If yesterday was an exciting day, then today is now just another standard Blåvand day. We had our daily Wryneck to ring, this one was actually ringed by the station before on 21st July 2022. Despite Maxim’s best attempts, when it was released it refused to perch photogenically on a branch for me to photograph, but fled far away. I will not try and better Maxim’s eulogy to his new love the wryneck, but what I can say is that the novelty of this bird has not worn off on us. Otherwise northerly winds proved to be the known nemesis of the birder. The ringing was quiet, with just 10 birds ringed and 5 birds captured again (including a Linnet and Lesser Whitethroat from last year), and the seabird observation left little to report.

After an uneventful seawatch, Lisa and I went on a little road trip to Skallingen. This was a great chance to see some waders, which are not so frequently (and closely) seen from our observation point here. After a couple of rather desperate hours of unproductive searching we finally were rewarded with some magnificent views of Spoonbills. I was also happy to see Greenshanks and Pied Avocets, which on another quieter day would get a more generous write-up.  

Two more contrasting birds than wrynecks and spoonbills would be difficult to find. That they have evolved from one common avian ancestor speaks to the marvellous variety of nature. Whether they would recognise each other as birds, we will never know, but in my nerdier birder moments, I do like to imagine a hypothetical bird conversation between the two sharing contrasting life stories.

With Maxim’s blasphemous dismissal on yesterday’s blog as to the excitement of birding, we have devised a road trip for him. Being involved solely in ringing since he arrived, I think he has been afforded too much luxury in seeing all of his birds in his hand. This perhaps makes it quite understandable then that seeing birds from more than 5 metres away is just a little boring. We shall report back tomorrow as to if we have any luck.

In any event, we are very much looking forward to the new Blåvand normal of Wrynecks, Spoonbills and the next exciting bird to be reported on tomorrow’s blog.

With 21 ringed birds and 4 recaptures one would think today was not an overly exciting day in the life of a ringer, but you would be wrong!

This might be a bit controversial for birders to hear, but I can't say I have a strong passion for seeing a new species for the first time. I can appreciate the beauty or the unique demeanor a bird can have while handling them, but like all my interests I love the overall idea of ??something, but never a specific part of it. Sure, I have my affinity for passerines and raptors, and on the other hand I have had little interest in shore birds thus far. I much rather have one bird in hand, than a thousand in sight (through a lens). But today I might have found my niche when it comes to birds. I was so surprised by this species that I burst into laughter while observing its bizarre behaviour. It has truly stolen my heart with its "weirdness" and the sense of humor I found in it.

The species I'm talking about is the Wryneck. Before getting it out of the net, I asked Morten what species it is and all he said was: "It's a good one". I can't imagine hearing Morten make a bigger understatement ever again. When I started getting the Wryneck out of the net "it" started immediately, its namesake, while loosening its feet the bird started wiggling its head from left to right in a butter smooth motion. The sight of this bird partially entangled in the net and wiggling its head was the funniest thing to me, I couldn't stop laughing about it. So, there you have it, I love birds that make me laugh! 

The one and only Wryneck

Lisa (and the other volunteers) seemed to have the same affinity for the Wryneck and its beautifully weird head dance.

Another notable catch today was this lovely pair of Redpolls

The morning observations were not equally as exciting for Lisa and James. Most of the counting was done during their first hour or so, with Terns showing up in the biggest numbers. After all the birding was done we enjoyed the sunny weather, cleaned up the observatory and patched up some of the bikes for our next outings. 

To end today's post here is a Tree Pipit James spotted while enjoying the sunny weather this afternoon.

People at the station: Lisa, James, Morten and Maxim 

Good afternoon my fellow feather-fanatics! Let's start off with Maxim's optimistic forecast from yesterday's blog post. He was certainly right in that we would open the mist nets and Morten gave it his full determination in the morning. It would be overestimation to call it a quiet morning. The one bird that graced us with its presence managed to slip out of the net before we could get our desperate fingers on it (mind you, it all got our running out of the house). Fear not, Morten restored his pride in the end with the capture of the first White Wagtail of the season.

Meanwhile, James and I braved the elements during the morning sea watch, battling against the winds and increasingly numb limbs. As bird sightings were as rare as hen's teeth (really, English people use some strange phrases), prompting us to take turns behind the scope. The luck was not with James as he had just gone inside to cure himself with a steaming cup of tea, when a White-tailed Eagle sore past. What a reward for all of us who endured outside!

The rest of the day unfolded quietly at the observatory. While some of my fellow bird enthusiasts sneaked off for an afternoon nap, I used the lull in activity to dive into the fascinating world of pigeons and doves. Did you know that these under-rated birds are secretly geniuses? They can recognise themselves in the mirror, putting them on par with the great apes, oceanic manta rays and even your average two-year-old toddler! And because I know you all share my excitement, I will give you a clue as to why you never see a fluffy baby pigeon: turns out, they're just cosying up in the nest for up to five weeks until they are almost a replica of their adult parents before they feel they are ready to face the outside world.

I am sure the pigeon-lovers among you loyal readers appreciated this little escape into the world of pigeons and doves. And for those of you who did not so much, I am sure your new knowledge will still come in handy at the next dinner party, when conversation is going a little slow. Until then, happy birding!

Today's ringed birds: White Wagtail, Greenfinch, Chaffinch, two Chiffchaffs and a Goldcrest (recapture)

People at the station: James, Morten, Maxim and Lisa

This morning, we all took our chance to say goodbye to Bianca one last time before she left for home. It is nice to know that Bianca will be in good company on her way home with Maria, Thea and William. The positivity and excitement she brought to the station will be greatly missed!

Due to the strong winds today all nets in the gardens stayed closed in the morning, which gave Morten the opportunity to do the observations together with Lisa and James. There was no great number of birds counted today but the three observers did spot three different species of terns: Common tern (Fjordterne), Little tern (Dværgterne) and Sandwich tern (Splitterne) and they got a good look at some Gannets (Sule) close to shore.

Gannet on the coast

While the rest were contributing to the productivity of the bird station I on the other hand went for a long morning walk through the dunes and along the coastline. The strong winds made the tall grass dance beautifully with a silvery hue in the light of the morning sun, and outside of the usual fanfare I spotted a Common kestrel which I had not seen here before in Blåvand. It’s always a joy to see them elegantly soar in the wind, even on a day like today.

James on the other hand found some interesting critters on his walk in the afternoon. A (deceased) Common lizard, or more intricately known and astutely named as the Viviparous lizard (firben). A lizard that lives farther north than any other (non-marine) reptile. Even more excitingly, James found an adder (hugorm)! And while photographing the snake James got a little too close for its liking which made the slithering critter make a small defensive charge towards the camera (which is quite imposing when looking through a zoomed in lens).

Viviparous lizard.

Adder

Later in the afternoon the wind settled a little, so of course Morten took this chance to open a view nets in the station garden for a short while. This resulted in one ringed chiffchaff and the recapture of two Goldcrests.

For tomorrow it looks like there will be some rain after sunrise and later in the afternoon more rain will come, but there should be a possibility to open the nets in the morning and to do some observations!

Bianca, Maxim og jeg kunne nyde, at vindstyrken var nede under 10m/s fra sydvest og det holdt sig til tørvejr helt frem til kl 17, hvor dagens første regnbyger ramte.
Altså blev det til en masse runder ved nettene i dag.
De første 5 standardtimer med alle net åbne i de to haver, hvorefter vi lukkede ned for Fyrhaven og jeg fortsatte i Stationshaven lige frem til regnen kom kl 17.

I standardtiden blev det til 21 mærkede fugle og lidt genfangster, mens de ekstra timer over middag gav yderligere 8 mærkede fugle.
Vi fik flere gode oplevelser blandt de fangne fugle i dag.
Den ene af genfangsterne var en Løvsanger ringmærket her d. 27. april sidste år:
Det er altid en fornøjelse, at stå med en fugl igen året efter og vide, at den har fundet retur til samme have efter en vinter syd for Sahara.

Blandt de ringmærkede fugle kom der tidligt på morgenen en ny årsart herude, da vi fangede en Gærdesanger.
Det havde jeg egentlig forventet ville ske, efter at vi både har haft flere Rødstjerte og Løvsangere de seneste dage, men hvad der skete en time senere, på endnu en netrunde havde jeg ikke set komme.
I et net hang en Tornsanger og den art burde altså først ankomme hertil om 14 dage.
Absolut tidligste fund af arten ved Blåvandshuk og en af de tidligste nogensinde, der er dokumenteret fra Danmark.

Gærdesangeren var en af de ventede nye arter for året her midt i april


Tornsangere var til gengæld slet ikke ventet på dette tidspunkt i april!

James og Lisa tog sig imens af obsen fra klitten ved Sydhukket og havde også en god morgen.
De Rødstrubede Lommer trak nord med lidt over 100 eksemplarer, men bedst af alt var der årets første større dag med træk af Splitterner, hvor lidt over 200 stk trak nord i de første timer, hvorefter trækket af terner døde ud.
Lisa havde indimellem tid til at se sig over skulderen og ind over klitterne bag Vesterled, hvor hun fik øje på en Ringdrossel, der kom flyvende og satte sig i træerne ved Vesterled.
Stor fornøjelse for både James og Lisa, der begge har håbet meget på den art herude og nu lykkedes det for dem.

Midt på dagen kom Maria, Thea og William for at tilbringe et lille døgn på fuglestationen inden de hjælper Bianca med hjemrejsen i morgen.
De fik set lidt Gransangere og en Løvsanger i hånden og det gjorde vist et godt indtryk.

Karin og Sven mødte også op til en hyggelig snak i stuen, men måtte tage hjemad uden at få set Løvsanger i hånden, da det kun blev til fangst af en Gransanger mens de var her.

Lige nu er vi alle på stationen helt mætte og fyldte i maverne, da Biancas sidste aftensmåltid i denne omgang bød på både Marias store jordskokkesuppegryde og dessert med frugt og råcreme.
Yderligere sødt til min tand kom på bordet, da Bianca takkede mig for dagene med oplæring i ringmærkning ved at komme med en stor æske chokolader.
Hun kender nok min svaghed for chokolade ud fra sin egen erfaring.
Lisa´s note ved sin første blog for fuglestationen et par dage tilbage, indførte begrebet ”chokolaholic” og jeg har budet på jeg selv og Bianca som passende i den kasse.

Morgendagen ser blæsende ud, så det bliver nok ikke til at åbne net, men dermed får jeg tid til at sige farvel til Bianca, der tager herfra omkring kl 6 i morgen tidlig.
Derefter må klitten og havobsen tager over for ringmærkningen for en dag.

Dagens ringmærkning:

Folk på stationen: Maria, Thea, William, Bianca, Lisa, James, Maxim og Morten

The day started with unfounded optimism that only birders can muster in the face of a rather depressing forecast. Despite knowing very well what was to come, we all woke at 5:30 to hope that we could somehow defy the weather. Morten was optimistic as always that the weather may even be in his favour, as he hopefully mused that perhaps the mist would bring the birds into our nets. It certainly brings a new meaning to mist nets.

English phrases are very much in vogue here, and it was quality not quantity that would best sum up the results. A redstart, black redstart and blackbird (which was first ringed here in 2019), were the highlights of our morning. Some more birds would have been nice but, as the Danes would say, Man kan ikke både blæse og have mel i munden – You cannot both blow and have flour in your mouth.

I say our morning, but actually Lisa and I were busy seawatching at this point. The waves had small crests, the drizzle was blowing in from the south and mist made visibility extend only halfway to the horizon. Oh and birds? There were none. After an hour, the weather forced us back inside.

This gave us time to engage in all our other hobbies, because naturally as birders we are not at all narrow minded and are definitely fun at parties with all of our varied interests. So we decided to talk about gulls, in particular considering some of our favourite gulls around the world. I will remember that topic whenever conversation dries up in the future.

The merits of Ross’ Gull vs Mediterranean Gull duly weighed up in sufficient detail, I moved onto insects. I had photographed some insects in the last few days and now took to identifying them. Of note was a ‘cool’ (depending on who you ask) bug that goes by the catchy name of Dimorphopterus spinolae. This has only been recorded in Denmark less than ten times so was a reasonably interesting find.  

By mid-afternoon and with the rain and wind beginning to abate, cabin fever had very much set in. So we all burst outdoors for some exercise and free-time. To passers-by, the front garden must have seemed like a prison yard, with the prisoners getting their hour of exercise time as a variety of stretches and contortions were displayed. Our routines were slightly (and most gratefully) interrupted by Morten showing us a Firecrest that had been ringed (the sixth of the year).

So ends another (un)eventful day at the bird observatory. Tomorrow the forecast is assuredly more optimistic, as are we!

Folk på stationen: James, Lisa, Bianca, Maxim og Morten

Hård vind fra sydvest på 13m/s ledsaget af regn frem til kl 08:40 holdt os fra ringmærkning i morgentimerne og selv obsen fra klitten blev opgivet med regnen lige i hovedet.
Jeg prøvede et desperat forsøg ved at gå op til ringmærkningsrummet i Fyrhaven, men regnen slog også mod vinduet deroppe, så det var ikke engang til at lave obs derfra, da det ikke var til at se ud.

Regnen stoppede dog før kl 9, så jeg endte med at åbne de net i stationshaven, der stod mest i læ. Vinden holdt sig frisk fra sydvest hele dagen og det blev som forventet ikke til det store antal ringmærkninger under de forhold.
5 stk mærket og genfangst af en af de faste hunner af Bogfinker i haven blev dagens resultat.


Suler var der derude over oprørt hav, men talt blev de ikke i dag, da regnen slog ind i klitten og optiken i morgentimerne med 13m/s fra sydvest, så dagens træktælling måtte opgives.

I mangel på fuglobs fik Bianca gennemført sine interviews med os, så hun på søndag kan tage hjem herfra med nogle cases til sin bachelor opgave.

Da regnen stoppede, tog Kristoffer videre til Rømø på sin tælleopgave af ynglende Viber i Vadehavs området, mens James tog cyklen i blæsten og nåede lidt rundt i klitplantagen, inden han på vej hjem rundede Blåvand for indkøb, da han er dagens mand i køkkenet og står for vores aftensmad.

Vi håber på mere fra felten i morgen, hvor der skulle være mindre regn fra morgenstunden, men stadig en del blæst fra sydvest.

Dagens ringmærkning  (mærket/genfangst):

Munk                                            2
Gransanger                                  1
Skovspurv                                    1
Bogfinke                                      1 (1)

Folk på stationen: James, Lisa, Bianca, Maxim og Morten

En blæsende dag ved Blåvand! Der skulle holdes på hat og briller i dag. Den kraftige blæst betød, at vi måtte holde nettene lukket. Morten var derfor ude sammen med James og Lisa for at observere her til morgen. Det var endnu en stille morgen, men flere var glade for at se storkjove.

Det betød at der kunne ordnes en del på computeren for nogle af os andre, og forberedes lækker aftensmad endnu engang. Vi var flere på stationen her ved morgen formiddag, både en overnattende gæst, som har været her flere gange før, Kristoffer, og derudover Bent og Merete Vigen, som kom med brød og lækkerier. Det gør glad! Det har dog ikke været stille for alle hvad det angår fugle. Kristoffer så hele 34 sortgrå ryler inde på engen ved Grønningen, i forbindelse med optælling af viber. Ikke så ofte at man ser så mange inde på engen. 

Maxim og jeg drog også ud til Grønningen, hvor jeg havde en meget stor glæde i at se topmejse for første gang! Jeg er jo fra sjælland, hvor denne frække fugl ikke er! Så det var til stor begejstring at den kom flyvende, og satte sig i toppen af et træ. Jeg nåede desværre ikke at få noget billede af den. Billede fra turen:

Morten forsøgte at åbne nettene senere på eftermiddagen, da blæsten havde lagt sig noget mere. Det blev derfor til to ringmærkede fugle, en rødhals og munk. Vi må bevare tålmodigheden (især mig som ikke har så mange dage endnu), da det ser ud til at vi heller ikke kan ringmærke i morgen grundet vejret. Vi krydser fingre for mange gæster i nettene de kommende dage!

Folk på stationen: Morten, Maxim, James, Lisa, Kristoffer og Bianca

Moin fellow bird enthusiasts! After nearly a week of lurking in the shadows of my fellow volunteers, it's high time I formally introduce myself. As the current station's team has already a resident chocolaholic, a lawyer, a master chef for aubergines and a budding gymnast, my dedication to list making completes the skill set. I am Lisa, a conservationist from Germany, and so excited to be at Blåvand for three weeks. This is one of the few places where I can camouflage my obsession for anything list related as important conservation work of serious significance.

But despite a fresh notepad and a sharpened pencil waiting in my coat’s pocket, the weather of the last few days has not yet brought the high counts during the morning sea watch that were so enthusiastically predicted. My pencil remains relatively sharpened after a rainy morning. However, a stroke of luck let us discover a forlorn Little Tern on the beach, looking utterly bedraggled by the harsh weather. As if we needed a more promptly reminder, thunder rumbling overhead provided the perfect soundtrack to retreat indoors.

Despite the dull weather, today’s guest Rune Søe Neergård braved the elements. Rumour has it that he possesses a sixth sense for gull identification, a skill as rare as finding a needle in a haystack (or a gull in a storm). After much deliberation, Rune proudly announced his conquest: a 3K Yellow-legged gull and an impressive count of 13 Caspian Gulls on the beach.

Our bird ringers were happy with todays’s work of ringing 36 birds, among which some “First’s of the season” got everyone leaving the house in a instant: Yesterday, we were teased by the elusive calls of the first Willow Warbler, playing a game of avian hide-and-seek. But today, victory was ours! We caught and ringed the first Willow Warbler of the season. An appropriate moment to refresh our Chiffchaff vs. Willow Warbler ID skills that had become rusty over the winter. Other highlights followed with the first Lesser Redpoll of the season and another Common Redstart. The Blackcaps are now becoming regular visitors.

So, there you have it – a day filled with rain, birds, and the unbeatable spirit of bird enthusiasts. As finally the sun (and not rain) goes down in Blåvand, I say good night to all my fellow feather-fanatics out there.

While other parts of Europe have been enjoying beautiful spring weather the last days, here in Denmark the weather has not been that great. But spring finally seems to be making an appearance here in Blåvand! Clear blue skies, calm southernly winds and a comfortable 10 plus degrees the whole day. The bright sun created a soothing and calm atmosphere almost like that of a hot summers day where all you want to do is kickback and relax. But of course, that is not the status quo here at the bird station. Work needs to be done. The ringers opened the nets first thing in the morning and the observers went out scouting the shoreline. Although the great weather, no great numbers of birds today. The observers did not see much action and 21 birds were ringed with some controls. The highlights in the nets were another Redstart, a male this time, and a recapture of a chiffchaff from April 2022.

Common Redstart

Recaptured Chiffchaff

Just like yesterday, once standard time was over Morten helmed the station garden by himself while the rest went out exploring the surrounding area. Lisa and James took the bikes for a ride, while Bianca and I went for a walk along the beach. It truly felt like spring once our bare feet met the touch of sand and saltwater. Unfortunately, we have to wait a day or two before the spring weather will come back again. Tomorrow, it looks like the day will start with rain and won’t let up until later in the afternoon. More spring days are on the horizon, so we have something to look forward to!

People at the station: Bianca, James, Lisa, Morten and Maxim