Birds all year round

In the autumn, Blåvandshuk is one of the best places in Denmark to view migratory birds.
From the end of summer to the winter months, both seabirds and terrestrial birds pass by here in very large numbers. Together with the shallows and deeps of Ho Bay, the marshes and seaside meadows on the lee side of Skallingen (protected by the dunes) and on Langli are of great importance to resting birds. The plants in the marshes and seaside meadows, and the small creatures that live in the mudflats, in the tidal channels and in the deeps constitute the food eaten by the aquatic birds while they stay at the Wadden Sea during their migrations to and from the breeding grounds far to the north. At low tide, the birds can hunt for food on the exposed flats, where every square metre is packed with thousands of snails, mussels, crabs and bristle worms. Common mussels, which form giant banks at Hobo Dyb and Hjerting Løb, constitute one of the most important foods for eider and oyster catchers, while grasses and seed plants are the preferred choice of, for example, the wigeon, the pintail and the Brent Goose.

The largest migration of oyster catchers in Europe
As mentioned above, autumn is the best season for observing migratory birds in the Blåvandshuk area. As early as July, the migration of wading birds is well underway. The region accommodates the largest migration of oyster catchers in Europe – around 50,000 pass through Blåvandshuk in an autumn season. The record count for a single day is 8,000. The knot is also a common sight during the autumn migration, with a same-day record of 3,500. If the wind is blowing from between the south and the east, thousands of dunlins and bar-tailed godwits can be viewed on a single day. Other common species include curlews,
ruddy turnstones, redshanks, greenshanks, curlew sandpipers and black-bellied plovers.

Blåvandshuk also attracts huge numbers of terns, which come here to rest in July and August. Up to 10,000 terns can be seen foraging, accompanied by thieving skuas, including great
skuas, Pomeranian skuas, Arctic skuas and, occasionally, long-tailed skuas. The record number of Arctic skuas observed on a single day is more than 400.

In September and October, Blåvandshuk is an important place for migratory birds of prey,
ducks, geese and small birds. It is the best place in Denmark for migratory meadow pits, which visit in numbers of up to 100,000. The most common birds of prey here are the sparrow hawk, the peregrine falcon and the merlin. As many as 50,000 common scoters may rest off the coast and large numbers of ducks pass by – up to 5,000 wigeons, for example. Barnacle geese, Brent Geese, greylag geese and pink-footed geese can also be seen in large numbers. In fact, more than 10,000 barnacle and Brent Geese have been seen on a single day, as have as many as 18,000 pinkfooted geese.

Resting birds
Unusually many ducks and wading birds come to Skallingen and Ho Bay to rest. The island of
Langli provides a resting place for large colonies of black-headed gulls, common gulls and herring gulls and is a breeding area used by lesser black-backed gulls, sandwich and Arctic terns. The wading birds that breed here include avocets and the densest population of oyster catchers in the world. Eider, pintails and greylag geese also hatch their chicks here. Despite the fact that Skallingen has some of the largest, consecutive and most unspoiled areas of marshland in the Wadden Sea, the number of breeding birds is only modest, and the birds brood at disparate locations. The area has been classified as an international sanctuary for little terns.

Birds of prey
The region is an excellent place to observe birds of prey. Early in the season, you can see marsh harriers and kestrels, and later on, sparrow hawks and merlins. The peregrine falcon and white-tailed eagle are not uncommon visitors to the area. On Skallingen, you can often spot Montagu's harriers, hen harriers, kestrels, rough-legged buzzards and buzzards.