After a restful night, Strummer and Merit set up the mist nets just before sunrise. Meanwhile, Louis and I headed to the beach for our daily morning observation.

The weather was quite pleasant, so we settled by the shore in our new comfortable chairs and thoroughly enjoyed observing and admiring the birds that graced us with their presence. We continued observing beyond the regular time, spending three more hours, before returning to the station to take a break. I dozed off and had a refreshing nap, while Louis returned to the beach for another five hours of observation, a testament to his dedication that earned him the nickname "Legendary Louis." In total, 1.622 Common Terns/Arctic Terns (Fjordterne/Havterne), 400 Sandwich Terns, 3 Black Terns, 896 Oystercatchers (Strandskade), 115 Turnstones (Stenvender), 20 Common Redshanks (Rodben) and 1.111 Red Knots (Islandsk Ryle) were observed migrating southward today. All observations can be found here: 

Red Knots migrating southward - Foto: Louis Poulsen

Merit and Strummer also had a highly successful day of bird ringing, capturing 16 new birds, including a Common Whitethroat (Tornsanger) with a beautiful moult limit. Additionally, they netted one Tree Pipit (Skovpiber), one Eurasian Wren (Gaerdesmutte), one Dunnock (Jernspurv), one Icterine Warbler (Gulbug), four Common Whitethroats (Tornsanger), one Garden Warbler (Havesanger), two Willow Warblers (Lövsanger), one Great Tit (Musvit), and five Eurasian Tree Sparrows (Skovspurv).

Common Whitethroat with a beautiful moult limit - Foto: Merit Lenk

To cap off this wonderful day at the Fuglstation, Merit prepared a delightful Risotto for dinner, and all of us relished every bite. With hopes of favorable weather tomorrow, we anticipate an influx of splendid birds in Blåvand, and an early awakening once again.

People at the station: Louis Poulsen, Merit Lenk, Strummer Edwards, Joseph Stephan

Jeg, Joseph og David talte morgen-obs, Merit og Strummer passede nettene og Andreas havde igen i dag vader-kursus med FeltUd.

I nettene var der ikke vildt med fugle, 8 blev det til i alt.

På obsen havde vi taget plads i “hullet” for at sidde i læ for den i dag lidt kraftigere vind fra ssv.

Der skete ikke det helt store indtil at de fra sabinebunkeren hvor FeltUd havde taget plads, meldte en ung Sortterne (Black tern) som fløj ned til os. Det var til stor glæde og henholdsvis ny årsart og ny art for Joseph, lidt tid efter kom også en gammel fugl rigtig fint i strandkanten.

Dagens højdepunkt var dog da vi så en ung Duehøg (Goshawk), først flyvende ud over stranden hvorefter den forsvandt ned i klitterne. Kort tid efter vendte den dog om og kom lige i vores retning, hvor den først landede på toppen af en bunker 30 meter fra os, og derefter fløj LIGE over hoved på os. Mega fedt!

Foto: Louis Poulsen, Duehøg (Goshawk)

Efter en gang pandekager gik vi ud for at kigge efter ænder ved sydhukket, de var der dog ikke rigtigt, men der trak en del vadere forbi, så Joseph og jeg satte og ned i strandkanten hvor vi havde fint med Strandskader (Oystercatcher) og Islandske Ryler (Knot) som kom lige forbi os i strandkanten.

Aften-obs på stranden.

Se alle observationer her:

Folk på stationen: Louis Poulsen, Joseph Stephan, Strummer Edwards, Andreas Pedersen, Merit Lenk, David Manstrup, + FeltUd kursus

After the insane day of ringing yesterday, we were all hoping that today would also bring some great birds.  Even though we started the morning catching less, we were still consistenly getting 3-5 birds per run.  We were ringing many of our common captures (Sangdrossel, Tornsanger, Løvsanger, and Jernspurv) but the highlight of the  morning was definitely a Stonechat (Vestlig Sortstrubet Bynkefugel) we caught in the lighthouse garden.  Even though we catch a few each season, there aren't many ringing locations in Denmark that get them so it was Merit's first time ringing one in Denmark.  It was a very nice 1k (first year) male that was a bit further along in it's moult compared to the ones we've caught previously during the season.   

Later in the morning we also had a pretty sudden movement of fog, which was promising for potentially increasing the number of birds we capture (if visibility is low enough birds may stop migrating and will hopefully fly into the nets).  While the fog can mean great things for us ringers, it made it much harder for the observers and the visitors from Feltud to detect birds during the morning surveys.

Once the morning obs. where finished, we had David and Andreas (one of the visitors from Feltud with a recently renewed X license) join us for our net runs. Even though we weren't catching much, Andreas was able to ring his first bird in over a decade (a Tree Sparrow (Skovspurv) which he was very excited to get in hand) which was very nice.  

In between net rounds we were discussing some potential catches we were hoping for and I mentioned Wood Pigeon (Ringdue), a bird that I have been trying to catch since I arrived here in July.  I've talked about it a good deal with pretty much everyone and even though we had almost caught one a few times, we had not had any luck yet.  Bent told me he could almost promise that we would catch one while I was here but I was getting less and less hopeful that we would be able to sucessfully ring one.  I mentioned this while we were starting our next net run and everyone else agreed that the chances of getting one were pretty slim.  Once we got into the garden, I was checking the first net when suddenly there was a commotion and I ran out to see Merit with a Wood Pigeon (Ringdue) in the open net near the pond.  

Thankfully it was extracted without much trouble and I went through the rest of the net run giddy to get to process it.  Once it was time to bring the pigeon out of the bag, Merit taught me how to handle birds that size (this was by far the biggest bird I've ever ringed) and it was so insane how large and powerful it was.  

When we were processing the bird, I would either use this combination of ringers grip/holding the feet wings and tail or brace the bird against my chest to secure it.

Actually going through and taking the data for this bird was so surreal, we were able to age it as a 1K very easily but the rest took quite a bit of work.  It was a two-person job taking the wing length, with one person securing the wing and the other flattening it on the ruler.  We used the largest cup possible to weigh it and it came out to 410 grams! 

It was crazy how we had to use a different set of tools for almost every part of this bird.  We used different pliers to close the steel ring, a different ruler for wing length, and this massive cup to weigh it! 

After we took a few photos and released it, we finished closing nets and it took me a while to begin to calm down after finally getting to ring one of these birds.  

Even though they are very common here, this was without a doubt a dream bird for me to get to ring.

After we were done ringing, I went out to Grønningen with both Andreases and Jens to look for some shorebirds.  We ended up with some nice birds including a Curlew Sandpiper (Krumnæbbet Ryle), Green Sandpiper (Svaleklire), Ruff (Brushane), and my lifer Common Snipe (Dobbeltbekkasin).  

It looks like we'll be getting southwestern winds for the next few days so hopefully our luck will continue! 

People at the station: Louis Poulsen, Joseph Stephan, Strummer Edwards, Andreas Pedersen, Merit Lenk, as well as visitors from Feltud

SÅ vendte vejret endeligt, og vi kunne for første gang i lang tid få åbnet alle net fra morgenstunden af. Allerede på anden runde kunne vi mærke, at vi måske ville få lidt travlt, og Bent kom derfor ud for at hjælpe til. Da han ankom var der dog allerede mere ro på i nettene igen (typisk), og da standardtiden var overstået, var der da også enkelte nulrunder igen. Derfor lukkede vi fyrhaven og fortsatte blot i stationshaven i et par timer mere, indtil der også her kom mange nulrunder hen på eftermiddagen. Det blev til i alt 60 nye fugle og 15 genfangster. 
Dagens highligts i nettene må være den Sivsanger (Sedge Warbler, Acrocephalus schoenobaenus), som Strummer blev enormt glad for, samt en Skovpiber (Tree Pipit, Anthus trivialis), en Broget Fluesnapper (Pied Flycatcher, Ficedula hypoleuca) og en genfangst af Vendehals (Wryneck, Jynx torquilla), som jeg personlig ikke får æren af at se i hånden så ofte. 

Dagens Sivsanger. Foto: Merit

Helt modsat var det desværre for vores kære observatører, der vist kedede sig en del på en nok så rolig morgenobs. Trækket noteres, som mange nok ved, i halvtimes-intervaller, og i et af disse intervaller var den eneste fugl, der blev noteret, en enkelt Stenvender (Turnstone, Arenaria interpres). De fulde tal kan ses her på DOFbasen. 
Jeg krydser fingre for en bedre obs for dem i morgen! Især, fordi vi her til eftermiddag har fået fint besøg af nogle kursister og feltud, der kommer til at holde vadefuglekursus i løbet af weekenden. Det resulterede også i lækker pizza og godt humør for alle samt en lille dukkert i havet for nogle enkelte af os. 

I skrivende stund er der desuden blevet observeret en rastende Duehøg (Goshawk, Accipiter gentilis), som vi alle kunne nyde fint fra matriklen af. 

Folk på stationen: Louis Poulsen, Joseph Stephan, Strummer Edwards, Andreas Pedersen, Merit Lenk, samt en håndfuld kursister og feltud

Just as usual Andreas, Louis and I headed out early to do the morning observation today. Because of the strong wind we had a refreshing walk in the dawn to the Sabine-Bunker where we met our good friend Emil Kristian Munkholm. We had a great time at the observation and saw 91 Oystercatchers (Strandskader), 21 Kittiwakes (rider), a red-throated Diver (Rödstubet lom), a Velvet Scoter (Flöjlsand) and a Storm Petrel (Stormsvale), which unfortunately could not be identified any further due to the unfavorable lighting and the short period of time it was visible.

2K Kittiwake resting on the beach - Foto: Strummer Edwards

At around 7:45 AM the military kicked us out because they were having an exercise in the area, so Andreas finished the observation near the lighthouse successfully, while Emil took Louis and me to a delightful nature reserve called Skallingen. To witness this fantastic, unspoiled, and vibrant landscape was an amazing experience which we will never forget. We saw several birds including Eurasian Curlews (Storspove), Common redshanks (Rödben), Marsh Harriers (Rörhög), White-tailed Eagles (Havörn), and an impressive flock of around 1800 Starlings (Stäre) resting and flying at the open fields of Skallingen.

Back home we celebrated the actual 60th anniversary of the Blaavand Fuglestation with a lot of delicious pancakes, coffee, and some good music. Svend Aage came to visit us; therefore, the mood was very good, and everyone had a big smile on their face.

Fortified by the food Merit and Strummer opened the nets for a couple of hours at the station garden because the wind subsided. They caught a Song Thrush (Sangdrossel), which made both of them even happier.

In the evening Andreas cooked a lovely spaghetti Carbonara for dinner, which carried all of us to our well-deserved beds with sweet dreams of Blue Throats (Blaahals), Skuas (Kjover) and Storm Petrels (Stormsvaler).

I dag var en af de bedste august dage, jeg har været med til. Vejret var ligesom i går præget af den famøse storm, der hærger det meste af Skandinavien, men som vi i Blåvand elsker og lever for. Nettene var igen ikke oppe, men dette gjorde Merit ikke det store, da hun syntes at en af de smukkeste fugle er Riden [Black legged Kittiwake], hvilket vi fik mange af i dag. Allerede på vej mod sabinebunkeren kunne vi mærke at der var lagt i kakkelovnen til en stor dag. Unge Rider sværmede om os, så turen derop var en sand nydelse selvom blæsten og sandet skar os i ansigtet og da vi kom på plads i Sabinen fortsatte trækket og Riderne var næsten ved at flyve ind i bunkeren pga. den hårde vind. Udover var der et skønt træk af vadefugle domineret Strandskader [Oystercatchers], med enkelte af indslag af Strandhjejler [Grey Plover], Almindelige ryler [Dunlin] og de første 1k Islandske ryler gav lidt ekstra krydderi. 

1K Ride - Foto: Louis Poulsen 

Så alt var fryd og gammen lige indtil klokken 0737, hvor en sand bombe blev smidt tæt på strandkanten ud for vores kære obspost: Lille Stormsvale [European Stormpetrel]!! Det er ikke alle der ser denne vanvidsfugl, da vi alle panikker da vi enten ser fuglen eller hører meldingen. Fuglen blev set et stykke mod nord, hvor profilen med det samme fastslår at vi har med at gøre med den fedeste stormfugletype af dem alle, stormsvale. Derefter ser vi den mørke ryg, uden nogle lyse indslag, den store brede hvide overgump, der ikke indsnævrer længere ned på halen. Da jeg ser dette oplever jeg et mindre blackout, jeg kan ikke fatte at jeg står og ser på Lille stormsvale her i august. Som Louis ville sige, det er crazy stuff. 

Nogle af os har det virkelig godt, men der er andre som ikke har set den, heldigvis når man har set en kan der komme en mere, hvilket der gjorde!! Merit får øje på en og ser den hvide overgump og kommer med et hvin: Jeg tror jeg har en ny!! Total panik i bunkeren, jeg når ikke at se den, og Merit ser sig omkring, og siger jeg tror ikke det var en Lille Storsvale for den var hvid i vingen. Jeg spørger hende hvor det hvide var, og hun siger: I undervingen. Jeg synker ned i min camping stol i lettelse, vi har nu 2 Lille stormsvaler på en dag og vi har nu alle set Lille stormsvale!

Turen går hjem efter morgen obs. - Foto: Louis Poulsen

Vi skulle måske have blevet i bunkeren hele dagen, men vi smutter godt nok 1300 for at provianterer, og fordi militæret lukker mosen.Vi ender med 956 Rider, hvilket er ret sjovt for vi havde en konkurrence om hvor mange Rider der havde været i dag. Jeg gætter på 1000, men Louis gætter på 963. Gad vide hvad de lærer derover på Bornholm når de er så skrappe til hovedregning?

Efter en lille lur melder Henrik Böhmer at mosen er åben igen, så Strummer og jeg joiner Henrik til endnu en tur i sabinen. Der går ikke lang tid før vi spotter den tredje Lille Stormsvale et godt stykke mod nord. Den er træt og hopper rundt på det rolige vand, som en trampolin! Denne gang ser vi igen den mørke overside og vi kan se at den hvide overgump går ned over sidderne. Føj, hvor er den pæn! Men aftenobsen er ung, og lige inden vi overvejer at tage hjem kommer den endnu en Lille Stormsvale. Denne bliver set konge godt næsten helt inde i strandkanten, hvor vi måske kunne have set det hvide i undervingen, hvis lyset var lidt bedre. Klokken 1830 tager vi hjem af, da aftensmaden er så småt at være klar. Det var Louis der kokkerede og her i skrivende stund står Joseph og Merit i køkkenet og laver dessert. Livet er godt her i blåvand, og i morgen er der endnu dag med dejlig vind. 

Even though we are unable to do any ringing while the winds are so strong, that has just given everyone more time to find great birds during the morning observations! We're all conducting them in the Sabine Bunker due to the intense conditions which has also let us had some incredible looks at the birds that come by. 

Even if the bunker can occasionally get cramped, it provides some much-needed protection from the elements during our surveys.  

Even though there were many interesting parts of today's surveys, the skua numbers were insane! We had at least 6 Arctic Skua (Almindelig Kjove) and a shocking two Great Skua (Storkjove).  They also gave us great views, flying right by the shoreline.  

Probably the most impressive change in the birds we are finding is the insane influx of Kittiwake (Ride).  We found over 40 just at the bunker and I even found 6 more in the bog! Previous days have only yeilded two or three (if any at all) so this was incredible.  

Shorebird migration also continued to be impressive, with over 200 Oystercatcher (Strandskade) being detected!  We also had a single Redshank (Rødben) and multiple Sanderlings (Sandløber).  

We also had a very interesting shearwater sp, which we unfortunately had to leave as unidentified.

While we weren't able to do much birding after the surveys due to the insane winds, we are all very excited for Wednesday! The weather looks incredibly promising for bringing in some seabirds from the North Atlantic, including tubenoses!  

Pga. stiv kuling fra NV var der ingen ringmærkning i dag, og vi var rykket i sabinebunkeren for at sidde i læ for vinden.

Kort tid efter start kom en ung Sorthovedet måge (Mediterranean Gull) susende mod S, de flyver desværre ret hurtigt når de har så kraftig med vind, så der blev ikke tid til fotos.

Det var ikke mega mange fugle der kom, men der var næsten hele tiden noget at kigge på, lidt måger, terner og få vadefugle trak.

Første Almindelige Kjove (Arctic Skua) kom ved 07 tiden, en fin gammel lys form, som jagede Splitterner (Sandwich tern) på vej mod syd, hvilket var til stor fornøjelse hos observatørerne. Senere kom også en mørk fugl lidt længere ude.

Der kom også et par enkelte Rider (Kittiwakes), hovedsageligt unge fugle. De første kom langt ude men flere af de næste kom rigtig fint, dog lidt hurtigt, lige i strandkanten.

Før kl. 08 var det kun få Strandskader vi fik set, men derefter begyndte der at komme mange større flokke, og vi blev derfor 2 timer udover standard tiden for at tælle dem indtil det begyndte at stille af. 1404 Strandskader (Oystercatcher) blev det til i alt.

Strandskader (Oystercatcher)

Folk på stationen: Louis Poulsen, Joseph Stephan, Strummer Edwards, Andreas Pedersen, Merit Lenk, Jimmy Skat

Se alle dagens observationer her:

I dag var der endeligt lidt mere gang i fuglene, både over havet og i nettene. Modsat de sidste dages ca. 5 fugle per dag fik vi i dag mærket 25 nye fugle og 6 genfangster i løbet af standardiseringen. Heriblandt var der også nogle, som jeg personligt er særligt glad for at se, blandt andet mange friske Tornsangere (Whitethroat, Curruca communis), to Husrødstjerter (Black Redstart, Phoenicurus ochruros) og min første ringmærkning af Topmejse (Crested Tit, Lophophanes cristatus), som jeg indtil nu udelukkende havde haft som genfangster. 
Det var en dejlig afslutning på Amandas ophold her, og skønt for Strummer og mig, der nok bliver nødt til at klare os uden fugle i hånden de næste par dage, da vinden bliver for kraftig til at kunne gennemføre standardiseringen. 

På obsen kunne man også mærke til en større tilstedeværelse af fugle, hvilket nok også grundes den relativt milde østenvind. Næsten 500 vadefugle, godt 700 Sortænder (Scoter, Melanitta nigra) samt en ung Ride (Kittiwake, Rissa tridactyla) kan her fremhæves. Alle dagens observationer kan som altid ses her på DOFbasen. 

Stationen virker næsten tom, på trods af at vi stadig var 6 personer til at nyde nogle lækre burgere til aftensmad - men det er jo ingenting i sammenligning med de 30-40 personer, der sørgede for god stemning på stationen til gårsdagens fejring i anledning af, at stationen fylder 60 år på torsdag. Vi siger tak for alle hyggelige gensyn og utrolige (men sikkert sande) røverhistorier fra gamle dage!

De næste par dage står på noget halvkold havobs, dataindtastning og havearbejde, inden vejret bliver roligere igen sidst på ugen. Lad os se, hvad det giver. Jeg håber i hvert fald på en kjove eller to. 

Folk på stationen: Louis Poulsen, Joseph Stephan, Strummer Edwards, Andreas Pedersen, Merit Lenk, Jimmy Skat samt alle dem, der bidrog til morgenens observation og ringmærkning efter weekendens fest, men forlod stationen i løbet af dagen - ingen nævnt, ingen glemt

Despite the suboptimal weather conditions for birding, it was a very nice day!

Just as usual, we left the house right before the sun started to rise. Amanda, Merit and Strummer opened the mist nets and did the ringing today. Andreas, Louis and myself went to the beach, got cozy and did the daily observation of the seabird migrating.

The weather during the morning was cloudy and the wind came from the North-West, which averaged around 13 m/s, the killer corner. Therefore, we only saw a few birds today at the sea as well as at the station and the lighthouse garden. We saw 139 Oystercatchers (Strandskade), 6 Sanderlings (Sandlöber) and 6 Dunlings (Almindelig ryle) moving south. The Common scoters (Sortand) did not like the north western wind either so we only saw 35 of them migrating. Nevertheless we truly enjoyed ourself at the observation, besides having interesting conversations about the ecology and behavior of seabirds. Andreas and Louis taught me the basics of the Danish language so we also had some good laughs.

Afterwards we came back to the station, ate two delicious cakes from Bent and Merit and drank a lot of coffee together which was accompanied by our luscious vocals because Amanda had birthday. The mist nets were still open at that time and had caught in total a Lesser Whitethroat (Tornsanger), two Great Tits (Musvit), an Icterine Warbler (Gulbug) and almost a Wood Pidgeon (Ringdue), which Strummer has dreamed of ringing for weeks now. That was a big start in the right direction of achieving his goal, so everyone including Strummer is now more optimistic then ever.

Later that day some of the pioneers who have been at the ringing station joined us for dinner so Louis cooked an exceptionally good soup for everyone. They told us some fascinating stories from back in the day which was arguably the highlight of this Friday. All of us are looking forward to tomorrow, where we are going to celebrate the 60 year anniversary of our beloved station in Blaavand.

People on the station: Strummer Edwards, Joseph Stephan, Louis Poulsen, Andreas Pedersen, Merit Lenk, Jimmy Skat Hanse, Hans Meltofte, Thomas Kiörboe and Amanda Johannison.