Another Purple Sandpiper....

With the clocks changing yesterday and the autumnal feel in the air, it was a dark start to the morning waking up at 5am for ringing and a bit later for the migration team.

Firecrest (Rødtoppet Fuglekonge) caught from another Danish ringing station and caught this morning.

There was a chance of rain in the air so Mara and myself went to ringing at Kabeltromlen and based ourselves around the tent. No rain materialised during the morning and there were quite a few birds in the bushes including Bullfinches (Dompap), Robins (Rødhals), thrushes, Blue tits (Blåmejse) and Goldcrest (Fuglekonge). The session was good with highlights including a Firecrest (Rødtoppet Fuglekonge) ringed elsewhere and a nice mix of species totalled up below, plus a whole net full of Blue tits (Blåmejse) making this the most caught species of the morning. The ringing continued until after midday where we were joined in the closing round by my family who had spent the morning in Skagen and were heading off mid afternoon back home after a weekend in the area.

Arcitc Tern (Havterne) on the beach.

Emma and Alexander were joined by Knut and Jorgen for the migration watch from World’s End 3. There were good numbers of Gannets (Sule) passing today with 318 heading south east this morning as well as high numbers of 2748 Razorbills passing. Some of the observer highlights from the watch included Whooper Swans (Sangsvane), an Arctic Skua (Almindelig kjove), a Slavonian Grebe (Nordisk lappedykker), 2 Shags (Topskarvs), and a flock of Snow Buntings (Snevspurv) too. The Snow Buntings (Snevspurv) were the first for Alexander and were described as ‘cute’. Another of the migration count ‘highlights’ was seeing one of the Arctic Terns (Havterne) up close and personal but unfortunately dead on the beach.

Guess the age of this Purple Sandpiper (Sortgrå Ryle) caught and ringed today.

The migration team joined the ringing team and were able to see and release a few birds from the ringing. We all came back to the observatory and got some lunch. I said goodbye to my family and we had a data inputting session of today’s ringing and migration data. Simon was back from holidays so an evening meeting catching up on all things bird obs from the last week, planning for the coming week and everything in between was achieved. After the meeting, before doing any more work, I went for a walk before it got dark and found a roosting Purple Sandpiper (Sortgrå Ryle) near the lighthouse in a similar place to the previous. Waiting until after sunset, a bit of skill, patience and luck and it was not long before I caught the bird – the second in a week. This one was full of fat and is likely to still be migrating so it will be super interesting to see if there are any subsequent resightings of this individual – you never know it could end up in the UK.

After ringing the Purple Sandpiper (Sortgrå Ryle), I helped check recapture sheets and Mara cooked everyone a lovely pasta dish. We had an interesting discussion about the English language, the similarities to English and when it comes to bird names, how they are totally different in some ways (for example, stints, sandpipers and knots). I then completed the blog, whilst one by one the others went to bed. The changing of the clocks is taking its toll a little.

Highlights from the observatory:

• A Sooty Shearwater (Sodfarvet Skråpe) seen by others
• Two Shag (Stopskarv) past The Tip.
• Purple Sandpiper (Sortgrå Ryle) caught and ringed – our third of the year.
• A Firecrest (Rødtoppet Fuglekonge) from elsewhere.

Ringing totals

Ringing (Kabeltromlen)

Total: 31

Ringing (Det Grå Fyr)

Total: 1

Overall total: 32

Today’s observations on Dofbasen from observers in the area

People: Thomas Weston, Mara Glane, Emma Fabré, Knud Pedersen, Jorgen Hulbaek, Alexander Nyholm