Observation : 

Today was my first day of birdwatching on my own [Clara]. It was a bit of a challenge, but the weather was kind to us with bright sunshine, good visibility and species I could identify in flight! So everything went well, with a great score of common scoters [sortand] – over 2,000 migrating north!

I made the most of the afternoon sunshine to walk around Blavand and count the birds resting on the beach, hundreds of herring gulls and lots of sanderling, a beautiful day.

Todays observations can be seen here.

Ringing : 

For some hours we could have some sheltered nets in the stationgarden open. But ringing was not very sucessful, we recaptured one Robin "Rødhals".

Else, Morgan and me spent most of the morning putting the IKEA furniture together, that Henrik bought. With varying degrees of sucess...

Yesterday, we watched the second episode of the documentary on the French Antarctic Lands with Hanelie and Morgan. This episode focused on marine mammals and how their populations are changing in response to climate change and other pressures. It was really fascinating, with some stunning footage.
It is available with English subtitles at the following link :
Le peuple des tempêtes - Les dents de la mer - Regarder le documentaire complet | ARTE

At the station:  Clara Delahaye, Hanelie Sidhu and Morgan Jarmer

Sunrise at Blåvandshuk. Picture by Xenia

Observation :

There wouldn’t have been much to report on today’s sightings: a few hundred scoters, fewer than a hundred red-throated loons and other ducks...when suddenly Henrik exclaimed that the seagulls had all flown off all of a sudden... That something must have been scaring them. That was when we saw a white-tailed eagle flying off into the distance along the shore near the lighthouse. We were able to watch this magnificent raptor, with its impressive wingspan, for several minutes...What a luck. It is indeed the biggest raptor that breeds in Denmark ! 
Unfortunatly, we do not have a picture but tomorrow there might be a drawing...At least, here is one i've made yesterday : 


Flying common ringed plover [stor præstekrave] by Clara

Todays observations can be seen here.

Ringing : 

While spring seems to reach other parts of Denmark, we only get very short tastes of it here at Blåvandshuk. The passerines seem to feel that, and we do not see much migration. There are very few new birds and a lot of recaptures. Today, it was more recaps than new birds, 12:14. Is it because of the hard winter, the bad weather here or do we just see the biodiversity crisis in our daily work? Sometimes it is quite tough to get up before sunrise every morning to constantly get not much than over ten birds.

Blue Tit "Blåmejse". Picture by Xenia.

Today Morgan and I were joined by Xenia, who had high hopes of ringing some more birds, but experienced another slow day with us.

Live is sometimes not easy – also not wolves, moths or owls last night. Well, we can´t change the weather but it would be great if we could manage to slow down and lower the rate at which species and abundance of individuals are getting less.

In the afternoon, Mathilde left the station but we are hoping to see her soon again.

Now rain and wind is howling outside once again.

At the station: Mathilde Lundt Larsen, Thomas Kristiansen, Henrik Bøhmer, Clara Delahaye, Hanelie Sidhu, Xenia Salomonsen and Morgan Jarmer

Observation : 

Today was a truly wonderful day for bird migration!
We counted over 4,000 scoters migrating northwards. We also spotted numerous velvet scoters, which are easily identifiable by the white patches on their wings.
The sandwich terns have definitely arrived too, with more than a dozen spotted near the shores of Blavand today ! 

Todays observations can be seen here.

Ringing :

This morning we were joined in the ringing by Morgan, who is from Northern Zeeland and has so far ringed at a CES Site. He will stay with us for one week.

In the ringing lab. Picture by Mathilde

Spring migration is still not much visible in the nets and it is mostly Blackbirds “Solsort”, that we are catching. Two more “spring”-birds were a White Wagtail “Hvid Vipstjert” and a Chiffchaff “Gransanger”.

White Wagtail "Hvid Vipstjert". Picture by Mathilde.

We are getting quite many recaptures these days, while yesterday, nearly half of the birds we caught were recaps, today it was 1/3. The weather looks nice the next days, so we are hoping they will continue their journey, and we will get some new birds!

After ringing we had some lunch and then climbed the lighthouse together.

For this evening, we have a wolve trip planned! We hope to get off something of Henriks luck, who already so often saw the wolves. We will keep you updated in tomorrows blog, if we succeed.

At the station: Mathilde Lundt Larsen, Clara Delahaye, Hanelie Sidhu, Henrik Bøhmer, Thomas Kristiansen and Morgan Jarmer

Observation : 

Under the Blåvand sun, there’s no more sign of fog at the moment… and the sunrise brings its own share of enchantment…

Today was truly a beautiful day.
We spotted over 3,000 common scoters [sortand] migrating north, which really marks the start of the migration season – much to our delight.
Through our binoculars, we were also able to spot more than a dozen sandwich terns [splitterne], some velvet scoters [fløjsand] and a great northern diver [islom] resting on the waves.

Then, in the afternoon, during the count of resting birds, there was a massive number of herring gulls – over 800 of them – lying on the beach !

Todays observations can be seen here.


Ringing : 

Today we woke up rejuvenated to get ringing again after a couple of days of bad ringing weather. So when the sun slowly broke through and we were catching a nice amount of birds in the first few rounds. 

There were a lot of recaptures today but also some new arrivals, which were nice to see - some indications of spring with a chiffchaff (gransanger) and the highlight of today: the first black redstart (husrødstjert) of the spring. This was a younger one (2k), so the sex was not identifiable. 

Black redstart (husrødstjert). By Hanelie.

We also caught quite a number of blackbirds (solsort) and a couple of yellowhammers, a male and a female, that were ringed in different years - one last year in spring 2025 and one back in 2022, that were now flying together.

Later, we enjoyed the sun and blue skies over Blåvand today by a walk by the dunes and the beach. Another great day in Blåvand!

The lighthouse and "watercolour" clouds. By Mathilde


The ringed and recaptured birds of today:

Tomorrow will already be Mathilde’s last day... so tonight we’re planning to watch a documentary that’s sure to interest quite a few of you – it’s about birds nesting in the French Southern Antarctic Lands!
You can found it here in free-access : 
Le peuple des tempêtes - Les ailes du courage - Regarder le documentaire complet | ARTE
[it's in french but with english subtitles - enjoy the show!] 


At the station: Henrik Böhmer, Clara Delahaye, Mathilde Lundt Larsen and Hanelie Sidhu 

Observation :

Today the weather was finally favourable for the migration count - youpii- !
Above the churning waves, we spotted over 600 common scoters [sortand], 4 gannets [sule], 2 velvet scoters [fløjlsand] and 1 sandwich tern [split tern] .

Morning observations. Picture by Hanelie

It was a wonderful morning of birdwatching, as there were four of us counting from the dunes today. Indeed, Hanelie and Mathilde joined Thomas and me [Clara] because the wind was too strong to set the nets ! 

Todays observations can be seen here. 

After the obs we heated up at the station, had some lunch and took some naps, I got a nice fire burning in the stove and moved a cozy chair in front of it where I also napped a little, very warm and comfortable.

For the afternoon, we had planned a birdwatching trip to Tipmosen and Nyeng. Sharing a Flextaxi we did not need to fight against the wind on bikes and got there quite comfortably. At Tipmosen the highlight was an adult male Hen Harrier “Blå Kærhøg”, that Mathilde spotted first and that showed very nice so we could all enjoy it. We also had some passerines, although expected, my passerine highlight was two Mistle Thrushes “Misteldrossel” on the Golf fields. It is beautiful Thrushes.

Mistlethrush "Misteldrossel" through the scope. Picture by Hanelie

At Nyeng there were many waders and it was a (windy) pleasure to be birdwatching out there: lot of Dunlins “Almindelig Ryle”, Curlews “Storspove”, also Pintails “Spidsand” we saw a flow of Brent Geese “Knortegås” and Bar-tailed Godwits “Lille Kobersneppe”, Goldeneyes “Hvinnand”, Golden Plovers “Hjeile” just turning into summer plumage… Bevor the high tide arrived, the sandbanks were full of birds.

Curlews of Nyeng [storspove] by Clara

Bar-tailed Godwits "Lille Kobbersneppe" through the scope by Hanelie

It was a really nice trip, although the landscape here at the tip is beautiful, from time to time it feels very good to also get out a bit.

Birdwatching at Nyeng. Picture by Hanelie

Tomorrow the wind will finally be good for ringing, so we are looking forward to hopefully a good day, now after some days with closed nets.

At the station: Thomas Kristiansen, Mathilde Lundt Larsen, Clara Delahaye and Hanelie Sidhu

I (Mathilde) arrived to the station on Monday to stay until the end of the week. I have been spending the time so far getting reacquainted with Blåvand, which I have missed over the winter. It is so nice to be back for a taste of early spring birds and spent time with people at the station.

Today was another windy day - with wind up to 14 m/s as well as rain we could not open the nets today either. Instead, I went on a walk when the rain stopped mid-morning out over the heath and through to Reginevej, where I found a singing robin.

Hanelie saw a woodcock (skovsneppe) in the station garden, so hopefully we could catch one in the nets soon enough!

Clara counted the resting birds at the beach, when they returned after the worst of the stormy morning.

Todays observations can be seen here.

Later Hanelie and I went out to Grønningen where there were a range of birds foraging in the wet fields.

Mathilde watching the Purple Sandpipers "Sortgrå Ryle". Picture by Hanelie

The golden plovers (hjejle) were numerous with a flock of 28 and currently changing to their summer plumage, as well as lapwings (vibe), turnstones (stenvender), wigeons (pibeand), teals (krikand) and starlings (stær).

Lapwing "Vibe", picture by Hanelie

We found a group of purple sandpipers, which were nice to see so close and interesting to see them not at the coast - perhaps they sought shelter because of the strong winds and high waves. On the way back there were grey herons flying and a multitude of gulls as we biked back against the wind.

Hanelie looking for birds on the fields. Picture by Mathilde.

Observation :

The fog continues to hang over Blavand... but at least, whilst counting the resting birds on the beach, we spotted the first sandwich terns of the season – five of them !


Two sandwich terns on the left [Splitterne] and two common gulls on the right [Stormmåge] by Clara

Today´s observations of observers in the area can be seen here.


Ringing:

No ringing today due to heavy wind and rain. An opportunity to do some indoor work on my data project, datacheck and to wash the birdbags.

At the station: Clara Delahaye, Thomas Kristiansen, Mathilde Lundt Larsen and Hanelie Sidhu 

Observation :

At last, the weather conditions were more favourable today for observing the migration – phew!
Between counting red-throated divers and flocks of common scoters, we spotted several porpoise whales near the reef. We’ve been seeing their dark fins for several days now.
Did you know that ‘Marsvin’ means ‘sea pig’ in Old Norse? And that ‘Porpoise Whale’ (the English name) comes from ‘porkopiscis’, which meant ‘pig-fish’?
Apart from this amusing anecdote, we also saw a grey seal resting with its head above the water near the shore, and a common seal !

Today´s observations of observers in the area can be seen here.

Ringing:

This morning was less foggy, so it was a bit more fun to walk the rounds although still few birds. I walked around a bit, not so far from the station I saw some Linnets “Tornirisk” and a Woodcock “Skovsneppe”. I hope they will also find their way into the nets. The highlights in the nets today were a pair of Yellowhammers “Gulspurv”, male and female as well as a Goldfinch “Stillits”.

Yellowhammer "Gulspurv". Picture by Hanelie

Two Redwings went in the nets, a juvenile and another 3k+, unfortunately the adult had hardly any fat or muscle and was very light.

Redwing "Vindrossel", 3k+. Picture by Hanelie.

I would like to give a small update on the moths, as in my last seasons here I have two traps out but with the often so foggy, cold or windy weather, the moth catching was not very successful so far. I have only caught four species in the traps and as always, there is Scoliopterix libatrix “Husmoderugle” in the bunkers. Today I had a new species for the season Agriopis marginaria “Grågul frostmåler”.

Moths by Hanelie

At the station: Thomas Kristiansen, Clara Delahaye, Mathilde Lundt Larsen, Hanelie Sidhu, Henrik & Henrik

Observation :

There was still fog everywhere this morning. Unfortunately, no standard migration monitoring today. Luckily, Henrik spotted one of his favourite birds… drum roll… the Caspian gull, [Kaspisk Måge] Larus cachinnans !



Caspian Gull in the middle [Kaspisk måge] by Henrik

Today´s observations of observers in the area can be seen here.


Ringing:

The third day in a row in fog. Morten joined me today for the first rounds but it was again very few birds. The highlight was a 3K+ Redwing “Vindrossel”.

Redwing "Vindrossel" by Hanelie

Some of the Goldcrests” Fuglekonge” of the last days flew in the nets again, but there was also one that Lua ringed last November.

DKU left Blåvand today, they successfully finished their meeting yesterday evening. On his way home from the meeting, Henrik was so lucky again to see even several wolves!

Later in the afternoon it cleared up and I went to my favorite bat bunker, the bog and the beach. Today I found a new bat species in the bunker. While it is mostly the Water bat “Vandflagermus” – Myotis dabentonii that is resting in the bunker, a bigger bat caught my attention. I found out, that it is the Pond bat “Damflagermus” – Myotis dasycneme. It is similar to the water bat but bigger and has larger nasal tubercles. A comparison with the nose of one of the water bats confirmed that. That was a quite cool discovery!

Lower, bigger bat: Pond bat “Damflagermus” – Myotis dasycneme, Upper, smaller bat: Water bat “Vandflagermus” – Myotis dabentonii, closeups of the Pondbat. By Hanelie

I continued to the beach where the ringed Plovers are already active. The bog was rather quiet but a Linnet “Tornirisk” was singing on a bush close to me, some Skylarks “Sanglærke” were singing, I saw two Stonechats “Sortstrubet Bynkefugl” and one Redwing “Vindrossel” without ring.  

At the station: Clara Delahaye, Thomas Kristiansen, Henrik Bøhmer, Hanelie Sidhu and DKU

Observation:

This was my second day of birdwatching with Thomas, and the fog refused to lift completely. It prefered to envelop the whole of Blavand and hide the distant silhouettes of the scoters, red-throated divers and other delighted birds.
We were still able to count for an hour, perched high on the dunes, eyes glued to the telescope.
We really hope the weather improves over the next few days so that we can return to standard counting methods.
In the meantime, here is today’s drawing (we saw eight of them flying north in the early morning).



Eurasian teal *eurasisk krikand*, by Clara

Today´s observations of observers in the area can be seen here.

Ringing:

When we opened, the it looked like the sun would manage today to break thought the clouds Indeed, we could do our first round under rather clear sky and it was a quite good round. But the sea fog is fast ant Blåvandshuk and unfortunately, the Radar was right. When we left the lab, the fog had captured Denmark´s westernmost point and also the birds thought that this was not a nice weather to fly. So after, rounds were rather slow. We caught another Chiffchaff “Gransanger” today and as the observers needed to cancel observations, Clara followed us on some rounds later in the morning and saw her first birds in hand!

Paula left the station today, we wish her all the best for her next adventures and hopefully she will get some more birds and especially better weather at her next stay.

While we were walking through the fog, DKU continued their meeting today.

At the station: Paula Feuchtmeyer, Clara Delahaye, Thomas Kristiansen, Hanelie Sidhu and DKU