Ringing:

Observations:

A day of strong, but not quite strong enough winds. I (Johan), joined Anton today as ringing in strong winds can be quite impossible. I was rewarded with some easy migration, that I can enjoy from the lone fact that it is slightly different from my month as observer. We have started to observe Brent geese (Branta bernicla) and, I like to think just for me, Common Eider (Somateria mollissima). Other than these nice species, we had some eventful 30 seconds, when a Sooty Shearwater (Ardenna grisea) and Pallid harrier (Circus macrourus) appeared at the same time, for some in the same scope field. This was 2 new species for a lot of the young birders frequenting the area these days, so we could feel the stress from the group. We had our own little spot, but their hill looked quite chaotic.

Tomorrow is another day of strong winds, so we're hoping to get some shearwaters and maybe even some storm petrels through the area. Blåvand is packed with enough birders to wring them out if possible.

Todays observations:

Ringing: A good day of ringing at the station with a total of 44 birds! It was a great mix of species, including some of the first redwings (Turdus iliacus) and goldcrests (Regulus regulus) of this season. After returning to the station, I (Storm) was happy to see some of these species that were not here just a week ago! It is great to see how much things can change as we are entering peak thrush migration. 

Goldcrests are starting to show up now, a true late autumn migrant!

Thrushes such as this beautiful redwing are also starting to show up in greater numbers. 

At 11 we were joined by the mayor of Varde kommune, Sarah Andersen, who went on a walk with us around the garden to see the ringing process. While the station garden was sadly empty, the lighthouse garden produced not only a beautiful brambling (Fringilla montifringilla), and a blackcap (Sylvia atricappilla) halfway through moulting into its adult cap, but also a great spotted woodpecker (Dendrocopos major). This was a great showcase of the great species we get at Blåvand, and also of the dedication of the volunteers, as Strummer calmly ringed the woodpecker while being pecked! The mayor was not afraid of holding the the birds and got the chance to release them. 

Todays numbers:

Observation: Today was an awesome day at obs! The forecast said clear skies with a mild wind from southwest (always a recipe for a good day at obs), and with the temps dropping all the way down to 3 degrees celsius, I (Anton) expected that some birds might have been reminded, that winter is coming (cue the GoT intro theme).

And like clockwork, at 0745 in the morning, when obs started today, a flock of almost 200 Starling (Sturnus vulgaris) flew right overhead - I knew that today was going to be a good day for numbers…

And while we didn’t manage the staggering 11.000 finches from earlier in the season, we did manage to get an impressive 1650 Starlings, and a whopping 800 Jackdaws (Coloeus monedula) and Rooks (Corvus frugilegus) at obs. Furthermore, we also produced a good 17 Grey Wagtails (Motacilla cinerea), which are one of my favourites at obs. And as for the other passerines, we saw 238 Meadow Pipits (Anthus pratensis), 341 Chaffinces/Bramblings (Fringilla coelebs/F. montifringilla), and a single Red Crossbill (Luxia curvirostra). We were also lucky enough to have a resting Great Grey Shrike (Lanius excubitor) at obs, as well as a hunting Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus).

Today was also a decent day for Common Eiders (Somateria mollissima), of which we had a pretty good 273, along with a single Black-throated Loon (Gavia arctica) - always a great addition to a good obs.

Today's observations

Other Things: Today is Storms first day back after his graduation in Bruxelles. We are so very glad to have him back at the station, not only for the manpower, but also for his great disposition. Hopefully we can get some good birds in his hands to make up for the lost time.

At the Station: Strummer Edwards, Anton Ræbild Jensen, Johan Them Steffensen & Storm Borum

Ringing:

Observation: Today was a big day, as it was the second day of the Felttræf. The Felttræf is one of, if not the biggest birding event in Denmark, as it brings about 100-200 birders to Blåvand and the south-western corner of Denmark to find as many rare birds as possible in a week. And yesterday was a slow day at Felttræf, because most birders hadn't arrived yet; so one could say this was the first real day of this week-long birding event.

But not only were there a lot of talented birders i Blåvand today, the weather also looked really exiting with early rain replaced by sunshine, changing winds, and weather yesterday that limited migration. We knew we were in for at least an okay day!

The day started, as always, with decent amounts of Common Scoters (Melatnitta nigra) flying south, and with some Red-thorated Loons (Gavia stellata), Razorbills (Alca torda) and Grey Wagtails (Morticilla cinerea) already in the air. Pretty decent amounts of Horned Larks (Eremophila alpestris) and Ringed Ouzels (Turdus torquates) were also present, but it was difficult to get an accurate count on these, as many were resting, while some were migrating.

The heavy hitter of today were two Horned Grebe (Podiceps auritius) and two resting Nutcrackers (Nucifraga caryocatactes)!

Today's observations

At the Station: Strummer Edwards, Anton Ræbild Jensen & Johan Them Steffensen

Ringing: Another day of ringing, trying to reach 5 hours with high gusts and sudden showers, but we persisted and actually got some birds too! I was glad we did, as I (Mathilde) am taking the next week off the station, to help out at the DOF UNG fall camp. 

The morning started slow, but with some super nice thrushes! We had our first Redwing (Vindrossel) off the season, and soon after we got three more - two in each garden! 

One of the Redwings from today. Picture by Mathilde Sif Eiby.

Together with the Redwings we also got five new Blackbirds (Solsort) in our nets today, both adult and young, males and females. 

Happy Anton and a beautiful female Blackbird from today. Picture by Mathilde Sif Eiby.

With all these thrushes, we also had our most common one, a single Songthrush (Sangdrossel). So 10 thrushes out of 26 birds in total.

Another round brought five Redpolls (Gråsisken), some of which were potential adults, and a young male Goldfinch (Stilits). Finally we recaptured the Yellow-browed Warbler (Hvidbrynet Løvsanger) from yesterday - as we also recaptured our two other individuals several times the following days.  

Young male Goldfinch from today, sexed by the extent of orange/red feathers in the face - they pass behind the eye. Picture by Mathilde Sif Eiby.

Today's numbers:

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Observation: Today, like yesterday, had looming rainfalls and moderate winds on the forecast - something I did not want to stand in for three hours yet again… So we (Henrik Læssøe, Kristoffer Hansen, Maria Rasmussen, and I) decided to head for the Sabines bunker; a place where we could seek shelter from the rain and winds.

The morning started out great with me spotting a Sooty Shearwater (Ardenna grisea) at medium distance at 07.28 in the morning. Unfortunately this was way before standard migratory counting started today, so of course, we had to spot another one within standard. This happened around 08.45, when Kristoffer spotted one very close (only a couple of hundred meters out). Henrik had just left his post to get some coverage on his phone (the bunker blocks all cellular service) in case someone had spotted something rare somewhere else. Luckily Henrik made it back to his chair, and we all had great views of the shearwater.

The only other real highlight of the day were the migrating Little Gulls (Hydrocoloeus minutus), of which we saw 6, and the beginnings of the alcid migration. As for the alcids we saw 3 Common Murres (Uria aalge), 20 Razorbills (Alca torda), and 6 which were unidentifiable due to the range at which they flew by.

As for the usual birds, i.e. Northern Gannets (Morus bassanus), Common Scoters (Melanitta nigra), and Red-throated Loons (Gavia stelatta), the numbers were pretty average. We had 18 Northern Gannets, 722 Common Scoters, and 199 Red-throated Loons fly by.

Overall a pretty decent day conditions considered. Especially the shearwaters were highlights for me, as I have only ever seen Sooty Shearwaters at great distances!

Today's observations

At the station: Strummer Edwards, Mathilde Sif Eiby, Anton Ræbild Jensen, Johan Them Steffensen 

Ringing: What a special day of ringing! Not a crazy amount of birds, but we also didn't reach the standard 5 hours, due to the rain. We ended up with 43 birds of 13 different species - and what cool species!

One of the first rounds I was walking through the station garden, I suddenly came upon four Bramblings (Kvækerfinke) in one net! I immediately notified Strummer and Johan, who quickly came and joined me, so we could appreciate all four wonderful individuals together - all male, three certainly young, and one potential adult. 

The ringing team with three young male Bramblings of today. Picture by Strummer Edwards.

One of the young male Bramblings. Aged on the clear moult limit, in the feather group called the greater coverts in the middle of the wing, contrasting between the new darker feathers and the paler young feathers. Sexed on the pure orange lesser coverts, the feather group half covered by my thumb. Picture by Mathilde Sif Eiby.

What a great start to the day! I even caught a fifth Brambling later in the day together with three of my favourite bird, the Yellowhammer (Gulspurv). One female on it's own, and two males in the round after - one certain youngster, and one potential adult. 

The two male Yellowhammers from today. The one on the right is the young one, significantly paler, and with more pointed tailfeathers. Pictures by Anton Ræbild Jensen.

I also came across the third Yellow-browed Warbler (Hvidbrynet Løvsanger) of the season, that I immediately called Johan for, as it was time for him to ring one. His sister by chance came to visit the station at that exact moment, so the first ever species she's seen being ringed was that one! 

When Henrik and Anton came back from obs, they told me they'd seen a potential subspecies of the Lesser Whitethroat (Gærdesanger / Curruca curruca) called Blythi (Curruca Curruca Blythi), and next round Strummer calls me to tell me they caught it up at the lighthouse! There's only five other confirmed records ever of this subspecies in Denmark, one of which was in Blåvand. We took pictures and sampled some DNA, so we'll have the definite answer at some point.

Today's potential Curruca Curruca Blythi, with a more sandy color. Picture by Strummer Edwards.

Today's numbers:

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Observation: Today was supposed to be kind of a mixed bag with rains coming and going and milder winds from the northwest, the west and the southwest - safe to say, I (Anton) expected a slow day with maybe decent numbers of passerines.

Aaaaand, that is what we got. The Chaffinches/Bramblings (Fringilla coelebs/F. montifringilla) were moving as usual with about 200 flying by. We also saw over 250 Starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) and even 11 Rock Pipits (Anthus petrosus). Pretty okay, but not mindblowing.

The big highlights were one Hen Harrier (Circus Cyaneus), one Short-eared Owl (Asio flammeus) and a pretty good 1019 Meadow Pipits (Anthus pratensis)! Of course, we also saw the Eastern Lesser Whitethroat at obs, but only shortly before it vanished up towards the lighthouse.

Today's observations

At the station: Strummer Edwards, Mathilde Sif Eiby, Anton Ræbild Jensen, Johan Them Steffensen

Ringing: Cancelled due to strong winds and rain.

Observation: Today Johan and I (Anton) decided to go all in on the seawatch. With quite strong winds from the north and northwest, we knew that that would be our best bet for seeing anything interesting (especially Storm-petrels) at obs today.

The morning started with Johan finding a single Skua - unfortunately, it was raining quite a bit, and the sun wasn’t even up, so visibility was too low for us to be able to identify what species of Skua it was. No worries, though; we ground on, hoping another Skua, or maybe even a Shearwater or Storm-petrel, might fly by.

During the day, there were few birds because of the strong winds. We did, however, see over 700 Common Scoters (Melanitta nigra), 76 Northern Gannets (Morus bassanus) and 48 Red-throated Loons (Gavia stellata). We were also lucky enough to see a couple of Merlins (Falco columbarius) and a few Hen Harriers (Circus cyaneus).

Near the very end of the obs, Johan managed to spot the day's second proper seabird - this one a Sooty Shearwater (Ardenna grisea). Another pretty decent bird, but not really what we had dreamed about when looking at the weather report yesterday.

As obs ended, Johan decided to go straight home, while Mathilde and I decided to stay a little while longer. This led to both a Horned Lark (Eremophila alpestris) and a Black-throated Loon (Gavia arctica), and on our way back to the station, a probable Little Bunting (Emberiza pusilla) flew right over us (I damn myself for not using a microphone today!).

Phone-shot of the Horned Lark. Credit Mathilde Sif Eiby

Johan, Mathilde, and I decided to end our day with a final evening seawatch, hopeful that the wind had finally blown a Storm-petrel close to shore. Our dreams of Storm-petrels were, however, shattered, but I did manage to find two Sooty Shearwaters more. So overall it was a good way to end yet another day in Blåvand!

Today's observations

Other things: All of our recent guests have left the station today/yesterday, and with Storm still gone, it feels quite empty at the station. We will, however get a good amount of guests over the coming weekend, which I am looking forward to.

At the station: Strummer Edwards, Mathilde Sif Eiby, Anton Ræbild Jensen, Johan Them Steffensen

Ringing: A pretty hectic morning with crazy numbers of Robins (Rødhals)! 123 Robins out of 185 birds in total, and only 8 other species. But among those we still had two new species of the season! One of them was one of those we see regularly on observation, but rarely in the nets - the Brambling (Kvækerfinke). And even a beautiful male! Sadly we were too busy to admire it all together, so we'll need another one for the whole team to appreciate one day.

Have you ever seen such a handsome Brambling? Picture by Mathilde Sif Eiby.

The other new species was one we've been expecting - the Goldcrest (Fuglekonge). Super nice to have it back - more and more are probably gonna start showing up. We also recaught the Yellow-browed Warbler (Hvidbrynet Løvsanger) from yesterday - listened to it calling all morning, so we weren't surprised. It has such a cute and distinct call, I recommend you learn it!

Today's numbers:

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Observation: Today we were hoping for great numbers. If you have been reading the blog the last couple of days, you might know that the last few sessions haven't brought as big numbers of birds as hoped for. The wind hasn’t been the best, and the last couple of days have been mediocre quantity-vise

That is why today was supposed to be a big day! The wind switched to the east (which can be very dangerous) and I expected either great numbers of passerines and/or (ESPECIALLY) thrushes. And honestly… I can’t say that I was disappointed per se, but my hopeful expectations were not met.

The finches were moving, with 4250 Chaffinches/Brambling (Fringilla coelebs/F. montifringilla) flying by - with more Bramblings than usual - and the thrushes have finally started migrating with 67 Songthrushes (Turdus philomelos), 95 Redwings (Turdus iliacus), 7 Mistle Thrushes (Turdus viscivorus), and a single Fieldfare (Turdus pilaris) flying by. While these numbers aren’t bad (especially compared to the last couple of days) I had hoped for more. In other parts of the country there have been great numbers of migrating thrushes, but for some they refused to fly by me...

And if today wasn’t a numbers game, you might think that the hits would be there. The big highlights of today were two Horned Grebes (Podiceps auritus) that Mikkel spotted flying past us, and one male Hen Harrier (Circus cyaneus) foraging in the area. Again, these aren’t bad hits, but I would have hoped for more.

So all in all a day characterized by mediocrity and slight disappointment.

Today's observations

At the station: Strummer Edwards, Mathilde Sif Eiby, Anton Ræbild Jensen, Johan Them Steffensen, Alex, Bello, Britta

Ringing:

Today was another chill day of ringing with 35 birds, but of nothing less than 15 different species! Other than the regular ones we had another beautiful Yellow-browed Warbler (Hvidbrynet Løvsanger), which I then got on my own ringing list - a list I just keep for fun, since I already handled the one Strummer ringed several times as a recapture. Another one checking out the garden - many days we hear their distinct call at the station.

My own Yellow-browed Warbler! Such a stunner! Picture by Mathilde Sif Eiby

Out of many honorable mentions (all birds are of course amazing) we also had Redpoll (Gråsisken), Crested Tit (Topmejse), Sortmejse (Coal Tit) and a lovely Siskin (Grønsisken).

A young female Siskin, aged by the duller outer greater coverts, and sexed by the lower extend of greenish yellow and lack of dark crest feathers. Picture by Mathilde Sif Eiby.

Last cool bird of the day was this Great Tit (Musvit), with a nice moult limit - see if you can spot it!  

A young Great Tit. Ageing hint: look in the greater coverts just above the tip of my thumb. Picture by Mathilde Sif Eiby.

Today's numbers:

Observation:

Northwesterlies. Again. You know what that means: Awesome day for birds in Blåvand! I know it makes no sense but today turned out quite well.

The standardized observation this morning didn't have too many birds. We barely scratched 100 Meadow pipits (Anthus pratensus) and the same with Common Scoters (Melanitta nigra).

The highlight of the morning was myself spotting a shearwater that didn't look like all the others I've been seeing all season. I quickly mumbled to Anton: "Shearwater out there now... Not sooty. It's a Manx!". Anton quickly agreed and we got it reported to the birders around. A lifer for myself and to be self-found was a dream. We've only had one other this season on the 2nd of August seen by the spanish observation team, so all of us on the beach were quite pleased. Additionally this bird came maybe only 50m away from the shore, so the looks were quite a bit better than the majority of shearwater observations.

With the low numbers we decided to evacuate after obs anyway, which also turned out to be quite a good decision. Only 10 minutes after arriving back at the station, the seasons first Northern Nutcracker (Nucifraga caryocatactes) came flying towards the station. I myself ran from my slumber on the couch and saw it land in a tree in our garden, and show off for 10 minutes in the top of our trees. This individual was the subspecies "Thickbilled" (ssp. caryocatactes). These are to my understanding the most common guests in Denmark, but this last week the biggest invasion has been of the siberian "Slender-billed" subspecies. So this made our obs a bit more special than all the other (This is not just me coping for it not going in our nets).

Our very own Northern Nutcracker (Nucifraga caryocatactes caryocatactes ). Captured by Anton Ræbild Jensen

A Yellow-browed warbler (Phylloscopus inornatus) was also heard in the station garden around 2pm. As this being the individual ringed earlier in the day can't be ruled out, it ends as a footnote on todays blog.

Blåvand x Birds = greatest lovestory of all time

Todays observations:

Ringing:

My first blog since returning to ringing, and only because Mathilde took the day off. If you're an avid reader of the blog you have probably noticed that we've enjoyed how much she enjoys writing the blog posts :)

Today was an incredibly slow day. We (Strummer and Johan) ringed 9 new birds and handled one recaptured Eurasian Blackbird (Turdus merula) from this August. The suspects were the usual ones; Common Chiffchaffs (Phylloscopus collybita), Eurasian Chaffinches (Fringilla coelebs) and European Robins (Erithacus rubecula).

Our recap Eurasian Blackbird (Turdus merula) captured by Johan Them Steffensen

The ringing numbers so you can render your own verdict of the day: 

Observation:

Like the ringing, it was a slow morning for the obs with very low numbers of everything apart from gannets (Morus bassanus). It was a letdown for Anton, who is usually the one counting passerines when we're out, but a good day for me, who has been on scoter (Melanitta nigra), diver (Gavia stellata) and gannet counting duty. Although I only have three species to focus on at least I always have something to count!

We ended with 338 gannets today, a very solid count. We try to count them by age when possible, which is is often quite easy as soon as you get the hang of it. In simple terms, the 2-year olds are very dark all over, the 3-years are halfway in moulting their black feathers, the 4-years often just have a black bar at the back of the wing or are in the middle of moulting them, leaving what looks like black piano keys. It's on days like these where you can get some practice with the gannets given the lack of everything else. 

Today's observations

At the station: Strummer Edwards, Mathilde Sif Eiby, Anton Ræbild Jensen, Storm Hauris Borum and Johan Them Steffensen

Ringing: Before telling you about today's standardized ringing, we got a surprise last night! Strummer was doing a bit of night catching, and they caught a Sanderling (Sandløber)! What a lovely, and different textured bird compared to all the passerines - looks more like a plush toy to me, because of those thick dense feathers, and maybe the huge round eye. The proportions are quite interesting as well, with the longer neck and longer bill. 

A young Sanderling, aged by the lack of all-black tertial feathers. Pictures by Johan Them Steffensen.

In today's normal ringing we had decent numbers as well with 51 birds of 12 different species in the nets. Most prominent of the day were as usual the 14 Robins (Rødhals), the 11 Chiffchaffs (Gransanger) and the 9 Blackcaps (Munk) - funnily enough all 9 in the station garden. My favourite species of the day was the Blue Tit (Blåmejse), of which I had two young birds in the same net. 

Look at those colours! A beautiful young Blue Tit, aged on the duller feathers in the wing feather group called greater coverts - right there on its shoulder. Picture by Mathilde Sif Eiby.

Today's numbers:

Observation: Today was a much slower day than yesterday. The weather was nice, but the weak wind from the west-northwest gave lower numbers of birds migrating through. The most dominant species were the pipits, with over 240 Meadow Pipits (Anthus pratensis) flying past, and the loons, with over 320 Red-throated Loons (Gavia Stellata) flying south. Good numbers of Starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) and Cormorants (Phalacrocorax carbo) were also seen, but otherwise most of the numbers were quite low.

Just as the obs of today were shaping up to be a bit boring, Henrik suddenly shouted, “Listen, Richards Pipit!” as a pretty sizeable and heavy Pipit flew close by us. The Pipit gave off clear and loud vocalisations that sounded nothing like what you would expect of a Pipit - the sounds were almost sparrow- or lark-like. 

Richards Pipit (Anthus richardi) was yet another species I (Anton) have never seen before, and it is the sixth species of Pipit we have seen at obs in just the last seven days! Now we only need Blyth's Pipit (Anthus godlewskii), Water Pipit (Anthus spinoletta), and Tawny Pipit (Anthus campestris) to have seen all the Danish species of Pipits at obs this season