Observations:

Weather at 5.45: NW5, 6°C, 5/8, 30km visibility

Today, the migration of red-throated loons [rødstrubet lom] & common scoters [sortand]  was much slower than yesterday. But we managed to count a large number of common terns / arctic terns [fjordterne/havterne] migrating north – 590!
David and I also spotted a total of four adult arctic skuas [alm. kjove]: two pale morphs and two dark morphs. (That was my first pale morph arctic skua, so I was absolutely delighted.)

Todays observations can be seen here. 


Menu of the drawing day : some woodpeckers ! Picture by Clara 

Ringing:

This morning started very slow. In the first round we caught two Blackbirds “Solsort”. But it improved: Later, we got some Willow Warblers “Løvsanger”, a Redstart “Rødstjert”, a Brambling “Kvækerfinke”, a Pied Flycatcher “Broget Fluesnapper”.

Brambling "Kvækerfinke". Picture by Hanelie.

Pied Flycatcher “Broget Fluesnapper”. Picture by Robert.

But the big surprise of the day was the Grasshopperwarbler “Græshoppersanger”. You hardly ever see it in the field, it is just calling very dominant and characteristic, but sometimes a lucky ringer gets it in the nets and today, I was the lucky one!

Grasshopperwarbler "Græshoppersanger". Picture by David.

Moths of the day:

This night were evidently less moth flying around. We did not catch many and had only 7 different moth species. Yesterday afternoon we caught a very small day active moth: the Speckled grass-miner (no Danish name). Those small ones are difficult to make pictures of. First because they are tiny and secondly they are not sitting still. So the apps that we use are sometimes not certain about the outcome and then we have to take the books and have to study whether it is a certain species (we never kill the moths to make our life easier). And today we found another very small day active moth (5 to 6 mm): the Neat Cosmet (relatively rare and also no Danish name). See picture below.

Neat Cosmet (Mompha divisella)

In the afternoon, Morten arrived at the station, he will take blood samples of Long-distance migrants this week. These will be tested for the Vest-Nile-Virus. So we are hoping to catch many the following days.

At the station: Morten Jenrich Hansen, David Manstrup, Clara Delahaye, Jorn de Jong, Robert Luttik, Hanelie Sidhu.

Observations : 

Weather at 5.45: NW4, 7°C, 1/8, 30km visibility

This morning, we observed some nice migration movements from red-throated loon [rødstrubet lom] and common tern/arctic tern [fjordterne/havterne].
This is the largest number of red-throated loon we’ve seen so far this season! We counted 400 migrating north with flocks up to 20 divers high in the horizon.
We also counted 360 common/ arctic terns [fjordterne/havterne] going north, with flock up to 200 individuals. That was nice !  
The little terns [dværgterne] are definitely at Blavand, and we can watch them feeding near the shore every day, which is always a wonderful sight.


Highlights of the day : 
Red-throated loon [rødstrubet lom]- 400
Black-throated loon [sortstrubet lom] - 1
Sandwich tern [splitterne] - 49 
Common tern/Arctic tern [fjordterne/havterne]- 360
Little tern [dværgterne] - 61
Velvet scoter [fløjlsand] - 40

Todays observations can be seen here.


In the afternoon, I went for my daily walk around Blavand! What a lovely surprise to discover that two little terns and two ringed plovers were inside the fences. On top of that, one of the terns was behaving as if it were preparing a nesting site. Furthermore, there were at least 18 little terns flying over the fences and around the area. This bodes well for this year’s breeding season!



Little terns [dværgterne] making a space to breed in the fences, picture by Clara

I also took some time out in the sunshine to paint a bluethroat with my watercolours!


Drawing of a bluethroat under the sun, picture by Clara


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Ringing:Skovspurv. Picture by Hanelie

Finally, the wind was low again, so the nets could all be opened again! Robert had arrived at the station yesterday. Over the fast few years, we have been ringing and looking at moths together in spring and autumn, so I was happy to share the gardens with him. After three days without ringing we had hoped for some more birds, we got 23, 15 of them new ones. It was many Willow Warblers “Løvsanger”, other long-distance migrants did not show up today.

Moths of the day

This night we caught 10 different moth species, one was new for this season: the Sallow Button (Foranderlig Vikler, bold in the table) and one that was a new species for me: the Horse Chestnut Moth (Mørk Hedemåler, green in the table and see the picture). And we found a caterpillar of the Oak Eggar (Egespinder). So, my start at the station was not bad, there was less wind in the last part of the night, which resulted in a few more moths than the days before.

Who is me? I am Robert Luttik originally from the Netherlands but now living in Gjerrild (Djursland) and will help Hanelie with catching and ringing birds the next 2 weeks. Birds and Moths are my two big hobbies.

Horse Chestnut Moth (Mørk Hedemåler)

At the station: Henrik & Henrik, Thomas Kristensen, David Manstrup, Clara Delahaye, Jorn de Jong, Robert Luttik & Hanelie Sidhu

Observations : 

Weather at 6.10: NW11, 7°C, 8/8, 30km visibility

This morning, many of us were scanning the horizon through our binoculars, Henrik, Thomas and Hanelie joined Jorn and I for observations. We were busy clicking common scoters [sortand] and red-throated loons [rødstrubet lom] and other birds when suddenly Henrik exclaimed enthusiastically, ‘Pomarine Skua’ [mellemkjove]. 

There was then a flurry of activity to track down the pomarine skua as quickly as possible so we could watch it for as long as possible.... And we were very lucky, as the bird stayed for quite a while, circling above the waves and gradually rising towards the horizon. At one point, the Pomarine skua even chased a tern ! This individual was an adult with a dark morph, which is even rarer !
In short, it was quite an exceptional sight, and I was happy to be able to share this moment in good company.


Todays observations can be seen here.

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Ringing :

There was no ringing today due to the strong wind. 

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At the station: Clara Delahaye, Jorn de Jong, Robert & Hanelie Sidhu 

Observations : 

This morning, Hanelie joined me for the birdwatching as, unfortunately, she couldn’t set the nets due to the strong wind.
It was lovely to share the birdwatching with her, even though the migration was rather slow. We were still able to watch two black-throated divers [sortstrubet lom] resting in the waves for several minutes. A beautiful sight. We also counted 21 little terns [dværgterne] feeding near the shore.

Todays observations can be seen here.


The ringed kentish plover [hvidbrystet præstekrave] that we have seen on Fanø, picture by Clara 

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Ringing : 

There was no ringing today due to the strong wind. 

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Later that day, we went on a little bike ride around Blavand... in search of a swimsuit! Because, yes, we were planning to brave the bitter cold and go for a spring swim before Hanelie leaves in two weeks’ time. Unfortunately, there were nothing but jumpers and hiking boots in sight!

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At the station: Clara Delahaye, Jorn de Jong & Hanelie Sidhu 

Weather at 6.00: NW9, 8°C, 6/8, 20km visibility

While the volunteers took a day off and slept in after their trip to Fanø yesterday, I (Henrik) did the morning obs today. The wind had picked up since yesterday and was now close to 10 m/s from NW. Starting out with low expectations, I was actually quite surprised by the numbers. The gannets (sule) came in good numbers, and this was by far the best day so far this spring (114). And more than that, many came quite close. The morning also gave 2 Black-throated Divers (sortstrubet lom), 3 Arctic Skuas (alm. kjove) and more than 1000 Common Scoters (sortand).

The Little Terns (dværgterne) have also now really arrived. Today there were 26 birds feeding in the shallows, creating the well-known Blåvand sound landscape. Even though the breeding area fence is already up, they paid no attention to this secure area – not yet anyway.

A walk along the “always”-route gave very few passerines in the bushes, but two Bluethroats (blåhals) in the northern part of the bog was nice. Both were males, one mute and singing adult. On the beach, Sanderlings (sandløber) are still present by the hundreds, but almost all adult gulls have now left for the nesting ground, as only few immature birds were present today.

Observations:

 Todays observations can be seen here.

Ringing:

Ringing was quite slow today. Only seven new birds and one recapture. Nevertheless, the morning brought two little highlights in the nets: One first for the season and one always there but seldomly in the nets – and this season the first one caught. The first for the season waaas: A Lesser Whitethroat “Gærdesanger”.

Lesser Whitethroat “Gærdesanger” by Hanelie

I was very happy about that, it is my favorite common species in hand and it has finally arrived. The seldomly caught one is a fun species in hand – a Woodpigeon “Ringdue”!

The moths:

As the few birds in the nets did not make much work, the moths helped to keep me occupied during the morning. In the night, I caught with three traps for the first time this season, because the conditions looked good: Rather low wind and not too cold. And it was rewarded: I had 11 different species of moths. The first  of the season come to the trap.

Phyllodesma ilicifolia "Hede-takspinder". Picture by Hanelie

It is a rather rare moths in Denmark but at the Danish west coast, it is not so difficult to get it. Last spring I also got it several times. And Saturnia pavonia "Lille natpåfugleøje" is of course always a highlight.

Saturnia pavonia "Lille natpåfugleøje"

Trip to Fanø:

It was already planned for long – a trip to Fanø to visit Joseph and explore the island. And see the Kentish Plovers “Hvidbrysted Præstekrave”. And finally, the trip was happening! After all nets were closed and all food packed, we went to Esbjerg and took the ferry to the island. Especially Clara was amazed to be on a boat – bit we were all a bit surprised, how short the boat ride was. Before we knew it, we arrived at the harbor of the island. From the boat we already saw the characteristic light green car – Joseph was there to pick us up. First we made a stop at Kims lovely house on the island and had some lunch. Then we went off and Joseph showed us the island. One of the first birds we saw were two Kentish Plovers “Hvidbrysted Præstekrave”. First goal of the trip accomplished!

Kentish Plover “Hvidbrysted Præstekrave”. Picture by Joseph.

Highlights on the beach were a very good number of Bar-tailed Godwits “Lille Kobbersneppe”, the Sperm Wales “Kaskelothval”, that are dead on the beach since late winter – it was very impressive to see them, although especially one of them smelled really bad.

Quite a thick skin, such a Sperm Wale “Kaskelothval”. Picture by Joseph.

The birds are happy about that unflagging food source we saw gulls feeding on them and late three White-tailed Eagles “Havørn”, that were sitting in a row on the beach, looking at the dead Whale.

White-tailed Eagles “Havørn”. Picture by Joseph.

Later, we saw a colourringed/ flagged Kentish Plover “Hvidbrysted Præstekrave” on the beach. It had the letter CT on its ring. After Joseph had entered it into CR birding, we found out that the bird - we had called it Carl Theodor – was ringed as a chick at Marker Wadden in the Netherlands. Last year, it had been observed breeding on Fanø! Interesting, that Carl Theodor is breeding so far from the place where he was hatched. We wish him the best luck for this years breeding season! Although we saw some overflying the Little terns “Dværgterne” were not yet inside their breeding fence. Instead, we saw quite a lot of Common Gulls “Stormmåge” that thought, that it was quite a cozy place inside. That did not make us very happy because the Common Gull is one of the worst predators of Little Tern Nests and chicks.

After that unpleasant discovery, we nevertheless had a nice evening by the fire with a lovely dinner that Joseph cooked us. After a very long day, we took the ferry back to Esbjerg Jorn drove us all back home to the station.

Tak til Joseph for en fantastik dag og godnat!

At the station: Clara Delahaye, Jorn de Jong. Hanelie Sidhu og Joseph Stephan (Fanø)

Observations : 

Todays observations can be seen here. 

Ringing : 

When I went out this morning to open the nets, I was freezing: It was only 3 degrees! Luckily, it heated up soon as it was a sunny day from the early morning on. Sunny days often do not bring so many birds, but it was better than expected. I was happy about two new Redstarts “Rødstjert” and a Firecrest “Rødtoppet Fuglekonge” that I found in the nets.

Redstart male/ Rødstjert han. Picture by Hanelie

Firecrest/ Rødtoppet Fuglekonge. Picture by Hanelie

And – what a chance: I had two foreign recaptures today! It was boths Chiffchaffs, one from Spanin and one from France.

Chiffchaff/ Gransanger with ring from Barcelona. Picture by Hanelie

Although the wind is coming from the wrong direction, Noth-Northeast, some birds are arriving!

At the station: Jorn de Jong, Clara Delahaye and Hanelie Sidhu

At the station: Clara Delahaye, Jorn de Jong and Hanelie Sidhu.

Observations : 

Unfortunately, due to the rainy weather, we weren’t able to carry out our observations this morning.

After the rain, I went down to the dunes to count the resting birds and see if there were any little terns inside the new fences (you never know!). But there was not.
There were also very few birds on the sandbanks this morning: 4 oystercatchers [magellanstrandskade], 13 sandwich terns [splitterne], one northern gannet [sule] feeding and a pair of little terns [dværgterne].

I then made my way to Sabine’s bunker and on into the inland areas. I was surrounded by the song of the skylarks! It’s always such a joy to listen to and watch them. I don’t think one should ever get used to the common birds we see every day, such as herring gulls [sølvmåge], chiffchaffs [gransanger] and other birds. Every species is unique and beautiful in its own way. Whilst wandering through the land, I also came across a common european viper, Vipera berus, which quickly slithered away when it sensed me approaching. I also took the time to observe a smooth newt, Lissotriton vulgaris, I love this species which moves very slowly and is so delicate.
In short, little joys – certainly not exceptional, but ones that fill you with happiness!

Todays observations can be seen here.

Ringing : 

Due to rain in the morning, the nets could not be opened this morning. Later in the day it was nice with calm winds, but I had an online class for university and a spontaneous online meeting in the late morning, also for uni, so the only work for ringing I did today was doing the data check, and I am nearly done, only three sheets are left.

After my meeting was finished, Jorn, Clara and I went to Grønningen. Unfortunately, it was high tide so there were few birds and all far away. So we decided to go to Grønninigen and that was a good decision, as we saw six Spoonbills "Skestork" very close. We could also see a big flock of Golden Plovers “Hjeile”. Two Wheatears on the field and some Barn Swallows “Landsvale” brought some spring feeling.


Spoonbills "Skestork" at Grønningen. Picture by Hanelie

Finally, you’re probably wondering: ‘What on earth is this title for the Blavand Observatory?’ 
Well, well, well, here is the explanation. When we were at Grønningen, we have seen two lapwings [vibe] making strange moves. They were moving up their asses in some strange movements. A behaviour that none of us has observed so far. They looked as though they were dancing to pop music – sort of twerking birds! That was quite funny to observe. Then, doing some researchs, it appears that it could be either a courtship display [see a video here.] or a movement they're making whilst building their nests [see a video here.]
Below, the picture we made to try to explain a bit more what we have seen !


Lapwings [vibe] twerking while they're making their nest or while courtship display, picture by Jorn

At the station: Clara Delahaye, Jorn de Jong and Hanelie Sidhu.

Observations: 

Today was a wonderful morning of birdwatching with Henrik, Thomas and Jorn!
We spotted over 150 red-throated loons [rødstrubet lom], which is quite a good number. They’re starting to move in flocks of five or six; we can’t wait to see large flocks of them arriving. It’s starting, it’s starting...!

At the end of our birdwatching session, we were lucky enough to see three cranes [trane] flying over the beach, really, really close, whilst they were making those characteristic, lovely calls! According to Henrik, it was one of the rare occasions they’ve flown over Blavand so close!

Todays observations can be seen here.

Ringing:

Today was a slow day for ringing. The most interesting of the morning was a female Greenfinch with an enormous tick. It is normal that we find parasites on birds, Dunnocks “Jernspurv” often have feather lice and many birds have ticks, often close to their bill or eyes. Some ticks also find their way to the neck of the bird, I think it is a good place for the tick, it is quite sheltered underneath the feathers and there is only a little chance that the birds get rid of it somehow. This tick profited a lot from that place, it was very large.

Tick on a Greenfinch/ Grønirisk. Picture by Hanelie

Tick after I took it off. Picture by Hanelie

I took it off and killed the horrible parasite, which had already taken a lot of blood from the Greenfinch. Later in the morning, the Eagle club came to the station, and luckily, after many empty nets, we could show them some birds.

Little Tern “Dværgterne” project:

In the meantime, Joseph, Jorn and the fence volunteers did hard physical work putting up the fence for protecting the breeding Little terns “Dværgterne”. But it is up now and looks quite promising!

John and Jorn putting up the fence. Picture by Joseph.

Putting up the electric fence against predators. Picture by Joseph.

After setting up the fence, Kim and Joseph managed to read some Little Tern rings. One of the Terns was ringed 2022 as chick here at Blåvands Huk and from ring readings we know that it returned at least 2024, 2025 and this year to Blåvand. We hope that it will have breeding sucess itself this year! 

This Little Tern/ Dværgterne was ringed here at Blåvandshuk in 2022. Picture by Kim.

At the station: Clara Delahaye, Jorn de Jong, Hanelie Sidhu, Henrik Bøhmer, Thomas Kristiansen, Joseph Stephan, Kim Fischer, the Little Tern fence volunteers and the Eagle Club

Observations : 

What a lovely morning for birdwatching! It got off to a slow start, but then we have spotted loads of lovely birds !!

Here are the highlights of the day :
- Egyptian goose [nilgås] - 1
- Parasitic Jaeger [almindelig kjove] - 1
- Male Wheater [stenpikker] - 1
- Little gull [dværgmåge] - 2
- Greenshank [hvidklire] - 1
- Whimbrel [småspove] - 8

Todays observations can be seen here.


Egyptian goose [nilgås] flying, picture by Henrik Bøhmer



A male wheater [stenpikker] resting at Blavand, picture by Henrik Bøhmer

Ringing:

This morning was streaky. Some rounds brought a good number of birds; some were very slow. But the first net in the station garden brought a little highlight: The first Pied-Flycatcher “Broget Fluesnapper” of the season! The first arrival of the season is usually a male, also this one.

The first Pied Flycatcher "Broget Fluesnapper". Picture by Jorn.

We are hearing the Chiffchaffs “Gransanger” everywhere now, but from time to time, there is also the melancholic song of the Willow Warbler “Løvsanger” in between. I also had three of them in the nets.

The moths:

This night was perfect for catching moths! I had seventeen species, four of them new for the season, these are highlighted in the list. I will show Selenia dentaria “Almindelig månemåler”, I was very happy about that one.

Selenia dentaria "Almindelig månemåler". Picture by Hanelie.

Also another Cerura vinula “Hermelinskåbe” was nice.

Little Tern project:

Joseph came to the station today for putting up the Little Tern “Dværgterne” fence on the beach tomorrow. In the afternoon, we painted some Tern decoys.

Hanelie and Jorn painting decoys. Picture by Joseph.

At the station: Clara Delahaye, Jorn de Jong, Hanelie Sidhu, Thomas Kristiansen, Henrik Bøhmer and Joseph Stephan