The Pearl Islands experience! Part II

The second day of our trip to the Pearl Islands (Gulf of Panama), Joris, Francis and your blogger host hired a boat to visit some nearby islands to Contadora; however, Joris and I decided to watch birds in the island interior during the first hours of light.  It was too early for most of the migrants... instead, we found many resident birds around the pond.  This Panama Flycatcher was particularly cooperative:

Panama Flycatcher

At the pond, several pairs of Least Grebes were quite active making display calls and exhibitions and building floating nests.  We managed some close views and photos of these birds.

Least Grebe

It was time to aboard our boat, the captain was waiting for us at Galeon beach and soon we were heading to Pacheca Island, just to the north of Contadora.  This private owned island holds one of the most important breeding colony of Magnificent Frigatebirds in the Panamanian Pacific... a fact that quickly became obvious... hundreds of frigatebirds flying and resting at the trees of the island... impressive!

Immature Magnificent Frigatebirds

However, both Pacheca and Pachequilla islands were covered in Blue-footed Boobies... hundreds of them!  Pachequilla was literally covered with them.  These amazing numbers of Blue-footed Boobies are not usual... they are easily seen from shore at the continent in several beaches, and hundreds of them rest in islets close to Panama City as well.

Blue-footed Boobies

Blue-footed Boobies

In the other hand, the Brown Boobies were not more than 10... and all of them at Pachequilla island.  In fact, we saw some more in the open sea during the ferry trip from Panama City.  I have to mention that this seems to be a recent shift in the boobies population in these nesting sites.  According to Angehr & Kushlan (Waterbirds 2007; 30: 335-57), the "Brown Boobies nested in similar sites as Blue-footed Boobies but were more widely distributed", and that "although commonly seen roosting in the outer islands of the Pearls, Blue-footed Boobies are relatively rare, scattered, and perhaps irregular as breeders".

Brown Boobies

However, the biggest surprise was a small group of Peruvian Boobies resting at Pachequilla island!  They were easily identified due to their contrasting white head and necks, smaller size and checkered upperparts (and, of course, none of these had blue feet).

Peruvian (and three Blue-footed) Boobies in Pachequilla island 

Peruvian and Blue-footed Boobies in Pachequilla island

We are experiencing an invasion of Peruvian Boobies in Panamanian waters, probably displaced by warmer conditions in their usual range in South America.  Until that day, they were only reported from Panama City and a nearby islet.  We were quite excited about this... but know that these are not exactly good news for the birds.  The last birds we saw while circumnavigating Pacheca island were these two American Oystercatchers... always a nice sight!

American Oystercatchers

We really had fun and enjoyed every second of this flash trip to the Pearl Islands.  Hope you enjoyed it as well!

Isleta island

The Pearl Islands experience! Part I

Originally a Panama Audubon Society's (PAS) trip, it was cancelled due to lack of quorum; however, there is something about the Pearl Islands in the Gulf of Panama (yes, where one season of Survivors was filmed)... sun, white sands in beautiful beaches, tasty food and plenty of wildlife to enjoy.  So, instead of changing my ferry ticket to Contadora island, I decided to embark and enjoy a weekend in the archipelago.  Surprisingly, Joris and his wife Francis (two PAS members as well) were in the ferry with the same thought.     It is a 2-hours journey to the islands from Panama City, and we saw the first species from the ferry's deck.

Wedge-rumped Storm-Petrel

All the storm-petrel that we managed to ID were Wedge-rumped Storm-Petrels as you can see in my marginal photo.  Of course some other more common species were noticed; however, the storm-petrels were the most interesting!  Once in Contadora, I contacted our captain (thanks to Venicio "Beny" Wilson for the contacts).  After checking at our hotels, we departed to Pedro Gonzalez Island to the south of Contadora (more or less 50 minutes away).  In the way, we saw huge flocks of Black Terns, with most of them wearing patches of alternate plumage.

Black Tern.  Notice the black patches in the underparts

Black Terns

But the most impressive beasts were two Humpback Whales (mom and calf) close enough to see every detail!  Notice in the photo how close we were to Pedro Gonzalez Island (in the background).  These whales gives birth in these waters... the calf increases rapidly in size and weight by taking the fat-rich milk from his mother while she fasts throughout the season.

Humpback Whale (and Pedro Gonzalez island in the background)

Once in Pedro Gonzalez, we checked at the naval station (as usual) and crossed the town quickly.  Pedro Gonzalez is the third largest island of the archipelago, and home of our main target: White-fringed Antwren.  There are other endemic subspecies in this archipelago, but none of this is as distinctive as the alticincta form of White-fringed Antwren.  First of all, there are no White-fringed Antwrens in continental Panama.  Second, the closest population in South America is distinctively different.

We went directly to a little creek just out of town and soon were seeing our first pair of White-fringed Antwrens, lifer for both Joris and Francis.  Just like my last time, the place was too dark for photos.  The male allowed some great views, but didn't stay long enough for photos.  The female was more cooperative.

White-fringed Antwren, female

White-fringed Antwren, female

Yes, I think these photos are better than my previous ones.  A whitish throat and yellow underparts with orangish breast is evident.  More important, she had no streaks at all in the underparts.  Many authorities place this form within the "Northern White-fringed Antwren" group, geographically logical considering its proximity; however, the lack of streaks in the underparts of the female is inconsistent.  More work is needed in this complex for sure.  We don't stayed long.  We only saw few other species in the island, but highlights were Pale-bellied Hermit and a Blackpoll Warbler working close to some antwrens in the way to the soccer field.

Central American Agouti

It was a nice first day in the Pearl Islands.  Back in Contadora I enjoyed the beautiful Playa Larga beach and saw some Central American Agouties in the hostal's backyard.  We planned with our captain to visit some sea birds colonies in nearby islands the next morning, so check it later!

World Shorebirds Day. Part II

Due to technical problems, I was unable to post this story before (as many others as well).  Last weekend, many countries celebrated the World Shorebirds Day, and Panama was not the exception.  Many official institutions and NGOs, organized by the Panama Audubon Society (PAS), gathered in Costa del Este (Panama City) at high tide last september 6th to participate in the Shorebirds Challenge.  After the event, some PAS members stayed to count shorebirds... I joined them the next day.

Shorebirds in Costa del Este

After last sunday's coastal cleanup event in Costa del Este, I joined Rosabel Miró, Michele Caballero and others at shore in the mouth of the Matías Hernández river... the impressive diversity of shorebirds species amazed us... just the photo above shows seven shorebirds species plus Laughing Gulls and a Great Egret... can you ID these species?  Little after I took the above photo, we started to see the flocks of peeps approaching.

Mostly Western Sandpipers

Western Sandpipers

Thousands of peeps, mostly Western Sandpipers, started to appear in the exposed mudflats and in the mangroves.  These birds use the Upper Bay of Panama as feeding station during their passages or as winter grounds.  In an effort to better understand these movements, many of these birds have been ringed with flags of specific colors for each country (more about it in this post).  Earlier that day, Yenifer Díaz and Michele saw briefly one of these birds for short time but they were not able to read the characters in the flag.  Then, through the scopes, we managed to find three different birds with rings and flags.  Rosabel got this distant photo:

Banded Western Sandpiper.  Photo by Rosabel Miró

This particular bird had a muddy flag.  The other two birds had legible flags.  Both were banded almost in the same site last season earlier this year.  Simply amazing!  Only some 200 birds were banded... and we saw three of them!  However, more strange was this little guy:

Semipalmated Sandpiper

As you can see, this is a Semipalmated Sandpiper (notice the short bill)... a leucistic individual (a condition characterized by reduced pigmentation).  Is the first one I ever see... but the web is full of galleries showing these aberrant beauties.  In total, we saw 16 shorebirds species (plus another species seen the previous day)... and three banded ones!

World Shorebirds Day

Today, september 6th, is the World Shorebirds Day... and to celebrate it many people around the world is censing its local population of shorebirds in more than 750 selected sites.  Panama was not the exception.  In order to include the general population, NGOs and public institutions, the Panama Audubon Society (PAS) organized the "Shorebird Challenge" at the registered counting site in Costa del Este (Panama City).

PAS Executive Director, Rosabel Miró, listed the rules for the challenge.  Simple: each organization would be represented by 4 members (plus supporting staff) and provided with binoculares and illustrated field guides with the objective to ID the greatest number of shorebirds species with no professional aid (all these participants were non-experienced in the theme of birdwatching) in 30 minutes.  Each team was assigned an "expert" birdwatcher in charge of the checklist.  We weren't supposed to help in the ID  of any species.... just to confirm it.  All the "experts" were PAS members.

Shorebirds Challenge experts.  From left to right: Ariel Aguirre, Venicio Wilson, Michele Caballero, Jan Axel Cubilla and Yenifer Díaz

The team of the Capital District Municipality, guided by Venicio, were the undisputed winners, identifying 11 shorebirds species after sticking to its strategy of "being where the birds are"... they changed its original watching site after quickly recognizing that most of the flocks were in the other side of the river!  Good one!

1st place: Capital District Municipality team (11 species)

My own team, the crew of MarViva, a regional NGO that promotes the conservation and sustainable use of coastal and marine ecosystems in the Eastern Tropical Pacific, correctly identified 9 shorebirds species.  Our strategy was pretty the same of "being where the birds are"; however, we spent all the necessary time pointing out field marks and didn't make it to the other side on time (where a huge and diverse flock was resting).

2nd place: MarViva team (9 species)

Two teams identified 8 shorebirds species.  The draw was resolved by a knowledge test that won the team of the National Environmental Authority (ANAM), guided by Ariel Aguirre.

3rd place: ANAM team (8 species)

Leaving then in the fourth place (also with 8 shorebirds species identified) the composite team of several NGO's and government agencies, including members of Panama's Aquatic Resources Authority (ARAP), Ramsar CREHO and Wetlands International. The last team, the representatives of the Ministry of housing and land zoning (MiViOT), identified 7 shorebirds species.  As you can see, all the government agencies and NGOs that participated have something to do with the protection of the habitat that these shorebirds need in the Upper Bay of Panama.

4th and 5th place: ARAP/CREHO/Wetlands and MiViOT teams

What a great experience.  As mentioned earlier, the site was full of shorebirds and other aquatic species... but the activities are not over... and I will show you some of the shorebirds we managed to ID in another post!