It's a long flight across the North Sea for migrating birds and the platforms have provided a rest stop and no doubt saved many birds from a watery grave - the

It's a long flight across the North Sea for migrating birds and the platforms have provided a rest stop and no doubt saved many birds from a watery grave - the gas flares have probably killed many more but that's another matter. My brother was meteorologist out on the rigs for a while and he said that one morning after a storm he went outside and the heli-deck was completely packed with Golden Plovers (Pluvialis apricaria). There was not a square centimetre left exposed. Another time, in a force 12 gale, he watched a Lapwing (Vanellus vanellus) just outside the control room window flying for 20 minutes without making any headway against the wind. Not sure if it made it onto the platform.