Leach's storm petrel
Hydrobates leucorhous
About:
This specimen was first found injured and alive by Mrs Mary Lloyd on 25th January 1993 walking the grounds of Chatsworth House, Derbyshire, and placed in the cover of some vegetation. On 28th January 1993, Mrs. Lloyd returned and discovered the bird dead.
Later the specimen was taken to be identified as a Leach’s Petrel by Mr. C. J. Stokes. This was the 2nd Derbyshire January record of the species, the first being in Netherseal in Jan. 1988. This record is most unusual as the birds should be in their wintering grounds of West Africa, making it a very rare bird for Derbyshire.
Due to its rarity thorough documentation was undergone including a rare birds form, an entry in the Derbyshire Bird Report 1993, a photograph and correspondence about the specimen
As well as the mounted specimen you see displaying the characteristic “water walking” for which it is named hydro meaning water and bates meaning walker.
The specimen was generously donated to the Alfred Denny Museum along with its documentation in its original casing by Mrs. Mary Lloyd.
A tribute to the petrel:
To honour the life of this rare bird, Mary commissioned a taxidermy piece of the bird mid-flight in a decorative wooden box. The bird is posed mid-flight with it's feet skimming the water modelled after the way petrels hunt above the water.
