Why did the bobwhite cross the road?

It was the typical morning of a random weekend at our house in Penonomé (Coclé province, central Panamá).  The quiet neighborhood, the smell of coffee in the air, and the fresh breeze... everything was perfect.  My mother-in-law was in the kitchen, overlooking the neighborhood's main street when suddenly she said "look those fat ground-doves".  Gloriela went to the kitchen and, after a quick glimpse, she shouted "those aren't ground-doves, but bobwhites!  Jan, bring your camera!"

And there they were, a covey of nine Crested Bobwhites nicely walking in front of our house, using the sidewalk by the way!  These birds (our typical "codornices") are common residents in the savannas of central and western Panamá, including the fields around our neighborhood in Penonomé.  In fact, I already posted a photo of a bobwhite calling from the live fence surrounding the neighborhood.

After a while, they simply decided to get to the other side of the street.  They can run quite fast!

We watched them for 10 minutes or so, they were doing bobwhite stuff, like if they were in the middle of a field... they did't seem to be distressed... they simply were there!

That's all what I need to start well a day, a cup of coffee and a covey of bobwhites!

A beautiful Owl

Sometime ago, I went with my family to El Valle de Anton to show them some of the local attractions, including the zoo.  Personally, I don't like zoos... but someone told Gloriela that they were exhibiting owls, and both Gloriela and Gabrielle love owls!  I have to admit that I enjoyed the visit... until we found the owl... simply a sad sight, locked in a tiny cage, evidently depressed if I can use this term in this case.  You can see the poor Striped Owl in the next photo if you enlarge it.

Slightly frustrated, I proposed to myself to show them a wild Striped Owl in all its brilliance, free in the nature.  Thanks God, Osvaldo Quintero facilitated my task yesterday when he texted to me that a pair of these beauties was resting on a tree in Parque Omar, right in the middle of the city.  I went right away with Gloriela and Gabrielle... but it was already dark when I managed to crossed the city in the peak hours of traffic jam... and the birds were not there.  We returned this afternoon... and the birds were there!

They are by the tennis court.  You can't enter there, but the owls can be perfectly photographed from the fence, as we did.  The place keeper told Osvaldo that the birds appeared more or less ten days ago.  My photos has nothing to do with Osvaldo's pieces of art... the birds were in backlit and the day quite cloudy.  However I was glad to see my two girls watching an owl as it should be!

I didn't see any cavity in the tree, nor any courtship display or anything alike... probably they were only resting... simple like that!

Thanks Osvaldo for sharing this with us!

Mata Ahogado's tanagers and more

Our trips to El Valle de Anton almost alway include a short visit to the tiny town of Mata Ahogado, seeking for species typical of open habitats or dry forests... and our last trip was not the exception.  With Osvaldo Quintero, Rafael and Montse Luck, Itzel Fong, Domiciano Alveo and José Alberto Pérez, we drove through Mata Ahogado using the new road to Altos del María, reaching a nice border of a montane forest.  A soon as we started to search the trees, we noticed a flock of very active birds, skulking low but sometimes perching fully exposed.

As you can see, these Dusky-faced Tanagers were quite showy, allowing nice sightings and photos.  They were lifer for some of the group.  It was evident that the action was about to start.  A huge mixed flock was about to pass very close to us.  Mostly tanagers, including Plain-colored, Flame-rumped, Common Bush and Silver-throated Tanagers.

I only managed to got silhouettes shots of the Tawny-crested Tanagers accompanying the mixed flock. At least the tawny crest is the main attraction in an otherwise all-black bird.  They liked to stay in the dark.

Among the non-tanagers species accompanying the flock were White-ruffed Manakin, Slate-colored Grosbeak, Scarlet-thighed and Blue Dacnis and a pair of Tawny-capped Euphonias.

After seeing a distant pair of Blue-throated (Emerald) Toucanets, we left the place in order to have lunch in El Valle, but first, we saw some White-lined Tanagers right in Mata Ahogado, along with more common species like Blue-gray and Flame-rumped Tanagers.

Only the tanager-like bill distinguishes this bird, since the white is not evident when perched.  By the end of the day, in El Valle, we saw more White-lined Tanagers, including this male feeding a young bird in a huge garden in The Millionaires Street.

Can't wait to visit this area again.

Birding El Valle de Anton with friends

El Valle de Anton is a picturesque town located in the crater of an extinct volcano in Cocle province of central Panama.  A couple of weekends ago, Osvaldo Quintero, Rafael and Montse Luck, Itzel Fong and your blogger host went to this lovely town to bird the surrounding forests.  We usually bird the Cerro Gaital Natural Monument, but this time we were accompanied by two local experts: Domiciano (Domi) Alveo and José Alberto Pérez.

First, we followed them to Las Minas trail, crossing some patches of forest, then pasture land and then forest again (plus breathtaking landscapes).  It was roughly a two hours walk, full of a mix of lowlands and foothills, forest and open land species.  For example, this singing Thick-billed Seed-Finch was side-by-side with some Eastern Meadowlarks and Black-striped Sparrows.

While a little farther we found a flock of noisy Black-chested Jays, singing Pale-vented Thrushes and White-breasted Wood-Wrens.

We followed the trail through another patch of forest, and then to second growths were the activity became better, with Yellow-olive Flycatcher, both Black-headed and Buff-throated Saltators, a colony of Chestnut-headed Oropendolas with a pair of Piratic Flycatchers, Yellow-billed Cacique and the first of many White-lined Tanagers.  We moved to the entrance of the road to Rio Indio, where the general lack of birds was compensated with amazing close views of a pair of Orange-bellied Trogon.  We saw first the female with her catch in the bill (I posted the photos of the male here).

After birding the forest above Mata Ahogado (that's the theme of another post), we had a typical lunch in town.  By then, it was cloudy and raining already, but we decided to visit the Cara Iguana trail anyway.  In spite the we just drove for 5 to 10 minutes, the forest was completely different, just like the birds.  This is a drier area, and we saw or heard Lance-tailed Manakins, both Rufous-and-white and Rufous-breasted Wrens, Rosy Thrush-Tanager, Long-billed Gnatwren, Scrub Greenlet, Rufous-capped Warbler and many more.  Then I saw a weird figure high in a tree... with my naked eyes I thought it was a termite nest, but with my binoculars it was evident that the figure was a wet Spectacled Owl drying out!

We saw this majestic beast for a while only to realize that this bird was guarding a young one perched very close to us.

How different they are!  That was an excellent way to end this trip, and I'm pretty sure is not the last time we visit El Valle de Anton!

Bird of the Month: Orange-bellied Trogon

The Orange-bellied Trogon (Trogon aurantiiventris) has one of the most restricted ranges among the trogons, found in foothills and highlands forest from Costa Rica to central Panamá.

Like others members of this family, these birds spend most of their time perched quietly, and are frequently overlooked due to this habit, except if they are vocalizing.  These birds have characteristic calls that are one of their most important field mark actually.

Important field marks are also the color of the orbital ring and the undertail pattern.  They exhibit sexual dimorphism, as you can see here.  Usually the females are duller overall, sometimes exhibiting different undertail patterns as in this case.

We can't talk about the Orange-bellied Trogon without talking about a close relative: the Collared Trogon.  Both species are sympatric (except in central Panama where the Collareds are absent) and share similar niches. Beside the color of the underparts (red in the Collared Trogon) and minor differences in tail pattern, these two species are very similar, including their voices.  Some authorities consider the Orange-bellied as a localized color form of the Collared, but until now they are both considered full species.

For these, and many other reasons is why we chose the Orange-bellied Trogon as our bird of the month!

Literature consulted:
1.  Angehr G, Dean R.  The Birds of Panama.  A Field Guide.  2010.
2.  Ridgely R, Gwynne J.  A Guide to the Birds of Panama. 1993.
3.  Remsen JV, et al.  A classification of the birds of South America. AOU. Version 20-may-2013.

PAS Fieldtrip to Altos del María

Last month, the Panamá Audubon Society (PAS) organized the annual fieldtrip to the foothills of Altos del María.  This gated community, located in the foothills of western Panama province, gained relevance few years ago when the birders started to report western species not readily found in the mountains just to the east (Altos de Campana) or to the west (El Valle for example).  Surely it has something to do with the great accessibility to higher and well preserved cloud forests.  Alfred Raab, an Altos' resident, guided a group of 14 PAS members through these forests during this two-days trip.  However, Osvaldo Quintero, Rafael Luck, Itzel Fong and your blogger host only participated the first day.

After meeting in the town of Sora, we followed the group to our first destination, a spot close to the Valle Bonito's gate where we saw/heard some common species.

The Common Bush-Tanagers were, indeed, common.  We crossed several flocks, sometimes mixed with others foothill tanagers, like Silver-throated and Black-and-yellow Tanagers.  The form present there is of the distinctive subspecies punctulatus, recognized by its dark head and brighter orangish breast.  Also notice the distinctive shape of the post-ocular dot.

This Lineated Woodpecker was very cooperative and entertained us while we were waiting for the main attraction.

After some minutes, we found the specialty of the area: at least two males Snowcaps were around, stoping often in some skinny branches too far away for photos, but enough for terrific views through my binoculars.  The white crown is an special feature, readily evident in my poor photo.

We moved to higher forests, around 1000 meters above sea level.  It is obligatory to take a photo with the Picacho peak in the background, as Itzel did with my phone camera.

It was a little cloudy but fresh... and we found lots of activity.  More tanagers flocks, both Thick-billed and Elegant Euphonias, Olive-sided Flycatchers, and one (or more?) Rufous Mourner that seemed to be following us.

Notice how foggy it was in the above photo... however, the weather proved to be quite unpredictable up there.  Two seconds after the above photo the sun showed up (an also the butterflies and moths).

We followed Alfred through some roads and trails.  We crossed a Canopy Lodge birding group and found many others beauties like White-ruffed Manakin, Black-faced Grosbeaks, and even a male Green Thorntail seeking for insects under the leaves of a tree.  Itzel was lucky enough to get some photos that she posted in her blog.  A highlight was a paved trail all the way to the continental divide, where we saw more typical birds... including the local subspecies vividus of Tufted Flycatcher, which is less brightly colored than the subspecies in western Panama (but brighter than the birds of eastern Darien).

This trail runs along a mountain creek and offers the ideal habitat for my nemesis: the Dull-mantled Antbird.  In fact, its spanish name say it so: Hormiguero Guardarribera, with guardarribera meaning something like the one that guards the bank.  A lovely trail for sure!

Guess what!... it is still my nemesis bird in spite of Alfred attempts to lure out one of them. It was a great trip anyway, full of MANY others special birds (including that Orange-bellied Trogon that I missed), but I'll return for my Guardarribera! 

Evening escape to Cerro Azul

Cerro Azul, in the foothills east of Panama City, is a popular birding destination due to its large tracks of forests... but more important, the strong community of resident birders always letting us know the last sightings of rare birds up there!  That's why Osvaldo Quintero, Itzel Fong (and her spouse Javier) and I went to Cerro Azul late in the afternoon after the news of Black-eared Wood-Quails showing in the backyard of our friends William and Esther Adsett.  According to them, the birds visited the property almost at dark, so we first checked a fruiting tree right by the front deck attracting many birds.

These Bay-headed, Speckled and Golden-hooded Tanagers were part of a big flock including also Green Honeycreepers, Scarlet-thighed Dacnis, Carmiol's Tanagers and many more.  It was very entertaining, and we spend a lot of time trying to get pictures... but it was getting dark, so we moved to the forest, finding many understore dwellers like Scaly-breasted Wren, White-breasted Wood-Wren, both Cocoa and Spooted Woodcreepers, Black-faced Anthrush and a cooperative female Spotted Antbird (but alas, no wood-quails).

Just a couple of hours, but full of birds and friends.  We didn't see the wood-quails... but that is a good reason to return!

Miltoniopsis sp. (roelzii?)

Birding the forest or the backyard?

When birding the Chiriquí highlands in western Panamá, the variety birds is so high, that even inside the forest you can cross a huge flock with many different species.  In other parts, usually you see more birds in the open habitats and the forest borders, but here... well, you'll see.  During our last journey to the highlands, I managed to get some shots of both forest and backyard birds.  Lets start with the common ones, we found the next species in the gardens and streets of the little town of Guadalupe, above Cerro Punta.  Of course, the ubiquitous Rufous-collared Sparrow is impossible to miss!

Not only singing adult birds, also immatures were around, as you can see in the second photo.  Another singing bird was this male Flame-colored Tanager.  We saw several pairs of these well-named tanagers.

With a sweet voice too, these Yellow-bellied Siskins were quite busy feeding in these bushes.  Male, female and immature male in quick succession.

Another hard-to-miss species in the highlands is the Slaty Flowerpiercer.  Notice the unique bill, adapted to steal the flowers' nectar.

An impressive (and common) bird in the highlands is the Long-tailed Silky-Flycatcher.  Usually is seen perched very high in the trees, but this individual was very low taking some berries.

However, it is in the forest were most of the rare and elusive species are (except, of course, if you find a Lincoln's Sparrow sharing a field with Rufous-collareds!).  Just minutes from Guadalupe,  La Amistad International Park offers an excellent opportunity to see these special birds, like the Barred Becard attracted after playing a tape of its call.

Or the Large-footed Finch feeding in the forest floor.

A hard-to-see bird is the strange-looking Wrenthrush (though I prefer its spanish name: Zeledonia).  More often heard, my marginal photo shows at least the main field marks of this species, the ball-shaped body and the contrasting orange crown.

The last bird we saw in the park is a relatively common one; however, for some reason I had missed this one in my more than 15 years of birding in Panama (and other countries)... my life Lineated Foliage-Gleaner really really put on a show for us, giving exceptionally good views and photograph opportunities.

That is the way to end a trip to the highlands!