All must come to an end

I have now left the bird observatory for good after spending 206 days here. I started on 15/7 and have on 7/2 left for Zealand. Been an exciting 7 months and quite the unique experience. To be able to follow the cycle of season on all levels from high summer and 25 degrees to -5 degrees and 5 hours of sun and following the change of flora and fauna so intimately is an experience I can only recommend.

480 hours have I spent doing standardized migration counting at Worlds End 3 in great company, variable weather, but the birds were always amazing (When aren’t they?). It is almost impossible to choose between the best birds, but the highlights must definitely be the Brown Booby (Brun Sule), the third record for Denmark, two species of storm petrels (Stormsvaler) and my first Sabine’s Gull (Sabinemåge)! But again the highlights are many and if you asked me a different day I would give a different answer.

The social life at the Bird Observatory has also been amazing. To meet so many different people from so many backgrounds has been a precious experience that I probably won’t forget, it made my very long stay feel like a vacation. To be in company with so many people and hyper focus on birds is a liberating feeling and if you are a young birdwatcher, that alone is reason enough for you to be a volunteer at a bird observatory, even more so in Skagen.

Thanks to everyone who I have met in Skagen for adding in to make it as a great experience as it has been and thanks for reading.

See you againSwallowtail (Svalehale) 1/8, One of my many non-avian highlights and a stark contrasts to what is expected in Skagen here at the end of my stay

Summer and pizza with some of the early season volunteers (from left to right: Lucas, Rosa, Andrew, Joe and Ragnar)

Bird of the year: Brown Booby!

The quintenssential autumn visitor: Yellow-browed Warbler (Hvidbrynet Løvsanger), a rare visitor, though we found 7-8 individuals!

King Eider (Kongeederfugl) in Skagen Harbour!