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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Gander" data-source="post: 3536476" data-attributes="member: 138487">2015 ReportOver the last couple of weeks I've had a good look at the North Sea Bird Club 2015 report. It makes interesting reading. One hundred and five different species of birds reported from twenty installations. Highlights are Little Egret, Wryneck, Gyrfalcon, Great Grey Shrike and Lapland bunting, although there are other birds reported that don't wouldn't raise an eyebrow onshore, but are pretty rare offshore. The report of one Little Grebe for the year being a good example.I now have the annual reports for 2015, 2014 and 2013, so have been able to look for any trends, and in the case of my own platform, any differences in what I'm seeing compared to other platforms.It would seem that we are a little bit too far North to get the best of the passerine movements, but judging by the numbers I've put in over the last year and a bit, since starting to report, it would seem that my platform is the gull and wildfowl capital of the North Sea. Although it has to be borne in mind that most of my figures are for 2016, so I can't see what the others have been reporting for that period. They may well have had an upsurge in gull and wildfowl numbers that mirrors what I've seen last year.Other points of interest include that there have been no swans reported in four years. Strange, as there must be thousands passing overhead during migration. Also, Yellow Browed Warblers have seen a dramatic upturn in reporting over the last ten years. I believe this has been reflected onshore.One other point worthy of note, is the first ever record of birds breeding successfully of a platform. The birds were Kittiwakes that nested on a platform in Morecambe Bay.I'm already looking forward to the 2016 annual report. It will be the first report that I will have contributed to over a full year, and with Glaucous Gull and Velvet Scoter not having been mentioned in the previous three annual reports, I know that we could be pushing the total bird count for the year, along with Greylag, Long-tailed Duck, Pink-Footed Goose and Icterine Warbler, that did not appear on last years list.</blockquote>

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