Lesser Yellowlegs II

Lesser Yellowlegs (Tringa flavipes)

The Lesser Yellowlegs (Tringa flavipes) first discovered on Aug 26 was still feeding at the same irrigation pond this morning, Sep 11. As noted in my previous post, this pond is actually located in the municipality of Tazacorte, but for birding purposes is usually included under the label "Las Martelas" (Los Llanos de Aridane).

Many irrigation ponds in the area have been completely abandoned in recent decades, but others, like this one, are still in use and can be found with varying water-levels.

Ponds of this type are often full of emerging dragonflies, frogs,  tadpoles, larvae, insects, and sometimes fish. In short, there is no shortage of food for migratory wading birds.

Lesser Yellowlegs (Tringa flavipes) with a small fish.

The Lesser Yellowlegs (Tringa flavipes) habitually forages in shallow water or on land, favouring freshwater ponds and reservoirs when away from its breeding grounds, and also brackish pools and lagoons.

It consumes insects and invertebrates of all kinds, crustaceans, snails, worms, and even small fish. In the photo above, and in the enlargement below, the bird can be seen about to devour a tiny fish which it captured in the shallows and carried to the water´s edge.

Lesser Yellowlegs (Tringa flavipes) about to consume a small fish.

Given the abundant food supply, it is perhaps no wonder that this migratory shorebird has decided to make such a lengthy stopover! 

In addition, the pond is completely out of bounds to the general public, meaning that disturbance is absolutely minimal. All photographs were taken through the wire-mesh fence.

Lesser Yellowlegs (Tringa flavipes)

Other individuals of this species are less lucky on their annual migration across the Caribbean. Quoting from an article found on the Cornell Lab Birds of the World site:

As recently as 1991, however, several thousand Lesser Yellowlegs were still being shot annually for sport in the Caribbean, and this shooting continues. Recent (2012) estimates suggest that 7,000-15,000 individuals may be shot each fall in migration at wetlands constructed by shooting clubs on Barbados; perhaps half that many may be shot each fall on Guadeloupe and Martinique, with a potentially significant take also on wintering grounds in Suriname and Guyana. See details in Clay et al. (2012). Clearly this is a significant threat to the species and requires continued monitoring.  

Lesser Yellowlegs (Tringa flavipes)

Or perhaps it requires a bit more than just "continued monitoring"...

Lesser Yellowlegs (Tringa flavipes)

Lesser Yellowlegs

 

Lesser Yellowlegs (Tringa flavipes)

Lesser Yellowlegs (Tringa flavipes)

I discovered this solitary Lesser Yellowlegs (Tringa flavipes) at an irrigation pond in Las Martelas (Los Llanos de Aridane) * on August 26,  and posted the sighting on eBird the same day. 

The bird was still at the site this morning, August 28.

Lesser Yellowlegs (Tringa flavipes)

The Lesser Yellowlegs (Tringa flavipes) is an American vagrant which breeds in Alaska and across Canada to southern Hudson Bay and James Bay.  After breeding, it migrates south on a broad front through the United States, Central and South America, as far as Chile and Argentina. It is considered a widespread vagrant to western Europe, Africa, the Far East and Australasia. ("Shorebirds of the Northern Hemisphere", Helm, 2009).

Lesser Yellowlegs (Tringa flavipes) showing barring  on tail and white rump patch.

On the Canary Islands 31 records of 33 birds have been accepted by the Spanish Rarities Committee, compared to 129 of 131 in the rest of Spain. ("Avifauna de Canarias", Turquesa, 2025).

Personally, I only have one previous record of this species on La Palma, a solitary juvenile bird found at the saltpans (Las Salinas) in Fuencaliente on Oct 27 2011. 

Lesser Yellowlegs (Tringa flavipes) in flight, showing absence of the white V on rump found in several other Tringa species.

In the above photographs, a number of features can be appreciated which clearly separate the Lesser Yellowlegs (Tringa flavipes) from the somewhat similar Wood Sandpiper (Tringa glareola). 

Flavipes has a much longer bill; in flight, the legs extend well beyond the tip of the tail; the primary feathers are longer; the whitish supercilium is only conspicuous infront of the eye; and the barring on the upper tail is finer and more extensive...among other differences.

The Lesser Yellowlegs (Tringa flavipes) is still classed as a rarity in Spain by the Spanish Rarities Committee.

* Strictly speaking, the irrigation pond in question lies just outside the municipal boundaries of Los Llanos de Aridane, in the neighbouring municipality of Tazacorte. However, for birding purposes, peripheral ponds such as this one are usually understood as being part of "Las Martelas".

Red Knot at the saltpans

 

Red Knot (Calidris canutus)

 

The Red Knot (Calidris canutus) is a regular passage migrant to the Canary Islands (all islands, except La Gomera, La Graciosa and the Chinijo archipelago, a group of 5 uninhabited islets north of Lanzarote). Cases of overwintering individuals are also occasionally documented.

Red Knot (Calidris canutus)

Juvenile birds are more frequent in winter, whereas adults predominate as passage migrants at suitable stopover points. Post-breeding migration from the circumpolar nesting range takes place between July and September, making this species one of the first migrant waders to appear on the Canaries, in summer.

Red Knot (Calidris canutus)

My past records of Red Knot (Calidris canutus) on La Palma include sporadic sightings in both summer and winter. This morning, July 28, I responded to an eBird Alert and went down to the saltpans in Fuencaliente to photograph the bird in its splendid breediing plumage.

Marsh Harrier at the Laguna de Barlovento reservoir

 

Female Marsh Harrier (Circus aeruginosus)  seen harassing Eurasian Coots (Fulica atra)

Apologies for the poor quality of the photos, which were taken at the Laguna de Barlovento reservoir yesterday, Decembre 27. 

As followers of this blog, or those familiar with the location will appreciate, the "laguna" lacks good access for birdwatchers. The only convenient observation point with views over the surrounding fence, is found at a considerable distance from the water.

Female Marsh Harrier (Circus aeruginosus) causing panic among the Eurasian Coots (Fulica atra)

Marsh Harrier (Circus aeruginosus) in action.

The subject of the present post is the Marsh Harrier (Circus aeruginosus), the most frequent of the four European harriers which pass through, or occasionally overwinter on the Canary Islands. Records are mostly of single birds, mainly females and immatures during the winter period. and more regularly on the eastern islands.

On several occasions the group of Coots scattered, as in the above image.

The present female is almost certainly the same individual first recorded at this location on February 16 2025 and later seen on February 27. I flushed it again in some nearby fields on May 28.

Female Marsh Harrier (Circus aeruginosus) about to swoop down on a flock of Eurasian Coots (Fulica atra)

It was interesting to observe the interaction between this solitary Marsh Harrier (Circus aeruginosus) and one of its potential prey species, the Eurasian Coot (Fulica atra). 

Exceptionally, all 33 Coots had gathered in deep water, away from the vegetated edges of the reservoir, where any isolated individual might have been taken by the raptor.

Pectoral Sandpiper

 

Pectoral Sandpiper (Calidris melanotos)

This solitary Pectoral Sandpiper (Calidris melanotos) was found at the saltpans in Fuencaliente by at least two different local observers recently (JRP and FL). I myself saw the bird at around midday today, August 23.

Pectoral Sandpiper (Calidris melanotos)

In the above image, the sharply-defined limit of the breast streaking, ending in a point at the centre, can be appreciated.

Pectoral Sandpiper (Calidris melanotos)

During my stay at the site, the sandpiper spent most of the time feeding alone. Other waders present nearby included one Redshank (Tringa totanus), one Ruff (Philomachus pugnax), 2 Whimbrel (Numenius phaeopus), and the usual small numbers of Turnstones (Arenaria interpres).

Pectoral Sandpiper (Calidris melanotos)

The Pectoral Sandpiper (Calidris melanotos) is one of the most regularly-observed vagrants in Spain, where it is no longer officially classed as a rarity. 

The species breeds at high latitudes in both North America and Asia and winters mainly in South America, especially in Argentina, but part of the population winters as far away as Southern Australia, Tasmania and New Zealand. 

It was first believed that individuals appearing in Europe were vagrants from North America, but some authors propose a possible Siberian origin, with a certain proportion of birds migrating Southwest towards Sub-Saharan Africa and making landfalls in Europe. The species could even be breeding occasionaly in the far north of Europe.

European Roller (Coracias garrulus)

 

European Roller (Coracias garrulus)

The solitary European Roller (Coracias garrulus) was still present in the same area of Tacande (El Paso) this morning, June 10.

European Roller (Coracias garrulus)

Rather than trying to track down this shy bird on foot, the best strategy for getting close views is to wait at a spot with wide views of the foraging area, and then hope that the Roller perches close by at some point. This morning, the patient waiting paid dividends.

European Roller (Coracias garrulus)

From 07:45 until just after 10:00, the bird was visible at long range, hunting prey from a variety of lookouts. 

European Roller (Coracias garrulus)

It wasn´t until about 10:10 that the Roller took flight and after swooping around for a while, finally landed on a bare twig a mere 20-30 metres from where I was standing (together with Fran Leal who had joined me an hour previously). The photographs shown here are the result of this stroke of good luck.

European Roller

 

European Roller (Coracias garrulus)

On June 7 a Roller sp. was reported on eBird, with a good photograph and details of the location provided by the observer.  

The following morning I coincided with a veritable avalanche of locals at the site: no less than three of us with binoculars, plus three other people who were accompanying one of the birders. Quite a turn out for La Palma!

Teaming up with fellow eBirder Fran Leal, we eventually found the spectacular Roller, after crossing some heavily overgrown fields to reach a vantage point from where we could scan the surroundings.

European Roller (Coracias garrulus)

The photos included in the present post were taken today, June 9, in the same area of Tacande (El Paso), and effectively clinch the identity of this bird at species level. There had been some doubt between European and Abyssinian Rollers.

However, the black, rather than blue trailing edge of the upper wings, and the black flight feathers on the underwing both point to European Roller (C. garrulus), rather than Abyssinian (C. abyssinia). 

The lack of long tail streamers was an obvious argument in favour of the European Roller, but some other features of the plumage had left room for doubt, in the absence of close-range views and/or clear photos.

European Roller (Coracias garrulus)

To my knowledge there is at least one previous record of European Roller (C. garrulus) on La Palma: a single individual seen by RPE on July 3, 2004. Elsewhere in the archipelago, "Rare Birds of the Canary Islands" (Lynx Edicions, June 2013) lists 2 sightings from Tenerife, 3 from Gran Canaria, 1 from Fuerteventura, and 6 from Lanzarote, all recorded between the months of April and August.

European Roller (Coracias garrulus)

This passage migrant seems to have found ideal habitat on the stony hillsides of Tacande, where dry branches of scattered trees serve as lookouts for hunting insects. However, despite boldly perching out in the open, the bird does not allow close approach and quickly takes flight at the sight of people.