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Observers: Antonio Sandoval Rey, Alfonso Valderas Farfante, Ricardo Hevia Barcón, Xurxo Pinheiro, Ramón Tenreiro, Luca Bergamaschi, Antonio Platas
Boring days at the headland due to the NE winds. On 5th still 2 Long-tailed Skuas, 6 Great Shearwaters and a few Manx Shearwaters in the evening, but on 6th nd 7th numbers were very low for all the species. The first young Pomarine Skua of the year was watched on 8th, as well as 2 Great Shearwaters and a few Common Scoters. On 9th the first Black Tern was watched during the morning count, and the first young Northern Gannet in the evening, as well as 1 Long Tailed Skua, 3 Little Terns, a few “Commic Terns” and 1 Sandwhich Tern. Manx Shearwater passage kept low but regular. Our friend Xurxo Pinheiro visited us on 5th and 6th: Observers: Ricardo Hevia Barcón, Alfonso Valderas Farfante, Daniel Monteagudo, Carla Soaje, Pablo Pita
On August 3th the wind changed to NW for 48 hours, but the passage was not as good as expected. Instead, it was very similar to that of the preceding days. On 4th 9 Pomarines and 5 Arctic Skuas were counted in the evening, as well as 36 Manx Shearwaters and only 11 Sandwhich Terns. Things are not expected to change in the followng week, as the winds will start to blow from NE again. On 3th this Japanese vessel sailed off the headland. You don't watch many Japanese vessels in this side of the world! Observers: Antonio Sandoval Rey, Alfonso Valderas Farfante, Ricardo Hevia Barcón, Antonio Martínez Pernas
Not much to watch al through these six days, as the wind kept blowing from NE. Only a few Great Shearwaters, the usual Cory's and Northern Gannets, and groups of waders (Dunlin, Knot, Turnstone...). Skua passage was only nice on 30th, with 10 Pomarines and 1 Long-tailed. On 31th there was a little movement of Manx Shearwaters. Not many Terns... Observers: Antonio Sandoval (24th and 25th), Ricardo Hevia (24th) and Alfonso Valderas (24th) Wind: NE both days Not much to count in these two days. The evening of 24th there was a passage of 130 Cory's Shearwaters / hour and 12 Great Shearwaters / hour. The following day 5 Great Skuas were watched, one of them chasing Cory's Shearwaters over a pod of dozens of Common Dolphins. Cory's numbers were similar to those of the previous day, but only 2 Great Shearwaters were watched. Instead, there was a nice passage of sailing vessels, including this one from Australia, the Katherine: We don't watch many australian vessels in Galicia... Observers: Antonio Sandoval (21th, 22th, 23th), Javier Ramos Villena (22th, 23th), Alfonso Valderas (23th)
The evening of 21th (NW Wind) Cory's passage was close to 160-h, and 1 Pomarine, 1 Arctic and 2 Great Skuas were counted in 2 hours. Also a few Whimbrels, as well as 5 Balearic Shearwaters, and a few Northern Gannets. 22th (WN wind) was nice for Common Scoters in the morning: 151 in several groups in 3 hours. The afternoon and evening were nice instead for Great Shearwaters (18), and for the first groups of commic Tern (24) and Bar-tailed Godwit (40) of the season. A Scopoli's Shearwater was also watched, as well as 5 Pomarine, 3 Arctic and 3 Great Skuas, 1 Mediterranean Gull, Dunlins, Manx and Balearic Shearwaters, etc. 23th (NNE wind) started with a Fulmar during the sun-up, and the first Long-tailed Skua of the year one hour later. It was a nice day for Cory's (1,416 in 7 hours) and Great Shearwaters (34). The evening produced 4 Great Skuas, 1 Pomarine and 1 Arctic. Only 1 Sooty and 6 Manx Shearwaters were watched. During the three days Common Dolphins were abundant in the area, several times feeding in company of Cory's and Gannets. Observer: Antonio Sandoval Rey
Truly boring days, with strong E winds keeping seabirds far from the headland. Only several gropus of Common Scoter in the mornings and a movement of 50 Balearic Shearwaters / hour eastwards in the morning of 17th before the fog appeared for the rest of the day. Observers: Antonio Martínez Pernas and Ricardo Hevia Barcón Very nice seabird passage this afternoon and evening in 4 h: 2,300 Cory's, 55 Great Shearwaters, 11 Manx Shearwaters, 11 Pomarines and the first Little Tern of the season on the move. Also Whimbrels, Common Scoters, Northern Gannets (250/h), Arctic Skua, Balearic Shearwaters and Sooty Shearwaters.
Observers: Antonio Sandoval, Daniel Fernández, Pablo Pita Red-billed Chough visits to the Observatory were welcome all through these days, as the seabird passage was a bit poor, due to the NE winds. Anyway, on 8th a few Mediterranean Gulls were on the move: The first two juveniles of the season of this beautiful gull was seen the following day. Also the first juvenile Balearic Shearwater and a Common Minke Whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata). The usual pods of Common Dolphins and Harbour Porpoise also visited the area. Cory's Shearwater and Northern Gannet's passage was below 100 birds/hour. The soundtrack of the dawn of 10th were the songs of Melodious Warblers: Dartford Warblers, instead, were mostly silent, hiding in the Common Gorse: During the night only one British Storm Petrel had been caught in the ringing net by Pablo Pita.
At sea the seabird movement kept poor, even when the wind changed to NW. At least one Pomarine Skua was a nice sighting, as these birds always are! Observer: Antonio Sandoval Rey The seawatching season started this year with an evening 2-hs count with WNW wind: 2 Pomarine Skuas - S. pomarinus 2 Great Skuas - S. skua 102 Cory's Shearwaters - C. diomedea 3 Balearic Shearwaters - P. mauretanicus 1 Manx Shearwater - P. puffinus 91 Northern Gannets - M. bassanus The weather was autumn-like. Here they say it's "julyember": The following day, July 2, the weather improved (still NW)... ...and so did the seabird passage, during the 5 h count (morning, afternoon and evening): 3 Great Shearwaters - P. gravis 1,801 Cory's Shearwaters - C. diomedea 2 Sooty Shearwaters - P. griseus 3 Manx Shearwaters - P. puffinus 4 Balearic Shearwaters - P. mauretanicus 2 Pomarine Skuas - S. pomarinus 2 Great Skuas - S. skua 1 Kittiwake - R. tridactyla 2 Mediterranean Gulls - L. melanocephalus Also pods of Bottlenose and Common Dolphins, and Harbour Porpoises. --- July 3 was a bit boring, as the wind changed to NE. There was not much to count. A British Storm Petrel and a few Sandwhich Terns flying eastwards, and a soft passage of c. 200 Cory's Shearwaters / h in the morning, but very few later. Instead, it was a good chance to photograph land birds such as this Cirl Bunting: |
Who we areThe main birders at Estaca de Bares cape, in alphabetical order: Archives
Agosto 2021
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