Land of the wind

We left Klim Strand with no hurry, after I hunted a Yellowhammer (Emberiza citrinella) in the bushes.

Yellowhammer (Emberiza citrinella)

We visited Bulbjerg, Denmark’s only bird cliff (or so I was told), where Black-legged kittiwakes (Rissa tridactyla) nest.

Black-legged kittiwake (Rissa tridactyla)

Our main target for the day was Vejlerne. This bird paradise, the “biggest bird sanctuary of northern Europe”, is a patchwork of ponds, reedbeds and fields. We looked for the Bean goose (Anser fabalis), a bird I had never seen before, but luck was not on our sides. Most of the nordic geese were probably gone already, and all we found was a lonely Pink-footed goose (Anser brachyrhynchus). A bird I had spotted in Iceland, but still a new addition to my Danish list. The morning was cloudy and windy, and the Barn swallows (Hirundo rustica) must have felt quite numbed not to flee us when we parked. Yes, I took those pictures from the car!

Barn swallow (Hirundo rustica)

Barn swallow

The area was packed with geese and ducks of all kinds, while the skies were the exclusive realm of Western marsh harriers (Circus aeroginosus). We had some surprise though, like the Black-tailed godwits (Limosa limosa, see this article from Sébastien for pictures of this delightful bird) or the Eurasian spoonbills (Platalea leucorodia). My favourite one remains the Bluethroat (Luscinia svecica) that suddenly started to sing while we were walking on a duckboard. Such a beauty! I hope I can one day bring you great pictures of it.

After that, we headed north and stopped in Løkken, a beach you can travel with your car. The sun had arrived, so it felt a tiny bit like summer. Only a tiny bit, the wind was still blowing strong 😉

Our last stopover was Rubjerg Knude Fyr, a lighthouse with a peculiar story. It was built in 1900, but it had to be closed in the late 1960s because the dunes obstructed its light. In 1980, it was converted into a museum dedicated to this phenomenom of moving dunes… the museum was closed in 2002, devoured by the sand.

The place got us a weird feeling: the ground next to the building was littered by bricks and wood, possibly the remains of the museum, giving it an eerie look of devastation. We could have climbed up in the lighthouse, but in the entrance, flowers and pictures left on the ground with a flickering light discouraged us. Creepy.
We climbed the dunes instead, but, harassed by the flying sand , we soon retreated inland.

Next stop, Skagen, for more wind and more sun!

> Nordjylland on Flickr

WPC: Earth