Arrivals from the East

The wind swung around to the south-east today, but unfortunately was too strong for ringing so everyone was out observing this morning. There was a steady passage of seabirds moving north-east out of the Kattegat including Kittiwakes (Ride), auks (Alkefugle), Great Skuas (Storkjove), Arctic Skuas (Almindelig Kjove) and a Little Gull (Dværgmåge).

Sarah and Dorthe during early morning observation from World’s End

There was also a notable easterly movement of birds coming in off the sea, including 2 Hen Harriers (Blå Kærhøg), several Sparrowhawks (Spurvehøg) and corvids including Jackdaws (Allike) and Hooded Crows (Gråkrage). Rolf explained these birds were likely to have come across from Sweden on the winds, and it was great to see this migration in action. On the ground, Molly picked out one of yesterday’s Water Pipits (Bjergpiber) but true to form they evaded the camera, diving back into the reeds as soon as they were flushed.

Twite (Bjegirisk) on the beach – far more obliging for the camera than the Water Pipits

Away from Grenen, the string of Nutcracker (Nucifraga) sightings continued further south at Gyvelstien, deepening Simon’s dipping pains. I sense we will be heading off on another Nutcracker hunt very soon to try and crack that very elusive nut!

This afternoon Sarah and I did some alternative high-tech birding investigating the station’s radar system. It turns out identifying birds on a radar screen can be far more challenging that in the field - but we’re making progress! The future aim is to monitor nocturnal migration over Skagen by using the radar combined with sound recording.

This evening we welcomed three students to the station, Rikke, Anna Mette and Maria. They will be ringing with us tomorrow as part of a project to analyse some of the station’s historical ringing data.

A beautiful sunset this evening

People: Simon S. Christiansen, James Butcher, Sarah Bedford, Molly Brown, Dorthe H. Schmidt and Rolf Christensen.