Hayden Fripp
November 2024
Any sighting of the diminutive European Storm Petrel is a delight in itself and this year in particular has been a bumper year for Ayrshire sightings. My personal tally of sightings whilst sea watching from my favoured spot at Dunure between 23rd May and 30th August is 46 birds with a high count of 15 on 28th June including a flock of ten birds at one point in my scope view. Viewing from Dunure with its height above sea level definitely gives an advantage to seeing Storm Petrels.
The cliffs at Dunure to the south of Kennedy Park are also a well-known Peregrine Falcon territory. A Peregrine watching from a perch, flying along the coastline or sometimes hunting offshore is not an uncommon sight here and I had heard and read of Peregrines predating Petrels offshore and had watched a Peregrine at distance make 5 unsuccessful hunting attempts on different Petrels on 28th August. On the morning of 30th August though I was amazed to witness and lucky enough to capture this behaviour at close quarters as one of the Dunure Peregrines flew purposefully out to sea to engage a Storm Petrel. The pursuit included four unsuccessful passes as the more agile Stormie evaded talons twice ending in the sea as a result before the fatal fifth attack.
All images below are copyright Hayden Fripp, 2024.
