13th and 14th of August 2009

On the evening of the 13Th it was decided that with the given weather conditions and the impending poor forecast (and the not inconsiderable pressure from Molly) that tonight was the night to attempt some tape luring for Storm Petrels. The adventure began with Molly and I heading to the Second waters at about 8.30 in the evening to erect a mist net on the shore. The journey down was made pleasant by the sight of several Brown Hare's on the road, including a couple that were obviously very young. Unfortunately for this part of the evening the pleasantness ended on arrival as we were greeted by what appeared to be Scotland's entire population of midges. They were THICK, the type of thickness that meant you were breathing them in with every breath and this made putting up the net an endurance test, one that was completed in record time finishing with us running for the car, I wish I had left it with the engine running.

We left the house later in the evening at about 11.30 and we were both delighted by Mairi's decision to join us. Conditions were not looking ideal it was still pretty light outside and would likely remain so as the cloud wasn't really covering the light of the moon. Again on the road down we saw Common Toad, several Voles and Hares also a Tawny Owl on the wire just by Auchinhoan Farm. On Arrival at the Second waters we quickly opened the net and turned on the tape then headed back to the car for a coffee. Surprisingly (and thankfully) there appeared to be very few midges around.

My prediction concerning the conditions turned out to be correct and although we had the tape on for 2 hours we only caught and ringed 3 Storm Petrels, however it didn't dampen the enjoyment of the experience or the sense of adventure particularly for Molly. I loved sitting on the shore with them, below the net, with the occasional glimpse of a bat like Storm petrel as it passed overhead to have a look. It was a very still and warm evening and the fresh smell of the shore and the bracken was wonderful. On the way home we had very close views of a buck Roe Deer and when we reached home we had a quick look around the garden for Jaggy our illusive garden Hedge hog. (I'll get you next time Jaggy) We all got to bed at around 3am very happy with our efforts.