Do you remember the Bonaparte's Gull that appeared last month in Costa del Este (Panama City)? Well, it is back! While returning home after Gabrielle's birthday party, I received a phone call of Osvaldo... he was seeing THE gull, this time in Panama Viejo. He went after the gull with Rafael Luck thanks to the advice of Itzel Fong de Tejeira, who found the bird yesterday (her photos here). After organizing some things in home, I volunteered to take home my nephew Michael, who lives passing Panama Viejo, conveniently!
The place was full with gulls. Among them, some Franklin's Gulls were resting among the most numerous Laughing Gulls. This species is an uncommon winter resident for Panama.
Following Osvaldo's directions, I found the bird after few minutes searching. It was standing alone in the mud, away of other gulls. The size difference was quite evident.
This is a beautiful, delicate gull. I'm not an expert ageing gulls... considering the dark brown carpal bar, the dark band on secondaries and the black tail band (as you can see in Itzel's photos), I suppose this is a first-winter bird.
The Bonaparte's Gull is a vagrant to Panama, with only six previous records (including Rosabel's) around Panama City and the Caribbean side of the Panama Canal area. It is not a life bird for me, since I got some at the Niagara Falls some years ago, but is an absolutely GREAT addition to my Panama list!
Thanks guys for sharing the information!
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment