Tuesday 22 July 2014

Monster monster monster!

Monster in the hand (Phil Joyce)

It's big! (David Steel)

Obvious markings in wing (Laura Shearer)


Forked tail (Laura Shearer)

Tuesday 22nd July comments: Its that time of year when bird ringing on the Farnes takes on a completely different form; nocturnal bird ringing! For the previous two evenings, tape players have been played off the islands in the hope of catching Storm Petrels or something even better!

The idea of playing a tape to attract birds at night has been working for many years up and down the east coast and our success rate continued as seven Storm Petrels were trapped and ringed on Monday evening. However this was all eclipsed by something much bigger; a Leach's Petrel, caught and ringed just after midnight last night.

The bird, a nocturnal migrant which breeds in far remote Scottish islands was only the second ever to be ringed on the Farnes and its been a good start to the 'Storm Petrel' season. Hopefully a few more will follow in the next few weeks...

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