Storm Petrels

Sunday, August 29th 2010

Some of the Foxglove bird ringing team are in Cape Wrath this weekend to catch and ring Storm petrels.

These beautiful birds are seldom seen as they are pelagic, coming to land only when breeding. They are similar in size to a sparrow and look a bit like a bat when in flight.

Mist net on cliff edge at Cape Wrath

The first photo shows a mist net set up on the cliff edge to catch the birds as they return to land at night time. This process is very tiring as you can imagine as the ringing can only take place during darkness.

Below you can see the tiny webbed feet, large tubular nostrils and white rump that help to distinguish this species.

Storm Petrel

The team have had varied success so far. On the first day of their trip, Twite and Meadow pipit were ringed in nearby meadows. On the first night a total of 263 Storm petrels were caught. The second night was less successful however, and the session was abandoned due to stormy weather. There is one night left so fingers crossed for better conditions!

(1) Comments:

Laurent responded on 6th Oct 2011 with...

Hello
Could you contact me to discuss about your technic to catch shearwater. I m french ringer.
Thank you

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