Thursday 24 March 2011

How to attract Wilson’s Storm Petrels

These beautiful tiny birds spend most of their lives out at sea, and when you see how small they are, similar in size to a robin you can’t help but be even more amazed at their hardiness. In King Edward Cove there are usually two or three flitting around at various times. Over the last month or so there have been lots more around, and can be seen feeding around Giant Petrels when they are devouring anything that has died in the water. Once a month they also get a bit of a treat from the base. This comes in the form of our mechanic cleaning out the sewage system on base, and they flock around the outfall to feast on any morsels that appear!

Whilst not being an entirely pleasant thought it does mean that the Wilson’s are feeding close in to the shore, in one area, and with fairly predictable flight foraging patterns. Anyway, enough chit chat, here are some of the results:

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2 comments:

  1. Very nice piccies of the Wilson Petrel. xxx

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  2. Walking on water; yes, great pics again & showing the yellow webs too. Strange that yellow webs are actually quite difficult to see & more difficult to get a good pic of!
    xxx

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