Birds all year round

In winter, the polders are home to the largest populations in Denmark of buzzards, rough-legged buzzards, hen harriers, pink-footed geese, whooper and tundra swans, while horned larks and snow buntings can be seen along the coast. As early as the first weeks of spring, tens of thousands of geese and ducks arrive. The species on view include barnacle geese, white-fronted geese, tundra swans, teals, pintails and common shelducks. Before spring really bursts forth, you can also see thousands of lapwings, golden plovers, dunlins and curlews, and when the season peaks in May, there are more than 1 million birds in the region, including and in particular the Arctic wading birds that dominate the landscape, with species including knots, bar-tailed godwits, black-bellied plovers and reeves.

In summer, the marshes are home to some of the finest populations in Denmark of bitterns,
Montagu's harriers, marsh harriers, garganeys, shovelers, spotted crakes, Savi's warblers, bluethroats, black-tailed godwits, avocets and black terns. In autumn, the polders host even more birds not only because this migration is not as pressing, but also because the birds that breed in the north return with their young. The autumn migration culminates from August to
October, when the large numbers of birds attract many birds of prey. There are several
white-tailed eagles and peregrine falcons around the marshes all year long.

Sort Sol® – the starling ballet above the marsh
The marshland that stretches along the Wadden Sea coast is unique. Therefore, it is of remarkable natural importance – and not just for birds. A great many nature lovers come to the marshes to see a unique natural phenomenon: Sort Sol® (Black Sun).

Sort Sol® takes place every spring and autumn, when millions of starlings gather in the marshes to forage in the area for insect larvae – fuel for the next leg of the trip. That would be all there was to it, were it not for the night time ritual that the birds perform. In the evening, when the starlings head for their “agreed” accommodation areas, they perform a remarkable aerial ballet – and this is the natural wonder known as Sort Sol®.

The intro …
To experience the Sort Sol® phenomenon, you could go out to Tøndermarsken, but you can
never be completely sure whether the aerial ballet will be performed on that particular evening. An hour before sunset, it happens – perhaps! First a small flock, then one more, then a slightly larger one … and finally, an incredibly huge flock of more than 100,000 starlings. Amazing and gigantic at the same time.

A life and death ballet
There are starlings everywhere, and suddenly they begin to form remarkable flock formations
in the air. The aerial ballet is performed. Even though it looks like something the starlings
“just do to show off”, it is actually a serious matter, a life and death battle with the birds of
prey that attack flocks of starlings. The only defence the starlings have is to form impressive
flock formations to confuse their attackers.

The end of the dance
The starlings dive down into the reeds, and – birds of prey permitting – flock after flock comes to the same place. In just a few minutes, all the birds have landed in the area and the
“overnight accommodation” has been established. However, that does not mean that quiet
instantly falls on the area. In fact, a constant cacophony streams from the chosen stretch of
countryside. It is easy to think “did I really see what just happened”? – You did. The pictures
prove it.

Wake-up ballet
The reverse takes place every morning. Just before sunrise, an incredible morning chorus rings out from the reed banks. Suddenly, there is a burst of flapping, and hundreds of thousands of starlings are on the wing. Then they settle down again, and the singing becomes even louder. Finally, after a moment's silence, they explode into the air from their resting places. They fly low over the area, and just as quickly as they took to the air, they are gone.