First Balearic Shearwater juveniles, nice passage of Northern Gannets (most of them of 2nd-3rd calendar year), a few groups of Mediterranean Gulls and Common Scoters, and a strong NE wind were the main features of the first seawatching weekend of the season at Estaca de Bares. Up to 45 Cory's Shearwaters standed together at sea in the evenings. Only 7 Great Skuas were watched.

Sept 30th: It seems Sooty Shearwaters finally decided to fly south from the Gulf of Biscay. These are some numbers of today:

1,247 Sooty Shearwaters
10,522 Northern Gannets
1,247 Manx Shearwaters
34 Pomarine Skuas
18 Arctic Skuas
42 Great Skuas
​Etc

​The day before Antonio Martinez Pernas found this  Greater short-toed Lark  (first sighting in the area) at the headland:

Greater short-toed Lark Oct 1st started raining but was not so bad, with a nice morning pasage, including:
​
1,060 Sooty Shearwaters
5,518 Northern Gannets
486 Manx Shearwaters
8 Pomarine Skuas
11 Arctic Skuas
11 Great Skuas
Etc

Birders at the Headland: Antonio Sandoval Rey, Ricardo Hevia Barcón

Here's a tiny video of the seabird passage, and Greater short-toed Lark:
​

One of the groups of Pomarine Skuas of sept 25th, photographed by Antonio Martínez Pernas:

Another great day of Skuas at Estaca de Bares, with 216 Pomarines, most of them during the last 2 hours before sunset. Also 5 Long Tailed, 66 Arctic and 126 Great Skuas. Tern numbers were also good, with 463 Sandwich, 157 "commic" and 5 Roseate. Other interesting birds watched were 1 Sabine's Gull in company of 2 Kittiwakes and 1 Little Tern.

Sept 26th was not as good at sea, but very nice in the headland, due to a great fall of migrants, mostly in the hights of the area, were more than 100 Whinchats were counted in a short walk.

Birders at the Observatory: Ricardo Hevia and Antonio Martínez Pernas

Sept 17th was a bit quiet, with just 24 Arctic Skuas, 5 Frey Phalaropes and 114 Sandwich Terns as the main sightings. 

Sept 18th was much better in terms of Terns: 840 Sandwich. And for Great Skuas: 130. Yesterday and today Manx Shearwater numbers were low, with just a few hundreds. 

Sept 19th 409 Common Scoters were also counted, as well as 51 Arctic Skuas and 6 Sabine's Gulls.

Sept 20th produced quite a lot of different species, including 2 Leach's, 4 Long Tailes Skuas, 827 Common Scoters, 61 Arctic Skuas and 117 Great Skuas. 67 Little terns was also a very good number. And 2 Garganeys, a duck with very few sightings in Galicia in autumn.

Sept 21th was not as good due to the rain. Anyway 16 Arctic Skuas kept moving west.

Sept 22th the evening count was again not good. But the morning was not bad! We are still waiting for the numbers of the birder at the headland during those hours, but a Fulmar was seen, as well as a few Great Shearwaters. A Long Eared Owl was seen at night over the headland road.

Sept 23th was nice for passerines, with all the common transaharian migrants seen, as well as 2 Purple Herons. At sea there was not much movement. 16 Pomarines, 14 Arctic Skuas, 1 Sabine's, 3 Great Shearwaters or 100 Balearic Shearwaters were the most interesting numbers.

Sept 24th was again goof for Balearics, as well as not bad for Skuas: 10 Pomarines, 18 Arctic, 27 Great, 1 Long tailed. All of them in the morning, before the rain.

Birders at the headland during the week: Antonio Sandoval Rey, Jesús Menéndez, Toño Lastra, Mark Hollingworth, Chris Phillpot, Jan Södersved, Marku Mikkola-Ross and Pekka Nikander, Petro Pynnonen & 6 more Finnish birders, Jorge Campos, Juan Hermida.

Quite a lot of good sightings again today:

6 Fulmars
c.17.600 Manx Shearwaters
36 Balearic Shearwaters
664 Sooty Shearwaters
26 Great Shearwaters
360 Pomarine Skuas
247 Arctic Skuas
119 Long Tailed Skuas
175 Great Skuas
​9 Sabine's Gulls
472 Sandwich Terns
550 Commic Terns
6 Little Terns
664 Common Scoters
3 European Storm-Petrels
1 Wilson's Storm-Petrel
4 Leach's Storm-Petrels
2 Kittiwakes
1 Little Gull
27 Grey Phalaropes

Observers: Ricardo Hevia, Antonio Martínez Pernas, Pablo Pita, Luis Gude, Dani, Mark Hollingworth, David Taylor, Ludovic Scalabre, Jan Söversved, Marku Mikkola-Ross, Pekka Nikander, Paul Gnodde.

2,330 Manx Shearwatersin just 2,30 hs this morning. Also 56 Great Skuas, 62 Sooties, 56 Arctic Skuas, 62 British Storm Petrels, 3 Wilson's Storm Petrels, 167 Sandwich Terns...

Observers: Antonio Sandoval, Toño Salazar, Mark Hollingworth, David Taylor.

Mark Hollingworth, David Taylor at the Observatory (Antonio Sandoval):​

Huge passage of seabirds on Sept 9th:
​
C. 60.000 Manx Shearwaters
1 Barolo Shearwater
1 Fea's type Petrel (4th this year)
141 Roseate Terns
2 Wilson's Storm Petrels
6 Sabine's Gulls
264 Pomarine Skuas
227 Arctic Skuas
243 Great Skuas
67 Long Tailed Skuas
1511 "Commic" Terns
712 Sandwich Terns
25 G. Phalaropes
27 Great Shearwaters
751 Sooty Shearwaters
1 Fulmar (9th of the year)
ETC.
Observers: Dani Monteagudo, Carla Soaje, Pablo y Antonio Gutiérrez, David Martínez, Ricardo Hevia, Pablo Pita y Antonio Sandoval, Mark Hollingworth, David Taylor.
​
Counting Seabirds from the Observatory (photo by David Martinez):