In a nutshell the
North Sea Bird Club
is viewed by the authorities of British Birding in exactly the same way as any county in the
British Isles
It has an elected Recorder who in my own 18 years as a member was
Andrew Thorpe
who was more than abley assisted by Secretary and Archivist
Alma Fraser.
Additionally, there was a widespread committee of which I was honoured to be a member.
It was always a part of Aberdeen University, not housed in the Granite City itself but at the satelite
on the western bank of the River Ythan
which also incorporated the
Deep Sea Research and Science Facility - Ocean-Lab
When first joining the club in 1999 the facalty was no more than a series of WWII wooden huts but since then has become a Space Age Laboratory. It has also been my pleasure to meet these dedicated people and others also managing to squeeze in lunch on one occassion but that first meeting was most memorable.
Each Aril during that time period when demobbing from the rig I would spend a minimum of one week touring the Isles and Kyles of this wonderful county and just took pot luck on a meeting in those early years. Alma it turned out was at the office while Andy was conducting outside surveys with the suggestion that he might be bumped into on my leaving. That was just how it turned out and after establishing that it was he my first words were simply, "you have just 10 minutes to find me the King Eider" I have a flight to catch! We drove down to the area known as The Point where in all its glory Andy pointed out the target male bird.
KING EIDER
River Ethan, Aberdeenshire with the a far more numerous
COMMON EIDER
foreground for comparison.
Back to the Bucnan Alpha for a few more images.
Gives an idea of overnight migration set against the rig flare
but nowhere near the magnitude
ARCTIC TERN
many of these little critters did we save??
All Oil Rigs and Platforms have a dedicated
Standby Vessel
in attendance for any emergencies or transferes that might be
encountered with in this case the
One morning just before going off watch the Captain called me up
to report that they had caught 2 birds during the night and should I throw down
a heaving line would be pleased to transfer them to me.
He went on to tell me that with a Field Guide onboard there had been an attempt to
identify them and considered a possible House Martin along with a Linnet.
A moment of excitement followed as House Martin was uncommon out here, but had been recorded, but Linnet was down right rare and up to that point not even on the NSBC list.
It might have been disappointment for the crew not having ID'ed either of them correctly, but
describing the magnitued were satisfied with their captives!
pronounced white rump then it was thought they had done very well but for me,
never having seen a
in the hand this was beyond magical!
As stated Linnet would have been beyond wildest dreams but, to pluck a
was beyond Wildest Dreams!!!!
to the casual observer a good candidate for Linnet and the following day
it too was afforded a free helicopter ride into town where it was met by a local 'A' Ringer.
From there it was transported to a ringing station in the village of
Cove, just a few miles south of Aberdeen where a large crowd were waiting, it was 'ringed'
(as can be seen) before being released back to the wild to everyones delight,
not least the off-shore crews!
SWALLOW
a short series of
it too was afforded a free helicopter ride into town where it was met by a local 'A' Ringer.
From there it was transported to a ringing station in the village of
Cove, just a few miles south of Aberdeen where a large crowd were waiting, it was 'ringed'
(as can be seen) before being released back to the wild to everyones delight,
not least the off-shore crews!
It is patently against the law to play
Lost at Sea
without following up with the sensational Gallagher track
Edged in Blue
