A Pine Grosbeak - Krognæb

The day started with calm weather but another cloudy day for the team, getting progressively wetter throughout the morning and early afternoon and then a dry evening and we even saw the sun for a few minutes – the first time in about a week!

Spectrogram of the Pine Grobeak (Krognæb) lifted from a phone sound recording.

Mara, our guest Lone and I went out ringing and had a busy first two rounds with the catch mainly consisting in Blackbirds (Solsort) and Goldcrest (Fuglekonge). We are very excited about the coming few days and starting to GPS tag the Blackbirds (Solsort) so keep reading to find out more… The third round was a bit quieter, so I decided to leave the ringing team to sew some nets. It was a good shout as when I got to the north nets, I heard a call which seemed somewhat familiar but not one I have heard in real life before, just from a recording. It was a siskin-like double ‘pew pew’ which was heard a few times as the bird flew over unseen. It was a Pine Grosbeak (Krognæb)!! A sidenote: we have been listening to the calls of Pine Grosbeak (Krognæb) for a while now due to a large invasion of the species in Norway and Sweden, so the call ran some bells. I quickly started recording on my phone and messaged Ragnar, Emma, and the team at Worlds End 3. During the recording, I heard another local birder call out Pine Grosbeak (Krognæb) confirming my initial sounds and a great record with this being the first of the autumn and first since 2019, I think. The full writeup can be seen on DOFBasen link below... The bird flew over East, then back West unseen by all but heard by two observers, one voice recorder on a phone and the SM4 recorder at World’s End 3, crazy! There should be more to come.

Slavonian Grebe (Nordisk Lappedykker) off Worlds End 3 by Ragnar.

Migration was quite good this morning and was undertaken by Emma, Ragnar, and Jørgen. The highlights included a White-tailed Sea Eagle (Havørn) who came across the beach flushing all the gulls. a flock of 4 Slavonian Grebe (Nordisk Lappedykker) that were resting offshore and 10 Caspian Gulls (Kaspisk Måge) including three colour ringed gulls. There were the ‘usuals’ noted including good numbers of Common Scoter (Sortand), a few Gannet (Sule), Eider (Ederfugl), Kittiwake (Ride) and some auks moving.With the news, Emma came rushing over to the join the team and birds caught included a Bearded Tit (Skaegmejse), and a mix of new and recapture birds, but no grosbeak overhead or in the nets. I ended up sewing holes in four nets which was a success, and we closed all nets by 11:30 due to rain.

Sanderling (Sandløber) mist netting.

Migration and ringing done we came back to the observatory for food and to dry off for a little bit. The afternoon plans including catching slightly more unusually caught species such as Rock Pipit (Skærpiber) undertaken by Mara, and Sanderling (Sandløber) undertaken by myself and Emma. Both were equally unsuccessful but great to be out when there is no wind and a little bit of sun too!

One of eight tags prepared and ready for use. The 'tails' of the tag will be cut off once uniquely fitted to the individual.

Simon stayed to prepare tags and with the help of Mara and I after our ringing attempts, we ‘made up’ eight tags which is a big success covering all weight limits we have seen in the Blackbird (Solsort) ringing. Jørgen treated us to a takeaway as a thank you to the team for his time in Skagen and the birding from migration and around the area.

Highlights from the observatory:

• Pine Grosbeak (Krognæb)
• 10 Caspian Gulls (Kaspisk Måge)
• White-tailed sea eagle (Havørn)

Ringing totals

Kabeltromlen

Overall total: 17

Today’s observations on Dofbasen from observers in the area

People: Thomas Weston, Emma Fabre, Ragnar Smith, Mara Glane, Simon Sigaard Christiansen, Lars & Lone; Jorgen