It was too rainy and to windy this morning to carry out the observation and ringing sessions! At least, it gave us a chance to rest a bit ! It was actually nice for everyone to get a few extra hours of well-deserved sleep and to be able to take our time in the morning! Rosemary made some tasty pancakes for the team and we shared chocolate, jam and maple syrup to put on top ! Yumi !

Observation :

When the sun came out again in the late afternoon, I went to count the birds on the beach and inland. I was lucky enough to spot a sparrowhawk [spurvehøg] and some woodcocks [skovsneppe]!
On my way back along the path, I stopped by a pond to sketch some of the frogs, which are currently in their mating season. It was a really nice time to try to sketch them with the evening light.

Todays observations can be seen here.


Drawings of some frogs in a pond near Sabina's bunker, by Clara


Ringing :



At the station: Clara Delahaye, Rosemary Fricke, Jorn De Jong & Hanelie Sidhu.

Observation : 

The ducks have finally decided it’s the right time to migrate!
It was the first day with real movements and gatherings of migrating ducks (apart from the common scoters [sortand]).
Thomas joined us this morning and his help was precious in continuing to learn the details needed to identify each species, in different conditions and under different lighting. The three of us were just the right number to spot as many birds as possible. There were indeed large flocks of teals and barnacle geese which was really lovely to watch!

Highlights of the day : 
Eurasian teals [Krikand] - 363
Wigeons [Pibeand] - 95
Barnacle goose [Bramgås] - 245
Red-breasted merganser [Toppet Skallesluger] - 52 

Todays observations can be seen here.

Ringing :

Today was windier than expected and Rose and only opened some nets in the station garden. We had a rather quiet morning with few birds in the nets but for that a rather high species diversity. So we took some time to take pictures for you reading the Blog :-)

Lesser Redpoll "Lille Gråsisken", hun. Picture by Rose.

Chaffinch "Bogfinke", han. Picture by Rose.

Gråsisken "Siskin" , han. Picture by Rose.

And although it was a slow morning, already the first round brought us a little highlight which just arrived here from Africa: The first Willow Warbler “Løvsanger” of the season arrived in our nets! What I really like about spring is the arrival of migrants, that we did not see in winter and finding the first species of Africa migrants eighter in the field or catching them in the nets is always special.

The first Willow Warbler "Løvsanger" of the season! Picture by Rose.

Later in the morning, Bent came by at the station to go on his walk and join the observers for a bit. He said, it was a rather early one for the station, so I checked in the database when the first Willow Warblers “Løvsanger” arrived over the last ten years. Last year, I ringed the first here at the station on the 12^th of April. But the year before in 2024, Morten had the first the same day, also on the 9^th. These two were the earliest within the last ten years. In 2021 they arrived at the latest in that period, the first was ringed the 25^th of April!

Bent also found the first Wheatears “Stenpikker” in the dunes at Blåvandshuk, tomorrow I am planning a nice long walk in the bog and am hoping to see some as well! Hopefully, the military area will be open.

The moths:

Catching moths this year at Blåvand was a bit of a test of patience. It was so cold in March and often the weather was not good, so I had very few species and individuals so far. But slowly it is picking up. Today I had six species. One was new for the season and also new for me, the March Moth “Alsophila aescularia”.

March Moth “Alsophila aescularia”. Picture by Hanelie.

In the early evening, Lou arrived, she is an intern at Aarhus university and will check our bat detector. She will be with us for one night and continue checking more bat detectors in Denmark tomorrow.

At the station: Clara Delahaye, Rosemary Fricke, Jorn De Jong, Thomas Kristiansen, Hanelie Sidhu and Lou

Observation : 

Jorn joined me for his second day of birdwatching. It was a lovely sunny morning and it was (almost) too hot in our suits, which made us look like astronauts.
We saw a large number of red-breasted mergansers, more than 36 heading south, and quite a few sandwich terns as well, 24 in total, although that seems fewer than yesterday!
Jorn is gradually getting to know the various most common species and seems delighted by so many new discoveries!

Todays observations can be seen here.


Ringing :

The wind was very calm this morning, so it was good conditions for ringing, maybe only a bit too sunny. Nevertheless, we enjoyed having some birds, more in the first rounds, later in the morning, it slowed down. The first round brought a surprise: I found a Dunnock “Jernspurv” with a Helgoland ring in a net in the lighthouse garden!

Jernspurv "Dunnock" with ring from Helgoland, Germania! Picture by Rose.

We also got a pretty adult Redwing “Vindrossel” and were happy about ten new Robins “Rødhals”. Other than that, there was nothing special in the nets.

In the moths trap, I got a new species for the season, Orthosia incerta “Broget forårsugle”.

Orthosia incerta “Broget forårsugle”. Picture by Hanelie.

At the station: Clara Delahaye, Rosemary Fricke, Jorn De Jong & Hanelie Sidhu 

A wonderful sunrise at Blåvand ! By Clara

Observation : 

This morning was Jorn’s first day of fieldwork – he’s just arrived yesterday from the Netherlands!
He’ll be staying at the station for two months to help with the little tern [dværgterne] breeding monitoring project. 

As well as discovering the most common species found here – common scoters [sortand], red-throated loons [rødstrubet Lom], and so on – he was lucky enough to see the largest migration of sandwich terns [splitterne] of the season for now. We counted 97 of them in three hours, and nine more resting on the beach. It was so cool to see so many terns, especially on Jorn’s first day!


Clara spotting some nice birds, picture by Jorn

Todays observations can be seen here. 

Ringing :

After three windy days without ringing, due to heavy wind, Rose and I could finally open the nets again today! It seems like some birds have arrived and some of the old acquaintances might have left, as we got some more new birds and less recaptures, which we appreciate very much! More than half ot the birds we ringed today were Chiffchaffs “Gransanger”, we ringed 17 today! We also got to admire a Brambling “Kvækerfinke”, it was a pretty 2K male.

Brambling, male /Kvækerfinke han. Picture by Rose

Hopefully this means, that spring has finally reached the westernmost point of Denmark and more migrants will arrive soon in our nets.

The moths:

After it was very slow with the moths so far this season, I was happy to also catch two new species for the season, the Orthosia gothica “Gotisk forårsugle” and the Cherastis rubicosa “Okkerrød Aprilugle”!

Orthosia gothica “Gotisk forårsugle”. Picture by Hanelie.

Cherastis rubicosa “Okkerrød Aprilugle”. Picture by Hanelie.

I also hope that the moths catching will pic up a bit from now on, with rising temperatures and hopefully less wind.

After a nice week with visit from home, my mother left the station today to go back to Germany.

At the station: Clara Delahaye, Rosemary Fricke, Jorn De Jong, Hanelie Sidhu and Karin

Morning observations:

Morning Obs on a windy Easter Monday. Picture by Hanelie.

It was still a windy morning so we could not open the nets. Instead, we all went to do morning observations. Clara, Rose and I went to the spring spot and after some time, we were joined by Thomas. We did not get huge numbers of birds, but I especially enjoyed the 17 Sandwich Terns “Splitterne”, all going North. It is not many yet and as I am usually out in the ringing gardens, I did not get to see them yet. We also enjoyed some Velvet Scoters “Fløjsand”, many of them resting, but also a few migrating. Two Brent Geese “Knortegås”, that came quite close, were nice too. Unfortunately, the Arctic Scua “Almindelig Kjove”, was missing this morning, next time…

Todays observations can be seen here.

In the afternoon, we finished our Wingspan game, which Clara won.

Later, Jorn arrived at the station, he is a student from the Netherlands and will be here at the station the next two month. He will mainly help with the Little Tern “Dværgterne” project and enter some old ringing data.


Some lapwings [vannhuppe] enjoying the life in Denmark, by Clara  

At the station: Clara Delahaye, Rosemary Frikke, Thomas Kristiansen, Jorn De Jong, Hanelie Sidhu and Karin

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