Goose and Swan migration

Hej!

To make use of the calm before the "storm", that is supposed to be arriving tomorrow, Simon and I tried to catch some Water Pipits/Bjergpiber today. We therefore set up two nets just at the wet lands where they have been seen roosting.

Net setup for the Water Pipits/Bjergpiber

With some attractive sound playing to lure them to the nets, I waited 3 hours hidden between the dunes. All effort was to no avail. We saw some Water Pipits/Bjergpiber, but couldn't catch one. They even ignored the mealworm I put out for them in a little trap on the ground :(. But just before we went to put down the nets, we saw a Short-eared Owl/Mosehornugle flying through the dunes and a Twite/Bjergirisk almost flying into the net (Thanks Simon for pulling up the net at the right time for that little guy to fly underneath!).

Thomas was joined by Morten for the ringing at Kabeltromlen and they were more successfull in catching birds. They had more  Blackbirds/Solsort today then usual, and apart from getting wet by light rain once in a while, they had a great ringing day. They even were rewarded for their efforts with a cake brought by Jorgen.

The observation was done by Emma and Alexander today and they were real busy with counting Geese and Swans coming in from the sea. They had Whooper Swans/Sangsvane, Canada Geese/Canadagås, Greylag Geese/Grågås, Pink-footed Geese/Kortnæbbet Gås and Barnacle Geese/Bramgås. They also saw some Great Northern Divers/Islom and Alexander spotted a Puffin/Lunde. There also were some flocks of Snowbuntings/Snespurv on the beach today, with the observers seeing a flock of 35 and Simon a flock of 45.

Snow Bunting/Snespurv

In the afternoon Emma, Thomas and Alexander went out to Grenen again to look for some Twite/Bjergirisk. They got a good look on not only the Twite, but also a flock of Snowbuntings and 20 Whooper Swans/Sangsvane migrating. Simon, Jorgen and I also went out in the rain to go birding in the industrial area of Skagen. Our sightings ranged from a few Chiffchaffs/Gransanger, a nice male Brambling/Kvækerfinke, over domesticated ducks, pigeons and chickens to many horses.

Twite/Bjergirisk

Whooper Swans/Sangsvane

Highlight from the observations:

Puffin/Lunde - 1

Great Northern Diver/Islom - 3

Great variety of ducks and migrating geese

Ringing (Kabeltromlen):

Solsort - 5

Sangdrossel - 2

Munk - 2

Dompap - 1

Gærdesmutte - 4

Rødhals - 5

Gransanger - 1

Fuglekonge - 8

Total = 28

Today’s observations on Dofbasen from observers in the area

People at the station: Thomas Weston, Mara Glane, Emma Fabré, Knud Pedersen, Jorgen Hulbaek, Alexander Nyholm, Morten Jenrich