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.
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| 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).
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| Ría de O Burgo in A Coruña. |
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| Eurasian Spoonbill (Espátula Común / Platalea leucorodia) and Little Egret (Garceta Común / Egretta garzetta). |
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| Eurasian Spoonbills (Espátula Común / Platalea leucorodia) and Little Egret (Garceta Común / Egretta garzetta). |
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| Eurasian Spoonbills (Espátula Común / Platalea leucorodia) and Little Egrets (Garceta Común / Egretta garzetta). |
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| 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.
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| White Wagtail (Lavandera Blanca / Montacilla alba). |
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| Common Sandpiper (Andarrios Chico / Actitis hypoleucos). |
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| Common Sandpiper (Andarrios Chico / Actitis hypoleucos). |
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| Dunlin (Correlimos Común / Calidris alpina). |
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| Eurasian Whimbrel (Zarapito Trinador / Numenius phaeopus). |
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| 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.
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| American Golden Plover (Chorlito Dorado Americano / Pluvialis dominica). |
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| 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.
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| 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.
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