Saturday morning caught us early having our breakfast at Doña Lola's. The weather forecast was not good, the sky was completely gray, with an imminent threat of rain. It prevented me to carry my camera, but not to keep ongoing our adventure. Actually, the only shot I got of a bird is that of a rooster in the middle of one street in El Real before it starts to rain (just a drizzle, but I didn't wanted to take any risk). We took an arranged pick-up (courtesy of Guido Berguido from Advantage Tours) and headed to Pirre 1 through pastures and nice forest patches. We saw (and heard) the first Yellow-breasted Flycatcher of the trip, a Laughing Falcon and a Crane Hawk. At the end of the road, in the little town of Pirre 1, we got a Capped Heron, a pair of Spot-breasted and Red-rumped Woodpeckers, and a pair of Pied Puffbirds excavating a nest very close to the road, for the delight of those with cameras (that means, not me).
The trail to Rancho Frío, a ranger station in the Darien National Park, was wide and muddy... and I mean very muddy. The first part is through secondary forest patches and open areas before it enters the primary forest. Soon we found a mixed flock that kept us animated. Yellow-breasted and Yellow-margined Flycatchers, Bananaquit and White-shouldered Tanagers delighted us while feeding high in the canopy. Then, I spotted a little yellowish tanager with a gray belly. It wasn't until we saw a male Yellow-backed Tanager when I confirmed my initial I.D. Later in the day we got closer looks of this Darien specialty in association with orioles, tityras, becards, other tanagers and flycatchers. My life Pale-bellied Hermit was chasing a Rufous-breasted and then perched at a ridiculous shooting range for a minute or so (only happens when I'm not carrying my camera). Inside the forest the activity was low, but still we managed to found Black-breasted and White-whiskered Puffbirds, Blue Cotinga, Purple-throated Fruitcrow, Bright-rumped Attilas, Crested Oropendola and even a perched male Green-crowned Woodnymph that allowed us to study it in detail. After many hours of slow motion walk on the muddy trail, we decided to return (not before a rapid dive in the Peresenico river) to have our packed lunch. We had an uneventfull drive back to El Real, where we met Guido and his group. In the stretch of road between the pumphouse and the water tank we found 4 different woodpeckers (Red-crowned, Red-rumped, Spot-breasted and Crimson-crested), tons of seedeaters (Variable and Ruddy-breasted), more anis, and many more. We walked to the airstrip finding the bird of the trip (at least for me, thanks Guido): a pair of singing Black-capped Donacobius. I don't know what impressed me more: the beautiful contrast of the black, brown and buffy tones, the expressive yellow iris, the loud voice or the choreography that they monted whenever they were singing antiphonally. What a spectacular pair of birds... and everything within ten or 15 feet (and my camera?). The day ended with four lifers, plus a Panama life bird.
Next (last) day we tried the Pinogana road. This one is a more open road than the Pirre one, also in good conditions. The more open areas produced such birds like the White-necked Puffbird and the Roadside Hawk pictured above (I brought my camera), plus lots of commoner birds. New birds for the trip were the female Black Antshrike working in the tangles at the first part of the road and a group of Gray-headed Chachalacas.
We got better looks of the Laughing Falcon, Crane Hawk, Yellow-breasted Flycatcher and the Black Oropendolas (not the best picture, but the only one I managed and I think it is recognizable). Then we moved to the airstrip trying again for the Donacobius, but only heard it far away (I brought my camera). We saw again the Large-billed Seed-Finches, but no Yellow-hooded Blackbirds this time. We had our mid-morning breakfast (after seeing a Black-headed Tody-Flycatcher in a tree over the restaurant in the middle of the town and an inmature male Lesser Goldfinch over the hospital) and then, back to our hotel to pack our things. We had a dry ride to Yaviza where we finished the fieldtrip with a big smile in our faces, after seeing lots of birds and always remembering those Donacobius dancing for us. I didn't had a chance for a picture. Good excuse to return.
Only one last thing. On route we stopped in Metetí (central Darien) in a gas station to fill the tank. We saw several individuals of House Sparrow there. For sure I'm not the first one that have seen this bird in Darien, but it is seldom reported (if reported at all). So I got some pictures!
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