The strong NW winds coming from Greenland into the Bay of Biscay are surely the cause of the high numbers of Grey Phalaropes counted this evening. The morning was nice, with almost no wind and a strong movement of Cory’s, as well as several Bonxies and Arctic Skuas. During the afternoon the wind started to blow from NNE, and the result was an unforgettable one. These are the total numbers obtained during the 7,30 hs count:
Fea’s / Madeira Petrel: 1
Grey Phalarope: 894 (all of them from 16:45 to 21:00, local time).
Great Shearwater: 445
Manx Shearwater: 499
Sooty Shearwater: 19
Cory’s Shearwater: 2,036
Balearic Shearwater: 5
Great Skua: 33
Pomarine Skua: 27
Arctic Skua: 41
Long-Tailed Skua: 17
«Commic» Tern: 348
Sandwich Tern: 25
Black Tern: 7
Whimbrel: 186
Oystercatcher: 38
Dunlin: 64
Mediterranean Gull: 1
Black-Tailed Godwit: 24
Common Scoter: 49
Observers: Ricardo Hevia, Antonio Martínez Pernas, Maarten Plaateuw, Antonio Sandoval, Alfonso Valderas