Friday 13th of May 2022 and I pack my luggage before driving to my friend's house to pick them up. We are going to check out Kirkjubøur and we will hopefully have some luck with the King Eider and the Brent Gooses.
The Brent Gooses are close to the dirt track along the waterfront but as soon as we approach the gooses start to walk away so there was no opportunity to get any good pictures. There was also one Northern Wheatear in the field, but this was way too far away.
We turned around and we drove back to the marina and we went inside the church to have a look.
The Church in Kirkjubøur
The Wren is sitting on a rood next to the church and it is singing high and I go there to try to get a recording. But the Wren got startled and flew away. There was a stone wall with both House Sparrows and Starlings with nests. I managed to record one Starling.
Kirkjubøur, Faroe Islands, FO
13 May 2022 09:56 - 10:45
Protocol: Traveling
2.59 kilometer(s)
13 species
Greylag Goose 2
Brent Goose 2 Same as previous days
Whooper Swan 1
Common Eider 7
Rock Dove 3
Eurasian Oystercatcher 6
Whimbrel 2
Lesser Black-backed Gull 11
Hooded Crow 2
Eurasian Wren 1
Common Starling 11 Starlings and House Sparrows having nests in the same stone wall. This bird sounded like it was a beginner to make sound. Maybe a young bird
Northern Wheatear 1
House Sparrow 8 Nests in the same stone wall as the Starlings
The owner of the apartment in Torshavn called just before 11. He told me that check out time was 11 so we left Kirkjubøur. I dropped my friend and his wife and I went to pick up my luggage in the apartment and I left Torshavn for the airport.
I will stop at The Nix to look for birds on the way. The Nix is located just 2 minutes away from Vágar Airport. There was not many birds at The Nix but I tried to get a picture of a Whimbrel.
I will go to have a look for birds at the eBird hotspot: Bøur and I have to drive past the airport. I also have to look for a gas station to fill up the car before I return the rental. There is no gas station and I only saw one Starling at Bøur.
So, I had to drive back passing the airport and it was quite far to drive to the gas station. Driving back to the airport and I returned the keys and I went to check in at the machine. There was a little bit of waiting at the security as they only had one line.
Lining up to security at Vágar Airport
Waiting to board the flight
I bought a sheep fur in the tax-free shop as a gift, and I already have souvenirs for my nephews and niece that I bought on the ferry to Suðuroy. There was a lot of passengers at the terminal, one flight to Billund departing at 14:30 and our flight to Copenhagen at 15:00.
So, there was nowhere to sit and I went to the gate #2 and I took a seat. There is two gates at Vágar Airport and I hope this is the gate we're going to use. Of course, we have to walk across the tarmac to reach the plane.
There were soon more people coming as they are copy my idea to have a seat while waiting. And we were lucky, we will board through this gate so no need to trot around the airport.
Boarding Atlantic Airways flight to Copenhagen
Boarding Atlantic Airways flight to Copenhagen
Boarding Atlantic Airways flight to Copenhagen
Boarding Atlantic Airways flight to Copenhagen
We took off and as I always sit in the aisle I could not see Faroe Islands when we took off. There would have been an opportunity for a good view and beautiful pictures. I bought a 3 Dollar MAX and a sandwich to enjoy during the flight.
We left Faroe Islands at 3 o'clock and we landed in Copenhagen at 7, clocks advanced by an hour so it was a 2-hour flight. And the time passed quickly.
Copenhagen Airport, one of the worst and it was trotting from one end to the other end, town a set of stairs and then trot all the way back to claim my luggage.
I had to wait for quite a while, but I was lucky with the train, it was a couple of minutes late or I would have missed the train.
Waiting for the luggage
Changing train in Malmö
The train is almost empty
I check in to Scandic Helsingborg Nord around 9 o'clock in the evening and I was soon asleep. I will drive to Fanø in Denmark on Monday to attend a 3 days MEDICAL CARE course
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Saturday 14th of May 2022 and I had a wee bit of trouble finding a rental that I could drive to Denmark. But I found a car and I took a taxi to go pick it up.
OKQ8 was 10 minutes away with taxi and I was soon on my way in my rented car. I drove to my brother, his wife have her birthday today and they will have a party, free food. My brother have his birthday tomorrow so there will be a lot of free food here before I go to Denmark.
My rental
My rental
I arrive to my brother and they are busy cooking and I was really hungry, so I brought my youngest nephew and we drove to, I have forgot the name of the village, but they have very good soft ice cream. And we have been there a couple of times before so they recognized us when we came to the kiosk.
We started with hot dogs and we got them for a good price. They had closed the grill and they were just about to throw them in the garbage when we stopped with the car.
“I saw you stopping so I kept the sausages”
My nephew had his hot dog with bread but I have to think about the blood sugar so I had mine without bread and ketchup. Ketchup is 30% sugar so this is a big NO NO! We finished the hot dogs and we ordered two of the biggest soft ice cream they had to offer.
Blood sugar, but one ice cream per year is OK, and I only eat the ice cream and the “sugar filled” cone will be given to the birds.
Time for ice cream
Time for ice cream
The food was ready when we came back home and now the house was full of guests. I was full, but some BBQ meat went down. When they brought a new box of beers I left. Have to wake up early tomorrow as I will see if there is any birds in Väla Skog.
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Sunday 15th of May 2022 and it is quite late when I leave my hotel. It is just a couple of minutes to drive to Väla Skog and I started my eBird app at 10:50. It was a beautiful day and the forest was full of birds. But it is better earlier in the spring.
Now the trees have a very thick foliage and it is very hard to see the birds.
It is a gorgeous day
Too much leafs to see the birds
eBird Report
Väla Skog, Skåne län [SE-12], SE
15 May 2022 10:50 - 11:23
Protocol: Traveling
0.75 kilometer(s)
8 species
Common Woodpigeon 5
Common Magpie 1
Hooded Crow 1
Eurasian Blue Tit 1 Thanks to Cedric Mroczko at xeno-canto for ID.
Common Chiffchaff 1 Only a quick glimpse of the bird flying between branches in the thick foliage.
Thank you to Dominique and Ulf for help with the ID. See forum thread: https://xeno-canto.org/forum/topic/50380
Eurasian Blackbird X Heard only
European Pied Flycatcher 1
Common Chaffinch 1
I stop at the eBird hotspot: Rosendals våtmark on the way to my brother. The only exciting thing I see is a Western Marsh Harrier. Otherwise, it is the same birds I always see there.
It is a very beautiful area but it is hard to come close to the lake. Walking, of course, but as soon as I have taken two steps outside the car all the birds will be gone.
eBird Report
Rosendals våtmark, Skåne län [SE-12], SE
15 May 2022 11:35 - 11:41
Protocol: Traveling
0.86 kilometer(s)
10 species
Greylag Goose 12
Mute Swan 2
Mallard 8
Tufted Duck 2
Northern Lapwing 5
Herring Gull 5
Western Marsh Harrier 1
Common Magpie 1
Hooded Crow 2
Barn Swallow X
View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S110188149
This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (https://ebird.org/home)
Today's track at eBird hotspot: Rosendals våtmark
I stop to buy sausages and we fire up the grill when I arrive to my brother's house. Having BBQ every day when in Sweden and I also had cake, only a little but it was good. My niece was happy to blow the candle on the cake.
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Monday 16th of May 2022 and I leave my hotel at 9 driving south on the highway towards Malmö and the bridge to Copenhagen. I have to visit the bank and they open at 10 o'clock and by then I am well positioned to go straight over the bridge to Denmark.
But the first bank in Svedala was closed and I had to drive to Trelleborg and I was delayed because of this. It was full speed from Trelleborg to the bridge to make up some time and in Denmark you have to drive according to the speed limit.
Speeding is very expensive in Denmark and they also take your car so I need to be careful. Anyway, I was not happy to have to make the extra trip to Trelleborg, but I was happy to leave as the bank stuff was fixed.
Reaching the Öresund bridge
Reaching the Öresund bridge
On the Öresund bridge
On the Öresund bridge
On the Öresund bridge
Approaching Peberholm
Peberholm
Peberholm, is a small artificial island in the Danish part of the øresund strait, created as part of the øresund Bridge connecting Denmark with Sweden. Peberholm lies approximately 1 km south of the small natural island of Saltholm (Salt Islet), and was named to complement it. It has an area of 1.3 km2 and belongs to Denmark
Reasons for construction
The reason for constructing the island was to have a crossover point between the tunnel and the bridge.
The tunnel was built since a bridge spanning the entire link between Malmö and Copenhagen would have interfered with obstacle-free zones around Kastrup Airport. Another reason was to provide an opportunity for large ships to pass the Öresund without worrying about the height of the bridge. To make the øresund Bridge higher would interfere with the freight train traffic because a steeper gradient would be needed.
The border between Swedish and Danish railway signalling and railway traffic control is on Peberholm.
I was disappointed as I was not allowed to leave the highway to get out on Peberholm. I had really been looking forward to look for birds on Peberholm but the area is off limits for ordinary people.
I drive past Copenhagen Airport and I continue on the high way # E20 and it is actually the same road all the way from Sweden to the small ferry going to Fanø from Esbjerg. So, it was just to put the cruise control to 2 km/h below maximum speed limit and just to follow the traffic.
I have to cross three bridges to reach Esbjerg and I reached the 2nd bridge around quarter to two in the afternoon.
Approaching the Great Belt Bridge
Great Belt Bridge
Great Belt Bridge
It took me about one hour to reach the third and last bridge from the second bridge. This is the bridge over the Little Belt and now I can actually drive all the way to Siberia without having to cross any seas. I would have been able to drive all the way to South Africa as well, if it had not been for the Suez Canal.
Crossing the Great Belt and there is also a small island I would have like to visit, but again, no access for ordinary people. So, it seems like I am running in to one disappointment after another.
Approaching the Little Belt Bridge
Little Belt Bridge
Little Belt Bridge
Ferry approaching
Ferry arriving
On the ferry
I reached the ferry in Esbjerg at 4 o'clock and I had to wait for the ferry for a couple of minutes and it took 10 to 15 minutes to reach Fanø. Now I had to look for Nørby Kro, this is where we are going to stay during the 3day course.
It was not very hard to find the place and I had soon installed myself in my room. Dinner is served at 18:00 and I met two of the other participants on the course.
My room
Nørby Kro
Nørby Kro
Nørby Kro
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Tuesday 17th of May 2022 and I was in the restaurant at 7 o'clock when they started to serve breakfast. I followed one of the others to the school building, he drove ahead of me and I followed in my rental.
Class started at 08:30 and we started the course by giving drop. We did some training with the spine board and it was soon time for lunch.
Medical Care Course
Time turned really quickly and it was soon 4 o'clock and time to go back to Nørby Kro. I picked up my camera and I drove to the southernmost point of the island Fanø, the village Sønderho. I visited a couple of eBird hotspots before I drove back to Nørby Kro to have dinner at 18:00.
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Wednesday 18th of May 2022 and we start school at 08:30. They have a simulator with dummies connected to computers and we will find out what is wrong with our “patients” So time turned quickly again and it was soon time for lunch.
We will do stitching after lunch so it is a full schedule for these three days. But this is good as the time turns very quickly.
It had been gorgeous weather since I arrived and I was in the garden during the coffee break and I spotted some birds that I reported in eBird.
eBird Report
Navigationsskolen, Fanø, Region Syddanmark, DK
18 May 2022 13:58 - 14:04
Protocol: Stationary
6 species
Common Woodpigeon 2
Herring Gull 3
Carrion Crow 1
Hooded Crow 1
Common Starling 2
Eurasian Blackbird 1
We finished at 4 o'clock and I was quickly off to go get my camera. I started at eBird hotspot: Fanø Vesterstrand. The hot spot is a huge, white beach for long as you can see. And you are very welcome to drive on the beach. Good, then I can try to come close to the birds.
I started my eBird app at 16:03 and I started to drive south towards the highest point on Fanø, Pælebjerg. I drive on the sand and I follow the meadow on my left-hand side. On my right-hand side there is sand all the way to the water. But on some places there are meadows on the right-hand side.
White sand beach for long as I can see looking south
White sand beach for long as I can see looking north
Activities on the beach
Activities on the beach
Long white sand beach and there was a lot of activities. Wind surfing with wheels and parachutes dragging cars etc. So, a lot of movements and the summer have not yet started. All the people and there was not many birds.
But there was many birds in the meadows so I drove back to the meadows. Northern Wheatears and Pipits, but the only “sea birds” I spotted was two Black-headed Gulls.
The last bird I reported in my eBird app was a White Wagtail. There were three wagtails playing in the sand next to the car.
Fanø Vesterstrand, Region Syddanmark, DK
18 May 2022 16:03 - 17:09
Protocol: Traveling
11.06 kilometer(s)
11 species
Black-headed Gull 2
Western Marsh Harrier 1
Common Magpie 1
Eurasian Jackdaw 5
Carrion Crow 2
Hooded Crow 1
Eurasian Skylark 1
Common Starling 7
Northern Wheatear 2
White Wagtail (alba) 5
Meadow Pipit 4 Sitting on top of the vegetation on the beach singing. Not very loud and we hear the wind/ sea in the back ground
Thanks to Cedric Mroczko for help with the ID, see forum: https://xeno-canto.org/forum/topic/50442
View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S110569579
This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (https://ebird.org/home)
Today's track at eBird hotspot: Fanø Vesterstrand
I turned off my eBird app where I had started the app. I restarted the app immediately and I changed to eBird hotspot: Søren Jessens Sand. I run in to a group of gulls first thing. There is a small stream with fresh water going out in the sea. And there was Herring and Lesser Black-backed gulls bathing.
It was a big group of gulls and I counted to 18 gulls. There was also Redshanks in the freshwater and one bird was courting another bird by flapping the wings. But I think the bird got scared when I arrived with the car.
There was also one Common Linnet having a bath in the fresh water. It was at least one Common Linnet, but it might have been more. I only spotted one Common Linnet at the time in the bath so I only reported one.
There were also many Northern Lapwings sitting on the ground in the meadows. So maybe they were having nests in the grass.
Today's track at eBird hotspot: Søren Jessens Sand
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Thursday 19th of May 2022 and the owner of Verada Tour Guest House at the Danube Delta sent me an e-mail in the morning. He was at DHL to send my computer. They had found my laptop at the airport and I got an e-mail about this a week ago.
The owner of Verada Tour Guest House told me that he would help me. He was going to Bucharest on the 19th and he needed some documents that I sent him in order for him to be able to pick up the computer. I got an e-mail that he had sent the computer and that it would reach Sweden tomorrow and that I might have the computer on the 21st.
So I might have to extend my stay to get the computer before flying home. We finished in school quarter to four and I had offered our friend from Ukraine to go with me to Copenhagen. He will fly tomorrow and he will stay they night at a hotel in Copenhagen.
I stopped at a citizen service centre on Fanøbefore we left and I had finally got my NemID in order so I could use my Danish Bank account that I opened a couple of years back.
Well, one month of bird watching in Europe and it is finally time to fly back home. Click HERE to find out if I make it.
OK, it has come to my knowledge that we have senior citizens visiting my web page. How hard can it be? So it's not very easy for them to see the blue coloured links to the next page.
Jiffy (also jiff)
noun [in SING.] informal a moment: we'll be back in a jiffy.
ORIGIN late 18th cent.: of unknown origin.
So as you understand, in a jiff pretty much depends on your internet.
So I put a “Next” button here and I hope that there isn't any problem to understand how to use that one. So just CLICK the “Next” button on your left hand side and you will be on the next page in a jiff!
Marunong ka mag-tagalog? Walang problema! Magpunta sa kabilang pahina pindutin ang “NEXT” button sa itaas
Faites vous parlez le français? Pas de problème! Pour arriver à la page suivante faites s'il vous plaît un déclic le bouton “Next” ci-dessus!
Haga usted dice el español? No hay problema! Ver la siguiente página sólo hacer clic el botón “Next” encima!
Farla parla l'italiano? Non problemi! Per vedere la prossima pagina lo scatto per favore giusto Il bottone “Next” sopra
Sprechen sie Deutsch! Kein problem! Wenn Sie die folgende Seite sehen wollen gerade klicken der Knopf “Next” oben!