St Kilda (work party 3) June 2006 Day 9

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Day 9
Woke up to mist and rain so maybe it would be a good day to be on kitchen duty with Tina.The bad weather meant that the supply chopper from Benbecular was cancelled yet again.This was bad news as the beer and whiskey supplies in The Puffinn were seriously low!,however later in the morning a RIB came over bringing Susan Bain (ex resident St Kilda archeologist and now an area manager for the NTS), Cliff a Qinetiq maintenance man and a fresh supply of Guinness and whiskey!!....whew! Liz the nurse was taken back having done her 2 week tour.
A group of ornithologists from the British Trust for Ornithology arrived on the Orca to survey the annual breeding patterns of Storm and Leach's petrels and became known affectionately as "The Petrel Heads"This party split into 2, half staying on Hirta setting up base in the feather store, the rest,having brought their own Zodiac inflatable, set up camp on Dun.
Kitchen duties done, I took the chance to go and see the rest of the team at their work, to give them some moral support!The roans on the Kirk were finished off by Steve, who also replaced quite a few slates on the roof of the Kirk and Manse.
Sam the archeologist was invited to dinner, where the dining table was set in a purple theme.After dinner I wandered around the village looking at the Black Houses and watching the Snipes drumming before retiring to the Puffinn for light refreshment.
Whilst at the Puffinn we could hear the the mating call of the petrels,these were amplified recordings that the Petrel heads had set up in order to lure unsuspecting Petrels into their trap nets,but the sound was very impressive, reverberating all around Village Bay,whether or not the Petrels thought impressive remained to be seen!
Curiosity got the better of me and at 1.30am I went over to see the Petrel Heads at work,it was pouring with rain but they had set their 60ftx10ft high catch net on the cliff, trapping the petrels as they flew towards the mating calls.The birds were then put in cotton sacks which were then taken to the feather store to be recorded.On removal from their sacks,they are checked for id (Leaches or Storm) then they are weighed.Wing length is then measured and also brood patches looked for.By gently blowing on the breast feathers it will be revealed if the bird is incubating eggs,if they are, a bare patch will be seen and this indicates a successful pairing. The bird is then passed to a licenced ringer, who matches up the ring number to the data recorded, before being put back into the sack to await release.
This is the only time of the year Petrels make landfall spending their time out on the ocean
It was hard for me to take in as these birds a only the size of a swift and ringed birds have been recorded over 30years of age.It was still pouring down at 3.30 when I called it a day,50+ Stormies and 19 Leaches having been processed so far....a fascinating night

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