Storm petrel catching in Portugal

Hello from sunny Portugal -although as we are mainly out at night we haven't seen much of the sun so far! Its been a bit cool at night -so Alex has very sensibly chosen to wear all the clothes in her wardrobe, simultaneously (see photographic evidence to the left). Also in the photo is Emma Rosenfeld -PTY projects in full swing.

Heres a photo of Renata -last seen diving into the surf with a sweep net!

The first few stormies are successfully in the bag, but we are still waiting for the main arrival of birds.

Meanwhile, we are having fun on the cliffs and looking forward with trepidation (given the high seas this morning) to a boat trip to try to catch stormies at sea.

The photo below shows our current Earthwatch team, including Rob, Alex, Renata & Emma. The others are various Portuguese biologists, including my new MSc student (Sara Roda), Renata's Portuguese PhD supervisor (Jaime Ramos) and 3 volunteers from Hong Kong, South Africa and Egypt. Here is Walla -our Egyptian volunteer, getting to know a stormie.

Stuck for birthday present ideas? Why not sponsor a storm petrel for someone -you know it makes sense!!! http://www.justgiving.com/sponsor_a_stormie