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Sunday, December 22, 2013

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.