Four decades of a unique partnership to chronicle the birds and other wildlife seen from North Sea oil and gas platforms has been celebrated in a new book.
From 1979 to 2019 the North Sea Bird Club and the University of Aberdeen worked together to record and identify birds, marine animals, bats and moths and butterflies viewed from more than 250 offshore installations by over 400 observers.
While it had been known for many years that birds cross the North Sea in very large numbers – especially in spring and autumn – it was quickly noted that those working offshore were in a unique situation to provide details of the species involved and their numbers.
In November 1984, one offshore worker on the Maureen platform was recorded as saying:
“On opening the door from the control room it appeared to be snowing. The sky was full of birds in every direction – Blackbirds, thrushes, Snow Buntings, Lapwings and even some Canada Geese. In addition there were at least 50+ owls. I’d estimate the numbers to be hundreds of thousands around the platform”
To take advantage of this unique viewpoint, in 1979 the North Sea Bird Club was formed by a group of senior oil industry executives, and a collaboration with the University of Aberdeen began which would see more than 120,000 records sent in over the next four decades.
The history of the partnership and the fascinating wildlife sightings and identification it led to has been set out in a book by Andrew Thorpe, the club’s former Recorder who was employed on a part-time basis by the University as a Research Assistant between 1999 and 2019.
The North Sea Bird Club 1979-2019 mixes entertaining anecdotes, interesting facts and hard data to tell the story.
Andrew said:
“Back in 1979, it was thanks to the foresight of Professor George Dunnet, Regius Professor of Natural History at the University and other associates that the Club was created.
“He continued to act as an adviser to the club and we drew heavily on University expertise. Being located within the Zoology Department, we were able to access other specialists – Dr Mark Young provided support with identification of butterflies and moths sent from offshore, Professor Paul Racey provided guidance for those who found bats on offshore installations and Mr Kenn Watt was a hoverfly expert in the department who helped with identification.
“Marine animals offshore were also recorded and the University’s Oceanlab staff were able to assist here.”
Although the club was wound up with the downturn of the industry in 1999, the records it received, maintained by the University, continue to be used for academic research.
“A Club Secretary in 1990 wrote ‘The North Sea Bird Club is a unique organisation operating in a unique environment’ and that remained true throughout the 40 years,” Andrew added.
“Records came from all over the North Sea and allowed us to put together a picture of where birds were moving at peak migration times and this could often be related to similar patterns of arrival onshore.
“The 120,000 record database the University helped us to create has been used to provide data to many interested parties. For example several different University students requested data on Buzzard feathers, Twite records offshore, Porbeagle shark and bat records.
“Professor Racey, formerly of the University, informed us that much valuable information about the occurrence of Nathusius’ pipistrelle bat had been obtained from offshore records of that species. Certain corpses of dead birds found offshore were passed to The National Museum Scotland for their collections.
The North Sea Bird Club 1979-2019 is available at £21.00 (inc p&p) to purchase directly from Andrew Thorpe by emailing Andrew.Thorpe147@btinternet.com.
Interesting Facts from the North Sea Bird Club
- Many common ‘garden’ birds regularly cross the North Sea;
- Blackbirds, robins, chaffinches, blue tits, crows and owls are all regularly reported from rigs in the North sea;
- Even tiny wrens cross the North Sea. In 1998, a total of 58 wrens was reported from offshore installations;
- Blackbirds and thrushes can cross the North Sea in large numbers, usually in autumn. In 1979, over 30,000 blackbirds were reported offshore;
- In November 1984, an exceptional number of birds landed on the Maureen platform during very bad weather – some 200-300,000 were estimated including 40-50 owls;
- Starlings regularly cross the North Sea in spring and autumn in very large numbers. A flock of an estimated 50,000 was seen to pass by Auk Alpha in 1984!
- Ringed birds are often found dead on rigs;
- A Starling that was ringed in Poland in May 1992 was found on the Hewett platform in December that year. It had travelled over 1500km;
- A Blue Tit ringed in Norway in July 1988 was found on Beryl B, halfway between Norway and the Shetland Isles;
- The first British record of a Pacific Swift came from Shell BT platform in 1981. It normally breeds in the Far East and migrates to Australia!
It’s not only birds that were reported:
- Over 300 killer whales have been seen offshore and reported. 20-30 were around Brae B in April 1988 and one remained there for almost a year (photo);
- Butterflies, moths and dragonflies are regularly reported too;
- A Blue Dasher dragonfly from America which was found on an unmanned rig near Shetland was the first record in Europe!
- Bats are occasionally found and sent in;
- The NSBC has provided much valuable information on the Nathusius’ pipistrelle bat which previously was rarely recorded in the UK.