Miscellaneous sightings, Late October - Early November 2015

 Juvenile Purple Heron (Ardea purpurea). Photo: Antonio Camacho Lorenzo

There have been a number of interesting migrants on the island in recent weeks, including the birds featured in the present post...

On Nov 3, at one of the irrigation ponds in Los Barros, a residential zone located above the town of Los Llanos de Aridane, a local observer (Antonio Camacho Lorenzo) discovered the juvenile Purple Heron (Ardea purpurea) shown above. This species is a passage migrant to the Canaries (all islands except El Hierro), but is recorded irregularly on La Palma, usually in spring rather than autumn.

 Pale morph Booted Eagle (Hieraaetus pennatus). Photo: Oivind Egeland

The Booted Eagle (Hieraaetus pennatus) is becoming a regular visitor to the island, with solitary birds being recorded almost every year. The pale morph individual shown above was photographed near Santa Cruz de La Palma by Oivind Egeland on Oct 28. I saw what was probably the same bird yesterday, Nov 6, in the same part of the island.

My thanks to both observers for sending me the details of their sightings.

 Eurasian Wigeon (Anas penelope)

It has been a poor autumn for migratory waders so far, but there have been up to nine ducks of various species in the irrigation ponds in Las Martelas (Los Llanos de Aridane). The highlight of recent weeks has undoubtedly been the Blue-winged Teal (Anas discors) featured in two previous posts, which was the second record of this American vagrant for La Palma, with only 20-odd records for the Canaries as a whole.

The other Anatidae discovered in the same area include the female Eurasian Wigeon (Anas penelope) shown above, and an eclipse male Northern Pintail (Anas acuta), plus the following two species:.

 Common Teal (Anas crecca)

Common Teal (Anas crecca), 5 females/juveniles.

Garganey (Anas querquedula)

Garganey (Anas quequedula), 2 individuals.

At the tidal pools near the airport, there are presently about 3 Ringed Plover (Charadrius hiaticula), and one or two Common Sandpipers (Actitis hypoleucos). The results of my trip to the Laguna de Barlovento reservoir were described in the previous post.

Surprisingly, no wintering Coots (Fulica atra) have turned up on the island this autumn.

Juvenile Spoonbill

Yes, you recognised it: we're back at my "favourite" bird-watching location on La Palma, the Laguna de Barlovento reservoir, this time with some water in it. See the Spoonbill (Platalea leucorodia) in the bottom right-hand corner? That gives an idea of how close you get to whatever birds turn up at this difficult location. I have cropped the second image slightly, but the bird still looks like a mouse on an airport runway. Fortunately the Spoonbill is large, white, and hard to miss...

Not so with the second species of the day, two female Wigeon (Anas penelope) seen foraging near the water's edge. Both birds had very grey heads and necks; possibly American Wigeon (Anas americana)? Even with my scope, it was impossible to say with certainty. The photos I managed to get are not really worth posting.

Juvenile Spoonbill (Platalea leucorodia). Photo: Oivind Egeland

Different bird? On October 26 the juvenile spoonbill shown above was photographed at the tidal pools near the airport. It could possibly be the same bird observed at the Laguna de Barlovento reservoir yesterday (Nov 5). Thanks for the picture, Oivind.

Blue-winged Teal 2

 Three brown ducks, from left to right: Blue-winged Teal (Anas discors), Northern Pintail (Anas acuta) and Eurasian Teal (Anas crecca)

The female Blue-winged Teal (Anas discors), first seen on Oct 24, was found at a different irrigation pond in Las Martelas (Los Llanos de Aridane) this morning, accompanied by an eclipse male Northern Pintail (Anas acuta) and a female Eurasian Teal (Anas crecca). The conditions for photography at this new location were better than on the previous occasion.

 Female Blue-winged Teal (Anas discors)

Blue-winged Teal (Anas discors)

The suspicion that the previously-mentioned Eurasian Teal (Anas crecca) might in fact be a Green-winged Teal (Anas carolinensis) has naturally crossed my mind. The females of both species can apparently be separated in the field but so far, I have been unable to appreciate the subtle differentiating features.

Circumstantial evidence includes the fact that both the Blue-winged Teal and the other possible American species appeared on the island roughly at the same time, and seem to have formed a partnership bond over the last few days, foraging, roosting and moving from pond to pond together. Another persuasive argument in favour of Anas carolinensis is the fact that Eurasian Teals (A. crecca) tend to reach La Palma in small flocks, rather than as solitary birds.

Further observations are required.

Blue-winged Teal

 Blue-winged Teal (Anas discors), female.

The Blue-winged Teal (Anas discors) is the second most recorded American duck on the Canaries, with a total of 21 records approved by early 2012. It is a very long-distance migrant which breeds in Northern USA and winters from Central to South America ("Rare Birds of the Canary Islands", E. García-del-Rey and F. J. García Vargas).  The present individual was first glimpsed in flight on Oct 24, just after it had been flushed from an irrigation pond in Las Martelas (Los Llanos de Aridane) by a passing dog-walker.

 Blue-winged Teal (Anas discors) with Greenshank (Tringa nebularia)

I returned to the area this afternoon (Oct 25) and found the bird in the same irrigation pond, together with 1 x Common Snipe (Gallinago gallinago), 1 x Wood Sandpiper (Tringa glareola), and 1 x Greenshank (Tringa nebularia). The pond is surrounded by a wire mesh fence, through which the "washed out" photographs shown here were taken; it will be difficult to improve on the quality of the images at this location.

This is my second female  Blue-winged Teal on La Palma, the previous sighting dating from Nov 2011.

Blue-winged Teal (Anas discors)

The present record will be submitted to the Spanish Rarities Committee in due course.

Yellow or Citrine(?) Wagtail

First winter Wagtail, seen at the saltpans in Fuencaliente

A tricky one. This first winter Wagtail was found at the saltpans in Fuencaliente on Sep 12. My first impression (and hope!) was that this bird could be a Citrine Wagtail (Motacilla citreola). The two broad white wingbars are very contrasting, there appears to be a pale border around the cheeks, and there is no hint of yellow anywhere in the plumage, not even near the vent.

The upperparts are entirely grey, with no hint of olive tones; the lores are pale rather than dark.

But (and this is a big one), the lower mandible of the bird's bill is pale: in Citrine Wagtail (Motacilla citreola), the bill should be all dark. (Martin Garner's blog "Birding Frontiers" does mention the existence of Citrine Wagtails with pale-based bills, however).

The overall shape of the bird, which has a shortish tail (not long enough for Citrine), plus its observed "run-picking" feeding technique point towards Yellow Wagtail (Motacilla flava), rather than Citrine (M. citreola). So, I'm staying with that verdict.

Not quite sure how to interpret the blotches on the bird's breast, visible in the above image.

Second opinions are always welcome: any comments helping to confirm this bird's identity will be greatly appreciated.

So far (Oct 25), all expert opinion received has favoured Citrine (M. citreola), rather than Yellow Wagtail (M. flava).

Post-breeding migration 2015

 Red Knot (Calidris canutus)

The first evidence of the 2015 post-breeding migration has already appeared on the island in the form of various Palearctic shorebirds. At the saltpans in Fuencaliente this morning, I discovered 2 x Red Knot (Calidris canutus), 2 x Sanderling (C. alba), 1 x Dunlin (C. alpina) and 1 x Ringed Plover (Charadrius hiaticula)...plus about 10 x Turnstones (Arenaria interpres).

Of the bunch, the two Red Knot (C. canutus) were of greatest interest. The species is classed as a passage migrant to all the Canary Islands (except La Gomera), but is not recorded every year on La Palma. According to my own notes, Red Knots tend to reach the island in late August-early September, ahead of most other waders.

All the shorebirds observed at the saltpans this morning were foraging intensely in the main pool which was in the process of being emptied. One of the Red Knots is shown above "jumping" from one patch of algae to the next, as the water-level descends.

 The two Red Knots (Calidris canutus) shown together

Neither of the two Knots displays a creamy-buff or peach tinge on the breast, yet the leg colour, and the neat upperparts and wing coverts (with pale fringes and dark sub-marginal lines) seem to indicate juvenile birds.

Dunlin (Calidris alpina)

Elsewhere on the island, a visit to the irrigation ponds in Las Martelas (Los Llanos de Aridane) yesterday evening produced one Ruff (Philomachus pugnax), and two Green Sandpipers (Tringa ochropus), but there was only one Common Sandpiper (Actitis hypoleucos) at the airport pools this morning.

Estonian Dunlin at the Fuencaliente saltpans

Lat. 28º 27´N/ long. 17º 50´W.The lighthouse (El Faro) in Fuencaliente, a few hundred metres from the saltpans on the southern tip of La Palma. 
The breeding grounds of the banded Dunlin (Calidris alpina), seen at the saltpans  in March 2015, are approximately 4,600 kilometres from here.

Lat. 58º 37´N/long. 23º 03´E. Breeding grounds of the Dunlin (Calidris alpina), in the meadows of Muhu Island, Western Estonia. The bird was banded in this area on 4 May 2011. Image courtesy of Hannes Pehlak.

Regular readers of "La Palma Birds" may recall that in a mid-March post I mentioned that a number of British birders had been on La Palma in March this year, and at least two of them had observed a banded Dunlin (Calidris alpina) at the saltpans in Fuencaliente.

The subject of this solitary Dunlin has recently resurfaced in a thread on BirdForum, and I have been sent the following links to an Estonian website (in English), giving precise details of where and when the bird was ringed.

It seems that another visiting ornithologist (Eric Thomassen) visited the saltpans on March 8, took some photographs of the bird, and contacted the ringing station. This is the most distant re-sighting of any Estonian Dunlin on record, and one of the most distant from the whole Baltic area.

The breeding pair at the nest site. The banded male seen on La Palma is behind the un-banded female. Image courtesy of Hannes Pehlak who found the bird on its nest on 21 April 2015, near the original ringing site.

This long-distance migrant is now safely back on its breeding grounds on the Baltic coast, after having covered a straight-line distance of around 4,600 kilometres to/from its stopover site on La Palma. It may well have wintered even further south. The following website posts tell the whole amazing story, and include photographs of the bird taken at the saltpans:

http://potatopit.blogspot.fi/2015/04/dunlins-abroad-from-estonia-to-canary.html

http://potatopit.blogspot.fi/2015/04/dunlins-abroad-from-canaries-back-to.html

My thanks to Hannes Pehlak for permission to use the above photographs.