Hunting Wilson's Storm Petrel

One of the big ticks of a Scilly Pelargic is the Wilson's Storm Petrel, but they'd been scarce this year, nonetheless we headed off in hope. Basically the tactic was to position ourselves and then chum and drift.

Well in conditions that were far more pleasant than yesterday (as can be seen from the photo) we got Cory's Shearwater, Great Shearwater, Great Skua, Storm Petrel, Blue Shark and Ocean Sunfish but no Wilson's Storm Petrel. All too soon it was time to head back to St Mary's to catch the Scillonian to Penzance. A superb trip , superbly skippered and crewed - thanks Joe and co.

Check out RCB for another of our lifers, a Cory's Shearwater.

From the Scillonian on the way back we may well have had Long-tailed Skuas and Balearic Shearwaters, both would have been lifers, but neither am I confident enough to claim, still that's a good excuse for heading back that way again. A long drive home now, but without problem we were home before midnight and not long after that in bed and asleep.