Observations:

The morning didn’t get off to the most promising start. It was foggy all over Blavand, and only the top of the lighthouse was visible above the thick fog.
Patience paid off, and slowly but surely the horizon cleared. We were then able to start our observations at 6.20.

In the end, the sightings turned out to be quite nice! Indeed, Henrik spotted a little egret [silkehejre]! It’s only the sixth one ever recorded in the history of Blavand’s birdwatching records. It was quite a moment. And Henrik couldn’t stop showing his enthusiasm by saying “awesome”!

Then we spotted a european serin [gulirisk] ! Which is also quite rare in Blavand.

The moral of the day: You should always hold out hope for some great sightings, even when the fog is slow to lift!

Little egret [silkehejre] flying north. Picture by Henrik Bøhmer

Todays observation can be seen here. 

Ringing: 

Today we caugth 36 birds including 1 recapture and we had 10 different species. But we were very pleased with the first Wryneck (Vendehals) and the other persons that are staying at the station came all to the light house for seeing the bird and making some pictures. It is a very strange bird and as the name is telling it has the ability to turn its head from side to side and back and forth like a snake to discourage other animals. 

Wryneck/ Vendehals, Picture by Joseph Stephan.

A close up of the Wryneck/ Vendehals, Picture by Joseph Stephan

Little Tern Project:

Today, Joseph and I readied the exclosure for the little tern project so that we can hopefully observe a whole bunch of them breeding in the coming month. We marked out the coordination system using wooden stakes and placed the 3D-printed decoys around the area. After we had tidied everything up, we already saw the first little terns landing next to the decoys. They were showing courtship behavior which was really beautiful to see. Afterward, we drove along the coastline to look for little terns with color rings and found a total of 9!

Little Terns showing courtship behavior besides the decoys, Picture by Joseph Stephan.

Moths of the day:

This night only 13 different species. Two were new for the location this year: the Lunar Marbled Brown (Majspinder) and the Muslin Moth (Grå Tigerspinder). Maybe we had a third new one, but I am not completely sure that it this species. Hope that somebody will confirm or pointing out that it is not that species. It is the Broom Buff (Vintergyvelfladmøl). It is one of the Agonopterix genus and that is a difficult genus.

Green in the table are relative rare species for Denmark.

Lunar Marbled brown (Majspinder)

At the station: Robert Luttik, Morten Jenrich Hansen, Hanelie Sidhu, Joseph Stephan, Clara Delahaye, Jorn de Jong and Henrik Bøhmer.

Observations:

No observations today due to illness. Get well soon, Clara!

Ringing:

Lesser Whitethroat/ Gærdesanger. Picture by Hanelie.

We were expecting today to be less good than yesterday, but we still had a good number of birds and it was a nice morning. Morten too, got enough birds to sample, so no one could complain. The Trans-Sahara migrants are really arriving now, today we ringed the second Common Whitethroat “Tornsanger”, and we also had some more Lesser Whitethroats “Gærdesanger”. Morten caugth a woodpigeon, that does not happen much therefor the picture.

Woodpigeon (Ringdue)

Common Whitethroat/ Tornsanger. Picture by Hanelie.

In the closing round, I found two Vipers “Hugorm”, under a net, a male and a female. They did not come for birds – the net was empty – but to enjoy the sun, and I got some nice and close pictures of them together.

Viper female and male/ Hugorm hun og han. Picture by Hanelie.

In the afternoon, Robert and I checked the bat bunker, but there were no bats anymore – I had quite a few in March. They must be somewhere not too far to breed. I wonder where…

Moths of the day

This night was a very good night for moths, we caught 20 different species. Two were new for the location this year: the Red Sword-grass (Irisugle) and the Streamer (Rosen bladmåler). The Red Sword-grass (Irisugle) is a bit strange moth (see picture). It looks like a piece of wood.

Before I came to Blåvand Hanelie promised me that she would have 2 special ones for me and this night/day they came: it was the Small Lappet (Hede-takspinder, 4 in total) and the Small Emperor Moth (Lille Natpåfugleøje) They were new species for me, so a happy man. Also the the Small Lappet (Hede-takspinder) is a funny looking moth, see picture).

Green in the table are relative rare species for Denmark and the red one is rare for Denmark.

Red Sword-grass (Irisugle)

Small Lappet (Hede-takspinder)

At the station: Clara Delahaye, Jorn de Jong, Bent Jakobsen, Morten Jenrich Hansen, Robert Luttik and Hanelie Sidhu.

Observations : 

Weather at 5.45: NE6, 2°C, 1/8, 2km visibility

It was very cold this morning; it felt as though we were back at the start of March! The difference in temperature between the sea and the air created strong heat waves on the horizon, which disrupted observations for much of the morning. We struggled to identify the birds flying beyond the reef. They were vague, barely distinguishable silhouettes, which may partly explain the rather low numbers recorded today. Apart from that, there seemed to be few birds overall.

I think my favourite moment was in the ten minutes before the end of the birdwatching session, when a group of eight northern gannets [sule], including one 4K, came to fish on the horizon and land in the waves. - I’m pretty sure northern gannets are in my top 10 favourite birds to watch :) -

Todays observations can be seen here.

 Ringing:

This morning was not bad for catching birds. And Morten was lucky: We had quite many long-distance migrants: Redstarts “Rødstjert”, Pied Flycatchers “Broget Fluesnapper”, Willow Warblers “Løvsanger” and the first Common Whitethroat “Tornsanger” of the season! Robert and I closed the lighthouse garden while Morten kept the nets in the station garden open during the afternoon to get some more birds and samples.

Lille Gråsisken. Picture by Robert.

Rødstjert hun, picture by Hanelie.

Moths of the day

This night even less moth than yesterday. Only 6 different species. I think it was just too cold this night. But we had a new species for the location for this season: The Pebble Prominet (Ziczacspinder, see pictures below).

Pebble Prominent (Ziczacspinder)

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

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.