29/08/2015: Another big list!

Tuesday, September 1, 2015

29/08/2015: Another big list!

After several days of wind and rain, that day dawned with dense, wet fog, but calm. We left the harbour at 8:00 a.m. as usual, short after sunrise.

In the begining, still with mist, we managed to see some Sandwich Terns, Grey Herons, Ruddy Turnstones, Common Sandpipers, Great Black-backed, Black-headed and Yellow-legged Gulls, European Shags, Great Cormorants, Northern Gannets, Whimbrel, Dunlins, Carrion Crows... and Bottlenosed Dolphins.

Reaching the southern tip of Sálvora island, and already without fog, we enjoyed the first Balearic and Cory's Shearwaters, the first Grey Phalaropes and European Storm-petrels, Sanderlings, a Sunfish and a big group of bow-riding Common Dolphins.

Further offshore, we saw good numbers of Great, Sooty and Balearic Shearwaters, Common Terns, Wilson's and European Storm-petrels, all four skua species (Great, Arctic, Pomarine and a juveniles Long-tailed), Eurasian Oystercatchers, a juvenile Black Tern, dozens of Grey Phalaropes and a stunning total of 193 Sabine's Gulls. In addition, a group of Common Dolphins traveled with the bow of the 'Chasula' for a couple of miles.

Once in the 'ría', we saw some Mediterranean Gulls, Common Ringed Plovers, Little Egrets, more Sandwich Terns and a single Common Tern and a nice raft of 49 Grey Phalaropes, an inusual species inside the 'ría'.

The day was memorable, both in numbers and in species, and one of the participants stated that would satisfy any birder.

Here below is the detailed list of species, with highlights in bold and approximate numbers in italics: