'goo-ko'

Another full day for us, starting with the penultimate CES ringing. Although the weather conditions seemed to be perfect for catching birds, the day was slow for the first hours. Fortunately, the variety of species was relatively big than the other times. Highlight of the morning at the CES was one of the last birds we caught, the Cuckoo (Gøg)! A juvenile bird that most likely left its host nest some days ago. European cuckoos have a very interesting behavior when it comes to breeding. Before they are ready to lay an egg, they observe other species nests to find the best one to lay their egg in it. This is known as brood parasitism. Common cuckoos’ appearance is like a Eurasian sparrowhawks’ which is a predatory bird. This is one of the main advantages that the species has in order to make brood parasitism easier, while it helps them get access to the potential hosts. They can lay up to 20 eggs in one season, but they only lay one egg in each host nest.

Other species that were ringed were the pied (Broget Fluesnapper) and the spotted flycatcher (Grå Fluesnapper), a wren (Gærdesmutte), willow warblers (Løvsanger) and more!

Martin, Chris and I, after coming back to the observatory, immediately got in touch with Kat, to go and replace the battery at the receiver where she installed a couple of weeks ago, since unfortunately there was a problem with the first one. This was exciting for us though, because we got to do some biology field work and felt good. So, we learnt how to use the system and read a little the program of the receiver. We now hope that the Norwegian tagged birds will come by Skagen and give some info.

The other cool thing this day was the Harbor porpoises skull that Martin found on the North beach while he was walking in the evening. It is well preserved and when the whole process of cleaning is over there will be a new nice specimen for the lab of the observatory.

In the evening one of Denmarks most experienced ringers William Aarrestrup arrived the Observatory to participate in a Conference for Danish Ringers that from back in time and still today has had a big influence on the history of ringing in Denmark. On Sunday these the participants will visit us here at the Observatory as a part of the event. When it got completely dark, we decided to go for a night catching to the north beach, hoping that the rain and wind would attract some waders. Unfortunately, we didn't capture anything but we will continue trying, since the weather is helping.

Ringing (Jennes Sø):

European cuckoo - Gøg - 1

Wren - Gærdesmutte -1

Common whitethroat – Tornsanger - 1

Blackcap - Munk - 1

Chiffchaff – Gransanger - 2

Willow warbler – Løvsanger - 7

Spotted flycatcher - Grå fluesnapper - 1

Pied flycatcher - Broget fluesnapper - 1

Great tit – Musvit -1

Total: 16

People: Simon S. Christiansen, Martin Y. Georgiev, Christina Ninou, Yehonatan Ben Aroia, Christian Stolz, Michael Ancher, William Aarrestrup.