright out there tonight to go nightcatching so a chilled one here at Skagen Fuglestation. We look forward to tomorrow and hopefully some more birds to come. Keep posted...

Highlights from the observatory:

• A Yellow browed Warbler (Hvidbrynet Løvsanger) caught and ringed
• A push of Kittiwakes (Ride)
• A flock of 24 Bearded reedlings [Skægmejse].
• A Lesser Redpoll (Gråsisken, Lille (ssp. cabaret)) recaught at Kabletromlen had been ringed in Brovst 100.5km away in 1^st September 2023 and recaught on the 16^th October 2024, 411 days later.

Ringing totals

Ringing (Kabeltromlen)

Total: 50

Today’s observations on Dofbasen from observers in the area

People: Thomas Weston, Mara Glane, Emma Fabre, Simon Sigaard Christiansen, Søren Wilhelsen and Knud Pedersen