Hi there. I'm currently aboard an oil rig drilling an exploritary well in the Black Sea off Istanbul. The crew are largely Scottish or Norwegian.
Today has seen a sudden influx of small birds, and they're collapsing or falling out of the sky left right and center. I think they are drinking horrible pools of water on deck, or they are simply starving.
Does anyone know what could possibly be done? There are too many for just me and the other concerned crew to do much. I could take it to the Installation Manager but I would need to have ideas.
We don't have a flare or anything, and are 25 miles from shore but in over 2000 meters of water. I have cut up some nectarine and put it outside but they don;t appear to be attracted to it. Which I guess suggests they are not hungry.
There is a great variety of birds, from small chaffinches to quail.
Thanks for any advice,
Robbie
I assume the oil rig has a properly equipped canteen?
If they are looking for energy rich foods, then it will need to be nuts/seeds (unsalted), or if they have pure lard in the canteen, there may be a way of making fat balls? It must be pure lard, not fats used from cooking. I have no idea what you could add to the fat balls that are at hand on an oil rig, as most commercial ones are full of seeds or insects.
Here's a link on how to make fat/suet balls for birds.
Of course, it should be quite simple to provide fresh clean water in a few bowls, containers.
Lovely to see you are showing such concern for the wildlife despite doing such a dangerous job!
Great post, I hope we can all help you on here. And let us know how you get on!
I feel really wimpy now I have to brave the single digit temperatures outside to fill my garden feeders! ;o)
Ant
"IT IS SAID THAT LIFE FLASHES BEFORE YOUR EYES BEFORE YOU DIE. THAT IS TRUE, IT'S CALLED LIVING."Death - Terry Pratchett (The Last Continent).
As it is peak time for autumn migration i suspect these birds are stopping off at the rig out of exhaustion. If they have turned up during the night then the lights from the rig may be attracting them down. I think this happens quite regularly on rigs as well as large ships that generate a fair bit of light, in an otherwise dark ocean the lights act as a beacon for birds which can cause them a few problems.
The tips on providing food and water are spot on, it may give any grounded birds a chance to recouperate before they head off again. If you need any further tips on what food is safe to give birds have a look on our website here where we explain what foods from the back of the cupboard are good bird foods.
Hopefully many of them will be able to recover and head off again. However if you do find any that don't make it please check for rings on their legs and report any of them here.
Warden Intern at Otmoor.
You will both be pleased to hear I made it back from the garden safely! ;o)
Unknown said: I assume the oil rig has a properly equipped canteen? If they are looking for energy rich foods, then it will need to be nuts/seeds (unsalted), or if they have pure lard in the canteen, there may be a way of making fat balls? It must be pure lard, not fats used from cooking. I have no idea what you could add to the fat balls that are at hand on an oil rig, as most commercial ones are full of seeds or insects. Here's a link on how to make fat/suet balls for birds. Of course, it should be quite simple to provide fresh clean water in a few bowls, containers. Lovely to see you are showing such concern for the wildlife despite doing such a dangerous job! Great post, I hope we can all help you on here. And let us know how you get on! I feel really wimpy now I have to brave the single digit temperatures outside to fill my garden feeders! ;o) Ant
Thanks Ant for getting back to me.
I shall pass that recipe onto the cook and see if he can make anything up. The birds are eating the chemicals on board and we're not sure what we can do to stop that as whilst we can put tarpaulin over they will still be able to get in when we access them. I just don't know why so many are coming here.
I have found some information on ultrasonic bird repellents which can maybe be installed on the rig but this will take some time. I can at least tell the rig manager that the cost of the repeller will offset the man-hours in disposing of all the bodies.
I will see if there is any stale less-bresh bread in the canteen as we do bake our own bread on board. I don;t know if there will be any lard.
My four weeks on board are up on Friday but I will hand over to my crew change to keep me posted if anything is done about this.
Thanks,
Well I have now spoken to the Installation Manager and showed him some ultrasonic bird repellers which I would hope would make the birds pass our rig and on with their journey. We had a conversation about them and it is apparently a problem they are hit with twice a year; once in the spring and once in the autumn.I hope they will consider fitting something to the rig to make the birds fly on. He told me that it is far worse on the rigs than on the ships.
They are eating my biscuits readily but they seem more interested in eating each other.. And my pieces of nectarine are untouched. There is a lot of standing water, if I do arrange to have some fresh water put out do you think they would know to drink it instead? I think I would be hit with resistance if I suggest using our potable water for the local wildlife.
Thanks a lot,
You could do what we did in Norway.
Get hold of the Co Rep and tell him whats happening and to phone the shore for a bucket or 2 of meal worm .. Looks great in the papers for the Oil co .
And it worked with mearsk who I was working for at the time They choppered out the meal worms the next day on the crew change .
Cheers
AL
If its no fun Yer no doin it right!
Hi raffles
Idon't think it's anything to do with the crew being scottish and norweigan
I was watching autumn watch the other night where a ship in the north sea had its deck covered in birds including small birds of prey.
Ray
a good laugh is better than a tonic
I noticed Chris Packham mentioned oil rigs on Thursday night as well. Made me wonder if it was coincidence or whether he had seen this thread. It wouldn't surprise me if he dropped in from time to time.
Unknown said: Well I have now spoken to the Installation Manager and showed him some ultrasonic bird repellers which I would hope would make the birds pass our rig and on with their journey. We had a conversation about them and it is apparently a problem they are hit with twice a year; once in the spring and once in the autumn.I hope they will consider fitting something to the rig to make the birds fly on. He told me that it is far worse on the rigs than on the ships. They are eating my biscuits readily but they seem more interested in eating each other.. And my pieces of nectarine are untouched. There is a lot of standing water, if I do arrange to have some fresh water put out do you think they would know to drink it instead? I think I would be hit with resistance if I suggest using our potable water for the local wildlife. Thanks a lot, Robbie
I'm not sure how well an ultrasonic bird repeller would work as birds have a similar hearing range to humans. Alarm calls are often used to deter specific species from places where they cause problems for example gull alarm calls are played at marinas and rubbish tips. However i think that any methods af deterrent you try will not prevent this from happening.
During spring and autumn migration millions of birds are on the move. During periods of bad weather or if travelling across large expanses of water, lights attract them down. For an exhausted bird in bad weather this can sometimes be a saviour but for many birds such as small insect eating birds it can be a fatal error as they will not be able to replenish any energy. I think this may be the main reason why you are finding lot of dead birds on the rig. As has been mentioned in this thread, many other people on ships and rigs have witnessed similar occurences this autumn.
Providing food seems to work well for the generalist birds like finches that land there, any migrating birds of prey that pass by will also be able to pick off any weakened birds which fits with what you are saying about them preferring to eat each other. Birds are not great fans of citrus fruit but love cereals and biscuits! If you cannot spare any potable water, not sure if this would be possible but if it rains could you leave out some dishes to collect rain water?
Hopefully the majority of birds will be able to continue their journeys. This is mentioned on the Birdtrack website.