My trip to northern Spain last week consisted of two separate parts, two days of sea-watching in and around the Bay of Biscay and two days in Montana Palencia. In this blog, I will report on the sea-watching days.
We left Plymouth at 4pm and so there was time to observe birds in the channel before dinner. Apart from a few gulls, there was not much to be seen, it being mid-summer when most birds are busy on their nesting grounds.
The following morning we were in the Bay of Biscay. Again there was little activity although we did have some fantastic views of Common Bottlenose Dolphin and a brief view of a Cuvier’s Beaked Whale, which broke the surface a few hundred metres from the ship.
Birds were scarce, although we did see a few Northern Gannets, Cory’s Shearwater and Manx Shearwater.
On our return journey, we sailed at 1pm and so had plenty of time to view as we left the coast and crossed over the deep waters of the Santander Canyon. In the port, we saw Mediterranean and Yellow-legged Gulls and further out in the bay we encountered Manx and Cory’s Shearwaters.
Again there were good sightings of Common Bottlenose Dolphin and a single Pilot Whale. I did not see the whale but did see the disturbance it made in the water.
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