08/09/2013: more Sabine's, Wilson's and cetaceans

Very early in the morning, we left O Grove harbour with the hope to complete a pelagic that it was announced as "tricky", due wind forecast. The skipped decided to sail towards northern half of the 'ría', near Guidoiros islets and of the island of Rúa, avoidind the north wind thanks to the natural shelter of Barbanza range. We observed lots of waders and even a peregrine falcon attacking some of them. A few bottle-nosed dolphins and the first Balearic shearwaters appeared in front of our binoculars before reaching the passage of Sagres. The sea increased in height onwards, although with pace waves that made the route reasonably comfortable. In the first miles we enjoy with the company of dozens of common dolphins that jumped and swam near the boat as we advanced in our route. Lesser black-backed gulls, Balearic shearwaters and the omnipresent yellow-legged gulls were also guest stars up to the first "chum", at 7 nautical miles of the coast, to which Arctic and great skuas and a curious Cory's shearwater came. In the journey up to the 12 miles offshore two harbour porpoises were briefly seen by some of the passengers. The chum at 12 miles was very productive, with sixteen Sabine's gulls, two Wilson's storm-petrels, a Europen storm-petrel and many other seabirds, that delighted observers.
The way back to harbour was fast as the wind increased in intensity. We observed a sooty shearwater and many common dolphins by the way. We arrive at harbour around 16:00 h, a little bit tired but happy.

Here below the record list. In bold, highlights. In italics, approximate numbers:

Latin name	English name	TOTAL
Melanitta nigra	Common scoter	2
Calonectris diomedea	Cory's shearwater	2
Puffinus mauretanicus	Balearic shearwater	15
Puffinus griseus	Sooty shearwater	1
Hydrobates pelagicus	European storm-petrel	1
Oceanites oceanicus	Wilson's storm-petrel	2
Morus bassanus	Northern gannet	110
Phalacrocorax carbo	Great cormorant	12
Phalacrocorax aristotelis	European shag	103
Egretta garzetta	Little egret	1
Falco peregrinus	Peregrine falcon	1
Ardea cinerea	Grey heron	2
Haematopus ostralegus	Oystercatcher	3
Charadrius hiaticula	Ringed plover	3
Arenaria interpres	Ruddy turnstones	7
Stercorarius skua	Great skua	3
Stercorarius parasiticus	Arctic skua	5
Chroicocephalus ridibundus	Black-headed gull	2
Larus melanocephalus	Mediterranean gull	5
Larus michahellis	Yellow-legged gull	1041
Larus fuscus	Lesser black-backed gull	129
Larus marinus	Great black-backed gull	6
Xema sabini	Sabine's gull	16
Sterna sandvicensis	Sandwich tern	3
Calidris sp.	Unidentified sandpiper	40
Numenius sp.	Unidentified curlew	7
Sterna sp.	Unidentified ter	2
Delphinus delphis	Common dolphin	150
Phocoena phocoena	Harbour porpoise	2
Tursiops truncatus	Bottle-nosed dolphin	4

 

And some pictures, (c) José Luis Lorenzo García "Colón" and Xoán Diéguez Vázquez:

Sabine's gull (Xema sabini), 12 nm W of Sálvora island (SW Galicia), 8/9/2013, (c) J. L. Lorenzo García.

Sabine's gull (Xema sabini), 12 nm W of Sálvora island (SW Galicia), 8/9/2013, (c) J. L. Lorenzo García.

Sabine's gull (Xema sabini), 12 nm W of Sálvora island (SW Galicia), 8/9/2013, (c) J. L. Lorenzo García.

Sabine's gull (Xema sabini), 12 nm W of Sálvora island (SW Galicia), 8/9/2013, (c) J. L. Lorenzo García.

Sabine's gull (Xema sabini), 12 nm W of Sálvora island (SW Galicia), 8/9/2013, (c) Xoán Diéguez Vázquez.

Great skua (Stercorarius skua), 12 nm W of Sálvora island (SW Galicia), 8/9/2013, (c) Xoán Diéguez Vázquez.

Arctic skua (Stercorarius parasiticus), dark morph, 12 nm W of Sálvora island (SW Galicia), 8/9/2013, (c) Xoán Diéguez Vázquez.

Arctic skua (Stercorarius parasiticus), dark morph, 12 nm W of Sálvora island (SW Galicia), 8/9/2013, (c) Xoán Diéguez Vázquez.

Arctic skua (Stercorarius parasiticus), light morph, chasing a lesser black-backed gull (Larus fuscus), 12 nm W of Sálvora island (SW Galicia), 8/9/2013, (c) J. L. Lorenzo García.

Arctic skua (Stercorarius parasiticus), light morph, chasing a lesser black-backed gull (Larus fuscus), 12 nm W of Sálvora island (SW Galicia), 8/9/2013, (c) J. L. Lorenzo García

Arctic skua (Stercorarius parasiticus), light morph, 12 nm W of Sálvora island (SW Galicia), 8/9/2013, (c) J. L. Lorenzo García

Arctic skua (Stercorarius parasiticus), light morph (left) and dark morph (right), 12 nm W of Sálvora island (SW Galicia), 8/9/2013, (c) J. L. Lorenzo García

Arctic skua (Stercorarius parasiticus), dark morph, 12 nm W of Sálvora island (SW Galicia), 8/9/2013, (c) J. L. Lorenzo García

Arctic skua (Stercorarius parasiticus), intermediate morph, 12 nm W of Sálvora island (SW Galicia), 8/9/2013, (c) J. L. Lorenzo García

Arctic skua (Stercorarius parasiticus), intermediate morph, 12 nm W of Sálvora island (SW Galicia), 8/9/2013, (c) J. L. Lorenzo García

Arctic skuas (Stercorarius parasiticus) and lesser black-backed gull (Larus fuscus) (foreground), 12 nm W of Sálvora island (SW Galicia), 8/9/2013, (c) J. L. Lorenzo García

Northern gannet (Morus bassanus), inmature, 12 nm W of Sálvora island (SW Galicia), 8/9/2013, (c) J. L. Lorenzo García

Northern gannet (Morus bassanus), juvenile, 12 nm W of Sálvora island (SW Galicia), 8/9/2013, (c) J. L. Lorenzo García

European storm-petrel (Hydrobates pelagicus) (left) and Wilson's storm-petrel (Oceanites oceanicus) (right), 12 nm W of Sálvora island (SW Galicia), 8/9/2013, (c) J. L. Lorenzo García

Wilson's storm-petrel (Oceanites oceanicus), moulting, 12 nm W of Sálvora island (SW Galicia), 8/9/2013, (c) Xoán Diéguez Vázquez.

Wilson's storm-petrel (Oceanites oceanicus), moulting, 12 nm W of Sálvora island (SW Galicia), 8/9/2013, (c) Xoán Diéguez Vázquez.

Wilson's storm-petrel (Oceanites oceanicus), moulting, 12 nm W of Sálvora island (SW Galicia), 8/9/2013, (c) Xoán Diéguez Vázquez.

Wilson's storm-petrel (Oceanites oceanicus), detail, 12 nm W of Sálvora island (SW Galicia), 8/9/2013, (c) J. L. Lorenzo García

Wilson's storm-petrel (Oceanites oceanicus), 12 nm W of Sálvora island (SW Galicia), 8/9/2013, (c) J. L. Lorenzo García

Wilson's storm-petrel (Oceanites oceanicus), 12 nm W of Sálvora island (SW Galicia), 8/9/2013, (c) J. L. Lorenzo García

Wilson's storm-petrel (Oceanites oceanicus), 12 nm W of Sálvora island (SW Galicia), 8/9/2013, (c) J. L. Lorenzo García

Common dolphin (Delphinus delphis), 6 nm W of Sálvora island (SW Galicia), 8/9/2013, (c) J. L. Lorenzo García

Common dolphin (Delphinus delphis), 6 nm W of Sálvora island (SW Galicia), 8/9/2013, (c) J. L. Lorenzo García

Common dolphin (Delphinus delphis), 6 nm W of Sálvora island (SW Galicia), 8/9/2013, (c) J. L. Lorenzo García

Common dolphin (Delphinus delphis), 6 nm W of Sálvora island (SW Galicia), 8/9/2013, (c) J. L. Lorenzo García

Common dolphins (Delphinus delphis), 6 nm W of Sálvora island (SW Galicia), 8/9/2013, (c) J. L. Lorenzo García

03-04/09/2013: a trip around Atlantic Islands NP

(English version soon) 

O martes 3 de setembro de 2013 pola mañá, partimos do porto do Grove no "Chasula" un reducido grupo de persoas para coñecer de preto o Parque Nacional das Illas Atlánticas de Galicia. A actividade foi subvencionada pola Consellería de Medio Ambiente, Territorio e Infraestruturas da Xunta de Galicia e contou co apoio e as facilidades do persoal do propio Parque Nacional, que guiaron a ruta na illa de Monteagudo (Cíes). A empresa Intramar, S. L. (receptora da subvención), así como SEO/BirdLife e o Grupo Naturalista Hábitat, tomaron parte tamén da actividade.

Inicialmente, realizamos unha travesía matinal pola ría de Arousa e aproximámonos ao arquipélago de Sálvora (Parque Nacional das Illas Atlánticas). Observamos varias especies de aves mariñas, cetáceos e grandes peixes nos arredores destas illas a media que nos iamos afastando de costa, obtendo interesantes avistamentos.

Seguidamente trazamos unha diagonal para pasar preto do sueste da illa de Onza, no arquipélago de Ons, e navegar pola tarde fronte ás caras oeste e sur das illas Cíes, finalizando a ruta na praia de Rodas, entre as illas do Faro e Monteagudo. Pasouse a noite no barco.

O mércores 4 pola mañá, e guiados por Beatriz Gamallo, efectuamos unha ruta dende o centro de información na praia de Rodas cara ao norte ata o faro do Peito, cunha segunda ruta ata o alto do Príncipe, onde obtivemos interesantes observacións de aves. Tras regresar ao "Chasula", navegamos ao norte pola cara nordeste das Cíes e este do arquipélago de Ons, para de novo entrar na ría de Arousa, gozando de múltiples observacións de aves.

Detállanse, seguidamente, as observacións obtidas nos dous días (en grosa, avistamentos destacados, en cursiva, cifras aproximadas):

Primeira xornada:

03/09/2013 (ruta marítima O Grove-Sálvora-mar aberto-Ons-Cíes)		TOTAL
Podiceps cristatus	Mergullón cristado	1
Calonectris diomedea	Pardela cincenta	3
Puffinus mauretanicus	Furabuchos balear	27
Puffinus puffinus	Furabuchos atlántico	2
Hydrobates pelagicus	Paíño pequeno	7
Oceanites oceanicus	Paíño de Wilson	2
Morus bassanus	Mascato	111
Phalacrocorax carbo	Corvo mariño grande	15
Phalacrocorax aristotelis	Corvo mariño cristado	188
Egretta garzetta	Garzota	2
Arenaria interpres	Virapedras	3
Stercorarius skua	Palleira grande	7
Stercorarius parasiticus	Palleira parasita	8
Chroicocephalus ridibundus	Gaivota chorona	1
Larus melanocephalus	Gaivota cabecinegra	3
Larus michahellis	Gaivota patiamarela	1526
Larus fuscus	Gaivota escura	260
Larus marinus	Gaivotón	3
Xema sabini	Gaivota de Sabine	5
Sterna sandvicensis	Carrán cristado	8
Delphinus delphis	Golfiño común	74
Mola mola	Peixe roda	3
Prionace glauca	Quenlla	18

 

Segunda xornada:

04/09/2013 (ruta terrestre en Cíes e ruta marítima Cíes-Ons-O Grove)		TOTAL
Calonectris diomedea	Pardela cincenta	1
Puffinus mauretanicus	Furabuchos balear	9
Morus bassanus	Mascato	22
Phalacrocorax carbo	Corvo mariño grande	2
Phalacrocorax aristotelis	Corvo mariño cristado	37
Buteo buteo	Miñato	1
Larus melanocephalus	Gaivota cabecinegra	5
Larus michahellis	Gaivota patiamarela	420
Sterna sandvicensis	Carrán cristado	2
Columba palumbus	Pombo	2
Dendrocopos major	Peto real	4
Picus viridis	Peto verdeal	1
Troglodytes troglodytes	Carriza	9
Phoenicurus ochruros	Rabirrubio	3
Erithacus rubecula	Paporrubio	15
Saxicola rubicola	Chasco común	1
Turdus merula	Merlo	2
Sylvia undata	Papuxa do mato	1
Sylvia melanocephala	Papuxa cabecinegra	4
Sylvia atricapilla	Papuxa das amoras	3
Phylloscopus trochilus	Picafollas musical	3
Aegithalos caudatus	Ferreiriño rabilongo	4
Certhia brachydactyla	Gabeador	2
Parus major	Ferreiriño real	6
Periparus ater	Ferreiriño negro	10
Ficedula hypoleuca	Papamoscas negro	36
Serinus serinus	Xirín	1
Fringilla coelebs	Pimpín	2
Carduelis cannabina	Liñaceiro	1
Carduelis chloris	Verderolo	12
Pyrrhula pyrrhula	Cardeal	5

 

Patrocinador e colaboradores: