Sort Sol (The Black Sun), Southwestern Jutland, Denmark

The Black Sun or Sort Sol that’s worth seeing at least once. Thousands of visitors from all over the world travel to the Scandinavian country to watch the sunset being blocked by massive flocks of birds, as for a few minutes Denmark’s sky resembles a painting. Sort sol is a murmuration, nature phenomenon in the marshlands in southwestern Jutland, Denmark, in particular the marsh near Tønder and Ribe. Very large numbers of migrational starlings gather there in spring and autumn when they move between their winter grounds in southern Europe and their summer breeding grounds in Scandinavia and other countries near the Baltic Sea.

Sort sol takes place in the hours just after sunset. The birds gather in large flocks and form huge formations in the sky just before they decide for a location to roost for the night. The movements of the formations have been likened to kind of a dance or ballet and the birds are so numerous that they seem to obliterate the sunset, hence the term "sort sol" (Danish for "black sun"). Sort sol in the marsh near Tender can occasionally comprise a formation with up to one million birds. Usually flocks break up when the number of individuals exceed about half a million birds due to excessive internal disturbances in the flock. If a predator bird enters the flock, the starlings initiate a veritable bombardment with droppings and vomit that soil the feathers of the predator. In rare cases the sticky deposits may render the predator unable to stay airborne. Over 20 years, there have been two confirmed cases of young northern goshawks that drowned because the incident took place over water.

 

 

Some evenings the starlings are especially active “air dancing” - making rapid changes of direction and flying around the air before they decide where to settle for the night. This is due to birds of prey nearby – goshawks, falcons or common buzzards. The birds of prey do usually catch many starlings during the air show and the starlings will all start to fly together, trying to scare the birds of prey away by flying towards them or trying to come above them to make a counter attack with vomit and bird droppings which make the birds' feathers sticky so that they can't fly. Other evenings no birds of prey are nearby. Then the starlings make no “air dances” but descend directly in the reeds. Often the starlings will change their sleeping locations, as they try to trick the birds of prey. Besides the reeds often break because of the heavy weight of the amount of birds. You can’t quite be sure where the starlings choose to stay for the night.

The Black Sun period in the spring is shorter than in autumn. In general, the spring migration occurs from February to mid-April, and autumn migration begins in August and can last all the way to December. The largest black sun experiences will usually be in late March and early April and again in September and October. Mid-October will usually give you the most breathtaking experiences in autumn. In recent years there has still been impressive Black Sun around the1st of November in Ribe.

Many evenings you can watch the starlings dance from the bird watchtower at Ribelund (around 1 km. from Danhostel Ribe). Take an evening stroll through the park of Ribelund and watch all the animals - deer, kangaroos, goats, horses, donkeys etc. From the watchtower you may then enjoy the beautiful view of Ribe Østerå and the marshes of Ribe. Enjoy the tranquillity and the sunset above Ribe Cathedral. Please don’t disturb the birds by photographing with flash, though. Other evenings the most magnificent sights have been near Tangeskoven or Kammerslusen. You may spend the day at the Wadden Sea with a visit to the Ribe Dyke and to the Wadden Sea island Mandø.