Actually, it was easier said than done... in my quest for
The 600 Club, I have already birded extensively Penonome and surroundings this year. I needed some intel data and, again, my friend Josanel Sugasti gave me some input on how to find some specialties close to the place I was willing to visit. We headed north of Penonome, following the road to
Chiguirí Arriba, which is a little and charming town almost in the Caribbean side of Cocle province, in central Panama. The road runs along the Zarati river, eventually crossing it at a place where I usually stop to check the gallery forest along it.
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| Red-headed Firetip (Pyrrhopyge zenodorus) |
At this point, the river excavated an impressive canyon, as you can see in the first photo. The vegetation attracted several common species of birds, plus my life Firetip (
Pyrrhopyge sp.) attending a fruiting tree, but no new species for my year list. So we kept on until the town of Caimito, where we took the road to Sofre. The site is known by the colony(ies) of Montezuma Oropendola, which are weirdly into the Pacific slope of the province. However, it seems that they are located in private property and we didn't have time to ask. Instead, we focused on another -uncommon- species. Following the directions of Josanel, I located the lowest part of the road, a place where it cross several narrow creeks, and started to check the power lines. Soon, we detected a flock of swallows swirling over one of the creeks. The small size and uniform dark plumage clinched the ID:
White-thighed Swallows.
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| White-thighed Swallow |
The swallows offered prolonged views, we even were able to see the tiny white thighs this species is known for and heard some vocalizations. They were my species # 499 for the year and, to be honest, I thought that was going to be all, since it was time to go to the river as planned, and I was not expecting more new species. We headed back to Caimito and took again the main road to Chiguiri Arriba. At the town of La Vieja, we took a dirt road (four-wheel drive needed) to
Pozo Azul, also known as Las Pailas by the locals. We payed at the entrance and took a trail that quickly became a long ladder inside the forest going steeply down the river.
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| Steps to Pozo Azul |
At the bottom, the crystal-clear and chilly waters of Pozo Azul were waiting for us. What a nice place! Again, the river had eroded the rocks to form some deep water holes ("pailas") where you can dive and swim, accompanied by fresh water fishes as you can see in the photo!
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| Pozo Azul |
The place was crowded (for Panamanian standards), but anyway we had a great time there. The way back, up the steps, was not that fun, but we made it on time to hit the road again and continue exploring the region. With plenty of time, we decided to visit Chiguirí Arriba. This town is on our hearts since both Gloriela and me did part of our internship at the local (and tiny) health center. Seeing it after all these years, looking exactly like we remembered it, made us feel nostalgic.
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| Chiguirí Arriba's health center |
I remembered that during my internship, it was not rare to see White-thighed Swallows and Montezuma Oropendola in Chiguiri Arriba, so we had a look, but find neither. Although the place looked essentially the same as when we did our internship, there were some changes... including a new road to the next town:
Vaquilla. It used to be a rough dirt road... now we were able to reach Vaquilla in few minutes. To my surprise, right behind the grosery store where we stopped to buy some drinks, we noticed a lot of activity of
Montezuma Oropendolas!
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| Montezuma Oropendola |
They were constructing their characteristic nests, and soon realized that there is a complete colony... even including Piratic Flycatchers and oportunistics Giant Cowbirds (both species depend on the oropendolas). The Montezuma Oropendola was my bird 500th for this year so far! The truth is that I'm impressed with all the birds obtained (and the sites visited) this year... and we are just starting! Meanwhile, we ended our visit to northern Penonome at the
Cerro La Vieja Butterfly Garden, where our guide explained us the importance of this beautiful insects and the important conservation effort they make at this isolated point of the country... we need more initiatives like that! Happy birding folks!
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| Gloriela and Gabrielle at Cerro La Vieja Butterfly Garden |
The place was crowded (for Panamanian standards), but anyway we had a great time there. The way back, up the steps, was not that fun, but we made it on time to hit the road again and continue exploring the region. With plenty of time, we decided to visit Chiguirí Arriba. This town is on our hearts since both Gloriela and me did part of our internship at the local (and tiny) health center. Seeing it after all these years, looking exactly like we remembered it, made us feel nostalgic.
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