24 of march. Birds and dolphins

Risso´s dolphin ( Grampus griseus) Xosé Luis Fernández Carnero (c)

The pelagic boat trip left the port of O Grove at 8:30  with six passengers and crew. A few minutes' drive, locate a group of bottlenose dolphins (eventually estimated at 15-20 individuals) who immediately approached the ship, allowing for excellent photographs. Subsequently, the "Chasula" continued toward the W passing near Rons, Porto Meloxo, A Mexiloeira and O Carreiro with observations of 65 shags, Atlantic gull, cormorant and moderate numbers of gulls. At the mouth of the estuary, and just before reaching the southern tip of Sálvora, we recorded a common murre, a razorbill, four sandwich terns and 11 northern gannets.After spending Sálvora, move to the WSW to 9 nautical miles W of the Ons island , where we made the first stop to release the frozen chum. On the way until 9 miles we see two Atlantic Puffins , two common murres, razorbills, 149 northern gannets (almost all adults, migrating to N) and surprisingly discrete numbers of gulls. Of note, the fisrt common tern spotted of the year, there were seven sunfish (dispersed), a shag appeared about 7 miles W of the island of Ons (too far from their usual area) and, as one of the sightings highlights of the day, two gray dolphins (one of them an old adult, looking whitish, heavily scratched) and four (or five) common dolphins observations allowed us to enjoy within walking distance of whales.The first chum came only about 40 yellow legged gulls and about 30 lesser black backet gulls and a Mediterranean Gull and three gannet. Only when we start from this point toward the line of 12 miles, a great skua showed up, also observed a common razorbill migration.Up to 12 miles the number of gulls increased and were seen isolated examples of puffin, guillemot, seagulls, mediterranean gulls, sunfish and five gannets.In the second and final chum, not far from two trawlers were fishing about 13 miles W of the island of Ons, four great skuas appeared (three of them near the boat and one of them something far away), two sunfish, a 170 gulls (one with a yellow ring, probably a yellow-legged from PNMTIAG) and eight gannets that were around the frozen block a few time.After spending about half an hour, and no prospect of spotting more species, we begin the return to port, looking to the island of Sálvora three new puffin (one very quiet, very close the "Chasula"), two murres, four razorbills, four common scoters (females), two sunfish and discrete numbers of gannets and gulls.After passing the southern tip of Sálvora, we noted a new puffin and great skua and near of beds polygon we saw some "extra" species as mallard, Eurasian Oystercatcher, Common Sandpiper, Barn Swallow and White Wagtail, ending the day with a new sighting of three bottlenose dolphins.With the good taste of cetaceans observed in addiction seven puffins , twelve sunfish, eight great skuas, guillemots, razorbills and terns, landed at 16:00 at the port of O Grove, thinking about the next spring expeditions with Seabirds Galicia.

Northern Gannet ( Morus bassanus) Xosé Luis Fernández Carnero (c)

Great Black-backet gull and  European Shags ( Larus marinus & Phalacrocorax aristotelis) Xosé Luis Fernández Carnero (c)

Yellow-legged Gull ( Larus michahellis) Xosé Luis Fernández Carnero (c)

Lesser Black-backet Gulls ( Larus fuscus) Cosme Damián Romay Cousido (c)

Great Skua ( Stercrarius skua) Xosé Luis Fernández Carnero (c)

Common Guillemots ( Uria aalge) Xosé Luis Fernández Carnero (c)

Atlantic Puffin ( Fratercula arctica) Xosé Luis Fernández Carnero (c)

Risso´s dolphin ( Grampus griseus) Alfonso Santamaría (c)

Bottle nosed dolphin ( Tursiops truncatus) Cosme Damián Romay Cousido (c)

Photographers ( Antonio Santamaría, Stefán Áki Ragnarsson y Xoán Diéguez) Cosme Damián Romay Cousido (c)

Pelagic boat trip in March

The next Saturday, March 24 we will make the second year pelagic boat trip of Chasula aboard.
The road ahead will be the same as in previous boat trips. We will leave the Grove´s port at 8:15 reached the maximum distance from shore to 12 nautical miles west of Sálvora.
Shoot back "chum" and oil in various areas to attract seabirds.
We hope to enjoy sightings of alcids similar to those of the previous boat trip. There are also opportunities to see the first year Calonectris diomedea and new species of the genus Stercorarius.
If bad weather prevented departure, participants will be notified 48 hours in advance.
To join the boat trip, or for any questions about the trip you can contact us at the following address: seabirdsgalicia (at) gmail.com

First pelagic boat trip of the year and new species

Great skua ( Stercorarius skua) (c) Damián Romay

On February 25 we made the first pelagic boat trip of the year.
Sea state with a significant swell, caused Isidro, the skipper, decided to change the planned route. Besides the day was pretty cloudy, so it would be difficult to get good pictures.
We soon forget this feeling about a mile Sálvora suroreste when we saw the first puffin.
The alcids in general and puffins (new species observed for Seabirds Galicia) in particular were the stars of the day by the large number of sightings. Many of them already had the breeding plumage, a sign that soon begin the journey to their breeding colonies. Still, we hope to continue enjoying these spectacular birds in next boat trips, at least until April.

This is the list with the number of species and individuals observed:


Great cormorant ( Phalacrocorax carbo) 19
European shag ( Phalacrocorax aristotelis) 81
Northern gannet ( Morus bassanus) 284
Grey heron  (Ardea cinerea) 1
Little egret ( Egretta garzetta) 1
Eurasian oystecatcher ( Haematopus ostralegus) 100
Grey plover ( Pluvialis squatarola) 10
Dunlin ( Calidris alpina) 20
Ruddy turnstone ( Arenaria interpres) 4
Great skua ( Stercorarius skua) 20
Mediterranean gull ( Larus melanocephalus) 37
Black headed gull ( Larus ridibundus) 28
Common gull ( Larus canus) 3
Yellow legged gull ( Larus michahellis) 512
Lesser black backet gull ( Larus fuscus) 33
Great black backet gull ( Larus marinus) 2
Sandwich tern ( Sterna sandvicensis) 3
Auk ( Alca torda) 68
Common murre ( Uria aalge) 5
Atlantic puffin ( Fratercula arctica) 25

Auk family unidentified 10

Carrion crowe ( Corvus corone) 2
Delphinidae unidentified 1

Ocean sunfish ( Mola mola) 21
 

And here some pictures of the day:

Puffin  ( Fratercula arctica) (c) Alfonso Santa María

Puffins ( Fratercula arctica)(c) Xosé Luis Fernández Carnero

Auks ( Alca torda) (c) Xosé Luis Fernández Carnero

European shag  (Phalacrocorax aristotelis) (c) Xosé Luis Fernández Carnero

Common murre ( Uria aalge) (c) Xosé Luis Fernádez Carnero

Great cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo) (c) Xosé Luis Fernádez Carnero

Yellow legged gull and Lesser black backet gull (c) (Larus michahellis & L. fuscus) Xosé Luis Fernández Carnero

Common gull and Yellow legged gull (c) (Larus canus & L. michahellis) Xosé Luis Fernández Carnero

Black headed gull and Mediterranean gull (Larus ridibundus & Larus melanocephalus) (c) Xosé Luis Fernández Carnero

Northern gannet (Morus Bassanus) (c) Xosé Luis Fernández Carnero

Great skua ( Stercorarius skua) (c) Xosé Luis Fernández Carnero

Northern gannet (Morus Bassanus) (c) Xosé Luis Fernández Carnero

Northern gannet  (Morus Bassanus) (c) Corme Damián Romay

Ocean sunfish  ( Mola mola) (c) Damián Romay

Observers ( Xosé Luis Fernández & Ramón Andrés García & Alfonso Santa María) (c) Damián Romay

Cancellation of the boat trip from Saturday 21th

Due to unfavorable weather forecasts and sea state  Seabirdsgalicia decided to suspend the boat trip scheduled for Saturday, as they are not ideal conditions for observation and photography of birds.
In February we return pelagic trips who reported on the blog.
We apologize for any inconvenience this cancellation may have caused.

First boat trip of wintering birds. On December 17th, 2011

Red breasted Menganser ( Mergus serrator) Xosé Luis Fernández Carnero (c)

 Last February 17th we did the first route to see wintering birds in the interior of the Ría de Arousa. Weather conditions sush as sea conditions were excellent for observing and photografing birds. From 8:30 until 16:00 we enjoy, not only with the sightings of seabirds, but also the beauty of the lanscapes of the Ría de Arousa.  

List of species observed.

Lesser Black backed Gull ( Larus fuscus)        157
Great Black backed Gull ( Larus marinus)        6
Black headed Gull (Larus melanocephalus)        20
Yellow legged Gull (Larus michahellis)        1360
Black headed Gull ( Larus ridibundus )        408
Common scoter ( Melanitta nigra)            5
Red breasted Menganser ( Mergus serrator)        33
Northern Gannet ( Morus bassanus)            8
Whimbrel ( Numenius phaeopus)            2
European Shag ( Phalacrocorax aristotelis)        104
Great cormorant ( Phalacrocorax carbo)        228
Grey plover ( Pluvialis squartarola)            350
Sandwich tern ( Sterna sandvicensis)        30
Common redshank (Tringa tonatus)            55
Common sandpiper ( Actitis hypoleucos)        5
Razorbill ( Alca torda)                11
Mallard ( Anas platyrhynchos)            118
Grey heron ( Ardea cinerea)                48
Rudy turnstone ( Arenaria interpres)            7
Dunlin ( Calidris alpina)                200
Little egret ( Egretta garzetta)            2
Common loon ( Gavia immer)            1
Eurasian oystercarcher ( Haematopus ostralegus)    357
Wood pigeon (Columba palumbus)            2
White Wagtail ( Motacilla alba)            1

European Shag ( Phalacrocorax aristotelis) Xosé Luis Fernández Carnero (c)

Common loon (Gavia immer) Xoán Diéguez (c)

Sandwich tern ( Sterna sandvicensis) Xosé Luis Fernández Carnero (c)

Razorbill ( Alca torda)  Xosé Luis Fernández Carnero (c)

Little egret (Egretta garzetta) Xosé Luis Fernández Carnero (c)     

New winter routes and next boat trip on 17/12/2011

 Because of the heavy swell, and with the shortage of wintering migratory birds, the pattern of Chasula decided not to exit pelagic November 19, so that from the Chasula and collaborators of "Seabirds Galica" we apologize. 

For the December 17 will make a way out for wintering bird watching pelagic birds as the number does not increase until March. 

We have two possible routes to do during these winter months. We opted for one or the other depending on the weather and preferences of the participants. 

Routes and prices are detailed in the relevant sections of the blog.

Photos from pelagic trip - October, the 29th

Thanks to Martino Picallo, we can enjoy beautiful images of some of the species observed in the last pelagic trip aboard "Chasula" on October, the 29th:

Alca torda (c) Martiño Picallo

Alca torda (c) Martiño Picallo

Larus fuscus  (c) Martiño Picallo

Stercorarius skua (c) Martiño Picallo

Stercorarius pomarinus (c) Martiño Picallo

Stercorarius pomarinus (c) Martiño Picallo

Morus bassanus (c) Martiño Picallo

Oceanites oceanicus (c) Martiño Picallo

Oceanites oceanicus (c) Martiño Picallo

Puffinus mauretanicus (c) Martiño Picallo

Puffinus gravis (c) Martiño Picallo

Larus michahellis & Oceanites oceanicus (c) Martiño Picallo

Morus bassanus & Hydrobates pelagicus (c) Martiño Picallo

And several sequences of  lesser black-backed gull ( Larus fuscus) being harassed by skuas( Stercorarius skua)

(c) Martiño Picallo

(c) Martiño Picallo

(c) Martiño Picallo

(c) Martiño Picallo

(c) Martiño Picallo