Happy Christmas.

 

Thank you to all of you who take the time to read / view my blog, have a great Christmas and hope to catch up with some of you in 2026.

Miradoiro de Sambade at Marisma Baldaio and Praia de Nemiña / Praia de Lires in A Coruña Province, Galicia, Spain.

Two targets, one hit and a miss.

Ebird List for Miradoiro de Sambade at Marisma Baldaio.

Ebird List for Praia de Nemiña / Praia de Lires 1.

Ebird List for Praia de Nemiña / Praia de Lires 2.

 

Eastern Yellow Wagtail (Lavandera de Chukotka / Motacilla tschutschensis).

I started early again as my first site was just an hour's drive away, I was there early so I went and found a bar for coffee and some breakfast before going to the spot where I found Pablo and Pedro, two local birders were already on site, Pedro had seen the bird already an Eastern Yellow Wagtail (Lavandera de Chukotka / Motacilla tschutschensis) so it was still here.

Eastern Yellow Wagtail (Lavandera de Chukotka / Motacilla tschutschensis).

After as short while, Pablo picked the bird up again quite a way along the channel which stretched out from the viewing point but through the scope we had good views.

In the same area we had a very smart ♀ Hen Harrier (Aguilucho Pálido / Circus cyaneus), Water Rail (Rascón Europeo / Rallus aquaticus) heard, Yellow-legged Gull (Gaviota Patiamarilla / Larus Michahellis), Great Cormorant (Cormorán Grande / Phalacrocroax carbo), Great Egret (Garceta Grande / Ardea alba), Grey Heron (Garza Real / Ardea cinerea), Carrion Crow (Corneja Negra / Corvus corone), Zitting Cisticola (Cistícola Buitrón / Cisticola juncidis), Eurasian Crag Martin (Avión Roquero / Ptyonoprogne rupestris), Common Chiffchaff (Mosquitero Común / Phylloscopus collybita), European Robin (Petirrojo Europeo / Erithacus rubecula) and European Goldfinch (Jilguero Europeo / Carduelis carduelis).   

Eastern Yellow Wagtail (Lavandera de Chukotka / Motacilla tschutschensis).

Pablo and Pedro headed off down towards Fisterra where Pedro was hoping to see the wintering American Herring Gull (Gaviota Argentea Americana / Larus Smithsonianus) which had been returning to the area for a few years, I stayed for a while longer before I followed them, this paid off as just after they left the bird was chased along the channel by the only White Wagtail (Lavandera Blanca / Montacilla alba) then and as it flew it called several times and then landed much closer.

Even though the bird was much closer the light was still very bad, so the photos are not good but better than nothing, three more birders arrived and once I made sure they were on the bird I headed off to try for the Gull.

Firstly I went around to the Ria de Lires and Praia de Lires but there were no more than 20 Yellow-legged (Gaviota Patiamarilla / Larus Michahellis) and Lesser Black-backed Gulls (Gaviota Sombria / Larus fuscus) there and they were out numbered by the Grey Herons, Little Egrets (Garceta Común / Egretta garzetta) and Great Cormorants.

I decided to push on around to Praia de Nemiña, just before I was about to arrive I met Pablo and Pedro leaving, they told me that they had dipped and that there weren't many Gulls there either, when I arrived there were around 25 birds on the beach, so I got the scope ready and went down onto the beach and around to the far side of the birds as the light was better.

Praia de Nemiña.

In the group there were Common (Gaviota Cana / Larus canus), Yellow-legged, Lesser Black-backed and Great Black-backed Gull (Gavión Atlántico / Larus marinus) but there was no sign of the target.

Yellow-legged (Gaviota Patiamarilla / Larus Michahellis) and Lesser Black-backed Gull (Gaviota Sombria / Larus fuscus).

1st winter Yellow-legged Gull (Gaviota Patiamarilla / Larus Michahellis).

I spent quite a while here checking birds as they flew in and away, during this time I had a very nice call from friends Deb and Ian from Australia and whilst I was chatting with them a nice adult Gull flew in and stood on its own and I thought it was the bird I wanted but when I finished the call and checked it properly I realised it was an adult European Herring Gull (Gaviota Argéntea Europea / Larus argentatus) which unfortunately bogged off as I started to raise the camera.

Common Gull (Gaviota Cana / Larus canus) and Yellow-legged Gull (Gaviota Patiamarilla / Larus Michahellis).

Common Gull (Gaviota Cana / Larus canus) and Yellow-legged Gull (Gaviota Patiamarilla / Larus Michahellis).

3rd winter Great Black-backed Gull (Gavión Atlántico / Larus marinus).

3rd winter Great Black-backed Gull (Gavión Atlántico / Larus marinus).

Adult Great Black-backed Gull (Gavión Atlántico / Larus marinus).

Other species were Red-billed Chough (Chova Piquirroja / Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax) and White Wagtail, after about 1.5 hours I went back around to the Ria to see if anything had changed there but it was pretty much the same, so I went back around to the beach and spent another couple of hours there only adding Sandwich Tern (Charrán Patinegro / Thalasseus sandvicensis), Northern Gannet (Alcatraz Atlántico / Morus bassanus), Little Egret, Common Buzzard (Busardo Ratonero / Buteo buteo), Carrion Crow, Northern Raven (Cuervo grande / Corvus corax), European Robin, Black Redstart (Colirrojo Tizón / Phoenicurus ochruros), European Stonechat (Tarabilla Europea / Saxicola rubicola) and Meadow Pipit (Bisbita Pratense / Anthus pratensis).

The rain arried and got quite heavy so I decided to admit defeat and I headed back to the Hotel. 

Praia de Lago near Xove in Lugo, Ría de O Burgo and Porto de Santa Cruz in A Coruña, Galicia, Spain.

Three hits and a dip, one of the hit is a Spanish Lifer.

Ebird List for Praia de Lago.

Ebird List for Ría de O Burgo. 

Ebird List for Porto de Santa Cruz. 

 

After chatting Dorindo yesterday about the gulls up at Praia de Lago near Xove and then checking to find it was less than 1.5 hours drive I decided to give it a go, the drive wasn't great as it rained for quite a bit of the way and the road markings and reflectors were pretty much none existent all the way. 

As bad as the roads were I still arrived in good time as the roads were extremely quiet, I parked and instantly I could see clouds of gulls along the beach and over a nearby fish farm, so I got the kit together and went for a walk.

The Fish Farm with one or two Gulls.

On the way along the road to the fish farm, I picked up Mallard (Anade Azulón / Anas platyrhynchos), Common Woodpigeon (Paloma Torcaz / Columba palumbus), Common Chiffchaff (Mosquitero Común / Phylloscopus collybita), Eurasian Blackcap (Curruca Capirotada / Curruca capirotada), Song Thrush (Zorzal Común / Turdus philomelos), European Robin (Petirrojo Europeo / Erithacus rubecula), Black Redstart (Colirrojo Tizón / Phoenicurus ochruros), European Stonechat (Tarabilla Europea / Saxicola rubicola) and Common Chaffinch (Pinzón Vulgar / Fringilla coelebs).

I stood on the roadside and scanned through the large numbers of gulls around the Fish Farm and the water outlet finding big numbers of Black-headed (Gaviota Reidora / Chroicocephalus ridibundus), Yellow-legged (Gaviota Patiamarilla / Larus Michahellis) and Lesser Black-backed Gull (Gaviota Sombria / Larus fuscus), Great Cormorant (Cormorán Grande / Phalacrocroax carbo), Common Sandpiper (Andarrios Chico / Actitis hypoleucos), Grey Heron (Garza Real / Ardea cinerea) and in the river channel on the opposite side of the road Little Egret (Garceta Común / Egretta garzetta) and Ruddy Turnstone (Vuelvepiedras Común / Arenaria interpres).

The top half of the Gull flock, with a Bonaparte's Gull in the centre near the front, honest.

I then moved out onto the Beach carefully via a nearby wooded, very slippery boardwalk finding a large flock of Gulls a few hundred meters away so I set up the scope again and spent quite a while scanning through them, most were Black-headed which were further up the beach with a few Mediterraneans (Gaviota Cabecinegra / Larus melanocephalus), with the larger Yellow-legged and Lesser Black-backs nearer to the sea.

Bonaparte's Gull (Gaviota de Bonaparte / Chroicocephalus philadelphia).

Eventually I managed to pick out a well hidden winter adult Bonaparte's Gull (Gaviota de Bonaparte / Chroicocephalus philadelphia) and a couple of minutes later what I am pretty sure was a second bird but just as I got on it all the birds went up and when they settled again I could only find the one bird.

Adult Herring (Gaviota Argéntea Europea / Larus argentatus) surrounded by Black-headed Gulls (Gaviota Reidora / Chroicocephalus ridibundus).

I continued scanning from a good distance away, finding a couple of adult and a 1st winter European Herring Gulls (Gaviota Argéntea Europea / Larus argentatus) in amongst the larger birds.

Herring Gulls (Gaviota Argéntea Europea / Larus argentatus).

After a while of scanning my back was screaming, so I walked back to the car and got the chair, then cut into the beach quite a bit closer, with bending, stealth and a lot of groaning I got the chair and scope into place without disturbing the flock just as a very smart but badly timed Peregrine Falcon (Halcón Peregrino / Falco peregrinus) did a low sweep through and flushed everything up.

The birds dropped back down on to the beach in about the same spot after the commotion and I started to scan again, finding the Bonaparte's, the Herrings and a couple of Great Black-backed Gulls (Gavión Atlántico / Larus marinus) and adult and a 1st winter.

I returned to the car and popped back down to the spot where I had originally parked and spent some time scanning the sea from a small man-made headland seeing European Shag (Cormorán Moñudo / Phalacrocorax aristotelis) and Black-necked Grebe (Zampullín Cuellinegro / Podiceps nigricollis) plus lots of Meadow Pipits (Bisbita Pratense / Anthus pratensis) and a couple of White Wagtails (Lavandera Blanca / Montacilla alba) on the grass behind me.

As I had seen the target Gull I decided to go back to A Coruña and try for a couple of American waders as both American Golden Plover (Chorlito Dorado Americano / Pluvialis dominica) and Spotted Sandpiper (Andarrios maculado / Actitis macularius) had been seen recently and from what everyone had said the Sandpiper was very easy but the Plover had become a bit more unreliable.

Ría de O Burgo in A Coruña.

Eurasian Spoonbill (Espátula Común / Platalea leucorodia) and Little Egret (Garceta Común / Egretta garzetta).

Eurasian Spoonbills (Espátula Común / Platalea leucorodia) and Little Egret (Garceta Común / Egretta garzetta).

Eurasian Spoonbills (Espátula Común / Platalea leucorodia) and Little Egrets (Garceta Común / Egretta garzetta).

Little Egret (Garceta Común / Egretta garzetta).

I arrived and checked the pin I had been given for the Sandpiper but there was no sign of it, I did however find good numbers of Little Egret, Eurasian Spoonbill (Espátula Común / Platalea leucorodia) and Great Cormorant feeding frantically along the edge of the river in front of me and further out on the sandbanks and islands there were feeding Eurasian Oystercatcher (Ostrero Euroasiático / Haematopus ostralegus), Eurasian Whimbrel (Zarapito Trinador / Numenius phaeopus), Common Sandpiper, Common Greenshank (Archibebe Claro / Tringa nebularia), Ruddy Turnstone (Vuelvepiedras Común / Arenaria interpres), Dunlin (Correlimos Común / Calidris alpina) and out on the water there was a couple of Mute Swan (Cisne Vulgar / Cygnus olor), several Mallards and a couple of Little Grebes (Zampullín Común / Tachybaptus ruficollis).

As I walked around I noticed a group of three Guys with scopes a few hundred meters around the bay so I walked around to see what they were watching but picked up the American Golden Plover out on the mud on the way, I reached them and spent a while watching the bird as it was a Spanish lifer but it was distant.

Eurasian Oystercatcher (Ostrero Euroasiático / Haematopus ostralegus).

Grey Plover (Chorlito Gris / Pluvialis squatarola).

Bar-tailed Godwit (Aguja Colipinta / Limosa lapponica).

Eurasian Oystercatcher (Ostrero Euroasiático / Haematopus ostralegus) and a Ruddy Turnstone (Vuelvepiedras Común / Arenaria interpres).

I chatted to the guys who very kindly gave me quite a bit of information about birds I planned to go and look for tomorrow and about a Ring-billed Gull (Gaviota de Delaware / Larus delawarensis) which was only 5 minutes away.

White Wagtail (Lavandera Blanca / Montacilla alba).

Common Sandpiper (Andarrios Chico / Actitis hypoleucos).

Common Sandpiper (Andarrios Chico / Actitis hypoleucos).

Dunlin (Correlimos Común / Calidris alpina).

Eurasian Whimbrel (Zarapito Trinador / Numenius phaeopus).

Lesser Black-backed Gull (Gaviota Sombria / Larus fuscus).

By the time we had finished chatting and they headed off to get some food I had lost the Plover but I continued scanning finding Sandwich Tern (Charrán Patinegro / Thalasseus sandvicensis), a few Grey Plover (Chorlito Gris / Pluvialis squatarola), a couple of Bar-tailed Godwit (Aguja Colipinta / Limosa lapponica) and Common Kingfisher (Martin Pescador Común / Alcedo atthis) but I couldn't find the Plover so I started to walk back around to the spot for the Sandpiper to give that another go.

As I walked I picked up more Grey Plovers and then another bird in amongst some Eurasian Whimbrel and Ruddy Turnstones which I was pleased to see was the wanted Plover and it was much closer than before. 

American Golden Plover (Chorlito Dorado Americano / Pluvialis dominica).

American Golden Plover (Chorlito Dorado Americano / Pluvialis dominica).

Happy I went back around to the Sandpiper spot but did have any luck so when some more rain arrived I made a retreat to the car seeing a couple of Black Redstarts on the way.  

Ring-billed Gull (Gaviota de Delaware / Larus delawarensis).

I started to head back towards the hotel but went the long way via Porto de Santa Cruz to have a look for the Ring-billed Gull, when I arrived it was dry but that didn't last for long and by the time I located the bird it was dark and absolutely lashing it down again, so I took a bad photo and headed off.

Near Valdoviño, Lagoa da Frouxeira and Praia de San Xurxo in A Coruña, Galicia, Spain.

A double Bunting dip but caught up with a few nice ducks.

Ebird List for Valdoviño. 

Ebird List for Lagoa da Frouxeira. 

Ebird List for Praia de San Xurxo.

 

I started the day with a 35 minute or so drive up to some fields near Valdoviño where I was hoping to see one at least of 2 reported Little Buntings (Escribano pigmeo / Emberiza pusilla), on the way there I made a stopped at Bar A'Cotorela for coffee and food, the coffee was very nice and as they had no bread for a tostarda I had some Churros instead.

I had the coffee and these 6 short lengths of Churros, which certainly hit the spot and when I asked for the bill I questioned it and reminded the lady what I had had, and she repeated €1.60 which I could not believe.

Anyway, happy with my bar choice I continued on to the area of fields for the Buntings, as I pulled into the area I found another birder, Pablo García Rivas who was also looking for the same birds so after parking we wandered around the area checking out anything that moved.

Winter ♂ Common Reed Bunting (Escribano Palustre / Emberiza schoeniclus) one of quite a few seen in the fields.

We could see a good concentration of birds along a short track between two harvested fields so started to check through them finding Meadow Pipit (Bisbita Pratense / Anthus pratensis), House Sparrow (Gorrión Común / Passer domesticus), Common Chaffinch (Pinzón Vulgar / Fringilla coelebs), European Greenfinch (Verderón Común / Chloris chloris), Common Linnet (Pardillo Común / Linaria cannabina) and European Goldfinch (Jilguero Europeo / Carduelis carduelis).
After a while I walked back to my car and got the scope, as I walked back it absolutely threw it down so I spent a while sheltering under a tree where I saw a couple of calling Red-billed Chough (Chova Piquirroja / Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax) before it eased off, I returned to the spot along the track and we started to get views of several Common Reed Buntings (Escribano Palustre / Emberiza schoeniclus) which had been seen in the same spot as the target birds.

After some time we dropped into the harvested Maze field below us and scanned the trees from there and found more Common Reed Buntings but just then the heavens opened again so we decided to head for cover in our cars but by the time we had got there it had pretty much stopped again.

We returned to the Maze field adding Dunnock (Acentor Común / Prunella modularis) which was calling from one of the piles of brash dumped in the field, we were soon joined by Dorindo Pérez Fernández but as hard as we tried we couldn't find the Bunting so we returned to the track where we had been earlier and again found even more Common Reed Buntings as well as a flyover Peregrine Falcon (Halcón Peregrino / Falco peregrinus), Great Tit (Carbonera Común / Parus major), Eurasian Wren (Chochin paleártico / Troglodytes troglodytes), Common Blackbird (Mirlo Común / Turdus merula), European Stonechat (Tarabilla Europea / Saxicola rubicola), White Wagtail (Lavandera Blanca / Montacilla alba) and European Serin (Serin Verdecillo / Serinus serinus).

Other species seen included Common Woodpigeon (Paloma Torcaz / Columba palumbus), Eurasian Collared Dove (Tórtola Turca / Streptopelia decaocto), Yellow-legged Gull (Gaviota Patiamarilla / Larus Michahellis), Common Buzzard (Busardo Ratonero / Buteo buteo), Carrion Crow (Corneja Negra / Corvus corone), Common (Estornino Pinto / Sturnus vulgaris) and Spotless Starling (Estornino Negro / Sturnus unicolor).

At 12:00 Pablo and I left the site, I dropped from this site to the nearby Lagoa da Frouxeira but as I turned to go along the edge of the lake I realised I was going the wrong way along a one way road, so I did a quick U-turn and as I went back up the hill to find another way around I saw Dorindo coming down and warned him about it, he said that it must be very new as he was only here a while ago and it was two-way then.

Anyway, we headed to the beach end of the Pool where we parked and walked down the length of the pool to the hide finding Mallard (Anade Azulón / Anas platyrhynchos), Yellow-legged Gull, Great Cormorant (Cormorán Grande / Phalacrocroax carbo), European Stonechat and Eurasian Magpie. 

Eurasian Teal (Cerceta Común / Anas crecca).

Northern Shoveler (Cuchara Común / Spatula clypeata).

As we cleared an area of wooded dune and could see the water again there were a good number of wildfowl including Eurasian Teal (Cerceta Común / Anas crecca), Gadwall (Anade Friso / Mareca strepera), Mallard (Anade Azulón / Anas platyrhynchos), a ♀ Greater Scaup (Porrón Bastardo / Aythya marila) and both ♂♀ Ring-necked Ducks (Porrón acollarado / Aythya collaris) but these were way out on the water.

♂♀ Ring-necked Ducks (Porrón acollarado / Aythya collaris) and a ♀ Greater Scaup (Porrón Bastardo / Aythya marila).

♂♀ Ring-necked Ducks (Porrón acollarado / Aythya collaris).

As we walked to the hide we also saw Eurasian Coot (Focha Común / Fulica atra), Common Sandpiper (Andarrios Chico / Actitis hypoleucos), Black-headed Gull (Gaviota Reidora / Chroicocephalus ridibundus), Little Grebe (Zampullín Común / Tachybaptus ruficollis), Carrion Crow, Eurasian Crag Martin (Avión Roquero / Ptyonoprogne rupestris), Common Chiffchaff, Long-tailed Tit (Mito Común / Aegithalos caudatus), Eurasian Wren, Common Blackbird and European Robin.

Common Sandpiper (Andarrios Chico / Actitis hypoleucos).

From the hide we saw Mute Swan (Cisne Vulgar / Cygnus olor), Western Marsh Harrier (Aguilucho Lagunero Occidental / Circus aeruginosus) and a more unexpected big female Northern Goshawk (Azor Común / Accipitor gentillis) which Dorindo saw fly in and I had nice views of in the scope. 

The view from the hide.

and again.

On the walk back we added Grey Heron (Garza Real / Ardea cinerea), Common Kingfisher (Martin Pescador Común / Alcedo atthis), Zitting Cisticola (Cistícola Buitrón / Cisticola juncidis), Eurasian Blackcap (Curruca Capirotada / Curruca capirotada), Short-toed Treecreeper (Agateador Europeo / Certhia brachydactyla), Song Thrush (Zorzal Común / Turdus philomelos) and Meadow Pipit (Bisbita Pratense / Anthus pratensis). 

Back near the cars we took a boardwalk out to view the sea and some rocks where we found Grey Plover (Chorlito Gris / Pluvialis squatarola) and Sanderling (Correlimos Tridáctilo / Calidris alba) and on the way back to the cars ♂♀ Black Redstarts (Colirrojo Tizón / Phoenicurus ochruros).

I said goodbye to Dorindo and headed off to another spot that Pablo had told me about where he had seen 2 Snow Bunting (Escribano Nival / Plectrophenax nivalis) yesterday, I arrived at Praia de San Xurxo where after parking I walked out onto the beach finding 4 Eurasian Skylarks (Alondra Común / Alauda arvensis) and ♂♀ Cirl Bunting (Escribano Soteño / Emberiza cirlus) which were new for the day as well as an Iberis species which still needs a name.

Iberis species which still needs a name.

As I was searching I noticed a storm approaching but too late so I sat behind a steep sand dune hoping it would protect me a bit, but I actually got absolutely soaked to the skin, so when it eased I made a run (well a quick walk) for it and went back to the hotel to get dried out.