14/12/2013: inner 'ría'

On Saturday 14th December, around 9 h in the morning, we left O Grove harbour towards A Lanzada bay. The weather was good but strong swell was present. Not far away from the harbour, we sighted a small group of Common Bottlenose Dolphins in an area where sightings are very usual, close to the eastern side of Meloxo´s mussel rafts polygon.
When we got close to Noro islet, the rough sea prevented us from going around Sálvora island and even go further towards A Lanzada bay.
One mile east from Sálvora island we threw oil and chum overboard, but just around 40 gulls out of the hundred which were overflying Vionta or on the rocky small islands of the archipelago came to us.
About 10:30 h we went towards the small island of Rúa, following the alternative plan to go on a trip around the Ria. After going around Rúa, we headed the sea inlet of Rianxo.
On our way we could see two flocks of Grey Plovers along with one Bar-tailed Godwit. There were great numbers of waders around the shore of Abanqueiro, which actually shows that that area is perfect for spoting this species from shore, although there was no chance of having a closer view by boat.
However, we were not lucky this time with our targets... only José Luis Fernández Carnero managed to take a picture of a Great Northern Loon in flight, which we could not see again. After reaching the area of Os Lombos do Ulla we came back. We went further down to Cortegada island bordering its northern side. Near the small island of  As Briñas, we sighted a flock of Eurasian Spoonbills and Curlews which let us photograph them.
After going down the Arousa island bridge we found a big flock of Common Scoters near another one of European Shags.
On the rocks of the southwest side of Carreirón point we sighted a flock of Eurasian Oystercatchers.
Going back towards the harbour, we sighted again a group of  Common Bottlenose Dolphins which were fishing, close to the area where we had already seen them in the morning.
We came back in the afternoon. It was not the best trip, according to the number of species sighted, but it was a lovely trip, in which we could enjoy the coast and this beautiful 'ria' from a different point of view.

Table of sightings, with highlight in bold:

Latin name	English name	N	Notes
Anas platyrhynchos	Mallard	2
Melanitta nigra	Common Scoter	109
Gavia immer	Great Northern Loon	1
Podiceps cristatus	Great Crested Greve	1
Ardea cinerea	Grey Heron	31
Egretta garzetta	Little Egret	24
Platalea leucorodia	Eurasian Spoonbill	17	Good number
Phalacrocorax carbo	Great Cormorant	302
Phalacrocorax aristotelis	European Shag	409
Morus bassanus	Northern Gannet	9
Haematopus ostralegus	Eurasian Oystercatcher	121
Pluvialis squatarola	Grey Plover	167
Actitis hypoleucos	Common Sandpiper	3
Arenaria interpres	Ruddy Turnstone	18
Limosa lapponica	Bar-tailed Godwit	1
Numenius arquata	Eurasian Curlew	46
Stercorarius skua	Great Skua	2
Chroicephalus ridibundus	Black-headed Gull	195
Larus michahellis	Yellow-legged Gull	560
Larus fuscus	Lesser Black-backed Gull	82
Larus marinus	Great Black-backed Gull	29
Sterna sandvicensis	Sandwich Tern	42
Motacilla alba	White Wagtail	2
Corvus corone	Carrion Crow	8
Stercorarius sp	Unidentified skua	1
Tursiops truncatus	Common Bottlenose Dolphin	15

Some pictures of the journey (c) Xoán Diéguez Vázquez and Juan Gómez Escariz.

Grey Plover (Pluvialis squatarola), 14/12/2013, 'ría' of Arousa (SW Galicia) (c) Xoán Diéguez Vázquez.

Grey Plover (Pluvialis squatarola), 14/12/2013, 'ría' of Arousa (SW Galicia) (c) Juan Gómez Escariz

Eurasian Spoonbill (Platalea leucorodia), 14/12/2013, Malveiras, 'ría' of Arousa (SW de Galicia)  (c) Xoán Diéguez Vázquez.

Eurasian Spoonbill (Platalea leucorodia), 14/12/2013, Malveiras, 'ría' of Arousa (SW de Galicia)  (c) Juan Gómez Escariz

Eurasian Spoonbill (Platalea leucorodia), 14/12/2013, Malveiras, 'ría' of Arousa (SW de Galicia)  (c) Juan Gómez Escariz

Eurasian Spoonbill (Platalea leucorodia), Great Cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo), Great Black-backed Gull (Larus marinus) and Grey Heron (Ardea cinerea), 14/12/2013, Malveiras, 'ría' of Arousa (SW de Galicia) (c) Xoán Diéguez Vázquez.

Great Cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo), 14/12/2013, 'ría' of Arousa (SW de Galicia) (c) Juan Gómez Escariz 

Great Cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo) and Great Black-backed Gull (Larus marinus) (right), 14/12/2013, 'ría' of Arousa (SW de Galicia)  (c) Juan Gómez Escariz

European Shag (Phalacrocorax aristotelis), 14/12/2013, 'ría' of Arousa (SW Galicia) (c) Juan Gómez Escariz

European Shag (Phalacrocorax aristotelis), 14/12/2013, 'ría' of Arousa (SW Galicia) (c) Juan Gómez Escariz

Eurasian Oystercatcher (Haematopus ostralegus) and Yellow-legged Gull (Larus michahellis) (center), 14/12/2013, Carreirón point, Arousa island (SW de Galicia) (c) Juan Gómez Escariz

Eurasian Oystercatcher (Haematopus ostralegus) and Yellow-legged Gull (Larus michahellis) (top), 14/12/2013, Carreirón point, Arousa island (SW de Galicia) (c) Xoán Diéguez Vázquez

Eurasian Curlew (Numenius arquata), 14/12/2013, 'ría' of Arousa (SW Galicia) (c) Xoán Diéguez Vázquez.

Eurasian Curlew (Numenius arquata), 14/12/2013, 'ría' of Arousa (SW Galicia) (c) Juan Gómez Escariz.

Common Scoter (Melanitta nigra), 14/12/2013, 'ría' of Arousa (SW de Galicia) (c) Juan Gómez Escariz.

Common Scoter (Melanitta nigra), 14/12/2013, 'ría' of Arousa (SW de Galicia) (c) Juan Gómez Escariz.

Common Scoter (Melanitta nigra), 14/12/2013, 'ría' of Arousa (SW de Galicia) (c) Juan Gómez Escariz.

Common Scoter (Melanitta nigra), 14/12/2013, 'ría' of Arousa (SW de Galicia) (c) Juan Gómez Escariz.

Common Scoter (Melanitta nigra), 14/12/2013, 'ría' of Arousa (SW de Galicia) (c) Xoán Diéguez Vázquez.

Great Black-backed Gull (Larus marinus), 14/12/2013, O Grove harbour (SW Galicia) (c) Juan Gómez Escariz 

Great Black-backed Gull (Larus marinus), 14/12/2013, O Grove harbour (SW Galicia) (c) Xoán Diéguez Vázquez

Sandwich Tern (Sterna sandvicensis), 14/12/2013, 'ría' of Arousa (SW Galicia) (c) Xoán Diéguez Vázquez.

Northern Gannet (Morus bassanus), 14/12/2013, 'ría' of Arousa (SW Galicia) (c) Juan Gómez Escariz.