Seabirds Galicia's 1st birthday

Today, 10th September 2012, Seabirds Galicia celebrates the first aniversary for its very first pelagic trip. That was not a successful journey, as sea was too rough, and we could not go further from Sagres archipelago (information here). However, ongoing pelagics were successfully performed up to the end of October, even with a surprise (see here). After a productive journey in the ría of Arousa in December (click here), pelagics were restarted in February, running up to July. Bad sea conditions were responsible of cancellations in July and August, but on the 8th of September sea was almost perfect and the first pelagic of the postbreeding migration was successfully performed (see here).

For celebrate this birthday, we are preparing a special wear, hoping it will be finished before the trip of 22nd September (pelagic already full).

Thank you for your trust and support.

Isidro, the skipper of the 'Chasula' [photo (c) Jesús Menéndez]

8 September 2012 - Sabine's bonanza

Today, 8th September 2012, a new pelagic of the Seabirds Galicia platform was performed. Leaving from O Grove harbour early morning aboard the 'Chasula', fog seems not a good welcome for the crew and 12 participants, but after 3 hours sky became cleaner and pelagic could be done without any trouble. Sea was in good condition.

List of species observed (highlights in bold, approximate numbers in italic):

BIRDS
Wigeon (Anas penelope): 2. First record for the pelagics of Seabirds Galicia!
Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos): 1.
Cory's shearwater (Calonectris diomedea): 23.
Great shearwater (Puffinus gravis): 30.
Sooty shearwater (Puffinus griseus): 10.
Balearic shearwater (Puffinus mauretanicus): 11.
Manx shearwater (Puffinus puffinus): 1.
Wilson's storm-petrel (Oceanites oceanicus): 1.
European storm-petrel (Hydrobates pelagicus): 10.
Northern gannet (Morus bassanus): 44.
European shag (Phalacrocorax aristotelis): 115.
Great cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo): 2.
Grey heron (Ardea cinerea): 3.
Little egret (Egretta garzetta): 2.
Ringed plover (Charadrius hiaticula): 1.
Sanderling (Calidris alba): 5.
Ruddy turnstones (Arenaria interpres): 8.
Common sandpiper (Actitis hypoleucos): 2.
Great skua (Stercorarius skua): 8.
Pomarine skua (Stercorarius pomarinus): 4.
Arctic skua (Stercorarius parasiticus): 10.
Long-tailed skua (Stercorarius longicaudus): 1, distant, seen only by 2 observers. Second record for Seabirds Galicia!
Mediterranean gull (Larus melanocephalus): 10.
Black-headed gull (Larus ridibundus): 13.
Sabine's gull (Xema sabini): 22+ (at least 47 sights, with 'duplicates'), including adults (breeding and non-breeding plummage) and juveniles. Second record and highest count for the Seabirds Galicia pelagics.
Yellow-legged gull (Larus michahellis): 165.
Lesser black-backed gull (Larus fuscus): 419.
Great black-backed gull (Larus marinus): 10.
Sandwich tern (Sterna sandvicensis): 28.
Common tern (Sterna hirundo): 16.
Arctic tern (Sterna paradisaea): 1. Second record during pelagics trips aboard the 'Chasula'.
Black tern (Chlidonias niger): 2. First record for Seabirds Galicia!
Barn swallow (Hirundo rustica): 2.
Black redstart (Phoenicurus ochruros): 1.
Carrion crow (Corvus corone): 3.

MAMMALS:
Bottle-nosed dolphin (Tursiops truncatus): 1.
Common dolphin (Delphinus delphis): 60.
Harbour porpoise (Phocoena phocoena): 3 individuals observed. First record for Seabirds Galicia.

FISH:
Sunfish (Mola mola): 1.
Blue shark (Prionace glauca): 2.

And some pictures:

The 'Chasula'. Early morning. (c) Jesús Menéndez.

Common dolphins in the mist. (c) Manolo Carregal

Common terns lingered the boat. (c) Manolo Carregal

Storm-petrels' breakfast: olive oil with fish guts. (c) Manolo Carregal

First great shearwater 'on the move'. (c) Manolo Carregal

Great shearwater. (c) Manolo Carregal

Flight shot of great shearwater (true handsome seabird, indeed). (c) Manolo Carregal

Sooty shearwater. (c) Manolo Carregal

Moulting Sabine's gull at its best! (c) Jesús Menéndez

Sabine's gull. (c) Jesús Menéndez

Two adults and one juvenil (top right) of Sabine's gull. (c) Manolo Carregal

Nice flock of Sabine's gull (different moult stage). (c) Manolo Carregal

Juvenile Sabine's gull. (c) Jesús Menéndez

Same individual, closer. (c) Manolo Carregal

Arctic skua, dark morph. (c) Manolo Carregal

Great skua (top left) with lesser black-backed gulls. (c) Manolo Carregal

September and October 2012 pelagics - provisional

The following pelagics are already scheduled for September and October, although they will depend on sea condition and weather:

- Saturday 22nd September (COMPLETE). Seabirds Galicia celebrates its 1st aniversary and good numbers of storm-petrels, skuas, terns, shearwaters and marine mammals will be the best present.

- Saturday 13th October (9 avaliable 'seats'). If conditions and passage are similar to those of 2011 (check report), good numbers of Wilson's storm-petrel and great shearwater could be detected.

Oceanodroma castro in October 2011 (c) Xoán Diéguez.

No success this time

Today, 10th September 2011, we performed the first birding trip of the 'Chasula'. 14 people (12 participants plus skipper and sailor) started at O Grove harbour at 7:30 facing W to the Sálvora archipelago. However, at Sagres area (near Aguiño), waves and wind (stronger than forecast said) were too heavy for going beyond these islands. Skipper decided to stay off the E shore of Sálvora island, where 'chumming' was performed before going back to O Grove harbour around 12:30 h.

It was a sad back trip, as we wanted to visit three points offshore (8-12 nm from Sálvora). Perhaps in another trip...

List of recorded species, including birds attending chum and seen travelling along the S shore of the ría. Highlights in bold:

- Sooty Shearwater (Puffinus griseus): 3 (chum) + 1 (travelling)
- Cory's Shearwater (Calonectris diomedea): 6 (chum) + 4 (travelling)
- Balearic Shearwater (Puffinus mauretanicus): 10 (chum) + 10 (travelling)
- Manx Shearwater (Puffinus puffinus): 1 (chum)
- Storm-petrel (Hydrobatidae): 1 (travelling)
- Atlantic Gannet (Morus bassanus): 3 (chum) + 30 (travelling)
- European Shag (Phalacrocorax aristotelis): 150 (travelling)
- Eurasian Oystercatcher (Haematopus ostralegus): 2 (travelling)
- Sanderling (Calidris alba): 1 (travelling)
- Dunlin (Calidris alpina): 3 (travelling)
- Ruddy Turnstone (Arenaria interpres): 1 (travelling)
- Lesser Black-backed Gull (Larus fuscus): 50 (chum) + 30 (travelling)
- Yellow-legged Gull (Larus michahellis): 100 (chum) + 250 (travelling)
- Black-headed Gull (Larus ridibundus): 10 (travelling)
- Common Tern (Sterna hirundo): 6 (chum) + 3 (travelling)
- Sandwich Tern (Sterna sandvicensis): 2 (travelling)

Some photos:

Puffinus griseus (c) Xosé L. Fernández Carnero

Puffinus griseus (c) Xoán Diéguez Vázquez

Puffinus mauretanicus (c) Xosé L. Fernández Carnero

Puffinus mauretanicus (c) Xoán Diéguez Vázquez

Calonectris diomedea (c) Xosé L. Fernández Carnero

Calonectris diomedea (c) Xoán Diéguez Vázquez

Morus bassanus (c) Xosé L. Fernández Carnero

Morus bassanus (c) Xoán Diéguez Vázquez

Phalacrocorax aristotelis (c) Xosé L. Fernández Carnero

Phalacrocorax aristotelis (c) Xoán Diéguez Vázquez

Arenaria interpres (c) Xosé L. Fernández Carnero

Calidris alba (c) Xosé L. Fernández Carnero

Calidris alpina (c) Xoán Diéguez Vázquez

Larus fuscus (c) Xoán Diéguez Vázquez

10.09.2011 - first pelagic trip

The 'Chasula' (retrieved from chasulapesca.blogspot.com)

With this post, we present our first pelagic trip from O Grove (SW Galicia). It is scheduled for the 10th September 2011, and will be done aboard of the 'Chasula' boat (14 m LOA, 3.5 m beam). This is the first birdwatching trip of the 'Chasula', and we will try to observe interesting pelagic birds W and SW of the islands of Sálvora and Ons, reaching up to 12 nm offshore.

Provisional route of the 'Chasula' (10 Sep 2011) (Google Maps)

Target species will be Sabine's Gull (Larus sabini), Wilson's Storm-petrel (Oceanites oceanicus) and Great Shearwater (Puffinus gravis). It is very likely that Balearic (P. mauretanicus), Cory's (Calonectris diomedea) and Manx Shearwaters (P. puffinus) will be showy during most of the trip. Dolphins and even whales can be sight as well.


'Chumming' will be performed to attact birds near the boat.


This trip is almost full ('Chasula' has a maximum capacity of 12 people plus crew). We are planning another pelagic before mid-October.

More information:

Good birding!