Aarhus Birding

Last Thursday, Kate, Becca and I arrived in Aarhus Denmark. Becca will be getting a Masters Degree at Aarhus University, and Kate and I came to help her move in. Aarhus is the second largest city in Denmark. It is located on the eastern shore of the country facing the Kattegat Sea. Becca’s apartment is a newly revitalized neighborhood along the water. Walking around in the morning, I saw birds similar to those I might see in Chatham. The photo above is of a Great Cormorant, a new species for me. While they can occasionally be seen along the Massachusetts shore, I have only seen the Double Crested Cormorants which are common all along the Eastern US shoreline.

This is a photo of a Black-headed Gull, also a new species for me. It looks quite similar to the Bonaparte Gulls that I can see in Chatham. It is called a Black-headed Gull because, during breeding season, its head is completely black similar to the Laughing Gulls back home. There are several bird species found both in Aarhus and Chatham. For example, Herring Gulls are common in both places. I have seen one Greater Black-backed Gull here which are quite common in Chatham. I have see several Lesser Black-back Gulls here which I have very occasionally seen in Chatham.

This bird is a Gray Heron, quite similar to the Great Blue Herons we have in the US. I had thought this would be a new species for me forgetting that I had photographed one in Kenya back in 2018.

This Barn Swallow is an example of a species found in the US as well. I liked this photo because of the nesting material. This bird’s nest seemed to be in this crack with the entrance somewhat above this photo near the roof of the building.

In Chatham, I would see Bank Swallows in addition to the Barn Swallows. Here, I see Western House Martins such as the one above. They both look somewhat similar.

This is a photo of a Hooded Crow. I first photographed this species in Croatia earlier this year. Back in Chatham, we have both American Crows as well as Fish Crows.

Another new species for me is this Common Wood Pigeon. I did see one Rock Pigeon here, which are ubiquitous in our cities in the US, but here it is the Common Wood Pigeon which is clearly dominant.

There are plenty of House Sparrows here, but there are also Eurasian Tree Sparrows. These look very similar to House Sparrows except that their heads are solid rufous color.

This European Goldfinch is another bird that I first photographed earlier this year in Croatia. The counterpart for Chatham is of course the American Goldfinch.

A final new bird for me is this White Wagtail. In this case, no immediate Chatham counterpart comes to mind. Overall, I found it interesting how similar the birds near Becca’s apartment in Aarhus are to the birds I see in Chatham. One difference is that I did not see any shorebirds. I did not see any mudflats as I looked around Aarhus harbor, so that is probably the reason. I expect that if I were to go further up or down the coast, I would find comparable shorebirds to back home.