Lesser Yellowlegs

 Lesser Yellowlegs (Tringa flavipes)

After a prolonged "slack" period on La Palma, with only common waders to observe,  I found a juvenile Lesser Yellowlegs (Tringa flavipes) at an irrigation pond in Las Martelas (Los Llanos de Aridane) this morning. This is only my second sighting of this Nearctic wader on La Palma, the previous record dating from October 2011.

 Lesser Yellowlegs (Tringa flavipes)

Note the long primary projection, and wing tips extending well beyond the tail. Other useful identification features visible in the present images include the pale supercillium restricted to the front of the eye, and the thin, mainly dark bill.

 Lesser Yellowlegs (Tringa flavipes)

The Lesser Yellowlegs (Tringa flavipes) is a long-distance migrant which breeds in Alaska and Northern Canada, and winters in Florida and Central and South America. It is classed as a "rarity" on this side of the Atlantic.

However, it is one of the more frequent Nearctic waders recorded in the Western Palearctic, with several records from the Canaries (all main islands except La Gomera and El Hierro), mostly between September and November.

According to data in "Rare Birds of the Canary Islands" (Eduardo García-del-Rey and Francisco Javier García Vargas, Lynx Edicions 2013) the present sighting would be the 4th for La Palma, and about the 15th for the Canaries as a whole (although there have probably been a few more records since the book was published in 2013).

Lesser Yellowlegs (Tringa flavipes)

This sighting will be submitted to the Spanish Rarities Committee in due course.