The town of Skagen is located on a peninsula at the most northernmost part of Denmark. It is surrounded by a huge expanse of habitat, consisting of sand dunes, dense scrub, waterbodies and woodland, which draws in an incredible number of birds every year. This includes some impressive rarities – the last five years have seen Pacific Diver, Green Warbler and Yellow-browed Bunting among those recorded.
Due to its geographical position, it is a great place to observe migrating birds of prey and it has become known for being one of the best places for this in Northern Europe in spring. The bird observatory is based at the Grey Lighthouse on the east side of the peninsula. This spring I was lucky enough to call it my home, from late May until the end of June sharing the place with fellow volunteers Dante Shepherd and Lauren Evans from the UK and also Michael Colley, who had come all the way from Kartong Bird Observatory in The Gambia.
Skagen Bird Observatory is situated in one of Denmark's most iconic buildings, the Skagen Grey Lighthouse (Josh Jones).
I live in south London and I had not done much birding abroad before arriving in Skagen, so it was quite surreal during my first couple of days. The amount of birdlife around me was like nothing I have experienced back home before. In three hours of observations on my first morning in Skagen I logged five lifers – Velvet Scoter, Black-throated and Great Northern Divers, Marsh Warbler and Common Rosefinch. There was also a flock of at least 80 thunbergi Yellow Wagtails hanging around, which was my first experience of the subspecies. I headed back to the lighthouse for a break and some lunch before heading back out in the afternoon, when the birding continued to be very good, with Osprey, Hen Harrier and Rough-legged Buzzard noted.
One of my aims during my stay at the observatory was to get my first experience of handling and ringing birds and to begin to develop my ringing skills. In my second week I finally went to the ringing site with Michael to open the nets for half an hour before sunrise (approximately 3.45 am!). Simon, the head of the observatory, also joined us. Some 27 birds were caught and ringed and I ringed my first-ever bird: an adult female Chaffinch. A singing male Common Rosefinch and a Common Redstart were also heard nearby, but unfortunately evaded our nets.
On 1 June I headed out with Michael to the radar near the tip at Grenen, where larger migrating birds are tracked using special binoculars to measure the distance and height at which they were flying as part of a project for a local university. It was great fun using the binoculars. To get a reading on a bird it had to be in a tiny circle in the centre of the field of view. So, as birds got more distant, it got harder to track them.
However, I was quite happy that I managed to get a hit on a European Honey Buzzard migrating out to Sweden as it was more than 1.5 km away. In the middle of the afternoon we temporarily aborted our task to go and listen to a singing Blyth's Reed Warbler that Simon had just found nearby. It was very close and had an incredible song, so I enjoyed every second of it despite never being able to see the bird.
European Honey Buzzard passage was a feature of the author's stay (Zach Pannifer).
The next day we went back to the ringing site early morning. There are lots of mosquitoes around Skagen at this time of year and around the ringing nets are some of the worst areas. They are just about bearable most days but they are hard to ignore even when distracted by so many birds. However, the first round of the morning had zero birds and the mosquitoes were bad. Michael and I were tired and the lack of birds meant our hopes for the rest of the ringing session were not high. Only 20 birds were ringed, but thankfully all it took was one star bird to be caught for our moods to change.
While waiting between net rounds we had seen a calling Green Sandpiper fly south and we had been debating between ourselves whether we thought it was a late spring migrant or the first of the returning autumn birds. We had not expected, however, to then find it in one of the nets on the following net round. This was the first wader I had ever seen in the hand and to see all of the different markings, especially the striking barring to the axillaries and tail, was an absolute treat.
One of my favourite days was 3 June. It began first thing in the morning when I heard a singing Thrush Nightingale by Grenen car park. Then, while talking to Michael at the ringing site, we heard several calls of a European Bee-eater. It was frustrating that we could not see it because it sounded very close. A Common Nightingale, which is rare in Skagen, was also singing nearby.
I then made the decision to stay standing by the ringing table to get the best of both worlds – I could not watch the sea here that well compared to my usual spot, but it meant that while noting overland migration and looking for the bee-eater I could also watch what birds they were catching in the nets.
This European Nightjar was trapped and ringed on 8 June (Zach Pannifer).
By the end of the nine hours I had stood there, I had recorded an impressive 81 species from one spot, having only moved away once to try and get onto a Greenish Warbler that was briefly seen and heard just around the corner. Unfortunately, the warbler did not hang around for me, but instead my first Golden Oriole flew straight towards where I was and then hopped around the surrounding vegetation while calling.
Once I returned to the ringing table I then spotted a Black Woodpecker in flight after it had been reported by other birders. Then, no fewer than four Golden Orioles were flying about together! A European Serin also flew over calling.
Many birds were being ringed as well. The total of Marsh Warblers caught and ringed reached 15, and other highlights included eight each of Icterine and Willow Warblers, six Garden Warblers, seven Lesser Redpolls and singles of Hawfinch, Grey Wagtail, Common Redstart and Tree Pipit. Both Spotted and Pied Flycatchers were nearby and, close to the end of my session, I had a kettle of several raptors overhead, which included two Black Kites and my first White-tailed Eagle in Skagen.
On 4 June, a singing Great Reed Warbler was found by the Great Cormorant colony, so I went and listened to that. After sound recording it on my phone for a bit I then did a quick scan of the lake and was pleased to see the several pairs of breeding Red-necked Grebes. On my way back to the observatory I then opportunistically stopped off for a Blyth's Reed Warbler that had been found in a completely different spot to the previous one. Having now heard two singing birds for quite a long period of time I believe I would now be more confident to pick one out if it was singing back home in the UK. I was also lucky enough to catch a brief glimpse of this one.
On 5th I was back on duty tracking raptors at the radar. We had at least 27 European Honey Buzzards migrate out towards Sweden and a Black Kite attempted to follow some of them, but quickly gave up and turned around again. The largest birds of prey do not always make it all the way out to the tip before turning back south, so I was lucky to get scope views from the radar of a first-summer Steppe Eagle that people in town were getting superb views of. A White Stork also decided it did not fancy coming too far out and so remained a distant blob blurred by the intense heat haze.
One of the highlights of June was this Steppe Eagle (Zach Pannifer).
It was a foggy start on the morning of the 7th and I noticed that this had pushed the scoter flock closer to the beach, so I spent quite a bit of time scanning them. I did not notice anything unusual, but a count of at least 43 Velvet Scoter was good. However, about half an hour after I left the beach, Dante turned up and soon enough found a drake Black Scoter in the flock I had just been looking at! I was a bit disappointed that I had not picked it out myself but even when I went back to look I struggled to find it, and the flock had started to get more distant as the fog cleared. Eventually I did see it, but everyone else had already given up looking. The difference was quite obvious once I had locked onto it and it was good to get experience of seeing this bird.
After an entire spring of ringing and the season coming to an end, Lauren and Michael were really hoping that they would catch a rare bird before daily sessions stopped. Luckily, on the 15th, they finally hit the jackpot. They had already opened the nets and were processing birds as I was walking past the ringing site, so I decided to walk up to them and ask how it was going. They didn't even need to answer that question as it became obvious pretty quickly: Lauren was on the phone to Simon explaining how they had caught an Acrocephalus warbler with a noticeably short primary projection. It was a Blyth's Reed Warbler!
I had accidentally timed my arrival perfectly. Simon put the news out to all the local birders and a few people, including himself, came see the bird. Rather helpfully, they had also caught a Reed Warbler in the first round and so we could see both species next to each other in the hand for a really good comparison. Everyone enjoyed seeing the bird, which was only the second to be caught and ringed at the observatory.
The following net rounds were quiet. However, as Lauren and Michael went round closing all the nets on the final round, Lauren came back with a bird in a bag. She thought it looked like a Paddyfield Warbler. After closing the rest of the nets we finally got to find out the measurements and she confirmed for sure that it was indeed what she had initially thought – a rarity and only the 18th record for Denmark!
Denmark's 18th Paddyfield Warbler was trapped and ringed on 15th (Zach Pannifer).
The birding began to slow down in my final two weeks. On the morning of the 28th I joined Lauren at the ringing site for the final time before I would leave to go home. It was not our most exciting session of the season, but a juvenile Crested Tit and an adult Redwing were smart. As I was ringing the final bird of the day I picked up a European Bee-eater flying in from behind us. It flew fairly low straight over our heads before moving higher and further away with a group of hirundines. It was the perfect way to finally get to see one and it was also Lauren's best views of the species too.
Strong westerly winds battered Skagen on my final full day and there was not much bird activity as a result. However, in the evening we all had ridiculously good views of a third-summer Long-tailed Skua that was hanging around on the beach and harassing some terns. At one point it was joined by an Arctic Skua for a good comparison. Earlier, local birder Erik Christopherson, who found the bird, had seen it mob a European Honey Buzzard!
I had a great time volunteering at Skagen Bird Observatory this year and I would love to return at some point. The moments I have written about are only my very favourite highlights of a bird-filled spring and it was hard to choose what to include. I cannot imagine how good it must be in the busier time of April and the first half of May! It was a great experience for me and I have taken so much away from it and lots of new birding knowledge too, which will all be beneficial for me in the future when visiting and volunteering at other bird observatories.
