Birds all year round

An important resting place
It is estimated that 10-12 million aquatic birds migrate via the Wadden Sea every year. The rich supply of nutrition caters to the varying tastes of all the migratory visitors. Each of the various species of wading birds has a different type of beak, which means that there is no need for them to squabble for “pecking rights” to the various creatures that live in the mud flats. The dunlin – with its medium-length beak – takes the worms and small mussels that have burrowed just a few cm into the sand. The bar-tailed godwit and the curlew, on the other hand, can burrow much deeper with their longer beaks. Many of the wading birds breed far to the north in Greenland, Siberia, Russia or the fells of Scandinavia. They stop off at the Wadden Sea before continuing their journeys to West and South Africa. The daily rhythm of the wading birds is defined by the tides. At high tide, they cannot walk about on the mud
flats, and have to fly in to the higher land of the sand banks.

The giant sand bank known as Keld Sand is located east of Sønderho on the southern tip of the island. It has room for thousands of wading birds at high tide. It is also here that you can see large numbers of shelducks outside the breeding season. The birds make the most of the opportunity to sleep when the water prevents them from searching for food – both during the day and at night. When darkness falls, many species forage for food at low tide. This is simply essential for birds that soon have to depart on flights of thousands of kilometres. The large number of birds on Keld Sand at high tide naturally also attracts birds of prey, which find their prey (almost) “served up on a silver platter” here. With a little patience, you can often see one or more peregrine falcons spreading panic among the resting wading birds. When this
fast and powerful falcon suddenly comes shooting through the air, the poor wading
birds desperately scramble to get away. In the winter months you may sometimes see a
white-tailed eagle around the southern tip of the island.

The southern tip of Fanø is similarly a wonderful place for observing birds – especially small migratory species. In the autumn months, the small copses and gardens of Sønderho can be packed with tired little birds that have spent all night on the wing and now need to spend the day “filling their tanks”. Common sights here include the redstart, blackcap, willow warbler, goldcrest and robin – species that often migrate in huge flocks. As October progresses, there are redwings and fieldfares to be found in almost all bushes. The reason why precisely Sønderho is home to so many small birds is that the birds “finish up at the end” of the island
when they fly in from the north. Early in the morning, during the first couple of hours after
sunrise, you can watch the birds flying south-west across the town. On good days –
especially when the east wind is blowing – the birds pass overhead in waves. Swallows,
wagtails and thrushes often fly in out of the blue and continue on their way across the water.