Eurasian Spoonbill

 Eurasian Spoonbill (Platalea leucorodia)

This juvenile Eurasian Spoonbill (Platalea leucorodia) was discovered at an irrigation pond in Tazacorte on Jan 17, and from the colour sequence of the leg bands, is clearly the same bird photographed at the airport pools back in October 2014 by a visiting observer (see recent blog post): just where the bird has been since then is a mystery...

The Spoonbill is a regular winter visitor to the Canaries (all islands), and many of the birds recorded, like this one, come from the Netherlands. The species is said to prefer freshwater reservoirs while on migration within Macaronesia.

There are certainly plenty of man-made, freshwater ponds on La Palma, but most have high water levels at present and do not provide the kind of habitat usually associated with this mud sifting species.

It is highly likely that this conspicuous bird has been spotted by other people over the past 4 months, especially at irrigation ponds in the banana growing areas on the island. However, to the best of my knowledge, no one else has reported it.