Thursday 11 August 2011

Wilson's Storm-petrel off Scilly and beyond


What's going on...?

We just received an email from our Spanish seabirding friends that reads as follows:
 
'This year large numbers of Wilson's Storm-petrel are being observed in the Strait of Gibraltar (around 200), but we don't know if this is a normal situation (and no one has previously realized that the species was so common there) or just a big influx.'

Off Scilly, we have seen just one Wilson's in the last 5 weeks, and none for nearly 3 weeks, and this is peak time (by average statistics)! A reasonable assumption is that Wilson's are farther south this year (at least up 'till now). Might this be connected to an unusual year with the Gulf Stream?