Storm Petrels in Portugal

2011 Catches

2011-06-14T18:30:00.015+01:00

June 3rd-4th: 1 stormie
June 5th-6th: 4 stormies
June 6th-7th: 1 stormie
June 9th-10th: 1 stormie
June 10th-11th: 2 stormies
June 11th-12th: 0 stormies :(
June 13th-14th: 3 stormies
June 14th-15th: 0 stormies (where are they?!?)
June 17th-18th: 5 stormies :)
June 18th-19th: 20 stormies (They arrived! Glory!!)
June 19th-20th: 11 stormies
June 20th-21th: 5 stormies
June 21th-22th: 5 stormies
June 23th-24th: 10 stormies
June 25th-26th: 5 stormies
June 26th-27th: 14 stormies
June 27th-28th: 3 stormies
June 30th-July 1st: 2 stormies
July 4th-5th: 1 stormie

2011 Running total: 93 stormies (no controls for the season)

Join us in Portugal in 2011

2010-09-09T20:09:00.001+01:00

A unique opportunity is available for volunteers to join our storm petrel project in Portugal for 10 days during May-June 2011.

The birds...

Storm Petrels (or “stormies”) are tiny sparrow-sized seabirds that traverse the globe on their migrations, only rarely coming to land.

A storm petrel carrying an individually numbered ring. This bird was originally ringed in Scotland, and subsequently re-caught in Portugal.

A "stormie" at sea

The Research…
Since 1990 stormies have been the focus of one of A Rocha Portugal's long-running research projects, on the impacts of climate change on marine ecosystems. The project examines the links between climate, oceanography, marine food-webs and the diet and migration strategies of storm petrels. See the numerous other postings on this blog for further details of our research and to see photos of previous storm petrel teams in action

Members of the research team hard at work

The participants...

Each year, we welcome volunteers from all around the world and of all ages, to take part in this exciting and topical research project. Small teams of 6-8 volunteers stay for 10 days each, working alongside scientists from Cardiff University & A Rocha Portugal. No previous experience is necessary, just enthusiasm and a reasonable level of physical fitness. All necessary training is provided, and volunteers can complete an optional short course in Seabird Research Techniques, to obtain a certificate.

Manuela, a volunteer from Italy

The location...
You will be based at A Rocha Portugal’s Bird Observatory on the Algarve coast.

Stormies are captured at night at a beautiful and remote location near the western Cape. Sound recordings of the storm petrel's songs are used to lure the birds into mist nets, from which they are carefully extracted by trained bird ringers, then weighed measured and quickly released.

Good food, a warm welcome and impressive facial hair are the observatory’s specialities!

The project staff...

Dr Rob Thomas, Lecturer in Biosciences at Cardiff University (Wales, UK) & storm petrel project coordinator

Renata Medeiros, PhD student at Cardiff University & regular staff member.

We are also regularly joined by other biologists including Dr Nicola Marples & Dr Dave Kelly (both at Trinity College Dublin, Ireland) & Dr Jaime Ramos (University of Coimbra, Portugal).

2011 dates -please email Rob for details ThomasRJ@Cardiff.ac.uk

Team 1: June 1st-10th

Team 2: June 10th-19th

Team 3: June 19th-28th

2011 prices: £ 550 per person for 10 days
Includes accommodation, good food & all research expenses

(travel to Portugal & travel insurance are not included).
A number of student/pensioner discounts are available (details available on request: contact ThomasRJ@Cardiff.ac.uk)

Further information & Bookings
To find out more about joining the project in 2010, or to make a booking, please contact the project leader:

Dr Rob Thomas, Cardiff School of Biosciences, Cardiff University, Museum Avenue, Cardiff, Wales, CF103US, UK.
Email: ThomasRJ@Cardiff.ac.uk

Tel.: 0044 (0)29 20757226 (evenings/answerphone)
Mobile: 0044 (0)790 4565448

We look forward to hosting you in Portugal this summer, for the A Rocha storm petrel project's 22nd year!

2010 Catches

2010-05-24T15:59:00.025+01:00

May 23th-24th: 1 faulty battery, 1 very bright moon, 0 stormies, 6 sleeping petrellers and 8 Pastéis de Nata.
May 24th-25th: 1 bouncing bird, 3 very desperate ringers by the net whole night, 1 armed policeman and 8 warm Pastéis de Nata.
May 25th-26th: 0 stormies, 6 Pastéis de Nata.
May 26th-27th: night off
May 27th-28th: 0 stormies, 7 Pastéis de Nata with a good discount.
May 28th-29th: 2 stormies!!!!!!!! Nevermind the Pastéis de Nata.
May 29th-30th: 0 stormies, back to Pastéis de Nata
May 30th-31st: night off, goodbye Team 1
May 31st- June 1st: night off, welcome Team 2
June 1st-2nd: 0 stormies; 0 Pastéis de Nata!! getting worse...
June 2nd-3rd: 2 stormies :))))
June 3rd-4th: 1 stormie, a retrap from 5th June 2009, weighing the same (26g)
June 4th-5th: 0 stormies! Ze wins the mars bar - again! 8 creamy doughnuts (later re-identified as custard by Abi Gordon, doughnut conniseur).
June 5th-6th: 0 stormies again -what is going on???
June 6th-7th: night off -boat trip tomorrow -maybe we'll find some stormies further offshore....
June 7th boat trip: 8+ common dolphins, 7+ stormies 6miles and 9 miles S of Lagos
June 7th-8th: 0 stormies, but a couple of birds very briefly over the net. We are taking solace in Odiaxere bakery products which are consoling us about Renata's depature as well...
June 8th-9th: End of team 2 party!
June 9th-10th: Night off, welcome team 3
June 10th-11th: 1 stormie, Cory's shearwater overhead. A bag of custard doughnuts and pasteis de nata was briefly sighted at dawn.
June 11th-12th: 4 stormies -Happy Days!!!
June 12th-13th: 5 stormies + 1 police-boat encounter
June 13th-14th: 0 stormies again, though 1 bounced at 3am.
June 14th: boat trip, 2.5 miles S of Lagos: 8+ stormies coming for mackerel amazingly close to the boat, including 1 ringed bird.
June 14th-15th: 2 stormies ringed, 2 seen off Ponta da Almadena at dusk.
June 15th-16th: 6 stormies, including 1 ringed in the UK
June 16th-17th: 5 stormies, including 1 uk ring
June 17th: End of team 3 -party!

June 27-28th: 22 stormies, including 1 UK ring & 1 Spanish ring

Hurrah for team 4!!!!

June 28-29th: 10 stormies

Running year total: 60 stormies in 21 nights of fieldwork.

2009 catches

2009-06-14T22:56:00.006+01:00

May 24th-25th: 47 stormies, 3 carrying Spanish rings, 1 UK ring + 1 CORY'S SHEARWATER!!!
May 25th-26th: 24 stormies, 1 UK ring
May 26th-27th: 20 stormies, 1 Spanish ring
May 27th-28th: night off
May 28th-29th: 0 stormies (but amazing waves!)
May 29th-30th: 35 stormies, 2 UK rings
May 30th-31th: 21 stormies, 1 Norwegian ring
May 31th-June 1st: night off (Goodbye Team 1)
June 1st-2nd: night off (Welcome Team 2)
June 2nd-3rd: 2 stormies
June 3nd-4rd: 7 stormies
June 4th-5th: 3 stormies
June 5th-6th: 10 stormies
June 6th-7th: 11 stormies, 1 Spanish retrap from May 24th,
PLUS our 5,000th stormie!!!
June 7th-8th: 8 stormies
June 8th-9th: 24 stormies
June 9th-10th: night off (Goodbye Team 2)
June 10th-11th: night off (Welcome Team 3)
June 11th-12th: 8 stormies
June 12th-13th: 25 stormies, including 1 retrap from last night
June 13th-14th: 31 stormies, 1 UK ring
June 14th-15th: 59 stormies, 2 UK rings
June 15th-16th: zero stormies -perplexing!!!
June 16th-17th: 28 stormies
June 17th-18th: Night off (various island and isopod - related activities)
June 18th-19th: 7 stormies
June 19th-20th: End of season party!!!

2009 Running total: 370 stormies (4 Spanish, 7 UK, 1 Norwegian, 1 Portuguese retrap) + 1 Cory's shearwater
All-time running total: 5,198 stormies

On nights in green, the Secret Weapon (dimethyl sulphide) was used as a scent lure.

Storm Petrellers 2009 -Team 3

2009-06-13T07:43:00.006+01:00

Team 3 at the Cape

Swimming near the Cape

A megalithic monument moment!

Walking home at dawn

Note to Rebecca's mum; we are feeding her well!

One bakery customer preferred to remain anonymous

Team 3 night off; all ready for the big night out in Alvor!

Storm Petrelers 2009 -Team 2

2009-06-09T14:45:00.013+01:00

At the Cape

Transport to the field site

Ready for action

Clearing the net ride!

Catching sea creatures

Early morning bakery visits are an important new development!

Team 2 have had a full moon to contend with
(it keeps the stormies offshore)
but its rising later in the night at last

Survivors' photo, dawn day 10

Our 5,000th stormie

2009-06-08T07:45:00.004+01:00

After 20 years of storm petrel research at A Rocha Portugal, our project has reached a new landmark; our 5,000th storm petrel. Well done everyone! Here is the momentous bird, caught on the night of June 6th-7th 2009.

Team 2 boat trip

2009-06-08T07:05:00.007+01:00

No stormies this time, but 3 Cory's shearwaters, 2 Mediterranean sheawaters, approx. 20 common terns, 1 skua sp., loads of gannets and best of all, 8 common dolphins frolicking around and under the boat. They were even seen mating! Thanks to Jelle and Bert for the great photos.

Storm petrelers 2009 - Team 1

2009-05-29T16:59:00.024+01:00

Getting ready for the first night on the cliffs

Fun in the field

Other fun

Ready to go!

2009-05-20T23:40:00.004+01:00

The 2009 storm petrel season is about to start. We have 26 participants about to descend on the A Rocha observatory for one of its busiest months in recent years! Lets hope for an exciting and productive season, with the great team spirit that is A Rocha's speciality.
Watch this space for all the latest news from the cliffs!

The project field site on the cliffs at Ponta da Almadena

New arrival

2008-08-06T12:24:00.004+01:00

Apologies for the recent break in transmission -I have an excellent excuse, namely Bryony Kate Thomas, who arrived into the world on July 21st. Seen here taking a nap after a busy day being born.

2008 catches

2008-06-13T06:56:00.008+01:00

May 26th-27th: 28 stormies
May 27th-28th: 20 stormies, 1 carrying a Norwegian ring
May 28th-29th: 58 stormies
May 29th-30th: 23 stormies
May 30th-31st: 33 stormies, 1 Spanish ring
May 31st-June 1st: 34 stormies
June 1st-2nd: Night off
June 2nd-3rd: 14 stormies, 1 UK ring
June 3rd-4th: 10 stormies
June 4th-5th: 30 stormies, 1 UK ring
June 5th-6th, 28 stormies, 1 French ring
June 6th-7th: 32 stormies, 1 UK ring
June 7th-8th: 30 stormies
June 8th-9th: Night off!
June 9th-10th: 2 stormies caught and ringed at sea, 6 nautical miles S of Portimao
June 10th-11th: 102 stormies, 2 UK rings, 1 MADEIRAN PETREL
June 11th-12th: 46 stormies
June 12th-13th: 38 stormies
June 13th-14th: Night off!
June 14th-15th: 21 stormies, 1 UK ring
June 15th-16th: 16 stormies
June 16th-17th: 38 stormies, 1 French ring & 1 Norwegian ring
June 17th-18th: 17 stormies
June 18th-19th: 6 stormies, 1 recapture from the 26th May
June 19th-20th: Night off!
June 20th-21th: 10 stormies

End of 2008 season!

Year total: 636 stormies, 11 controls + 1 Madeiran petrel

On nights in green, the Secret Weapon was deployed.

The Secret Weapon

2008-06-12T21:03:00.008+01:00

Our secret weapon for catching stormies is a small bottle of Dimethyl Sulphide -which is the chemical released when phytoplankton are grazed by zooplankton. Amazingly, the smell of this can be detected by petrels over large distances at sea, and used to home in on patches of high productivity in which larger zooplankton and fish (storm petrel prey) are likely to be found. Whether this actually lures petrels in to our nets is a topic of much debate at Cruzinha -Renata is healthily sceptical while Rob is a True Believer. Only time and an end-of-season stats test will tell us the answer...

SECRET WEAPON UPDATE

The end of season stats were rather ambiguous (there either is, or is not, a Secret Weapon Effect, depending on which stats test one chooses), so we are keen to continue this experiment over the summer, at other points along the migration route. If you are a petreller and would like to take part in this experiment by using the Secret Weapon on 50% of your catching nights, please contact Rob Thomas (ThomasRJ@Cardiff.ac.uk) to be sent a bottle of dimethyl sulphate (with accompanying risk assessment).

FURTHER UPDATE

Thanks to those who have volunteered so far to join in with this experiment:

Bob Harris (Eilan Nan Ron, Scotland)

-Adrian George (Anglesey, Wales / Tyne & Wear, England)

-John Brown (Tyne & Wear, England)

-Declan Clarke (Sheepland, Northern Ireland)

-Kieran Foster (North Wales)

Here are some additional notes on the method:

1. In Portugal, we simply alternated nights with and nights without the dimethyl sulphate scent-lure, to test whether we caught more stormies on nights with the scent-lure in operation.

2. On the long Portuguese summer nights (7 hours of catching), we set up the scent lure at dusk, but further North with much shorter nights it may be worth setting up the scent lure some time before dusk, so that a downwind odour trail is already well established by the time catching begins.

3. In Portugal, we simply took the lid off the container to let the smell drift downwind, but it may be worth experimenting with some sort of absorbent wick, to increase the rate of evaporation.

4. We had the impression that our pot of dimethyl sulphate became less smelly over time, so for the last few nights of our field season we used a fresh bottle. Let us know if you need fresh supplies sent to you!

By way of encouragement, here is a reference suggesting that the secret weapon effect really does work on land, at least in the middle of a Leach's petrel colony!

Nevitt, G.A. & Habermann, K. 2003. Behavioral attraction of Leach’s storm-petrels (Oceanodroma leucorhoa) to dimethyl sulfide. Journal of Experimental Biology 206: 1497-1501.

Madeiran storm petrel!

2008-06-11T07:06:00.006+01:00

On a very busy first night for team 3, a Madeiran petrel was ringed by some very tired petrellers... here are some photos of a great bird -only the 3rd Madeiran petrel ringed at Almadena in 19 years of ringing stormies.

10th primary growing on both wings
1 tail feather growing
Primary coverts, secondaries & alula all fresh
Active body moult
Wing 156mm
Tarsus 23.1mm
Mass 41.7g

News from the 2008 field season

2008-05-27T10:01:00.015+01:00

May 26th-27th: A wet first night by all accounts, but Renata and Jaime report 28 birds caught -a great start to the season!

A small flock of stormies ready for take-off

May 27th-28th: More rain, but another 20 birds. A Norwegian ringed bird was the highlight.

May 28th-29th: Rob's first night on the cliffs (having just finished all his exam marking). 58 birds caught -a remarkable catch for this stage in the season, perhaps due to the trial run of our "secret weapon" - more news on this to follow...

Renata releasing the 100th bird of the year

May 29th-30th: a Fishermens' strike meant no boats offshore, but still 23 stormies caught.

Jaime & Gui ringing stormies in front of this year's deluxe accommodation. Note the Jo Lello Memorial Picnic Blanket.

May 30th-31st: The fishermens' strike continues, but the Secret Weapon was deployed and 33 stormies were caught. Highlights on another soggy night were a Spanish-ringed bird, and some dramatic lightning flashes over the sea. Thanks to Jaime, who departs today (after eating record amounts of strawberry jam), for his hard work and enthusiasm.

May 31st-June 1st: Another 34 stormies, bringing the total to 196 birds in just 6 nights. Volunteer reinforcements arriving this afternoon :)

June 1st-2nd: Our new volunteers have arrived! Left to Right: Ida, Jenny, Lucy, Ingrid, Esther & Vanessa. A night off from the cliffs was much appreciated by Rob & Renata.

At the Cape

June 2nd-3rd: Fewer birds around tonight -a British ringed bird was a highlight. The fishermens' strike continues so no boats inshore to bring us stormies.

June 3rd-4th: Even fewer birds on a breezy night -we all got a bit of sleep. A Cory's shearwater was heard calling to our storm petrel tape in the darkness.

Continuing the tradition of eating enormous meals at Cruzinha

June 4th-5th: A cool night in the sea breeze, but the fishing boats were back and 30 stormies were caught, including a UK-ringed bird. Other highlights included Gui's candlelit birthday celebration on the cliffs at midnight, at which he was presented with his own sponsored storm petrel. Lowlights included someone sitting on a teabag.

Gui with his sponsored stormie: http://www.justgiving.com/sponsor_a_stormie_2

June 5th-6th: Local bird ringers Leila and Anna joined us for another productive night with 28 stormies caught and several others bouncing out of the nets. Another Cory's shearwater was heard and highlights included a French ringed bird and the re-filming of the Blair Witch Project using the infra-red video camera.

June 6th-7th: A strange night, which got off to a bad start for Rob when a stray dog ran off with his sardine sandwiches! With the Cardiff students on their Big Night Out in Portimao, we were a joined on the cliff by Sara Roda -a long time friend of the project -and Bebe and her foster daughter Diana. Once darkness fell and in perfect conditions, we got off to a busy start with 11 birds in the first hour, but then the rate fell and we finished on 32 birds including 1 from the UK. Other highlights included a mole cricket that flew into the net at dusk, and a lot of sleep for Rob and Tim later in the night.

The mole cricket.

June 7th: Daytime boat trip -Mike Whale!

European storm petrel & Cory's shearwater, by Renata

Yes its a whale, its just not a good photo -Ida, can you send me a bt=etter one?

June 7th-8th: Last night on the cliff for the Cardiff students, some of whom got straight onto the train at 6am! 30 stormies and no sardine sandwich problems -a good night!

Esther with storm petrel

June 8th-9th: We are all exausted -a much needed night off :) Our new vols have arrived; Rosie, John, Melissa, Sarah and Ricardo. We spent the evening hatching plans for tomorrow's voyages of discovery...

International Updates

2008-05-13T10:46:00.007+01:00

Here is the latest batch of ringing information on storm petrels that we ringed in Portugal in 2007 and have since been recaptured further north along the migration route. See also a previous posting for 6 other recaptures of stormies ringed during the 2007 field season.

CEMPA N03322. Ringed on the night of 23-24/05/2007 at Ponta da Alamadena, Algarve, Portugal. Recaptured at C. Touriñan, NW SPAIN on 29/06/2007.

CEMPA N03356. Ringed on the night of 01-02/06/2007 at Ponta da Almadena, Algarve, Portugal, when it weighed just 23.9g. Recaptured by Margaret & David Thorne & Denis White on the Isle of May, Firth of Forth, SCOTLAND, on the night of 06-07/08/2007, weighing 30.1g.

CEMPA N03496. Ringed on the night of 09-10/06/2007 at Ponta da Alamadena, Algarve, Portugal. Recaptured at C. Touriñan, NW SPAIN on 23/06/2007, then recaptured AGAIN at Ferrol, NW SPAIN on 04/07/2007.

CEMPA N03523. Ringed on the night of 09-10/06/2007 at Ponta da Alamadena, Algarve, Portugal. Recaptured at C. Touriñan, NW SPAIN on 23/06/2007.

CEMPA N03856. Ringed on the night of 16-17/06/2007 at Ponta da Alamadena, Algarve, Portugal. Recaptured at C. Touriñan, NW SPAIN on 25/07/2007.

CEMPA N03896. Ringed on the night of 17-18/06/2007 at Ponta da Almadena, Algarve, Portugal. Recaptured by Yann Kolbeinsson at the island of Elliðaey in the Vestmannaeyjar archipelago, South ICELAND on the night of 17-18/08/2007.

These details have all been submitted to the national ringing schemes in the normal way.

A Map of the Portuguese ringing site and the Spanish recapture sites, from Google Earth.

Volunteers wanted for 2008

2008-05-12T14:35:00.000+01:00

Storm Petrels are tiny sparrow-sized seabirds that traverse the globe on their long-distance migrations. They are the focus of one of Cardiff University and A Rocha Portugal's long-running research projects on the impacts of climate change on marine ecosystems.

A unique opportunity exists to take part in the next field season of Storm Petrel research hosted by the A Rocha Bird Observatory on the Algarve coast of Portugal, in collaboration with Cardiff University. During May-June 2008, paying volunteers are being sought to join one of four teams spending 7 days and nights on the southern Portuguese coast, catching and studying these remarkable little seabirds. No previous experience is needed, just enthusiasm and a reasonable level of fitness.

For more details of costs & logistics, or to hear more about the project, please contact Dr Rob Thomas, Cardiff School of Biosciences, Cardiff University, Museum Avenue, Cardiff CF103US.
Email: ThomasRJ@Cardiff.ac.uk
Tel. / answerphone: 0044 (0)29 20757226

Mobile: 0044 (0)790 4565448

Developments on the stormy coast

2008-05-11T14:45:00.000+01:00

This advert was spotted recently in a glossy magazine -click on the image for a larger version. The view may look familiar to those of you who have been storm petrelling with A Rocha teams before...

...yes, that cliff in the background is where we walk out to the mist-netting site to catch our storm petrels! In fact, if you look very closely maybe you can make out a small band of exhausted biologists staggering back to their minibus.

The luxury accommodation is being built at the top of the bumpy track down to the beach where we park the van. It is also at the end of our daily little-owl survey route, a breeding site for red-necked nightjars and southern grey shrikes, and where we had glimpses of eagle owls on several occasions last summer.

Is this development -complete with yet another 18-hole golf course- what is needed in a National Park? Or is it the latest stage in the ongoing urbanisation of a wild and beautiful coastline? Or is it just the perfect retirement home for ageing storm petrellers with an interest in golf? Answers on a holiday postcard please! Or click on the link below to add a comment.

Storm petrels at sea

2008-04-06T03:05:00.002+01:00

These are some pen and ink drawings of foraging storm petrels. The drawings were made from freeze-frame video images taken at sea off the Portuguese coast. You can click on the image for a larger version.

International news

2007-08-26T21:22:00.000+01:00

The hard graft in Portugal in early summer has been paying dividends, with several of "our" Portuguese-ringed stormies being recaptured around the coasts of NW Europe.

CEMPA N03448. Ringed on the night of 08-09/06/2007 at Ponta da Alamadena, Algarve, Portugal.
Recaptured by Bernard Cadiou on Banneg Island, Molène archipelago, Brittany, France, on the night of 9-10/08/2007

CEMPA N03460. Ringed on the night of 08-09/06./2007 at Ponta da Almadena, Algarve, Portugal.
Recaptured by Bob Harris on Eilean nan Ron, Scotland on the night of 21-22nd July.
See the Eilean Nan Ron blog page for more seabird shenanigans! http://eileannanron.blogspot.com/

CEMPA N03533 ringed on the night of 09-10/06/2007 at Ponta da Almadena, Algarve, Portugal.
Recaptured by Declan Clarke at Sheepland Harbour which is on the southern side of the entrance to Strangford Lough, Ireland, on 26/08/2007.

CEMPA N03572. Ringed on the night of 10-11/06/2007 at Ponta da Almadena, Algarve, Portugal.
Recaptured by Bernard Cadiou on Banneg Island, Molène archipelago, Brittany, France, on the night of 8-9/08/2007.

CEMPA N03674. Ringed on the night of 13-14/06/2007 at Ponta da Alamdena, Algarve, Portugal.
Recaptured by Adrian George on the Isle of Muck, Scotland (info via Sara Roda & Ed Drewitt!)

CEMPA N03876 ringed on the night of 17-18/06/2007 at Ponta da Almadena, Algarve, Portugal.
Recaptured by Declan Manley at Annagh Head, Co. Mayo, Ireland, on 18/08/2007.

These details will all be submitted to the national ringing schemes in the normal way.

Photo of Bernard Cadiou's mist nets on Banneg Island, Brittany, where 2 Portuguese-ringed stormies were caught on successive nights in August 2007. The view is looking out towards the La Jument lighthouse and Ouessant Island where Auré Audevard has been ringing petrels this year.

Newly hatched!

2007-08-09T12:15:00.000+01:00

Many congratulations to Renata & André on the safe arrival of Raquel on July 24th -a little sister for Edgar!

...and another one!

2007-07-31T16:06:00.000+01:00

Auré and friends have done it again -caught another Portuguese-ringed storm petrel on Oussant in Brittany. This time its NO3166, who was ringed by Earthwatch team 3 at Ponta da Almadena on the night of 22-23/6/2006 -a night when we caught just 2 stormies (see, I told you it was worth the pain! -Rob).
Here is a great photo of N03166 in Brittany, taken by Auré on 30/7/2007.

Click here for Aure's photography webpage http://audevard.aurelien.free.fr/

News from France

2007-07-24T08:57:00.000+01:00

Auré Audevard has been in touch via email to say that one of the stormies ringed in Portugal last summer has been recaptured in Brittany, NW France.

N03181 was initially caught at our main study site at Ponta da Almadena, Algarve, Portugal just before midnight on 24-25/05/2006 - a night when we caught a grand total of 3 birds! Hopefully this will be a delayed reward for the hard work put in by Earthwatchers Walaa, Polly & Tom!

It was subsequently identified as a female by Renata, via molecular sexing methods using DNA extracted from the shaft of a small breast feather.

Auré's ringng team recaptured the bird on the night of 15-16/7/2007, on the Island of Ouessant, off the westerly tip of Brittany
A map of Brittany from Google Earth

The ringing site on Ouessant Island

Ghostly bird-ringers

Waiting for the birds to arrive

These details will be submitted to the national ringing schemes in the normal way.

Thanks to Auré for the news and the photos -good luck for catching more Portuguese-ringed stormies!

A Tale of Two Boat Trips: no. 2, daytime

2007-07-21T23:31:00.000+01:00

Here are the sightings for the day boat trip on 15-6-07 between 17h30 - 20h00. Every trip seems quite different, but there is always quite a diversity of seabirds off the Portuguese coast in June.

Before...

First stop: 5.2 Nautical miles South of Lagos: 18h24
10 Yellow-legged Gull
4 Pomarine Skua
2 Great Skua
6 Cory's Shearwater
4 Black Tern
2 Common Tern
5 Gannets

Beale (fish monitor) and Bolton (camera monitor) in action

Second stop: 8.7 Nm S of Lagos 18h36
10 European Storm Petrel (simultaneous; total of 20?)
10 Cory's Shearwater
4 Common Tern
6 Yellow-legged Gull

Return journey:
20 Cory's Shearwater
1 Great Shearwater
2 Great Skua

...and after

Post-seasickness medication

A Tale of Two Boat Trips: no. 1, Nighttime

2007-06-27T20:38:00.000+01:00

For several years now, we have wondered whether its possible to catch storm petrels at sea...

This would allow us to test a whole set of new hypotheses about the lives of these highly pelagic birds on the open ocean.

Others have certainly managed it in other parts of the world, including the New Zealanders studying the recently rediscovered New Zealand storm petrel, who have caught several of these remarkable birds at sea, in order to take genetic samples and fit radio-tracking devices in the hope of discovering the birds' breeding colonies.

Most successful have been Gill, Sladen & Huntington, who published a paper in 1970 describing how they caught 117 Wilson's and 13 Leach's petrels (plus 120 assorted shearwaters) using a hoop net hand-thrown from the back of a boat during daylight in the Bay of Fundy, Canada. (Bird-Banding, April 1970, pages 111-113).

This has never yet worked for us off Portugal and after a series of daytime pelagic trips spent half-heartedly waving various prototype nets rather pathetically over the sides of boats, we decided to take another tack.

Preparing yet another unsuccessful version of Gill et al.'s hoop net on a dytime pelagic trip in 2006

A chance encounter with Jose Xavier of Cambridge University at a schoolteacher's climate change seminar in Lagos (organised by A Rocha's own Paula Banza/Felgueiras), led us to Daniel Machado -a marine biology graduate with an 11m catamaran which he has fitted out for a marine ecotourism business venture. Renata, Patricia and Rob went to take a look and realised that it would be perfect for running 9m mist nets along the two hulls! Clearly this needed to be done at night on the open ocean -what could possibly go wrong?

A trial run fitting the mist nets during daylight -note the confident grins!

And so it came to pass that one not too stormy night, Rob, Mark, Colin & Jez, captained by Daniel and crewed by Andre, set sail from Portimao out onto the trackless ocean. Once we had reached about 10km offshore, Daniel and Andre furled the sails and we set two mist nets along each hull of the catamaran. We were very pleased with the result -two absolutely taut and rigid mist nets, floating on an artificial "island"!

Oh captain, our captain! Daniel at the wheel, sailing out from Portimao at dusk

Colin was "volunteered" to tie off the mist net at the far end of the hull.

We turned on a tape-lure, hung a bag of mashed up mackerel chum over the side, and waited...

Two chums preparing the chum

There then followed a slightly disappointing couple of hours of swaying around, with no birds attracted to the tapes. In desperation, we shone some torches over the sea, to see if we could spot any passing stormies. To our surprise, the sea was alive with petrels, some of which seemed to change direction in response to the torch beams and could be "steered" towards the nets! Suddenly there was a storm petrel flying in an arc over Colin's torch, over our heads... and... it tumbled into the mist net right next to Rob! Rob held onto the bird, Jez grabbed Rob and Mark grabbed Jez. The surprised bird was safely weighed, measured and released, amid scenes of great rejoicing!

...The first European storm petrel to be mist-netted at sea (I suppose).

Ringing inside the cabin

Some time later, another bird was landed on the deck next to Mark, who calmly picked it up and appeared from behind the cabin exclaiming "I've got one in my hand!" More measurements ensued, and we continued trying to catch more birds until our torch batteries gave out and the strengthening wind forced us to move closer inshore.

And so we arrived back at Portimao at dawn, after an exhilarating night of scientific adventures, and looking forward to having another go next year! (I speak for myself, clearly -Rob). Thanks to Daniel and Andre for looking after us -if you'd like to contact Daniel about boat hire etc, click here.

Colin reflecting on a very interesting experience (or is he just asleep?)

2007 catches

2007-06-16T18:19:00.000+01:00

May 22-23: 6 stormies, 1 carrying a Spanish ring
May 23-24: 15 stormies, 1 UK ring
May 24-25: 3 stormies
May 25-26: 6 stormies, 1 UK ring
May 26-27: 5 stormies, 1 UK ring, 1 Italian ring (first one ever!)
May 27-28: 4 stormies
May 28-29: 3 stormies
May 29-30: 6 stormies
May 30-31: full night off -Dave having set a new world record of 8 consecutive stormie nights!
May 31-June 1st: 3 stormies, 1 UK ring
June 1st-2nd: 1 stormie
June 2nd-3rd: 9 stormies
June 3rd-4th: 5 stormies
June 4th-5th: 7 stormies
June 5th-6th: 14 stormies
June 6th-7th: Night off
June 7th-8th: 46 stormies, 4 UK rings
June 8th-9th: 40 stormies, 1 "big petrel" seen and heard but not caught!
June 9th-10th: 62 stormies, 1UK ring
June 10th-11th: 45 stormies, 1 UK ring
June 11th-12th: 43 stormies, taking us to a grand total of 3,999
June 12th-13th: 39 stormies on land & 2 caught at sea during the night!
June 13th-14th: 67 stormies, 1UK ring, 1 Norwegian ring
June 14th-15th: 32 stormies, 2 UK rings
June 15th-16th: Phew, a much needed night off!
June 16th-17th: 18 stormies, 1 Spanish ring
June 17th-18th: 32 stormies, 1 Norwegian ring
June 18th-19th: 6 stormies -last night of the season
June 19th: End of season party!
June 20th: sleeeeeeeeep

Final 2007 total: 25 nights, 518 stormies, 18 international rings
Grand total 1990-2007: just over 4,000 stormies

The 2nd bird of the year -a Spanish-ringed storm petrel!

Vomit news

2007-06-16T02:15:00.001+01:00

Renata's PhD project focuses on the diet of storm petrels during their long-distance migrations, and we have managed to collect some excellent samples of vomit (which mist-netted storm petrels occasionally produce) and faeces. You may particularly enjoy this fine sample, featuring various bits of fish and (just above the centre of the paper disk) three tiny isopods.

Vomit samples are quite rare from migrating stormies, and each one is received with great rejoicing from Rob. Perhaps he should get out more...

Quite how storm petrels manage to feed on isopods at night is a bit of a mystery -see our recent paper:
Thomas, R.J., Pollard, A.L. & Medeiros, R. Evidence for intertidal foraging by European Storm Setrels Hydrobates pelagicus during migration. Atlantic Seabirds, in press.

New light was shed on this mystery last night, when Earthwatchers Sherri and Karen discovered that isopods can find and attach themselves to dead fish floating in the surf zone -so perhaps stormies eat isopods by "accident" when eating bits of fish, rather than by actively hunting isopods in the dark.

South coast 67: West coast 0

2007-06-16T02:04:00.000+01:00

A trip was organised to the west coast, to try to catch stormies. Earthwatch team 1 in 2005 had caught 4 birds there that were unusually lightweight. We wanted to try to confirm whether stormies really are lighter on the west coast. The trip was coordinated by Manuela Nunes of ICN, assisted by Carlos, Colin & Mark.

By all accounts it was an exciting night of dodging large waves and jumping across large boulders but unfortunately no stormies were seen or caught.

Mark and Colin setting out for the west coast

The following night, Manuela and Carlos joined us on the south coast, where we were much more successful.

Our 4,000th storm petrel

2007-06-16T01:54:00.000+01:00

Well done us -we have reached 4,000 storm petrels caught and measured by the A Rocha Portugal field centre. We had a party in the garden to celebrate this milestone in our project, as well as the recent promotion of our very own Nicola Marples to senior lecturer at Trinity College Dublin.

Updates on the Italian wanderer

2007-06-11T19:18:00.000+01:00

A storm petrel caught on the night of 26-27th June was carrying an Italian ring. The Mediterranean storm petrel population is genetically divergent from the Atlantic population, and is generally assumed to be dispersive but not to migrate long distances. As far as we know, this is the first time a stormie from the Mediterranean breeding range has been caught in Atlantic waters (though do let us know if you know of other instances!). We will have to wait to find out the details of its genetics and of where and when this bird was ringed in Italy, but this movement provides evidence that there is at least some exchange of storm petrels between Mediterranean and Atlantic waters.

Magnus Robb, who is completing a book about storm petrels for publication in the autumn, has emailed to say that there are 2 records of stormies ringed on Malta and found dead in Altlantic waters:
1. 15/09/1989: A bird found dead on Ameland, one of the Frisian islands strung along the northern coast of the Netherlands. Ringed in a colony in Malta on 10/07/1971.
2. 02/02/1990: A bird found dead on the Côte Sauvage, La Tremblade, Charente-Maritime on the Atlantic coast of France. Ringed on Malta on 24/05/1986.

The new book 'Petrels night and day' by Magnus Robb, Killian Mullarney & The Sound Approach, will be out in the autumn. If you'd like to order a copy, email Magnus on: magnus.robb@xs4all.nl

Renzo Ientile has been in touch from Italy to say that this bird was ringed in Marettimo, Italy, as a chick in the nest on 16/07/04, thereby confirming that it was Italian by birth -apparently the first definite record of a Mediterranean storm petrel (Hydrobates pelagicus melitensis) in Atlantic waters!
These details will all be formally confirmed in due course via the EURING bird ringing database.

Migration season

2007-06-09T07:32:00.000+01:00

Two great nights in a row, with catches of 46 and 40 birds. This takes us to a 2007 total of 173 stormies -already more than the 2006 total of 136 birds. Our next challenge is to reach the all-time total of 4,000 Portuguese storm petrels -just a couple of hundred to go but 10 or so nights to do it!
Here is the team with the 100th bird of 2007.
Left to right: Jose Xavier, Patricia, Dave, Claudio, Jez & Leila.

Each petrel was examined by a committee of experts.
L-R: Sara, Patricia, Leila, Jez

Friday night was family night -here are Rosie and Ben Simonson about to release a petrel.

101 things to do when not catching stormies

2007-06-07T16:09:00.001+01:00

No. 2: build a tarpaulin shelter. Here are a few of the award-winning designs from 2007.

"The concorde" -modelled by some exhausted petrellers after it had initially collapsed. This is also rare photographic evidence of Dr Jo Lello on fieldwork.

"The Sierra", prior to the installation of the Jo Lello memorial picnic blanket

The "Al Fresco", before or after the shelter had collapsed on a sleeping Jez!

101 things to do when not catching stormies

2007-06-01T07:44:00.000+01:00

No. 1: Comedy photos

Unidentified flying objects

Full moon with werewolves

The next generation of storm petrellers

2007-05-31T12:55:00.000+01:00

Despite being very pregnant, Renata was determined to visit the cliff this year, to see one of "her" stormies. Having made it across the rocks without mishap, she set herself the arbitrary deadline of 00:30 for setting off home. At 00:25 the first stormie arrived -just in time- and Renata was very happy to ring it! She also sponsored the storm petrel on behalf of her new baby, ensuring that the next generation of storm petrellers is fully prepared!

The "sponsor a stormie" scheme is our way of encouraging Earthwatchers and other storm petrel enthusiasts (past, present and future!) to stay in touch with the project, and to raise a bit of money for A Rocha's storm petrel research programme in the process. To sponsor a storm petrel for yourself - just follow the link below
http://www.justgiving.com/sponsor_a_stormie_2

Sponsors receive a certificate of sponsorship, a glossy storm petrel poster, and information on any recaptures of your sponsored bird in Portugal or around the world.

A stormie night in summer

2007-05-26T17:08:00.000+01:00

Wait,
for the time,
for the tide,
for the opportunity
to count our chickens;
wait.

This is no pastime for the impatient;
patrolling empty nets
fluttering like cobwebs
in the bright moon’s reflected light.
Persevering through uneventful hours,
untold ornithologists
wait.

The objects of our attention,
dainty motes on the vast ocean’s surface,
dare not venture close to shore
while even lunar luminescence lingers;
they are such easy pickings.
So we wait.

The bark and chatter of distant relatives
(in both space and time)
relentlessly call the timid travellers to the cliffs.
Perhaps the lure of companionship
will weaken the mariners’ resolve
and ease ennui’s weight.

Until the patter
of those tiny,
webbed feet
trip and tangle
in the dark threads
of our trusty traps,
we watch
and
wait.

Dr David Kelly, 2007

First nights out

2007-05-26T15:21:00.000+01:00

Here are a few photos from our first few nights out on the cliffs...
Chris took his bat-detector and found the sky to be full of bats!

Tom releasing a bird

A one-footed British-ringed bird

An infra-red Dave Kelly

Here we go again!

2007-05-17T23:25:00.000+01:00

Hello Earthwatchers past and present -Its nearly time for the 2007 Earthwatch storm petrel season -I can't wait! I've just spent the evening trying out our new, loud and amusingly large loudspeakers.

Check out the Megaphone 600 here. Hopefully my neighbours weren't too alarmed by the sounds of vomiting fairies!

Renata (who is expecting a baby later in the summer) has already flown out to Portugal, to be followed by myself and Dave Kelly (a vetran of the 2002 stormy season) on Monday, when we will be joined by Renata's colleague Patricia for the first catching attempt on Tuesday night (May 22nd).

Watch this space for news from the cliffs...

A "wreck" of Leach's petrels

2006-12-13T13:01:00.000Z

Severe storms in the Altantic over the last week or so have driven large numbers of Leach's storm petrels (Oceanodroma leucorhoa) onto the coasts of Britain. This species is a bit bigger than our familiar European "stormies", with a forked tail and a whitish bar on the upperwing.

A Leach's petrel killed by storms in a previous "wreck" of petrels, on the Portuguese coast (Photo from A Rocha Portugal)

Several thousand petrels were "wrecked" on the coast, and some were even driven far inland by the strong winds. One place where many of the storm-driven birds gathered was in the Severn Estuary, on the Wales-England border. It was here that I had close views of 5-6 tired looking petrels on December 7th.

At the same time, four Leach's petrels took refuge at Eglwys Nunydd Reservoir, a few miles inland from the coast of South Wales.

One of the Leach's petrels at Eglwys Nunydd

One of these birds was so exhausted that local birdwatcher Barry Stewart tried to rescue it (as this seemed the bird's only chance of survival), by swimming out into the reservoir. However, the bird somehow found the energy to flutter out of reach. Although the bird was later caught by more conventional means, it sadly died on the way to the local wildlife hospital.

Chilly

Really very chilly

Thanks to Paul Roberts for the photos, and to Barry Stewart for the dedication to the cause!

Stormies on the BBC

2006-11-12T12:33:00.000Z

Our storm petrel project has featured in a programme for BBC Radio 4, in the series "Planet Earth Under Threat", broadcast at 9pm on Monday evenings.
The storm petrels make their appearance in the third episode -Click here to listen to programme 3 online!

Click here to view the BBC's production blog page about the series (scroll down to read a storm petrel story), and to listen to the latest programme in the series.

West Wales adventures

2006-09-21T21:13:00.000+01:00

In late August, five intrepid storm petrellers headed west from Cardiff, to look for stormies in the wild west of Wales. Personnel were: Rob Thomas, Renata Medeiros, Alex Pollard, Sara Roda (all familiar names from the Earthwatch project), plus Viola Ross-Smith, who is studying for a PhD in seabird biology at Cardiff University. The aim was to spend 2 nights tape-luring stormies on the mainland, and to spend one night in the storm petrel colony on Skomer island. Photos by Sara.

The most westerly campsite in West Wales

After setting up camp, we took a walk down to the petrel-ringing point at Wooltack point -looking out over Skomer Island, to check out the wind conditions (howling) and wildlife (baby seals).

"Wild horses wouldn't drag me onto a boat to that island"

Night 1: we met up with Steve & Anna Sutcliffe of the Pembrokeshire ringing group, who brought along a young Manx Shearwater which had taken a wrong turn and ended up hiding under a car in Broad Haven! Alex got to ring it -she was so pleased that she almost didn't mind its sharp beak!

Tape-luring with Portuguese tapes works in the UK! We caught 17 stormies at Wooltack point. Hopefully we will be able to find out whether we get the same strong sex-ratio bias as we find among the Portuguese birds. Thanks very much to Steve and Anna for their enthusiastic help with the equipment and catching.

The team hard at work

At about 4am, the wind turned and strengthened, forcing us to pack up. Somehow, we managed to get lost in the dark amongst the gorse on Marloes deer park! It felt like a long walk home lugging the heavy equipment!

Day 2: Looking for feathers at the storm petrel colonies on Skomer. We found plenty of feathersfor Sara's mercury contamination study, as well as a storm petrel skull and various egg shells. The nest holes were quite easy to identify by the stormies' distinctive musky smell! One burrow held a bird churring away deep underground.

Night 2: A night in a storm petrel colony.
A very informative night -we secreted ourselves among the huge boulders of the Mew Stone colony, and waited as night fell. Against the night sky, we saw a series of stormies circling silently around the colony, and even crash-landing into a rock next to Sara! We didn't spot any stormies crawling into their burrows, but we did spot several toads crawling out!

Sometime in the middle of the night, we adjourned to the Skomer farm buildings to get some sleep without the risk of rolling off the cliff. On the way, we made our aquaintences with a few of the hunderds of thousands of Manx Shearwaters who breed on Skomer.

A very cold and uncomfortable few hours ensued, trying to sleep on bare flagstone floors in a draughty barn with no roof!

Night 3: Another night of tape-luring.
Back on the mainland, with the weather looking increasingly grim, we decided to try tape-luring in the shelter of Martin's Haven.

Debating whether to venture out for another night on the cliffs

However, by 2am we had not seen any birds let alone caught any, and with the drizzle starting up again we decided to call it a night and get some sleep before heading back to Cardiff and on up to Aberdeen for the Seabird Group Conference.

More news from Ireland

2006-08-18T12:06:00.000+01:00

Another of "our" stormies has turned up in Ireland!
This time its an older bird -N00069- who was originally caught in Portugal on 22nd May 1998, when it was taken taken out of the net by Rob and ringed by Fillippe Jorge (A Rocha assistant warden at the time).

The bird was re-caught this year, on 15th August 2006, at a large breeding colony on the island of Inishglora in the Republic of Ireland. A team of intrepid Irish storm petrellers caught an amazing 1,959 European stormies and 2 Leach's storm petrels in just 4 nights, including 1,022 in a single night! Its enough to make an Earthwatch storm petreller weep, since in Portugal this year we had several full nights when just one bird was caught and we are currently pretty pleased to get 20 birds in a night!

Views of Inishglora, where N00069 now breeds

The Irish team was masterminded by Neville McKee of Copeland Bird Observatory, with whom Renata and Rob met up last year at a seabird conference in Belfast. Along with Declan Clarke, Neville and his "vomit officer" George Henderson have kindly been collecting regurgitated food samples from Irish stormies for Renata's analysis of storm petrel diet.

The storm petrellers' camp site on Inishglora

Putting up the nets

As N00069 would probably have been at least 2 years old when caught in Portugal, its current age is likely to be at least 10 years. This is a youngster however, compared to the 31 year old bird also retrapped this year on Inishglora. N00069 appeared to be breeding (as might be expected given its age), as it had a well-developed brood patch and weighed in at a hefty 30.3g.

Inishglora is a small rocky island with little vegetation, located off County Mayo in NW Eire. There are scattered boulder beaches along the edges, above the high water mark. The east end has the ruins of St Brendan the navigator’s ecclesiastical settlement (he may or may not have discovered America in the late 500s/early 600s AD -click here for more on the history and legends of Inishglora), and some more modern ruins including a near habitable bothy. Huge numbers of stormies breed among these boulders and ruins, and though the size of the population is hard to determine precisely, Neville estimates that the numbers are possibly in the upper part of the range 1,000 to 10,000 pairs.

A "hotspot" for nesting stormies

Thanks to Neville for all the news, to his wife Pat for these photos and of course to George for the vomit samples!

Project publicity

2006-08-07T12:08:00.000+01:00

The latest Earthwatch newsletter includes an article by Sougato (team 2, 2006, holder of the "most prolific photographer" award) all about our project. To read it, click here.

Sougato and his loudspeakers

Meanwhile, Tanith (team 3, 2006) has written an article for the Devon & Cornwall Gazette (UK). These articles and the interest that they generate are potentially very helpful in attracting volunteers to join our Earthwatch project -if you think you could write one yourself, please do!

So long, and thanks for all the fish

2006-07-28T16:38:00.000+01:00

Mr Squawky has now been released back into the wild, having spent a very happy couple of weeks eating (alternating between dog food, sardines, mackerel & prawns), sleeping, splashing, sqwawking, pooing and growing his flight feathers.
Lots of "samples" have been collected, to keep Renata busy in the lab, when she arrives back in Cardiff next week.
Alex released squawky on the banks of the river Taff in Cardiff, where he quickly acquainted himself with the local seagulls!

Here is a photo of the new-look ready-to-fledge Squawky, a few days before his release.

Rob's new job

2006-07-28T16:09:00.000+01:00

In other news, Rob has at last got his act together and obtained a permanent lecturer's job at Cardiff University, thereby guaranteeing his continuing involvement in the Earthwatch Storm Petrels project (until his anticipated retirement in 2037).

International news

2006-07-08T18:37:00.000+01:00

Excellent news -one of "our" Portuguese-ringed stormies has just been re-caught in Ireland! Stormie no. N03279 was the final bird caught on the night of 14/15th of June -at 00:52, just as The Disastrous Rainstorm began (see earlier Blog entry).

He/she was then re-caught at 00:20 on the night of July 7/8th, on Sheepland, Ardglass. Co. Down -on the East coast of Northern Ireland, just south of the entrance into Strangford Lough.
Between first capture in Portugal and re-capture in Ireland, the bird had lost weight slightly, from 27.4g to 26.0g.

The bird was caught in Ireland by Declan Clarke and friends, who have already been collecting storm petrel vomit samples on our behalf, as part of the diet analysis project. Thanks Declan!

Some of the intrepid -but slightly soggy- storm petrellers who caught N03279 in Portugal.

Photo by Tanith.

World cup shootout

2006-07-04T21:10:00.000+01:00

Apparently there has been some kind of football tournament going on...

Ouch -now that has got to hurt!

Portugal 0, England 0.
Portugal go through on penalties.
It takes me back to 2004.... oh and 1990, 1996 & 1998.

Well done Portugal -good luck for the semi final!*

*A helpline for emotionally distressed England fans has been set up -please consult your Emergencies Briefing Document for details.

Thank You Earthwatchers!

2006-06-30T20:29:00.000+01:00

Now that this year's Portuguese fieldwork is over, its a chance to say a big Thank You to everyone who has taken part this year.

Firstly, to our fantastic Earthwatch volunteers - who enable the project to happen in the first place and who make it such a stimulating and sociable time. This year we welcomed 12 volunteers from around the world -here are a few photos.

Team I: Polly (Hong Kong), Walaa (Egypt) & Thomas (Switzerland & South Africa)

Team II (along with Anna & Renata): Angela (Hong Kong), Sougato (India), Jenny (England), Dilip (United Arab Emirates & India), Niall (Northern Ireland) & Bill (USA).

Team III: Tanith (England), Lynn (USA), Emily (Scotland)

Thanks too to this year's field staff -Anna Jolliffe, Nicola Marples, Mark Bolton & Colin Beale, who all worked very hard to ensure the smooth running of the project.

In addition, the project benefitted greatly from the ideas and insights of a number of visitng scientists, including Jaime Ramos, Paula Tavares, Alex Pollard, Manuela Nunes, Vitor Paiva, Ruben Huttel, Emma Rosenfeld & Victoria Beale.

Last but by no means least -our two storm petrelling postgrads: Renata Medeiros (PhD) & Sara Roda (MSc), who appeared never to sleep for the whole month. Well done everyone on a fantastic effort!

Meet Mr Squawky!

2006-06-29T12:36:00.000+01:00

Back home in Cardiff, the newest member of the storm petrel research team is a baby gull named Squawky. He/she is a lesser black-backed or herring gull chick (not quite sure which yet) who fell off a school roof in Cardiff and was taken to a local vets. Rob happened to be at the vets and offered a home for the gull while it grows its wing and tail feathers enough to be able to fly. Rob's daughter Nia initially named him Flappy (he flaps his wings a lot) and then Squawky (he squawks a lot) .

He has taken up temporary residence at the Cardiff University aviaries, where his role in our project is to eat different species of fish and then poo a lot. By collecting Squawky's poo, we can test the method of prey DNA extraction from seabird faeces before we use the method on our precious storm petrel faeces samples!

Squawky takes a bath, wathched by Nia Thomas

Stormy petrel

2006-06-29T12:26:00.000+01:00

In the teeth of the gale and the raging swell
She nests among the angry rollers
Her flight firm and sure as the falcon

Her wings she lends to the storm
When the lions of the sea roar in the caves
Above the abyss she roams, across the trackless ocean

She seeks not the rock, the cape, nor the harbour
In insecurity she finds her strength
And the risk of death nourishes her

And she, it seems to me, is a model
For those who can live and sing through life’s storms

--
Translated and adapted by Earthwatch Team III, 2006 from the Portuguese poem Procellaria by Sophia de Mello Breyner Andersen.

Photo by Lynn

Boat trip no. 3

2006-06-23T14:44:00.000+01:00

Another fantastic boat trip -8km out from Lagos on a rather lumpy sea! Amazingly, the prize for the most seasick boat-tripper was not awarded (largely because certain people wisely decided to stay on dry land!). The award for most enthusiastic family had to go to Sara's long-suffering parents and boyfriend, who added 3 hours on a rocking boat to their earlier night under a soggy tarpaulin.

A large box of old fish was rapidly turned into fish soup courtesy of Rob's feet [please remind him to take a shower -Ed.], and before long the first stormies appeared beside the boat.

Here is a European stormie photographed by Mark Bolton on boat trip 2.

Photo copyright Mark Bolton

The new "frisbee net" (mark V -modelled on a net described in the ornithological literature) was deployed but not used, owing to the stormies keeping well out from the boat. This was perhaps due to the rougher conditions drifting the fish lure rapidly away from the stern. However, the usual trawls with the zooplankton and phytoplankton nets were quite productive.

Along with about 4 European stormies, we had great views of another Wilson's petrel from the southern hemisphere, along with 3 cracking adult Sabine's gulls, 3 roseate terns, 2 common terns, Cory's shearwater, gannets, great skua, pomarine skua and a probable arctic skua chasing a definite Mediterranean shearwater! Not a bad day's birding!

At the end of another classic trip, we turned and raced the storm clouds back in to harbour. The inevitable ice-creams and chicken piri-piri were an important part of the post-trip medication/celebrations.

The disastrous rainstorm

2006-06-22T21:54:00.000+01:00

After 17 years with more or less no rain, it was a bit of a shock for the outdoor-living storm petrellers to be pelted with tropical rainstorm-style downpours on 2 successive nights!
Here is a photo by Lynn showing conditions deteriorating...

Before long, all nets were furled and all hands + 1 surprised bird were under a large tarpaulin. This felt fairly grim -as shown on the faces of (l-r) Sara, Colin & Tanith at about 3am!

After the rain had put an end to our sound system for the night and the bird had got away safely, we decamped back to the minibus. Sara's parents and Bruno, who had come out with us for a pleasent night on the cliffs, seemed none the worst for wear!

After this first drenching we came prepared, and for the following few nights pitched a tarpaulin tent. Inside the tent, conditions had never been more civilised! Teas and coffees were served on a floor of blankets. This is the life -living outside will never seem the same again!

Missing: one beach!

2006-06-17T18:16:00.000+01:00

As a result of the recent stormy weather, our nice sandy beach at Ponta de Almadena has been washed away! If anyone has seen it, please contact Dr Rob Thomas, care of A Rocha Portugal. Its all very inconvenient, as it has turned our pleasent stroll across the beach into yet another epic struggle across large slippery boulders!

Before

During

After

Here they come!

2006-06-15T15:32:00.000+01:00

At last, the stormies have arrived in force!!!

After the long hard slog of 1-8 birds per night, we have at last broken the double-figures barrier with 16 birds on Tuesday night (June 13th) and 33 birds on Wednesday night. In fact, we could have had a HUGE catch on Wednesday night as all 33 birds were caught by 1am, whereupon the heavens opened and torrential rain caused the minidisk players to give up in disgust! Unbelievable weather for the Algarve in June [I blame global warming -Ed]. We all got completely soaked and returned to Cruzinha to dry out ourselves and the electronics.

On the plus side, at least I won the Mars Bar (1st time this year!). Everything seems to be working OK this morning, so we are gearing up for another big catch tonight -weather permitting of course.

Despite these technical traumas, we have now ringed our 105th bird of the year. Here is a photo of Sara with the 100th stormie of 2006 -horay!

Fairies being sick?

2006-06-14T16:36:00.000+01:00

This just in from Niall, Team 3 2006:

Got home mid-afternoon (Tuesday) and, by a happy coincidence, Bill Oddie's Springwatch programme was on TV that evening and included a report from Simon King on the stormie breeders at Mousa Broch [Shetland Islands, UK].
He was saying how much he loved the "gentle cacophany" of their nesting calls and a local veteran birder told him that he thought it sounded like "fairies....uh........vomiting". You know, rrrretch, rrretch, rrretch, eugh, eugh !!!

Happy hunting -- Niall

The storm petrel nest site at Mousa Broch, Shetland

http://www.shetland-heritage.co.uk/brochures/area_pages/south_mainland/mousa_broch.htm

...and the stormies are here!
http://www.hughharrop.com/articles/storm-petrels.html

For the man (or woman) who has everything

2006-06-12T13:33:00.000+01:00

Q: What do you get for the man who has everything?

A: Something to put it in
B: Penicillin
C: Their very own sponsored storm petrel!

To sponsor a storm petrel for the man or woman in your life who has everything -or to sponsor your own favourite stormie- just follow the link below
http://www.justgiving.com/sponsor_a_stormie

Sponsors receive a certificate of sponsorship, a glossy storm petrel poster, and information on any recaptures of your sponsored bird in Portugal or around the world.

Welcome to stormies-online!

2006-06-12T12:56:00.000+01:00

Hello from sunny Portugal!

This Blog is to keep all you Earthwatch vetrans updated on current events on the cliffs of the Algarve, and on new results as they emerge. Do feel free to add your own comments, suggestions and questions, by clicking on the "comments" tab.

Just to get the blog started, heres a photo of a small bird on a big ocean -Wilson's storm petrel- photographed by Mark Bolton on our latest boat trip. I'm still feeling slightly queasy at the thought of it...

Photo copyright Mark Bolton

Storm Petrels in Portugal

2011 Catches

Join us in Portugal in 2011

2010 Catches

2009 catches

Storm Petrellers 2009 -Team 3

Storm Petrelers 2009 -Team 2

Our 5,000th stormie

Team 2 boat trip

Storm petrelers 2009 - Team 1

Ready to go!

Recommended reading

New arrival

2008 catches

The Secret Weapon

Madeiran storm petrel!

News from the 2008 field season

International Updates

Volunteers wanted for 2008

Developments on the stormy coast

Storm petrels at sea

International news

Newly hatched!

...and another one!

News from France

A Tale of Two Boat Trips: no. 2, daytime

A Tale of Two Boat Trips: no. 1, Nighttime

2007 catches

Vomit news

South coast 67: West coast 0

Our 4,000th storm petrel

Updates on the Italian wanderer

Migration season

101 things to do when not catching stormies

101 things to do when not catching stormies

The next generation of storm petrellers

A stormie night in summer

First nights out

Here we go again!

A "wreck" of Leach's petrels

Stormies on the BBC

West Wales adventures

More news from Ireland

Project publicity

So long, and thanks for all the fish

Rob's new job

International news

World cup shootout

Thank You Earthwatchers!

Meet Mr Squawky!

Stormy petrel

Boat trip no. 3

The disastrous rainstorm

Missing: one beach!

Here they come!

Fairies being sick?

For the man (or woman) who has everything

Welcome to stormies-online!