The ringing:

When we woke up this morning, Blåvandshuk was covered in fog. Anne and I opened the nets and went back to the house for breakfast until it was time for the first round. In the meantime, Thomas had arrived at the station and Marit had come down, prepared for the morning obs. But it did not look like they would see much of the sea, the visibility was very bad. So they also joined the ringing today. We were many people for not so many birds, but at least there were more birds than people. We ringed bird no. 500 for the season today, which was a Dunnock “Jernspurv”. That fits quite well as it is also the bird caught most this year, 111 Dunnocks “Jernspurv” in 2025 so far.

Bird no. 500 for the season: A Dunnock "Jernspurv". Picture: Anne Hjortlund Hansen

Anne did not choose the days with the most birds as her first days at the station this year. Nevertheless, she had something to celebrate, in the last round we caught a Collared Dove “Tyrkerdue” in the station garden, it was a new hand-species for her!

The Collared Dove "Tyrkerdue" and a part of the team. Picture: Joseph Stephan

Red eye of the Collared Dove "Tyrkerdue". Picture: Joseph Stephan

To celebrate it, she baked us a delicious and beautiful cake in the afternoon.

Cake and coffee. Picture: Anne Hjortlund Hansen

The moths:

I had six different moths species today, and one that could not be surely identified on species level. It was mostly the same species as yesterday, but one was different, I caught Agriopis marginaria “Grågul frostmåler” today, I had it before this season but that is already a few days ago and I think it is a quite nice one.

Agriopis marginaria “Grågul frostmåler”. Picture: Hanelie Sidhu

At the station: Marit Nillissen, Anne Hjortlund Hansen, Thomas Kristensen, Joseph Stephan and Hanelie Sidhu

Morning observations:

Thomas at the morning obs. Picture: Marit Nillissen

Thomas joined me today for the morning observation! I was hoping that the morning observation was going to be more interesting then it was yesterday. But unfortunately, it was even more quiet. But, in the last hour of the observation, we saw a pretty big flock of Velvet scoters “Fløjlsand”. A flock of 30 ducks were migrating south which was so nice! Usually we only see two or three of these species, so this was a nice surprise. We also saw again quit some Sandwich terns “Splitterne”, it looks like everyday will be more.

Todays observations can be seen here.

The ringing:

I had company in the ringing today by Anne, who arrived at the station yesterday evening and who is taking a three weeks break from her studies in Copenhagen to stay with us at the Bird Observatory! The ringing experience can just improove in these three weeks, today it was prettz slow, we had three new birds in five hours. The notheasterly wind had changed to northwest in the morning and it was a little more windy. But tomorrw looks better, so let´s hope for some more birds in the nets.

Songthrush "Sangdrossel". Picture: Hanelie Sidhu

The moths:

It was six different species of moths in the traps this morninig. No new for me and no new one for the season. But there can´t be every day...

I will show Alucita hexadactyla "Kaprifoliefjermøl" in the blog, a small moths which I think is actually quite pretty, as it looks like its wings are set together of feathers.

Alucita hexadactyla "Kaprifoliefjermøl". Picture: Hanelie Sidhu

Bird news from other parts of the country:

 At 16:09 a White-tailed Eagle ”Havørn” chick hatched at the Fugleværnsfondens reservat in Saksfjed-Hyllekrog. It is possible to watch the chick and its parents on the nest 24 hours a day live on ØrneTV. This was our evening TV for today and we got some quite nice vies on the chick and the patents.

White-tailed Eagle ”Havørn” chick hatched at the Fugleværnsfondens reservat in Saksfjed-Hyllekrog. Pictures: Ørne TV

It is worth to have a look at it! We wish the young White-tailed Eagle ”Havørn” and its patents the best luck!

At the station: Thomas Kristensen, Anne Hjortlund Hansen, Marit Nillissen, Joseph Stephan and Hanelie Sidhu

Morning observations:

It was a very quiet morning again today. Even more quiet than it was yesterday. Andreas and Bjørn joined me again at the observation which was nice! Our highlight of the day was 6 Common terns “Fjordterne” migrating! Other than that, it wasn’t that crazy. Tomorrow, Thomas will join me at the morning observation. He will be joining us for almost everyday for the morning observations. Hopefully tomorrow will be better with the migration.

Todays observations can be seen here.

The ringing:

Cold air, that I did not expect awaited me when I went out to open the nets today. Early in the morning, it was minus degrees again. Luckily, the sun was out very soon and heated all up.

First, it was still northeasterly winds, that turned more to east in the late morning. This did not seem to have helped birds with migration, I got 14 new today and 10 recaptures of the last days.

My highlight was a beautiful 2k+ male Yellowhammer “Gulspurv”, that was in the net without ring.

Yellowhammer, male/ Gulspurv, han. Picture: Hanelie Sidhu

The moths:

Although it had been cold, I had again nine different moth species. Just one was new for the season, Gymnoscelis rufasciata “Rødbandet dværgmåler”. However, it is not a new one for me. Nevertheless, very nice to find it on the wall today. It is a species that can be found every moth of the year, although it flies mainly from March to October, so it is a good one to remember!

Gymnoscelis rufasciata “Rødbandet dværgmåler”. Picture: Hanelie Sidhu

Little Tern project:

Joseph came back to the station early in the evening today, after they have put up the Little Tern “Dværgterne” fence at Rømø. It is an even larger fence than the one here, so it was quite some work. But now just  one more fence is left, the one on Fanø, which they will put up next weekend.

Bjørn and Andreas left the staion after the morning obs, they had a great journey home with Pallid Harrier "Steppehøg" and Black Kite "Sort Glente", we would wish that they bring these species with them to Blåvand next time they visit!

At the station: Marit Nillissen, Hanelie Sidhu, Bjørn Frikke, Andreas Pedersen, Joseph Stephan

Owl trip and morning observations:

Yesterday I went with Bjørn, Andreas and Joseph to go listen to Tengmalm´s owl’s. We actually got pretty close so we could hear it very good! We got home at around 23:50, so I went to bed immediately, because I had to wake up early again for the morning observation.

The morning observation was very quiet. There was not much migration going on and it was a bit chilly outside. At the beginning of the observation, I saw a hare which got pretty close to me. After around 30 minutes, Bjørn and Andreas joined me at the observation. It was good to have some company! Our highlight of the morning was two Green sandpipers “Svaleklire”. They were resting around our observation post.

Todays observations can be seen here.

The ringing:

When I went out to open the nets in the morning, it was 2 degrees and low wind from northeast. It was still a morning with very nice weather at Blåvandshuk, but not as nice and warm as yesterday and later in the morning, the wind picked up a little to 7,7 meters per second at closing time.

I did not have many birds in this weather, ten new and nine recaptures. I was happy about another male Blackcap “Munk” in the 07:45 round. Two hour later, I had the first female Blackcap “Munk” in hand. It was definitely my highlight of today´s ringing. Usually in spring, it is the males that arrive first at their breeding grounds to occupy the best breeding spots and the females are following. Now both have arrived here. The female had a collar of red juice, maybe she just had her breakfast before she went into the net, she was also weighting one gram more than the male, 17,4 grams.

Blackcap female/ Munk hun on the left. I chose this picture because you can see the collar of red juice, although I got sharper pictures of this bird. Blackcap male/ Munk han on the right. Pictures: Hanelie Sidhu

The morning went quite fast although there were not many birds as there was a lot of bread and people having breakfast at the station. Bjørn had brought the bread which is from too good to go yesterday evening, and it was very good. Breakfast company was Kim and John, who came to adjust the fence for the Little Terns “Dværgterne” together with Joseph.

The moths:

I did not have as many different moths species as the last two days, but it was still six species. The season has really started now! One species was new for me, Orthosia opima “Ligelinet forårsugle”. I will also show a picture of Diurnea fagella “Bøgeprydvinge”, I had it the day before yesterday but did not get such a good picture, but also think it is a very nice one.

Orthosia opima “Ligelinet forårsugle”. Picture: Hanelie Sidhu

Diurnea fagella “Bøgeprydvinge. Picture: Hanelie Sidhu

Little Tern project:

Joseph, Kim, John and Bjørn were adjusting the breeding fence for the Little Terns “Dværgterne” a bit today. Now there is a bit more space for people to walk between the sea and the fence and it is not in danger of flooding. Furthermore, they have put signs up to inform people about the breeding birds on the beach.

John and Kim at work. Picture: Joseph Stephan

Content with their work, Kim left with Joseph to Fanø because it is closer to Rømø, where they will put up a breeding fence for Little Terns “Dværgterne” tomorrow.

At the station: Joseph Stephan, Marit Nillissen, Hanelie Sidhu, Andreas Pedersen, Bjørn Frikke, Kim Fischer and John Frikke

A beautiful sunrise over the bog today. Picture: Hanelie Sidhu

Morning observations:

Today was a very nice morning at the observation. I did saw quite of lot of Sandwich terns “Splitterne” again. It looks like there are coming more of these each day. Other than that, the morning observation was not really different form other mornings. But it was still a nice morning!

Todays observations can be seen here.

After the morning observation, Joseph and I joined Hanelie with the ringing! I ringed a Song thrush “Sangdrossel”, a Robin “Rødhals”, Chiffchaff “Gransanger” and a Great tit “Musvit”. It was a really nice day!

The ringing:

Equipped with a bag of freshly washed bird bags – I had washed them yesterday – I started the first round this morning at 06:45 after I had opened all nets and looked at some moths and ate a little breakfast between opening time and first round.

Every round I had some, but not many birds. At 08:30 I woke up Joseph from his dreams, who had enjoyed some more sleep today, because I had a Starling “Stær” in the net, a species that he did not see in hand before and they are really beautiful to see from very close. We wanted to take a nice picture in the sun, so you could see all the beautiful shimmering colors of its plumage. The Starling “Stær” commented this with loud screaming, it can be a very noisy bird in hand. But we managed to get a star picture of it. As a reward, it got released and joined two other Starlings right away and we could watch them sitting on the tops of three trees, until they took off again.

Starling "Stær". Picture: Joseph Stephan

Joseph was also amazed of a beautiful 3k+ male Chaffinch “Bogfinke”, that I showed him through the window, so I decided to put a picture of it in the blog.

Chaffinch male/ Bogfinke, han. Picture: Hanelie Sidhu

Nets were open two more hours after standard time, there were still some birds and Marit and Joseph wanted to join on some rounds. We had two late flying Songthrushes “Sangdrossel”, usually I just get them in the nets in the first two rounds, so both Marit and Joseph could ring one.

The moths

I had nine moth species today and when I checked yesterday evening before going to bed. Besides many Xylocampa areola “Gedeblad-ugle” I also had many Cerastis rubricosa “Okkerrød Aprilugle” today. There was one new species for me, which was Orthosia cerasi “Rødgul forårsugle” and I was happy about Biston strataria “Broget vintermåler”, which was a bit hidden under the small windowsill of the lab window. It is a very beautiful moth, I think.

Orthosia cerasi “Rødgul forårsugle”. Picture: Hanelie Sidhu

Biston strataria “Broget vintermåler”. Picture: Hanelie Sidhu

There was also one caterpillar of Xestia xantographa “Gulmærket glansugle” next to the trap. I think they might also be attracted to the light, but usually don´t come, as they are not that mobile as the adult moths of course, without wings.

News from the station:

Bjørn and Andreas arrived for a spontaneous visit for the weekend at the station, it was a nice surprise to see them again. Now they went out to a plantation with Marit and Joseph to listen to Tengmalm´s owls and I heard they were successful!

I decided to stay here, there was still data to enter and to get some more sleep, tomorrow will be an early morning with good weather again.

At the station: Joseph Stephan, Marit Nillissen, Andreas Pedersen, Bjørn Frikke, Hanelie Sidhu

Morning observations:

Today was a beautiful morning with a blue sky and sun from the get go and only 4m/s from east. The first three periods of standard time had been a pleasure. There was a decent number of Gannets migrating southwards as well as one of my favorite duck species, the Common Scoter. In the last period a adult Gannet blessed me with its appearence - it was foraging quite close to the shoreline showcasing their amazing abality to plunge-dive. That was definetly my highlight from the obs today. :-)

All observations from today can be seen here.

morning obs, Photo: Joseph

When I came home from the obs I treated myself to a warm cup of coffee and chatted with Bent. Afterwards I prepared myself for the interviews regarding the Little Tern Project.

By now I almost talked with a 100 people here at Blåvandshuk, they all seem to be concious about protecting nature. Even though some might be talking more then actually doing it. 

The ringing:

An update on yesterday: We did not catch any owls “ugle”. But it was quite a good number of birds this morning. In total it was 31 birds, in most rounds a few, so it was a quite relaxed day with beautiful weather. Joseph joined me on two rounds after the morning observations and ringed his first two birds since 2023, a Robin “Rødhals” and a Dunnock “Jernspurv”. He especially liked the Dunnock “Jernspurv”. It is a very common bird in the gardens, especially at that time of the year, and the species we caught most so far in this season, 94 Dunnocks “Jernspurv” have been ringed until now.

During the last days, I had quite a lot of recaptures, it was just two today, so I assume the birds took advantage of the mild night and continued their migration to their breeding grounds.

There were 4 Lesser Redpolls/ Lille Gråsisken in the nets today. Picture: Hanelie Sidhu

The moths:

Being up until a bit after 23 o´clock (I had a nice long nap in the afternoon) in the so far mildest spring night we had has one advantage, even if you do not catch an owl: We regularly passed the moth trap in the lighthouse garden. Most moths stay in the trap or on the wall of the lab, but of course some also fly away again, so there might always be some that you missed when you check the trap in the morning. Passing the trap that often while it is dark means to miss just very few moths, and I already had quite a lot of species in the night. But the big surprise came in the morning, when I checked the trap and the wall after opening the nets. Cerula vinula “Hermelinskåbe” was on the back of the bench! Last year I caught that species in June, I was not expecting to catch it now, it was a nice surprise, it is a beautiful big moth. I read it up in my Moths field guide, they write it´s fight season starts in May, it is a quite early record, I found observations of it in April on Arter, but from mid to end of the month. In total I had 10 species, I hope that will continue the next days!

Cerula vinula “Hermelinskåbe”. Picture: Hanelie Sidhu

Earophila badiata "Brungul bladmåler". Picture: Hanelie Sidhu

At the station: Bent Jakobsen, Joseph Stephan, Marit Nillissen and Hanelie Sidhu

A new arrival in the garden: The Snowdrops "Vintergæk" withered, but the Wood anemones "Hvid anemone" are flowering now! Picture: Hanelie Sidhu

Morning observations:

I went to the morning observation at 6:45. It was a really nice morning, not windy and the visibility was great! I saw quite some Sandwich terns “Splitterne” this morning! They were diving in the sea and some were migrating. I also saw a flock of 30 Greater white-fronted geese “Blisgås”. After two hours, the migration started to slow down. But luckily, the Sandwich terns were still diving in the sea, so it was fun to look at!

Todays observations can be seen here.

After the morning observation I went to Hvidbjerg Strand again to collect some dead birds for Levi’s project. But unfortunately I couldn’t find any. Luckily the weather was really nice, I even took my jacket off because it was too warm.

The ringing:

So today the 2^nd of April and DMI did not fool us again, the weather was as it had forecasted it, low wind and sunny from sunrise on. Still very cold when I opened the nets. There must have been some moisture in the air during the night which froze on the nets. That made it a bit difficult to open the nets and in the first rounds, I still had some icy little parts in the nets the first rounds until the sun melted it during the morning. It was not a busy day, but I had quite a good round at 11:00, so I decided to do one more round before and then decide whether to close or not. It did not bring any new birds, so I closed at 12:00. My highlight of today was the fourth Blackcap “Munk” for the season. Like the three before, it was a male, I am curious when the first females are arriving.

Blackcap, male/ Munk, han. Picture: Hanelie Sidhu

The Chiffchaff "Gransanger" was the bird that was caught most often today. Picture: Hanelie Sidhu

Now it is evening, the sun already went down, and we are trying for owls, there are no owls breeding at Blåvandshuk, birds coming out here are migratory birds, so it is okay to attract them by sound at that time of year.

Let´s see if we are lucky this time.

The moths:

There was one new moth species for me in the trap this morning. It was Cerastis rubricosa “Okkerrød Aprilugle”, two of it, we are at the very beginning of their flight season.

Cerastis rubricosa “Okkerrød Aprilugle”. Picture: Hanelie Sidhu

Besides that, I had again Xylocampa areola “Gedeblad-ugle”.

Little Tern project:

In the afternoon I deep cleaned Bents office because I wanted to move into the room – in the process I found a very interesting book. It looked very old - when I wiped off the dust I realized that I just found a hidden gem. It was the old landscape plan for Ribe. The maps and illustrations looked like they were handmade. I was quite intrigued by it therefore I started reading through the danish text. It is crazy to think about the fact that back in the 80’s there was no forest at Blåvandshuk at all.

After a nice cup of coffee and an italian lunch I went out to do some interviews. Today the Nationalpark was less busy then yesterday. I got answers from around 30 germans and 5 danes. It is fun to practice my broken danish and have conversations with the locals.

Before dinner I went out to see if there are any migratory birds over the sea – I was lucky enough to observe 35 scoters flying south. ;-) Additionally 2 Sandwich Terns blessed me with their presence. 

At the station: Joseph Stephan, Marit Nillissen and Hanelie Sidhu

Morning observations:

This morning looked fine at first for the morning observation. But there was not that much migration going on. After 1,5hours the visibility got really bad, I couldn’t see the sea anymore! So unfortunately I headed back to the station after 1,5hours.

Todays observations can be seen here.

The ringing:

We were expecting a beautiful morning when we checked the weather on DMI yesterday evening. It showed sun from sunrise the whole day and nearly no wind. When I went out to open the nets at 5.30, there was a thin icy layer on the poles and frost on the ground and on some of the nets. It was a cold start of the morning. When it got light, it turned quite foggy soon and from the station, I could sometimes hardly see the lighthouse. There were very few birds flying in this weather. In the first round, I had a few birds, among them a beautiful Redwing “Vindrossel”.

Redwing "Vindrossel". Picture: Hanelie Sidhu

The second round brought just some recaptures and after, a few zero rounds followed. At least I saw two Cranes “Trane” flying over the station garden and disappearing in the fog, that was quite nice. In the last two hours it cleared up but there were not many more birds flying, so I closed the nets. Bent had arrived at the station and came with me to the lighthouse garden to put up two nets that fell down this morning when I wanted to open them, as the stabilizing ropes just slipped down on the icy pole. Now I have all the nets again for tomorrow which is good.

Bent was planning on going for a walk on the beach, but there was fog over the sea again, so he just did a short walk and found a pretty adult male viper “Hugorm” in the part of the bog that was open, just on the other side of the station.

Adult male viper/ Hugorm ad han. Picture: Bent Jakobsen

Interviews Little Tern Project:

While Bent was out taking a walk, I gathered all the material that John F. gave me two weeks ago (flyers, nationalpark guides and uniform) as well as the printed versions of the interview sheet. The questions asked were discussed before with all the stakeholders of the project. 

Marit and Hanelie were kind enough to help me with the interviews to do the job in the most efficient way. We positioned us at the most northern entrance of the Nationalpark. We did 1h of interviews which resulted in a total of 41 tourists and 3 danish locals - that we asked 8 questions each, about their knowledge regarding dog leashes and their experience with the info signs as well as the fencing for the Little Terns.

Interviewing tourists; Photo: Hanelie

It was very fun and I am thankful that Marit and Hanelie joined. The Nationalpark Vadehavet uniform is fitting all of us quite well. Thank you John! :-)

For dinner Hanelie prepared a delightful vegetarian dish and salad that we enjoyed with every single bite - it carried us to our well deserved beds.

Let’s roll the dice and see what tomorrow’s got in store!

At the station: Bent Jakobsen, Marit Nillissen, Joseph Stephan, Hanelie Sidhu

Morning observations: 

Today it was a really nice weather out here. There was not much wind and it was sunny. On 07:00 I was at the beach for the morning observation, after about an hour Joseph also joined me.
We saw a Herring gull “Sølvmåge” with a coloured ring, so Joseph went down to read the ring. In the meantime, I saw 6 Barn swallows “landsvale” flying over! We also saw a lot of Northern gannets “Sule” in the back of the sea foraging and diving, which was really cool to see! It was a really nice morning.

Today’s observations can we seen here.

The ringing:

There was very low wind today so I could open all nets again. It became sunny soon and I had less birds in the nets than I expected. A nice one was a Reed Bunting “Rørspurv”, the first for the season.

Reed Bunting "Rørspurv". Picture: Hanelie Sidhu

Else I had many Chiffchaffs “Gransanger” today.

In the afternoon, Kim came to the station and discussed some things with Joseph about his thesis project about the Little Terns “Dværgterne”.

After, Joseph, Marit and I climbed the lighthouse and to the bog together after.

Hanelie, Marit and Joseph on top of the lighthouse. Picture: Joseph Stefan

We did not see many birds but some mating toads, the Great Silver Water Beetle “Stor vandkær” and I found the Creeping water bug “Vandrøver” crawling on the path near the pond. It can crawl quite fast. Marit found a Common Lizard "Skovfirben".

Creeping water bug “Vandrøver”. Picture: Hanelie Sidhu

Common Lizard "Skovfirben". Picture: Marit Nillissen

Marit and I went into two Bunkers after. In one of them we found the dead remains of possibly the Daubenton´s bat “Vandflagermus”.

Possibly the Daubenton´s bat “Vandflagermus”. Picture: Hanelie Sidhu

At the station: Joseph Stephan, Kim Fischer, Marit Nillissen, Hanelie Sidhu

Morning observations:

When we were checking DMI yesterday evening the weather did not look so promising. DMI forecasted a very windy and a bit rainy day. Marit wished a day of sleeping in and Joseph needed to be at the station latest at 09:00 to welcome Kim, John, Svend Aage and the other fence volunteers. It did not really look like Rasmus and I could open the nets in the morning, so we agreed to do the Morning Obs today. We went to Sydhukket but did not stand in the shelter of the bushes, as I also wanted to have a good view to the north. Instead, we went a bit further down the dune where it was quite windy. There were not so many birds migrating, we saw some Gannets “Sule” foraging some Common Scoters “Sortand” and some Red-throated divers “Rødstrubbet Lom”. Many of the migrating birds were going north. My highlight of the morning observation was a Sandwich Tern “Splitterne”, as it was the first I saw this year. We also had some Red-breasted Mergensers “Toppet Skalleslugger”, one male and one female were resting very close to the shore which was nice. In the last hour it started to rain, in the last 30 minutes the rain was quite bad and we did not see much. So I proposed to go down to the beach and count the resting birds. The rain on the scopes did not make it easy. At ten we were happy to go back to the station. We were surprised by buns and cake on the table, which the fence volunteers had brought. We enjoyed them a lot after our windy and rainy morning.

Todays observations can be seen here.

The Little Tern Fence:

After Hanelie and Rasmus returned from the morning observation, Svend, John, Kim, Anders, Connie, and I headed to the beach to set up the fence.

Fueled by coffee, "rundstykker" (bread rolls), and "kanelstanger" (cinnamon sticks) kindly provided by the Nationalpark Vadehavet, we loaded the trailer with tools, poles, and the new electric fence.

Todays team loading up the trailer, Photo: Joseph

Upon arriving at the beach, we divided into teams to work as efficiently as possible. We kept at it nonstop until we were pleasantly surprised by Hanelie, Rasmus, and Marit, who were thoughtful enough to bring us freshly brewed coffee and a boost of motivation. It made for a wonderful lunch break in the sun.

Lunch break, Photo: Hanelie

By the end of the day, we successfully set up the fence and "perimeterhegn" (perimeter fence), although we plan to readjust the westernmost border of the fence next weekend. Just as we were about to wrap up and head back to the bird station, we spotted a beautiful flock of 55 Purple Sandpipers resting just north of the fence - a perfect reward after a long day’s work on the beach.

John and Kim setting up the fence, Photo: Joseph

We're excited to finalize the fence next Saturday and to put up the fence on Fanø on Sunday - in two weeks, we'll continue on Rømø. The Nationalpark Vadehavet will provide two more breeding fences at these locations.

A huge thank you to everyone who came out to help today, as well as to Kim and John for organizing the entire process, including the new fence, food, and supervision.

The ringing:

After a break and a chat with Henrik, who came to the station to bring us some new tools and other things for the station, we visited the fence people. The wind had slowed down a bit and the rain had stopped, so Rasmus, Marit and I opened some nets in the station garden for a bit. We were not very successful, but Rasmus got to handle one last bird before he left home, a Robin “Rødhals” that we recaptured.

Ringing totals

Rødhals: 0/1

Robin "Rødhals". Picture: Rasmus Tranberg

People: Joseph Stephan, Marit Nillissen, Rasmus Tranberg, Svend Aage Clausen, John Frikke, Kim Fischer, Henrik Böhmer, Anders Myrtue, Connie Olesen and Hanelie Sidhu