An ROV cable burial survey in the German and Danish sectors of the North Sea proved extremely productive for autumn migrants. As night shift surveyor most of my birding was done between going off shift at 0600 (still dark) and 0900 (when it was what could loosely be described as "light".

Some bad bird strikes onboard were caused by nocturnal "circulations" whereby birds, having lost their way during cludy conditions, circled the vessel throughout the hours of darkness, often colliding with vessel superstructure and killing themselves. At the same time these circulations provided a feeding opportunity for owls and raptors. Long-eared and Short-eared Owls took up residence onboard for varying lengths of time. Both Sparrowhawk and Peregrine also availed themselves of the plentiful migrants.

Unusual offshore species included Bean Goose, Bittern, Peregrine and Water Rail.

For other pages dealing with birding the southern North Sea see the following pages:

North Sea

Southern North Sea

Southern Norwegian Sector of the North Sea

The general pattern was similar nearly every day. Few birds were present in the late afternoon / evening when I got up, numbers built up during the night - usually starting around midnight. There was a peak of activity just before dawn. After daybreak most birds reorientated themselves and quickly moved on. Often it was just the weaker birds that were left behind - the exception being the owls which didn't seem to have much of a problem being offshore. After 09:00 there was generally little activity and few birds onboard.

As usual clicking on images on this page will usually take you to more images of that species or other relevant information.

The book below is argueably the best bird book ever!


Owls were seen to take a variety of prey - the Short-eared Owl pictured above returned to the vessel with a Brambling. Redwing, Starling and Meadow Pipit were among the other species taken. Unidentified SE / LE Owls were seen most nights

Species killed by collision included Water Rail, Blackbird, Redwing, Starling and Skylark.







Documenting the nightly activity proved quite challenging photography-wise. For more details about nocturnal bird photography see this page.



Blackcap are a typical November migrant offshore (and on the west coast of Norway where I do most of my birding). These birds may well have been continental Blackcaps moving over to the U.K. for the winter.


The survey moved gradually northwards between 6th and 15th November:
Position 6th November: N 54 18' 59" E 6 19' 30"
Position 15th November: N 55 49'.721 E 6 9.474'

Species list:
* = 1-9
** = 10-99
*** = 100-999
**** = 1000+

English	Norwegian	Scientific	Status	Comments
Red-throated Diver	Smålom	Gavia stellata	*	A single flew past 14.11
Northern Fulmar	Havhest	Fulmarus glacialis	*	<10 on a few occasions
Northern Gannet	Havsule	Sula bassana	*	<10 on a few occasions
Great Bittern	Rødrum	Botaurus stellaris	*	One circled the vessel during the early hours of 13.11
Whooper Swan	Sangsvane	Cygnus cygnus	*	A flock of six swans at night on 07.11 were probably this species
Bean Goose	Sædgås	Anser fabalis	*	Several seen in daylight 11.11
Greater White-fronted Goose	Tundragås	Anser albifrons	*	A single rested on the sea 11.11
Brent Goose	Ringgås	Branta bernicla	*	A flock of six flew past 07.11
Mallard	Stokkand	Anas platyrhynchos	*	A single female on 13.11
Greater Scaup	Bergand	Aythya marila	*	A pair seen on 12.11, possibly the same pair seen the following day
Common Scoter	Svartand	Melanitta nigra	**	A flock of 40+ 15.11
Eurasian Sparrowhawk	Spurvehauk	Accipiter nisus	*	One hunting during darkness 15.11
Peregrine	Vandrefalk	Falco peregrinus	*	One hunting during darkness 15.11
Water Rail	Vannrikse	Rallus aquaticus	*	A single dead and two other singles seen
Common Snipe	Enkeltbekkasin	Gallinago gallinago	*	Heard occasionally at night
Eurasian Woodcock	Rugde	Scolopax rusticola	*	1-2 Seen on two occasions
Black-headed Gull	Hettemåke	Larus ridebudus	**	Small numbers in daylight, some larger nocturnal gull flocks likely to have been this species
Common Gull	Fiskemåke	Larus canus	**	Small numbers most days
Lesser Black-backed Gull	Sildemåke	Larus fuscus	*	Singles only
Herring Gull	Gråmake	Larus argentatus	***	Up to 200 per day
Great Black-backed Gull	Svartbak	Larus marinus	**	<10 daily
Black-legged Kittiwake	Krykkje	Rissa tridactyla	**	Maximum 60 per day
Common Guillemot	Lomvi	Uria aalge	*	A few seen most days
Little Auk	Alkekonge	Alle alle	*	A single bird on 14.11
Common Woodpigeon	Ringdue	Columba palumbus	*	1-2 birds on a few occasions
Long-eared Owl	Hornugle	Asio otus	*	Up to 2 onboard simultaneously. Hard to judge numbers seen
Short-eared Owl	Jordugle	Asio flameus	*	Up to 2 seen per day. Hard to judge numbers seen
Skylark	Sanglerke	Alauda arvensis	**	Flocks of up to 50 daily
Meadow Pipit	Heipiplerke	Anthus pratensis	**	Small numbers most days
European Robin	Rødstrupe	Erithacus rubecula	*	Small numbers most days
Black Redstart	Svartrødstjert	Phoenicurus ochruros	*	Up to three onboard
Common Blackbird	Svartrost	Turdus merula	****	Big flocks most days
Fieldfare	Gråtrost	Turdus pilaris	***	Heard frequently but did not land onboard
Song Thrush	Måltrost	Turdus philomelus	**	Small numbers daily, probably underestimated. Few on deck
Redwing	Rødvingetrost	Turdus iliacus	****	Large flocks, common on deck
Mistle thrush	Duetrost	Turdus viscivorus	*	Small numbers heard at night
Blackcap	Munk	Sylvia atricapilla	**	Common, up to six onboard at once
Common Chiffchaff	Gransanger	Phylloscopus collybita	*	Occasional singles
Goldcrest	Fuglekonge	Regulus regulus	*	Small numbers on a few days
Common Starling	Stær	Sturnus vulgaris	****	Big flocks most days
Chaffinch	Bokfink	Fringilla coelebs	**	Commonest finch
Brambling	Bjørkefink	Fringilla montifringilla	*	Small numbers heard and and seen
Meally Redpoll	Gråsisik	Carduelis flammea	*	A single seen 08.11
Common Crossbill	Grankorsnebb	Loxia curvvirostra	*	A single female rested onboard briefly 15.11
Lapland Longspur	Lappspurv	Calcarius lapponicus	*	Flocks of 2-4 regular
Snow Bunting	Snøspurv	Plectrophenax nivalis	*	Small flocks on a few dates
Yellowhammer	Gulspurv	Embiriza citrinella	*	One or two onboard 14.11

Roosting Long-eared Owl, one of the highlights of the trip, November 2011
For more images of Long-eared Owl offshore click here.