The job was an ROV pipeline inspection survey of two lines crossing the Black Sea from Samsun in Turkey over to Russia. The job was nearing completion when we joined the vessel MV Geosund in Samsun on 3rd March. On completion of the job the vessel sailed west through the Bosporus into the Mediterranean and ultimately to Algerciras in southern Spain.

For more links to other trips to the area see the following links:

Russian Black Sea - April 2012

Turkish Black Sea - May 2012

In the harbour there were flocks of Tufted Duck, plenty of Coot and several Great-crested grebes as well as various gulls and large numbers of Cormorants.


The very first morning offshore, approximately halfway between Turkey and Russia, there were grounded migrants onboard the vessel. Following a pattern that was repeated over the next several days most stuff cleared off shortly after dawn leaving largely only the dead and dying behind. Dead birds were found on deck pretty much daily during this trip. The corpses of Skylarks, Black Redstarts, Robins and others were a reminder of the risks taken by migrating passerines.

A few moribund Skylark were picked off and eaten by a Rook whilst a couple of Cormorants rested onboard moving only when disturbed..

By dawn on 6th March we had moved to N 42° 39.3’, E 37° 36.5 and more typical early spring migrants turned up, mostly Skylarks but also White Wagtail and a Yellowhammer.




During strong westerly winds the next day several distant Yelkouan Shearwater gave brief views.

On 8th March a much larger movement was obvious with a flock of some 200 Skylark circling the vessel during the pre-dawn darkness – complete cloud cover must have made navigation virtually impossible for them. Most disappeared shortly after dawn when they managed to realign themselves using the light from the sun.



Interestingly a Black-necked Grebe also circled the vessel with them but instead of moving on after dawn it settled on the sea near the vessel. A Heron took off from the mast as I went out on deck before breakfast and other species included a male Black Redstart, a few Stonechat, a White Wagtail and a Kestrel. Late at night, around 2300 flocks of thrushes were seen and heard circling around. Fieldfares, Song thrush, Blackbird and Redwing were joined by small flocks of Skylark.


By dawn of the 9th March (again before breakfast and before it was light) the deck was covered in migrants of a large variety of species, some of which were somewhat surprising. Highlights were a couple of Cetti’s Warblers – one of the few birds that remained onboard after dawn and a Corn Bunting.


With all this going on I discovered that I had forgotten the battery charger for my camera. This led to a desperate remedy – one that worked just fine but is probably not to be recommended. That battery grip I’ve been thinking about buying moved right to the top of the list….

Later in the afternoon a Kittiwake flew past – a vagrant in these parts and possibly only the second ever photographed in Turkish waters. More thrushes were heard around the vessel after nightfall.

Flock of Yelkouan Shearwaters moving through the staits of Marmora

The following "landscapes" were also taken using a 400mm telephot lens - no time to change lenses with flocks of Yelkouan Shearwaters passing!

Numerous Mediterranean Gulls and Great Egrets were among the other species seen in this area as well as pods of dolphins. Things were relatively quiet off Athens although there were a few Sandwich Terns and plenty of Mediterranean Gulls among the hundreds of Black-headed Gulls. The vessel sailed on from Athens towards the western end of the Mediterranean. As usual for this area there was very little to see for the most part with just one Cory’s Shearwater flying past and a dead male Subalpine Warbler of the eastern race found on deck.

We finally went ashore at Algerciras in southern Spain. Whilst waiting for the crewboat off Gibraltar in the early hours of the morning and long before dawn a flock of around 30 Audoin's Gulls fed around the vessel. Attempting to photograph these gull at night produced some rather surreal images - even with the ISO set to 3200....