Sleep deprivation had really begun to take hold earlier this week, what with trying to get amongst an apparent surge in Storm Petrel numbers at the same time as finding ourselves in both a decent vein of early passerine passage and a good run of migrant moths that necessitated more moth-traps being deployed. Whether we manage another Storm Petrel night or two is open to question now that the passerine season is well underway, but the last one during the early hours of Thursday was a bit of a novelty since it was sufficiently blustery that we had to forsake our usual trapping spot near Pulpit Rock for the shelter of the tiny cove under the east side of the Trinity House obelisk. This spot isn't for the faint-hearted since it's full of huge boulders and looks like the recipe for a broken leg when you're stumbling around in the dark; however, since the trapping attempt is at virtually sea level it did afford fantastic thermal imager views of the petrels:
It was also good to be able to glance back and see the Obs lighthouse tower brightly illuminated by the light from the moth-traps © Martin Cade:
