Many Thrushes and a Letter from Israel!

I woke up a bit late today as it was my sleep in day which was very nice. I joined Tue, Lucas, Simon, and Cora at the ringing station. They had already caught quite a few thrushes (drossel) on the way. There were actually tons of thrushes (drossel) flying around this morning, “big thrush day” was the phrase on everyone’s lips. I went out on the first net round and it was a big one. We probably caught about 30 birds on the first round. Mostly Robins (Rødhals) and Chiffchaffs (Gransanger). By the end of the morning we had caught 64 new birds and one recap. We caught our first Blackcap (Munk) and Fieldfare (Sjagger) of the year!

Learning how to age a Chiffchaff (Gransanger)

Rasmus went out observing with his dad and Knud at Nordstrand. They had a pretty good morning with Glaucous Gull (Gråmåge), Pallid Harriera (Steppehøg), and a lot of Ring Ouzels (Ringdrossel).

Our first Fieldfare (Sjaggar) :)

Shortly after lunch there was a Zello about a Golden Eagle (Kongeørn) and the rest of the crew rushed out to try to find it. I stayed back to hide from the wind and do some laundry. Nobody saw the eagle but they did see some other nice birds Pallid Harrier (Steppehøg), Osprey (Fiskeørn), Garganey (Atlingand), and Peregrine Falcon (Vandrefalk). Beside the Raptors we also saw several arrivals of the spring like Redstart (Rødstjert), Wood Sandpiper (Tinksmed) and Yellow Wagtail (Gul Vipstjert).

Another highlight of the day was all the treats we had. Cora made banana bread last night, Mette who works at the shop and has volunteered here before made us chocolate cake, and a guest Helena left us some tarts. I was able to have three desserts after lunch and that is always appreciated.

Today we also recived an exciting message from Israel. A  former volunteer here in Skagen, Yehonatan Ben Aroia was out ringing at Jerusalem Bird Observatory this morning and caught a Lesser Whitethroat with a Danish ring. A quick check in our data showed that it was an individual ringed here at Skagen on the 1st June last year! It's the second time with exhange between Skagen and Israel of this species. For some years ago we caught a Lesser Whitethroat that was ringed in Eilat. Unlike many other African migrants that passes by Skagen the Lesser Whitethroats has an eastern route to their winter quaters in East Africa, most other species has a Western route to Africa through for example Spain. Below is a picture from Jerusalem of the special Whitethroat of the day.

Lesser Whitethroat (Gærdesanger) photographed at Jerusalem Bird Observatory this morning and with a ring from Skagen. Photo: Yehontan Ben Aroia 

This will be my last blog as I am leaving on Tuesday. I’ve had a really nice time here, it’s been very hyggeligt. Hopefully one day I’ll return and see some more birdies.

In the afternoon new guests arrived in the apartment and in the evening a friend of Cora, Mio Brix arrived to volunteer here the next weeks. 

Ringing (Kabeltromlen)

Gransanger 22
Fuglekonge 1
Rødhals 25
Gærdesmutte 4
Munk 1
Rørspurv 1
Sangdrossel 7
Vindrossel 1
Sjagger 1
Solsort 1

Total: 64

Ringing (Jennes Sø/Nordstjernevej):

Jernspurv 1
Rødhals 7 
Rødstjert  1
Sangdrossel 2
Vindrossel 1
Munk 1
Gransanger 10
Lille Gråsisken 1
Rørspurv  2
Musvit 2

Total: 28

Observation Highlights

Gråmåge 1

Steppehøg 4

Ringdrosler 70+

People: Cora Köberle, Rasmus Matthiesen-Juhl, Christopher Moser-Purdy, Tue Baaner, Simon Sigaard Christiansen, Lucas Corneliussen, Knud Pedersen, Mio Brix, Michael Ancher, and our new guests Nina & Jakob Dahl.