Common Scoter

 Common Scoter (Melanitta nigra)

There was a short-lived storm on October 18, and while driving through the harbour of Santa Cruz de La Palma in the late afternoon, I spotted two ducks resting close to the pontoons in the marina. They could easily have been mistaken for abandoned mooring buoys. Unfortunately, I had neither binoculars nor a camera with me at the time, but was able to get close enough to identify the birds as Common Scoters (Melanitta nigra), probably immature females.

Using the camera of my mobile phone for the first time, I took a few pictures of very poor quality: all the images shown in the present post were taken with a Fuji HS10 this morning, Oct 19, when only one of the two birds could be located.

Referred to as the Black Scoter in the Field Guide to the Birds of Macaronesia (García-del-Rey, E., Lynx 2011), the species is classed as a vagrant to the Canary Islands, with records from Tenerife, Gran Canaria, and Lanzarote. Tony Clarke, in Birds of the Atlantic Islands (Helm, 2006), gives more details: "accidental visitor, but with only three recent records. On Lanzarote, two, Arrecife, Jan 1993, and one there, Jan 1994, and an exhausted immature, El Médano (Tenerife), 13 Dec 1998. Also recorded on Gran Canaria but not within the last 100 years".

Luckily, I got to Santa Cruz just as the last duck was making its way seawards. Before leaving the protected waters of the harbour, it made a short detour into the fishing-boat area, where I saw it dive a few times and pick crabs off the rocks. It then continued paddling south, parallel to the Bajamar beach, less than 50 metres off-shore.

A group of women bathers seemed disconcerted by its arrival...

... and were obviously relieved when the duck decided to ignore them.

For an interesting summary of documented appearances of the  Common Scoter in the Canary Islands (in Spanish), including details of recent records from Madeira, see the SEO/Birdlife blog here

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

White-rumped Sandpiper

White-rumped Sandpiper (Calidris fuscicollis)

The solitary White-rumped Sandpiper (Calidris fuscicollis) featured in the present post was discovered at an irrigation pond in Las Martelas (Los Llanos de Aridane) on the evening of Oct 12, foraging together with a Redshank (Tringa totanus), a Greenshank (Tringa nebularia) and a Curlew Sandpiper (Calidris ferruginea).

I was able to get a few passable photos on that occasion, but all the images shown here were captured the following morning, Oct13, at the same pond. Of the accompanying waders, only the Curlew Sandpiper was still present.

What first attracted my attention to this Transatlantic vagrant was its elongated outline and long primary projection. The bill was the right shape and length for fuscicollis, but the appropriate brownish patch at the base of the lower mandible was not very evident. Identification was finally clinched (and Baird's Sandpiper discounted) when the bird obligingly did some wing-raising, thus providing a few glimpses of its upper tail coverts: the rump was very clearly white in colour, as can be appreciated in three of the present photos.

For comparison, the last four frames include the Curlew Sandpiper (Calidris ferruginea):

White-rumped Sandpiper (left) and Curlew Sandpiper (right)

Curlew Sandpiper (left) and White-rumped Sandpiper (right)

The White-rumped Sandpiper has been recorded on all the Canary Islands, and this is my second on La Palma: the first was discovered at the saltpans in Fuencaliente on Oct 21 2010. (See Oct 22 2010 post).

Details of the present sighting will be submitted to the Spanish Rarities Committee in due course.

Early October 2012

Common Snipe (Gallinago gallinago)

Although these images of a Common Snipe (Gallinago gallinago) have been drastically cropped, they are still quite effective, I think. They illustrate how well migratory birds are able to adapt to the far-from-ideal habitat in Las Martelas, an area of manmade ponds on the outskirts of Los Llanos de Aridane.

This species is a regular passage migrant to the island, and often turns up in small numbers at irrigation tanks like the one shown here. However, due to ongoing drought, very few of the ponds have the necessary layer of mud or soft sand in the bottom - in fact, many are completely dry at the moment.

Somehow, this solitary specimen manages to feed in the shallow pool of stagnant water in the bottom of an almost empty tank, where a Greenshank (Tringa totanus) and a Curlew Sandpiper (Calidris ferruginea) were also foraging.

Pectoral Sandpiper (Calidris melanotos)

The Pectoral Sandpiper (Calidris melanotos) shown here is a Transatlantic vagrant with records from all the main Canary Islands except La Gomera (Fieldguide to the Birds of Macaronesia, García-del-Rey, E., Lynx 2011). This bird, first detected on the evening of Oct 9, is my eighth sighting of this species on La Palma.

Pectoral Sandpiper (Calidris melanotos)

Several key identification features can be seen in the present images, including the abruptly ending neck streaks, which clearly contrast with the white underparts.

The leg colour and bill characteristics are also diagnostic. This sighting will be submitted to the Spanish Rarities Committee in due course.

Laguna de Barlovento revisited

 Close-up of the dramatic gash in the reservoir's sloping bank

Regular readers of this blog may recall a previous entry designed to provide visiting birders with information on the Laguna de Barlovento (see Feb 2012 post below). As described back in February this year, after a catastrophic breaching of its banks, an artificial wetland was rapidly developing in the bottom of this large reservoir, where a shallow pool of freshwater had been trapped and was providing habitat for small numbers of water birds, including Snipe (Gallinago gallinago), Coot (Fulica atra), Shoveler (Anas clypeata) and Eurasian Teal (Anas crecca). Birding-wise, things were looking decidedly promising for this autumn...

However, as can be appreciated in the present series of images, reconstruction work is now underway, and the reservoir is completely empty! According to an official sign, the repair project is scheduled to finish on September 24 2012. Judging by the state of progress, this appears to be a rather optimistic estimate.

The Laguna itself is obviously useless for birding at the moment, but there's always the adjacent parkland with its confiding endemic La Palma Chaffinches (Fringilla coelebs palmae). As is the case at several other popular picnic sites and outdoor restaurants where they congregate (Los Tilos, El Pilar, Pared Vieja etc.), some of these cute little birds can be surprisingly tame, and will perch on litter bins, tables...and even on the humans feeding them.

 The endemic La Palma Chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs palmae)

Another shot of the same species, also taken at the Laguna de Barlovento picnic area this morning.

At the saltpans on the southern tip of the island (Fuencaliente), more building work is in progress. A restaurant is under construction, and expected to need another year to complete. Surprisingly, the noise and constant transit of heavy lorries around the complex do not seem to disturb the migratory waders currently present at the site: small numbers of Sanderling (Calidris alba), Dunlin (Calidris alpina), and a Ringed Plover (Charadrius hiaticula). Try weekends or outside working hours (8am-6pm) if you appreciate quietness.

The freshwater ponds in the area known as Las Martelas (Los Llanos de Aridane) -  several of which are completely dry due to lack of rain - have produced one Redshank (Tringa totanus) and one Ruff (Philomachus pugnax), in addition to the usual small numbers of Greenshank (Tringa nebularia), Green Sandpiper (Tringa ochropus) and Common Sandpiper (Actitis hypoleucos). The regular wintering Coots (Fulica atra) have not arrived yet.

The seawater pools near the airport have yielded pretty much the same species: one Redshank, a Dunlin, 2 or 3 Ringed Plover, and an occasional Common Sandpiper.... All in all, it has been a disappointing month so far.

Northern Wheatear

 Northern Wheatear (Oenanthe oenanthe)

A passage migrant with records from all the main Canary Islands - as well as from La Graciosa, Alegranza and Lobos - the Northern Wheatear (Oenanthe oenanthe) has been sighted on La Palma several times in recent years. For example, in September 2007, I discovered 3 birds (a male, a female and an immature) only a few hundred metres from the location shown in the present post, an area known as Llano de las Cuevas (El Paso).

In general, autumn sightings are more frequent on the Canaries than spring ones, and another was featured in http.//avescanarias.blogspot.com on Oct 22 2010, with a photo by I. Brito. On that occasion, the solitary bird was discovered in an area of irrigation tanks in Las Martelas (Los Llanos de Aridane).

As can be appreciated in the present images, on this occasion the individual was a male, found foraging on the evening of June 5 in a group of stony fields containing tagasaste bushes (Chamaecytisus proliferus), in which small numbers of horses graze. The photos shown here were taken on the morning of June 6.

Northern Wheatear (Oenanthe oenanthe)

Llano de las Cuevas is situated in the high part of El Paso, just north of the National Park Visitor Centre, and has attracted a number of interesting migratory birds in recent years, including Short-eared Owl (Asio flammeus), Montagu's Harrier (Circus pygargus), Northern Lapwing (Vanellus vanellus), and Red-footed Falcon (Falco vespertinus). It is also a classic location for residents like the Red-billed Chough (Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax) and the Stone-Curlew (Burhinus oedicnemus).

For the latter species, see April 2010 posts here

Distant view of Llano de las Cuevas looking south from Valencia. The asphalted lane running from left to right at the foot of the rocky outcrop is the access road to the Cumbrecita viewpoint.

Early June 2012

 Red-rumped Swallow (Cecropis daurica)

As mentioned in the previous post, the Red-rumped Swallow (Cecropis daurica) is a fairly scarce passage migrant to the Canaries, with records from all islands. The present individual was found foraging with a flock of 12 Barn Swallows (Hirundo rustica) and 2 House Martins (Delichon urbica) at an irrigation pond in Tazacorte on June 4.

In flight, the species appears to be approximately the same size as the Barn Swallow, but glides more frequently and for longer periods. From below, the pale underside of the head, and the black ventral area are other conspicuous aids to identification. The "red rump" of the bird's name is only visible when light and angle of view are appropriate, as in the following image:

   Red-rumped Swallow, showing characteristic rusty tones on back

Pectoral Sandpiper (Calidris melanotos)

Discovered at an irrigation basin in Las Martelas (Los Llanos de Aridane) on June 2, this is my seventh sighting of the "transatlantic" Pectoral Sandpiper (Calidris melanotos) on La Palma since 2009. Just to recap, I saw 2 individuals in September 2009, one in March 2010, one in September 2010, and two in September 2011, all at freshwater reservoirs in Las Martelas, except the second bird of September 2009, which was observed at the Fuencaliente saltpans.

The bird shown in the present post was foraging together with a solitary Greenshank (Tringa nebularia), and was photographed on June 3. A visit to the same pond on June 4 revealed only the Greenshank to be still present, so perhaps the American wader has already flown on.

The above image allows plumage details on the bird's back to be appreciated, including the narrow, indistinct central wing bar, the dark-centred rump, and the absence of contrasting tail bands characteristic of similar-sized, visiting waders such as the Wood, Green and Common Sandpiper (Tringa glareola, T. ochropus and Actitis hypoleucos).

While photographing the above species, I spotted the following raptor perched on the roof of a greenhouse about a hundred metres away. Unfortunately, the bird took flight almost immediately and I was unable to get closer to improve on the pictures. Swifts were foraging in the area at the same time - one of the prey items the Hobby (Falco subbuteo) is apparently able to catch in the air - and abundant dragon flies, another potential source of food, were also present at the nearby irrigation ponds.

Eurasian Hobby (Falco subbuteo)

According to the "Field Guide to the Birds of Macaronesia" (Eduardo García-del-Rey, Lynx Edicions 2011), this medium-sized raptor is a passage migrant to the Canary Islands, with previous records from La Palma, Tenerife, Gran Canaria, Fuerteventura, Lanzarote and Alegranza.

House Martin and Alpine Swift

 House Martin (Delichon urbicum)

Despite being a "common passage migrant" there have been unusually large numbers of House Martins (Delichon urbicum) on La Palma in recent weeks. It's often difficult to estimate the size of flocks, given the rather limited horizon around most of the irrigation tanks where the birds feed. They tend to fly past at speed and then disappear out of sight behind the nearby walls and greenhouses; to give a rough idea of numbers, several groups of 10-20 birds have been seen foraging at a number of ponds in Las Martelas and Tazacorte. I have not yet come across perched individuals, hence the first three photos in the present entry showing birds in flight.

 House Martin (Delichon urbicum)

 House Martin (Delichon urbicum)

Mixed in with the flocks of the above species, there have been small numbers of Barn Swallows (Hirundo rustica), and one or two of the far less common migrant Red-rumped Swallows (Cecropis daurica). The resident, Macaronesian endemic Plain Swift (Apus unicolor) is presently observable in large numbers on the island, and I am keeping my eye open for possible Pallid Swifts (Apus pallidus), a species described as a summer visitor to the Canaries, with records from El Hierro, Tenerife, Fuerteventura, Lanzarote and La Graciosa.

The Alpine Swift (Tachimarptis melba) has been observed on all the Canary Islands as a passage migrant, including La Palma on at least one previous occasion. The bird shown in the next four images was my own first sighting of this species. Not the best photographs I'm afraid, but good enough for the purpose of identification...

 Alpine Swift (Tachimarptis melba)

The four images above were captured in Las Martelas (Los Llanos de Aridane) this evening (May 29). The solitary bird depicted was foraging together with a flock of Plain Swift (Apus unicolor).