Observation : 


Watching birds with Morgan and some birdwatchers from Sabina's Bunker, picture by Clara 

Todays observations can be seen here.

Ringing :  no ringing due to strong wind.

Happy easter!

The heavy wind did not make outdoor activities very tempting, but we were occupied inside by a cosy fire with blowing anf drowing easter eggs!


Hanelie while making some easter's eggs, picture by Clara  

The whole team proud of their easter eggs! Picture by Rose.



A spoonbill [skestork]  egg for easter made by Hanelie, picture by Clara

In the late afternoon, it was time for Morgan to take his train back to Sjælland. It was a nice one and a half week and we are happy that he also enjoyed the time at the station with us. Maybe he will be back in Blåvand in autumn.

In the evening, it was time for me to make the big easter omlett out of 12 eggs which the four of us really enjoyed. After, some nice easter cake, made by Clara and then - Wingspan! My mother had brought mine from home - it is such a nice game to play, especially at a bird observatory.

And now a big wish to the board or some friends of the station, that would be willing to donate that: It would be so nice if the station had the Wingspan game here! It is quite big wich makes it not the best game to transport in a luggage.

Wingspan evening. Picture by Hanelie

At the station: Clara Delahaye, Morgan Barmer, Rosemary Fricke, Hanelie Sidhu and Karin

Observation:

Today we moved to the spring observation spot for the migration count. This allows us to observe the birds more closely. The weather was very windy and cold, but luckily we had a great group of observers to help each other out! Morgan and Rosemary (who has just arrived) joined Thomas and me for the three-hour observation session.
The highlight of the day: we saw an arctic skua [Almindelig Kjove] up close, with its dark plumage! It was truly beautiful...

Todays observations can be seen here.


Ready for the observations in the spring spot, by Clara


Ringing: no ringing due to strong wind.

My alarm was set to the normal time to get up for opening, but I could turn it off again – too windy. So I enjoyed some more sleep and my mother’s company, we had a nice breakfast together.

A bit further inland, it was supposed to be a bit less windy, so after the others were back from observing, Morgan, Karin and I did a trip to another place at Skjern Enge. It was not the best location where we went to, but we had great views on a White-tailed Eagle “Havørn” and saw some Wigeons “Pibeand”, Shovelers “Skeand” and Black-headed Gulls “Hættemåge”.

After, we decided to go to Tipperne again. It was a good decision, when we went up the birdwatching tower, we had great views on 22 Spoonbills “Skestork”!

Spoonbills "Skestork" at Tipperne. Pictures by Morgan.

Happily, we returned to the station. It looks like we will have a windy easter Sunday tomorrow DMI promises 15 m/s in the morning with gusts up to 20 m/s…

At the station: Thomas Kristiansen, Clara Delahaye, Morgan Barmer, Rosemary Fricke, Hanelie Sidhu and Karin

Observation: 

What a freezing morning! We’ve almost turned into icicles despite the shy rays of sunshine.
Fortunately, we managed to survive long enough to spot the first skua [Almindelig Kjove] of the season, a magnificent adult in the dark morph !
There were also quite a lot of gannets, nine adults in total !

Todays observations can be seen here.

Ringing:

Bullfinch male and female/ Dompap han og hun. Picture by Morgan.

Today, ringing was back to what it was before: A lot of recaptures, the same number of recaps as of new birds. But we had some nice ones: Three Bullfinches “Dompap”, a Siskin “Grønsisken”, a recapture Tree Sparrow “Skovspurv” that I ringed last March and a nice male Black Redstart “Husrødstjert”. After ringing, we exchanged a net, which had a large hole just where it was attached to the top line, which would have been difficult to mend.

In the early evening Rose arrived from Germany. We hope she brought some birds from a bit further south with her. But it looks like the coming days, we won´t see much of them in the nets, as it looks like we will have a very windy easter… Now, the rain is already drumming against our windows…

At the station: Thomas Kristiansen, Bent Jacobsen, David Manstrup, Clara Delahaye, Morgan Barmer, Rosemary Fricke, Hanelie Sidhu and Karin

Observation :

After a wonderful day of birdwatching in Blåvand yesterday, today’s count was slower and more laborious due to the fog returning over the sea!
So, after an hour of counting the migration, Thomas and I focused on the resting birds on the beach. There was still big a huge amount of herring gulls : over 2300 !

Todays observations can be seen here.

Hanelie's mum arrived yesterday and brought us some lovely bird-themed cakes! It was a real boost after the cold activities of the morning.

Karin's Easter cakes, by Clara

--> Answer to yesterday’s quiz: The challenge was to identify the country where the herring gull had been ringed, using the information from the ring. Did you guess ?
The answer was Denmark! <--

Ringing:

Redwing "Vindrossel", picture by Morgan

In the first round this morning, Morgan and I were surprised: The last days, it was so many recaptures, that we took out of the nets. But today, it was manly new birds, and quite a good number, that we brought into the net. Robins “Rødhals”, Goldcrests “Fuglekonge”, and Chiffchaffs “Gransanger” were the top three birds in their numbers, that we caught today. Also in the following rounds, there were still birds in the nets, and in later rounds, we also had two surprises: The first Blackcap “Munk” of the season was in a net in the station garden.

Blackcap, male/ Munk han, picture by Morgan

And in the next round, I took out a Firecrest “Rødtoppet Fuglekonge”!

Firecrest female and Goldcrest male/ Rødtoppet Fuglekonge hun og Fuglekonge han. Picture by Morgan

Finally, the day we had waited for so long, although it is still cold, here at the west coast: The birds are coming and we are really hoping, that it will continue like that!

After a short noon break, it was time to get out of Blåvand: First, we went to Tipperne.

Birdwatching at Tipperne. Picture by Morgan.

The trip was really worth it as we saw many firsts of the season for us: Black-tailed Godwits “Stor Kobbersneppe”, Ruffs “Brushane”, Redshanks “Rødben” and Wheatears “Stenpikker”. Besides that, we enjoyed to see many Lapwings “Vibe”, Barnacle Geese “Bramgås”, Golden Plovers “Hjeile” and a a few Marsh Harriers “Rørhøg”.

Black-tailed Godwit "Stor Kobbersneppe". Picture throug the telescope by Hanelie

As it was so nice, we decided so continue to Skjern Enge, but we only went to the first birdwatching tower, as it started to get a bit late. A nice Whooper Swan “Sangsvane” and some Goldeneyes “Hvinand” were the highlights here, but we are planning to hopefully do one more trip to Skjern Enge and spend some more time there in the next week, as it is a large and very nice area!

It was a long and eventful day and now we are all happy and tired and ready for bed to be fresh again tomorrow morning!

At the station: Thomas Kristiansen, Henrik Bøhmer, Clara Delahaye, Morgan Barmer, Hanelie Sidhu and Karin

With such a beautiful sunrise, the day could only hold great promise...

Observation : 

Indeed, the migration count was the best since the start of the season, notably including :
- 4,700 common scoters [sortand] during the three-hour count (and 400 more resting in the waves)
- 36 sandwich terns [splitterne] observed migrating !

Low tide, meanwhile, brought a crazyyyy number of resting birds (mainly herring gulls) feeding on a phenomenal number of common seastars, molluscs and serpent stars !
Ole Zoltan Göller, a DOFbasen member spotted over 7 000 of herring gulls in the beach. He also showed me a magnificent adult Iceland Gull resting, with its primary feathers as white as snow.
Later, Morgan and Hanelie went for a walk and spotted quite a good number of Caspian gulls, flocks of purple sandpipers, sanderlings and turnstones !

The beach was teeming with thousands of birds, much to our delight !

At the end of the day, Hanelie and I couldn’t resist the temptation of one last walk along the beach… hoping to spot the Iceland Gull again.

We were glad we’d brought our binoculars and braved the cold...As soon as we reached the beach, I spotted a Black-legged kittiwake relatively close by, resting near the shore ! Then,  Hanelie also spotted quite a few Caspian gulls; she was trying to teach me to recognise the subtle details... but it’s still tricky for me!
In the end, Hanelie, with her eagle eye, spotted a herring gull ringed on its right leg. After several checks, we were able to confirm that it was a yellow ring with four letters: VKNL.
Let’s try a little game… could you find the country where the bird was ringed using this website?
Find a colour-ring project | cr-birding

We'll give the answer in tomorrow's blog ! 

In the meantime, here are today’s photos and a recap of the ringing!

A wonderful iceland gull resting on Blavand beach, picture by Ole Zoltan Göller




A black-legged kittiwake resting on the beach, picture by Clara

 


To the left a Caspian Gull and to the right a young Herring Gull eating a common seastar, through the telescope by Hanelie

Purple Sandpiper "Sortgrå Ryle" through the telescope by Hanelie

A lot of Common Seastars to feed on for the gulls! By Hanelie

Ringing : 

It looks a bit like passerine migration did not reach Blåvands Huk yet. Only some Chiffchaffs “Gransanger” are slowly arriving – today we had seven new ones. Something is moving but very slow. Our already ringed birds are staying and new ones are only very slowly arriving: Today, the number og recaptures was higher than the one of new ringed birds…

Yellowhammer [Gulspurv] by Morgan


Going to the beach and looking at the resting gulls and waders was a bit more interesting today, which we also did.

In the afternoon, my mother, Karin, arrived at the station from Germany and we are looking forward to spending a week with her and also having a car at the station for at least a bit.

At the station:  Clara Delahaye, Hanelie Sidhu, Karin and Morgan Jarmer