Jan Axel's Blog

2012-01-30T22:16:00.010-05:00

The morning of last saturday, january 28th; Penonome (Cocle province, central Panama) received the visit of an important delegation of birdwatchers from Panama City, prepared to repeat past weekend finding of a Grasshopper Sparrow in Panama after more than 50 years! I joined Rafael Luck, Osvaldo Quintero and Venicio "Beny" Wilson early that morning and departed to the exact site where I saw the bird.

We didn't see it immediately, but certainly our hearts started pumping when we saw a very unusual flycatcher-type bird. Similar in shape and behavior to a Fork-tailed Flycatcher, it seemed to be a partially albino immature because of its relatively short tail. Shortly after this, we were joined by Darien and Camilo Montañez and Marlene (a guest), and started searching. Soon, we had several sightings of a single bird, all brief, but definitives. You can read more about these encounters at Darien's site, Xenornis.

After spending a couple of hours at the site, we went to the Aguadulce Salinas (saltponds), 25 minutes to the west. However, the former saltponds were completely dry, and we decided to went directly to the coast, were some mangrove still persist... and it turned to be a good idea!

In a little pond surrounded by mangroves, we found this flock of sandpipers. As you can see, most of these birds are Lesser Yellowlegs ( straight, relatively short bills, white eye rings, spotted flight feathers) plus some Greater Yellowlegs (similar to the Lesser Yellowlegs, but bigger, with two-toned upturned bills) and Short-billed Dowitchers (chunky shape, long & straight bills) There are at least two Stilt Sandpipers too (slightly downcurved bills). The pond also hosted a single Red Knot and many Black-necked Stilts which refused to stay for the photos. After seeing the obligate Yellow "Mangrove" Warblers, we had lunch at a local restaurant (we ordered an excellent fried fish) and returned to Penonome where we had more encounters with the sparrow before we had to return to our normal lives. It is always nice to scape from the monotony and to engage in the search of a lost bird.

2012 first field trip

2012-01-26T20:39:00.017-05:00

Last saturday's evening was hot and sunny, typical of a summer day in Penonome (Cocle province, central Panama), I took advantage of the beautiful day and did a scouting trip to some side roads west of town little after 3:30 PM... and it was great! Not only saw my first life bird of the year, at least three Ring-necked Ducks in a large pond, but also re-found the now-famous Grasshopper Sparrow after more than 50 years in Panama! But as I said, that was only the scouting trip. Very early the next morning, I went to the same place before dawn hoping to catch the ducks closer to the shore of the lake. The fresh air in the savanna and the immensity of the place is hard to describe... and the sunrise resembling a scene of "The Lion King" movie was simply unbelievable!

I did saw ducks closer to shore... but it was a group of Lesser Scaups, plus three Blue-winged Teals and three Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks. The three Ring-necked Ducks that I saw the day before were far away in the middle of the lake, and only the male was identified with certainty at that distance.

I began the return journey looking for open habitat specialists, finding surprisingly a Northern Harrier as the first raptor for the day. This is only the second time I see harriers around Penonome (first time here),

and it seems that they are not simply passage migrants, but winter visitors as well. Despite the blurry photo, the shape and white rump is unique among the expected raptors there. After a while, I found a tiny, very shallow pond in the middle of the fields... it was alive with birds. Big waders, in the form of several Great Egrets, a Wood Stork and a Great Blue Heron, were sharing the place with Least and Solitary Sandpipers, two Greater Yellowlegs and three Killdeers which became quite evident thanks to their sweet voices.

The nearby grasslands were full of singing Eastern Meadowlarks, plus some Red-breasted Blackbirds, some of them allowing great pictures and close approaching. They were focused in singing out loud to impress any rival or to attract a mate. It is always nice to see these two species (both called "pastoreros" in spanish) side-by-side. However, the most abundant bird in the savanna was the Fork-tailed Flycatcher. A huge flock of these elegant birds were feeding along the fences and in the ground right in the middle of the dirt road. Easily, they exceeded a hundred of birds!

In the end, I failed to relocate the sparrow, neither I found the Grassland Yellow-Finch reported last year by Ken Allaire... but the bird list for only three hours of birding the savanna was impressive and I can't wait to visit the place again next weekend!

Grasshopper Sparrow in Penonome!!!

2012-01-23T19:14:00.010-05:00

If there is a resident bird species in Panama that evokes myths and mystery, that certainly is the Grasshopper Sparrow. Formerly a breeder in the Pacific slope, it was thought eradicated due to habitat loss. Not a single resident, nor a vagrant migrant of northern subspecies, have been recorded since the 60's and thus the endemic subspecies of Cocle, beatriceae, was sadly believed extinct by almost all of those who have crossed the country looking for birds in the last decades... until now.

Last saturday's afternoon, I was returning from seeing my first life bird for 2012 (Ring-necked Duck, more on that in another post) and was almost at the entrance of the dirt road (4 miles west of Penonome, central Panama), already seeing the cars at the Panamerican highway, when I decided to stop just to check a pair of Eastern Meadowlarks. As soon as I stopped, I detected a subtle movement in the short grass next to the car. My very first impression was of a gray, tiny mouse, crawling under the grass... but soon realized that it was a bird! The tiny creature eventually stopped no more than 4 meters from my window, raised its head over its shoulders to inspect me and froze... I was shocked! A mythical bird, almost a ghost, the lost Grasshopper Sparrow was standing in front of me, alive... I still shake only of thinking of it. Nervous, I grabbed my camera and started shooting... and the bird did not move. I was able to see it very well, both with my binoculars and through my camera, realizing how beautifully patterned it was. It stayed for complete five minutes, only moving quickly few steps each time just to stand again. It was doing this whenever I was lowering my look to check the photos or to take the binoculars, and sometimes it was difficult to relocate the bird due to its perfect camouflage. It left so unexpectedly as it appeared, flying very quick and low to taller grass taking advantage of the second I took to check the last series of photos... it was very cautious! I started calling my friends to give the good news, but almost immediately I was concerned about the specific identity of the bird I saw: it was a member of one of the resident subspecies or a migrant from the north?

There is little literature regarding the subspecies of Grasshopper Sparrow found in Panama, and none in recent years. There are descriptions in the monumental work of Alexander Wetmore, and in Ridgely & Gwynne's Birds of Panama, both based on previous papers. However, you can get on-line the paper of Storrs Olson aptly named "The subspecies of Grasshopper Sparrow (Ammodramus savannarum) in Panama" (Proc Biol Soc Wash 1980; 93: 757-9), which describes the three subspecies recorded for the country (two resident, one migrant).

The first thing to take into consideration: the migrant subspecies (pratensis) is essentially indistinguishable of the resident subspecies bimaculatus, distributed along the Pacific slope of Panama (specimens from Chiriqui, in western Panama, and Chepo -east of the Canal area-) and extending to Mexico. There are plenty of photos on-line of pratensis, so it is useful in order to compare with my photos (I took many, but they are essentially variations of those I'm posting here). We have to consider pratensis as a VERY rare vagrant to Panama, only recorded so far in the western Caribbean slope twice in the late 60's and with its southernmost -usual- winter range extends only to Belize. In the other hand, beatriceae (named honoring Alexander Wetmore's wife, Annie Beatrice) is described as quite distinctive in being the palest of all the subspecies.

Based on range, beatriceae is the expected subspecies at that locality (and notice that two specimens examined by Olson were collected exactly at 4 miles west of Penonome). The key characteristics are: throat, breast, flanks and undertail coverts pale pinkish buff (not rich ochraceous yellow as in bimaculatus or pratensis); median crown stripe very pale, almost white (no deep buff). As bimaculatus, beatriceae have distinctly reddish streaks in the nape (distinguishing them from southern subspecies). Others -pale- subspecies from North America have never been recorded south of Honduras in the winter, and are not expected in Panama.

I think (or want to think) the bird of Penonome belongs to the endemic subspecies beatriceae by the field marks highlighted above and that can be appreciated in my photos, which I only cropped (no adjustments of color, contrast or sharpness added)... what do you think?

Gabrielle Teresa

2012-01-03T22:06:00.004-05:00

Just in case you missed the new, my precious baby girl was born last december 27th weighting a little more than 9 pounds(!), now she is a healthy one week old little baby full of energy and life. For just a week, she seems to have changed since her birth (check the photos here)... or it is only my impression?

Welcome Gabrielle Teresa to the world, mom and dad love you very much!

P.D.: where did I see those tiny binoculars?

Bird of the month: Cinnamon Woodpecker

2012-01-01T12:49:00.004-05:00

This edition of "Bird of the month" features a species selected as "Bird of the year 2012" by the Panama Audubon Society... yes, you're right, I'm talking about the Cinnamon Woodpecker (Celeus loricatus). For such a common species, in the right habitat, this is a beautiful bird. It is well

distributed at our Caribbean slope forests all over Panama, but also in the Pacific slope from central Panama eastward. It looks also comical, with its bushy crest and cinnamon color. As you can see, the female lacks almost all the red color that the male shows in the head, like many others woodpecker species. The Celeus woodpeckers inhabits a broad range of habitats, and all have contrasting patterns in their plumages, with some being absolutely gorgeous

patterned in yellow, black, chestnut or cinnamon. The first photo is the same individual of the winning photo, however, is not exactly the same photo due to contest rules. It is always a thrill to find such a photogenic beauty so close! For these, and many others reasons is why the Cinnamon Woodpecker is our bird of the month (and of the year)!

Literature consulted

1. Angher G, Dean R. The birds of Panama. 2010

Brushing the mudflats

2011-12-26T17:24:00.015-05:00

I visited the coast of Panama City, specifically around Panama Viejo, some days ago following some interesting reports including very rare shorebirds and gulls in the area. Essentially, I birded around the Visitors Center because you get there a piece of every type of habitat present in the place, like both rocky and sandy shores, grassland, mudflats, an estuary and mangroves... all within a short walk and under the security

of the Center facilities. The extensive mudflats were covered in shorebirds, specially Western and Semipalmated Sandpipers, Willets and tons of Black-bellied Plovers. However, it was a group of waders that caught my attention: no less than ten Wood Storks were standing in the mud, resting and preening. They reminded me my last experience with storks during the Pacific CBC and, considering the fact that these birds are good fliers, one should consider that they could be

the same beach-loving individuals we saw during the count! Closer to the mangroves, six herons species were wading, looking something to eat, except an elegant Cocoi Heron which was simply

preening in the sand, very close to several Great Blue Herons, a very similar species. Walking to the rocky part of the shore, looking for the Wandering Tattler reported elsewhere, I crossed the grassy section next to the parking lot of the Visitors Center, finding a young Green

Iguana having a sun bath. A close relative, a Spiny Iguana (Ctenosauria sp.) was inspecting me from the rocks. At the rocks, the closest bird to a Tattler that I found was a Spotted Sandpiper dressing its winter suit, which is not spotted at all!

By far, it is the most widely distributed sandpiper in Panama, easily identified by its stiff wing beats and the constant movement of its rear part... it should be named Bobbing Sandpiper! Among the hundreds of Laughing Gulls and dozens of Franklin's Gulls, I

found the Lesser Black-backed Gull that have been reported in Xenornis; however, when I was about to photograph it, the all flock left the place desperately. I turned my head and realized that the reason of the mess was a young Peregrine Falcon hunting low and actually grapping a Laughing Gull in front of my eyes! It was a kind of weird because I'm used to see the Peregrine Falcons hunting small peeps instead of gulls of almost its same size!

But it was not over... just seconds after the initial attack, a second Peregrine Falcon (an adult this time) appeared, and started to attack the first individual, which never gave up its prey. The attacks were marked with lot of noise by both birds, and it reminded me an attack that I witnessed almost exactly one year ago!

After a while, the adult Peregrine left the young one with its prey. The young Peregrine began to eat but after a while it left the place too. May be I didn't get my life tattler, but that was a show often seen in the wild, so I'm happy anyway!

Happy Birthday, Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T22:25:00.009-05:00

Many reasons make december my favourite month of the year: the fresh air, the bird counts, the holidays (specially Christmas), and of course, my birthday... yes, I just turned 32 yesterday in company of my family and friends with a "traditional" fruit cake. The only advantage of this date is that I can open my presents before everybody else! In a kind of Christmas tradition now, all my family spent the Christmas evening at my sister's home. We brought all the gifts and put them under the tree waiting for Christmas in order to deliver them. In Panama, as many other Latin American countries, we wait for Christmas, and the 00:00 hrs of december 25th is marked by a serious deployment of fireworks, music and joy... just have a look at the video (filmed by my brother with his i-phone) and you will see that it looks like a scene of the "Terminator" film!

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!!! Now, you can open your presents!

2011 Pacific CBC

2011-12-22T12:14:00.010-05:00

December is month of bird counts! And the first Christmas Bird Count of this year, the Pacific CBC, ocurred last sunday, december 18th. Organized by the Panama Audubon Society, (PAS) this count included most of Panama City including Costa del Este to the east,Veracruz town to the west and Plantation Road and the Canopy Tower to the north. Historically, Panama counts have been always among the top 10 worldwide, and the Atlantic CBC used to be the highest count of birds for almost 20 years in a row until some years ago. Several factors influenced the decline of our counts, including habitat degradation, lack of resident birders in the Atlantic side of the Canal, new count circles in exceptionally amazing sites in Costa Rica and Ecuador and, most important of all, the low numbers of participants. In fact, the lack of counters have been a conspicuous aspect of the last counts, and the numbers are declining. If we take into consideration the number of

birds species recorded BY participant, the Panama counts occupy the first places. Of the three counts of central Panama, the Pacific CBC is the one with the greatest potential for becoming one of the best counts in the Americas, because it includes several habitats (humid and dry forests, grasslands, residential areas, coast, mudflats and so on), attracts more participants and have easier logistics than any other count in Panama. As usual, Rafael picked me up before dawn and we went to a meeting point where we were joined by Jennifer Wolcott, Rick and Donna Lee. Our group birded the west side of the canal, the areas of Farfan and Veracruz, during the morning. A persistent drizzle prevented us of doing some owling, but it stopped right before the sunrise.

The first birds recorded were not seen, but heard... Tropical Kingbirds. With the first lights, we started to identify the birds at the huge pond in Farfan, mainly white herons and others waders. In the dark, we thought that the hundreds of white dots in the dead trees of the ponds were Cattle Egrets... and in fact, the first three or four herons we saw well were Cattle Egrets... but then we realized that most of the herons in the ponds were Snowy Egrets. In total, we recorded eight species of herons, White Ibises, two Anhingas, several Brown Pelicans and Neotropic Cormorants, and eleven Wood Storks overflying, with one immature landing right in the beach. Despite our count area included dry forest, our main

objectives were coastal and grassland birds, so we headed to Veracruz beach before the high tide, just in time to see the only two American Oystercatchers for the count standing at the beach. We also saw the only Elegant Tern of the count (that is a regular site for this uncommon migrant for Panama), Ruddy Turnstones, Semipalmated, Collared, Wilson's and Black-bellied Plovers in good numbers. In several occasions we had to cover because of the rain, but it usually lasted only few minutes each time. The good thing about it was that the day stayed fresh and the activity was constant. In the grassy habitat and forest borders behind the beach we found excellent activity. By some unknown reason, the most common seedeater this year was the Ruddy-breasted Seedeater, but we recorded all the expected species, plus some goodies like Merlin,

Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Plain-breasted Ground-Doves, Straight-billed Woodcreeper and many migrants. The road that we drove behind the former Howard Air Base eventually crossed a patch of mature forest with a very nice creek... but it was quite late in the morning and hot to find any forest bird in there. We decided to left the west bank and headed to Amador in order to get some key species for the area. We found our main objective, a Northern Scrub-Flycatcher, right at the parking lot of the Punta Culebra Natural Center, among with Garden Emeralds, Sapphire-throated Hummingbirds and Mangrove Warblers. In the way back, we spotted a Blue-footed Booby flying fast in the edge of the counting circle (there is a rock with a colony of these birds right outside the count circle!). Most of the participants met at the Chiva Chiva ponds

to compile our numbers and to figure out our plans for the afternoon depending on the species lacking to that moment. I decided to try the Metropolitan Natural Park along with Jennifer, Cora Herrera and Hildegar Mendoza, making some stops on route, finding Pied-billed Grebe, Blue-winged Teal and Zone-tailed Hawk (all missed in the morning). The park held and amazing great activity by the entrance, with mixed flocks including Greenish Elaenias, Ruddy-tailed and Black-tailed Flycatchers, Yellow-olive Flycatcher, tons of White-shouldered Tanagers, and even a sleepy Common Potoo pointed out bythe park ranger. However, it was a tree with pink flowers the star of the show, attracting tons of hummingbirds and honeycreepers, including the male Rufous-crested Coquette reported during the week and earlier in the morning. I know we don't have to lose time during the counts with birds already counted... but I could not resist to

stop and take some photos of the beautiful creature quietly perched waiting its turn to visit the flowers... after all you don't see a male coquette every day!!! Soon, it was too dark to see anything, and the survivors met at the PAS office to finish to compile our numbers. Not the best count in terms of species was the prediction after revising our list. The most resistant (the Montañez, the Kaufmann, Ariel and me) even tried to do some owling, finding only a Common Potoo before receiving a phone call from Beny who already had listened most of our target owls comfortably from his house in Ancon, Panama City (thanks God!), making our journey only a 16+ hours of pure birding. Exhausting, but gratifying!!!

Bird of the year!

2011-12-15T23:28:00.010-05:00

The Panama Audubon Society's pot-luck dinner was the perfect scene for the announcement of this year winners of the "Bird of the year" photography contest. PAS members, directives, friends, and even members of The 600 Club shared a very nice evening. Darien Montañez, PAS president, talked about the Christmas Bird Counts and how we are going to organize ourselves for these events, the first of them will be this sunday, december 18th (Pacific CBC). As usual, the food and beverages were excellent, just like the photo stream presentation (both of birds and birders) of Jennifer. By the end, Rosabel Miró announced the winners. My friend Rafael Luck obtained the third place with its Royal Tern in Boca del Drago, Bocas del Toro province. The second place was for Ralph Dessau with its lovely photo of a female Scintillant Hummingbird on a nest. This year's bird is the male Cinnamon Woodpecker which I took last april in Metetí, Darien. I'm so grateful with the judges and with the PAS for this honor!

Finally, Rosabel also announced the winners of the dish of the night, with three winners by popular election, two curry chicken dishes and a traditional "arroz con pollo", so congratulations for all the chefs and see you at the counts!

One Thousand Polleras Parade

2011-12-06T19:21:00.017-05:00

For the second year in a row, last november 28th, the city of Las Tablas in Los Santos province (Azuero Peninsula, central Panama) held

one of the most beautiful shows regarding folklore and culture:the 1000 Polleras Parade. The pollera is our national typical feminine suit, considered probably the most beautiful of the world, and certainly one of the most elegant. Some polleras are valued for dozens of thousands of dollars because the process to make them is almost an art. The parade not only shows graceful women dressed with hand-made polleras (more than 5000 this year), but also our traditional music and dishes all over its route. It is a spectacle worth to see so here I'm posting some photos of the event.

Our president, Ricardo Martinelli, and his wife heading the parade

An allegoric car featuring a "dirty devil" mask, one of our traditional dance

A traditional "murga", playing popular tunes

Even the pets dressed polleras

Don't miss the parade next year!

More birds at the finca

2011-11-22T08:24:00.001-05:00

The Blue-crowned Motmots were not the only birds I saw during my last visit to the "finca" in the outskirts of Penonome, Cocle province (central Panama). In fact, I saw many more species than in previous visits, probably because I birded earlier than in others occasions. Not only that, I managed to take some photos for the first time of some species at the site. Starting at the creek, where I saw the motmots, a little, greenish bird caught my attention. It was actively foraging at the external leaves for periods, making some pauses for a couple of seconds (enough to take photos) to then start again. Many times heard, but that was the first time I saw a Yellow-olive Flycatcher at the finca. It is not unexpected for this part of the country, but at least its indicates that the habitat is wooded enough to support a population of this species. I moved to more drier areas with scattered big trees and lots of understore plus some grassland. This kind of habitat is rich in species, including Lesser Goldfinches. I saw a flock of at least six females and two adult males feeding in the ground, very alert of my movements, always vocalizing... they have a kind of sweet voice, the reason why they are common as cage birds in some places. Here, they fly free all over the place. Inspecting them (or inspecting me?) were a pair of Great Kiskadees and a Boat-billed Flycatcher. These species are VERY similar, but they differ strikingly in voice and in some plumage characters. Can you say which one I'm showing here? Otherwise, both are agressive, big flycatchers of open habitats. The last birds I saw was a flock of Streaked Saltator. They look and act like tanagers, they even sound like them. The taxonomic position of the Saltators is not well defined yet... some thinks they are in fact tanagers, or probably cardinals. I don't think much on that... I'm simply happy with my first photos of that species in the finca... I think the photo is quite good, what you think?

Penonome Motmots revisited

2011-11-17T07:12:00.008-05:00

Some months ago, I adressed the Blue-crowned Motmot of Cocle province (central Panama) because this could be a potential intergrade zone between two distinct forms that have been considered as separate species by the South America Classification Committee (posted here). The day after Gloriela's Baby Shower, all the family went to the finca at the outskirts of Penonome city to have a BBQ and to breathe fresh air. With my camera, I walked to the creek and, as soon as I got there, two dark silhouettes flew from the banks to a nearby tree and immediately I heard a whoo-hoop, typical of a Blue-crowned Motmot, answered by a single hoop! by the second bird. They were incredible shy, always hiding behind foliage and flying away whenever I tried to approach them. Nevertheless, I did saw some important field marks, all of them matching the description of the conexus form, which is the expected form of Blue-crowned Motmot in that part of the country (part of the Whooping Motmot complex). They had some mud in their bills, so I think they were probably excavating a nest in the banks of the creek. In spite that the first vocalization I heard had two notes, it lacked the pause between them, characteristic of the lessoni form from western Panama and Central America (the Blue-diademed Motmot). There are still many questions about these motmots... is there any area of contact between these two forms? Are the motmots of the coclesian foothills conexus like the lowlands birds? Is there any hybrid reported? And so on... I'm pretty sure this is not the last time we hear about these guys!

House birds of Penonome

2011-11-16T12:56:00.003-05:00

When we visit Penonome (Cocle province, central Panama), we usually spent most of the time at our house in a new development devoid of big trees but surrounded by savanna-like habitat with some gallery forest at the perimetric fence... or at Gloriela's relatives house in downtown, which is more wooded, and with a little creek running behind the house. Despite both places share many common, urban birds, there are some differences. At our house, the most common birds are Great-tailed Grackles and Gray-breasted Martins... however, I enjoy more the beautiful song of the resident pair of Tropical Mockingbird or the gang of House Wrens that search carefully every corner, every bush, everything they can... even the frontal tire of our Picanto. Sometimes, the Tropical Kingbirds surprise me because they take advantage of every perching site available, even our trash basket, despite how close to the house (or us) it is. The perimetric fence of the development is another thing. Big trees and bushes separates the houses from the surrounding savanna... and these habitat results very attractive to many species of birds. I have seen so far many migrants, like Summer Tanagers, Orchard and Baltimore Orioles, Yellow Warblers and Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, among others, inspecting the trees at the fence. Last time, I heard the characteristic call of a Crested Bobwhite and soon found the singing male inside the trees, very close to one of the resident White-tipped Doves and the common Red-crowned Woodpecker. The savanna attracts raptors like Short-tailed, Zone-tailed and Roadside Hawks, plus Crested and Yellow-headed Caracara.. At night, the loud calls of the Pauraques remind me why they are called bujío by the panamanians... it sounds exactly the same (you have to say it in spanish of course). Downtown Penonome, which is more wooded, the birds change a little bit... the same common birds appear as well, but then you get some additions like Rufous-browed Peppershrike and Lineated Woodpeckers to complement. At Gloriela's relatives house, the bananas left in the open attracts Clay-colored Thrushes, Palm and Blue-gray Tanagers ("Azulejo"). I will say this forever, but no matters how common the "Azulejo" is, it is gorgeous! A Common Basilisk resides at the creek behind the house, often showing its ability to run over the water, the reason why this reptile is also known as Jesus Christ Lizard. This particular one was changing its old skin. Well, I still need to make a list of all the birds I have seen so far in the urban area of Penonome... I'll try as soon as the birds lets me.... oh, oh, is that a Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl singing across the street? I think I will left the list for another day again!

Gloriela's Baby Shower

2011-11-14T21:22:00.001-05:00

After months of carefull planning and anticipation, Gloriela's Baby Shower was held last saturday, november 12th in the city of Penonome, where relatives and friends shared all their best wishes for our beloved Gabrielle and spend a couple of hours of fun.
The planners did a great job I should say (they are showing their owl-rings in the photo)! The decoration, the food, the music, everything was excellent... and the games were VERY funny as well.

Thanks to all of you for your best wishes and I'll let you know as soon as Gabrielle borns!

P.D.: I had nothing to do with the owls theme of the shower!

Migrant and resident kingbirds of central Panama

2011-11-13T12:56:00.008-05:00

During the northern winter, the resident population of Tyrannus kingbirds in Panama receives the visit of some others members of the same genus from farther north. Four different migrant Tyrannus have been reported for Panama, with two species that become particularly common around Panama City in central Panama. Despite it is only a passage migrant (doesn't winters in Panama), the Eastern Kingbird is the most common migrant Tyrannus in Panama. They typical are seen in huge and compact flocks during their passage through the isthmus, usually feeding only from fruits at the canopy of the trees. They fly over almost every kind of habitat in Panama. For obvious reasons, the translation of its spanish name is Northern Kingbird (the "eastern" part of its name makes no sense for us down here) and, definitively, this species is strongly associated with migration here in Panama. In contrast with our common, bright-colored species, the Tropical Kingbird, the Eastern KB exhibit a black-and-white pattern more reminiscent to the Fork-tailed Flycatcher. Of course, the Eastern KB lacks the long trail streamers; instead, it has a square tale tipped in white and has white markings in the wings. It also lacks the pale gray back of the Fork-tailed Flycatcher. Both, the Fork-tailed Flycatcher and the Tropical Kingbird, are VERY common in central Panama. Usually solitary, these two species often gather in really big flocks in relation to local movements, and even migration for the Fork-tailed Flycatcher. One of those unusual flocks of Tropical KBs initiated an interesting debate some months ago (you can read the story here). Not as common like the previous species, the Gray Kingbird is quite frequent in open habitats in central Panama. This is a migrant species, only present in our country during the northern winter. Mainly caribbean in distribution, this species also breeds in the mainland in southern Florida and in northern South America (Venezuela). You can tell apart it from the Eastern KB by its greater size, heavier bill and lack of black in the plumage or white in the tail. It also have a more large-headed look than the Eastern KB, making it more similar to our resident TK, specially under bad light conditions when you cannot distinguish its colors. All the species above mentioned are pretty common, surely due to their adaptability and availability of suitable habitat. However, the other two Tyrannus recorded for Panama are rare to very rare migrants to the western part of the country, though there are several records from central Panama as well. I still need to see a Western Kingbird, of which there is only a handful of records (the most recent here) and, till today, my only Scissor-tailed Flycatcher was an adult in the caribbean side of the Canal some years ago during a Christmas Bird Count. My distant photo does not do justice to the beauty of this bird...well, I guess I'll need to keep searching for these rarities!

Festivities in Cocle province. Part II

2011-11-12T16:51:00.000-05:00

The second day of our stay in Penonome, Cocle province in central Panama (november 4th, our flag's day), Gloriela and I decided to visit the savannas and rice fields just south of town before breakfast, around the road to El Gago. It was harvest time, and the machineries in the fields were followed by hordes of herons looking for an easy meal. Yes, we did see typical species of this kind of habitat, including Plain-breasted Ground-Doves, Mourning Doves, Eastern Meadowlarks and Red-breasted Blackbirds... but the real value of birding the coclesian savannas are the birds of prey. We saw many individuals and many different species! A pair of aptly named Savanna Hawks were standing in the ground with a young bird, while several Yellow-headed Caracaras were yelling at them like saying "GET OUT OF HERE!" I almost miss a raptor perched quietly very low... Gloriela was who told me to drive back a little bit and, after grasping my camera, took some excellent shots of a young Common Black-Hawk from inside the car... it was a VERY cooperative bird, seeing us as curiously as we were seeing him! Others common raptors along the road were the Roadside Hawks (aptly named too) and some White-tailed Kites hovering in a characteristic 45º angle before dropping to the ground after a prey. Strangly, the Crested Caracaras were pretty common too, we saw at least three family groups (two adults birds and a full-grown young one following them). I really like his impressive presence, no doubt at first sight that this is a powerful bird! The caracaras belong to the falcon family despite they look so different of the typical Falco falcons, which are well represented in these savannas too... the turn that day was for an exceptionally gorgeous and uncommon one: the Aplomado Falcon. Is not the first time I see this species in that road, actually, it is one of my best spots for that scarce falcon of open habitats. However, the Aplomado was not the most scarce raptor we saw that day. While inspecting the rice fields, I detected a characteristic flight pattern of a slim raptor with long wings held over the back like a "V", swinging from one side to another, and exhibiting a conspicuous white rump... a Norther Harrier! We saw at least three or four different individuals flying over the fields, all seemed to be female-plumaged birds. It is the first time I see a harrier in these fields... a proof that you ever know what to expect while birding. I will left you with the evocative picture of a harrier over the savanna with the coclesian foothills as backgrounds.

Festivities in Cocle province. Part I

2011-11-09T14:43:00.012-05:00

November is a month of national festivities here in Panama... Gloriela and I took advantage of the long weekend, starting thursday, november 3th (celebrating the separation of Panama from Colombia), to rest and to spent some time at our house in Penonome, the capital of Cocle province in central Panama. That day, we went to the Aguadulce Salinas (saltponds) quite early. The chill breeze from the ocean and the immensity of the place was appreciated better by the fact that we almost saw no one else in the place! We were just starting the long road through the saltponds when I noticed a medium-sized, dark heron close to it. The all dark bill and legs confirmed by initial suspicion: an immature Reddish Egret in dark phase! It was our closest encounter with that bird, and only my third sighting of it (lifer for Gloriela!). The egret was still, and only moved to get away, so we were not able to see the acrobatic feeding behavior characteristic of this species. Essentially a rare bird for the republic, the Reddish Egret seems to be quite regular in this site. There were big -but distant- flocks of Semipalmated Plovers and unidentified peeps (those identified seemed to be Least and Semipalmated Sandpipers), plus tons of egrets and herons. A group of big waders, composed by a migrant Great Blue Heron, an adult Wood Stork and an absolutely gorgeous Roseate Spoonbill, was a great sight. The bright pink plumage of the spoonbill is simply beautiful, and makes this species identifiable from long distances. Blurry photos.... but a great bird anyway!

We spend less than two hours in Aguadulce. In the way back to Penonome, we stopped at my grandma's house in the little (perhaps tiny) town of El Caño, just in time to see the parade of the only elementary school in town celebrating the separation of Panama from Colombia.
Birds, drums and typical suits... what else do you need for a day in november?

Only in Panama

2011-10-31T18:23:00.010-05:00

Only in Panama you see...

A traffic light preventing you from crashing a merchant ship

Or a HUGE merchant ship side-by-side with the line of cars waiting to pass...

...some impressive locks, which you cross on a one-lane bridge so close to them that makes you sweat!

Photos of the Gatun Locks in the Caribbean side of the Panama Canal... the biggest locks until we finish the third se t of locks.

At the castle

2011-10-30T23:38:00.013-05:00

To end well the weekend, I went with Gloriela (and Gabrielle of course) to the Caribbean coast of central Panama, to the Colon province. Specifically, we tried the San Lorenzo National Park and the former Fort Sherman. In the way, we drove through heavy rain and dense mist along the Transisthmic highway, but as soon as we reached Colon, the weather improved, and a radiant sun illuminated us. The road to Sherman is very picturesque, as I have said before, passing through grasslands, primary forests, lagoons and mangroves. The phone lines along this road are the most birdy in Panama... we saw at least one Broad-winged Hawk, several Common Black-Hawks, a male White-tailed Trogon and four Black-breasted Puffbirds perched on the lines. Notice the drops of water in the puffbird body... it was raining a little bit. Not only that, in the stretch of mangroves, the guests on the wires were the Ringed Kingfishers... three of them were noticed along the route... and all this before reaching the gate at the entrance of Fort Sherman! The grasslands in Sherman were alive with birds, including many migrants. For some reason, the most common migrants this time were the Indigo Buntings and the Blue Grosbeaks. Most of them exhibited the dull winter plumage (essentially all warm brown), some had patches of blue in the wings and ventral parts. In these photos you can notice the difference in bill's size and shape (smaller and thinner in the bunting)... the size difference is not evident (the grosbeak is considerably larger than the bunting). Eventually, we reached the old Castillo de San Lorenzo... as usual, we were almost the only beings in the place, except for a family that was also visiting the ruins. The serenity, the silence and the spectacular sights makes this place special... I'm pretty sure that this Brown-throated Three-toed Sloth was also enjoying these aspects of the castle. Do you remember why he looks so green (if not, you may want to read the comments of this post)? In the castle's plaza, two little birds caught my attention. They were feeding actively in the ground, constantly wagging the tails and with conspicuous yellow undertail coverts: a pair of Palm Warblers! It is always great to find this species in Panama because they are rare here... but not only that... supposedly, they arrive to Panama by mid-November, with november 7th as the earliest date recorded (in El Real, Darien... check the report here). Probably they happen unnoticed or simply unrecorded. We crossed all the corridors of the castle and took many pictures of it... of course I couldn't refuse to take a photo of Gloriela and Gabrielle having the mighty Chagres river as background... a small souvenir of her first visit to the castle!

One mile from the coast

2011-10-29T23:18:00.017-05:00

The news of a male Painted Bunting close to the beach of Juan Hombron in the coast of Cocle province (central Panama, Pacific side) took of us for surprise... it is a very rare migrant in Panama, with just a handful of reports in the last years. It was a potential lifer for Rafael Luck, Osvaldo Quintero and for me, so we left very early Panama City this morning, reaching the entrance to Juan Hombron around 8:00 AM. Close to the entrance, we found one of the discoverer, Danilo Rodriguez, guiding a birding group. He gave us some hope, we knew that it was going to be a hard task. The road to the beach runs through rice fields, pasture land, residential areas and few patches of dry forests... each with a different set of birds. The rice fields and adjacent areas were flooded... both with water and birds! The sight of hundreds of herons of several species and, more important, a big flock of 30 or more Glossy Ibis, among lapwings and jacanas was pretty amazing. A Great Egret stayed very close to the road... probably it was wounded, but we didn't see any sign of lesions. We also saw several Solitary Sandpipers... not so solitary. At least three of them were sharing the same spot in a patch of rice. Most of the birds we saw were common species, but anyway, it was very entertaining. As usual, the birds of open habitats are easier to photograph, and sometimes you have very close encounters, like the one we had with this Lesser Yellow-headed Vulture inspecting us curiously from his fence post. We passed the sleepy town of Juan Hombron and, eventually, reached the beach. Only a distant fishing boat was passing by, followed by many Magnificent Frigatebirds and some Brown Pelicans. We checked very well every small flying dot because you never know what to expect there (a Peruvian Booby was seen last year in that place). We did not stay so long at the beach, we drove the road back to the entrance, but not for long. Just as we were told, at one mile from the coast, we found the patch of dry forest where the Painted Bunting was first seen. We did not find the bunting... but the place was full of migrants! Sometimes, it was hard to point out a single bird among the hordes passing by. The warblers were well represented, with Tennessee and Yellow Warblers as the more common, but also finding at least two male Prothonotary Warblers (not together) and two Blackburnian Warblers to add some color to the scene. By far, the most weird of the migrants we found was a Gray Catbird. The catbird is not uncommon in general, but in this part of the country is almost unknown! It stayed just enough for a couple of photos... not the best photos ever, I have to recognize, but at least the characterstic slim silhouette and the general gray color is quite evident. Perhaps, if you enlarge the photo, even the chestnut crissum is aparent. Well, we failed in finding the bunting... but it was an excellent day of birding anyway!

Abundance of fish

2011-10-28T14:16:00.011-05:00

Since kids, we have been inculcated that the name Panama derives from an indigenous word meaning "abundance of butterflies and/or fish"... now I see why! I went to the Flamenco Marina at the Flamenco Island (the last of three islands attached to Panama City by a road constructed with material from the Panama Canal excavations) trying to photograph anything I can (including a female Crab-eating Racoon looking for food at a rocky shore and a curious Brown Pelican in alternate plumage), when I noticed an old man with his grandsons and a bag of bread, throwing small pieces towards the water. I gave a glimpse over the bard of the pier... but I was not prepared for the spectacle I was about to see: tons of multicolored fish, in many sizes and shapes trying to have a piece of bread desperately! I know exactly nothing about wild fish... so, if you have any talent identifyng fish species from distant over-the-water photos, try to help me i.d. them!

And all this while seeing the fabulous Panama City skyline in the distance!

Common, as its name suggest

2011-10-27T16:10:00.017-05:00

Last week, I wandered around Panama City with my camera and binoculars reaching, eventually, the Coastal Beltway in high tide. The first bird I noticed was a lonely Gull-billed Tern (the whiter tern in Panama), but then I saw many common birds like Laughing Gulls, Royal and Sandwich Terns (black bill with yellow tip, the most common in the place) flying around, but a little flock of medium sized terns caught my attention. Very elegant when flying, with a stylized figure and forked tail, plunging to feed from the surface... Common Terns! Eventually I realized that the site was full of them, even with some individuals resting in the beach! You may ask why I seem to be so excited by a bird with the adjective "common" as part of its name. Because in Panama, this bird is common only during a short period of time, while migrating... and october is the perfect month to see them here. All of them had the winter plumage, characterized by the dark carpal bar at rest, the black cap with white forehead and a characteristic flight pattern. I checked almost all the birds present looking for rarer species, like Forster's or Artic Terns... but all seemed to be Commons. Judge by yourself!

It is always great to find these little guys in the city... a personal addition to the Coastal Beltway list of birds!

At the Ancon Hill

2011-10-22T13:44:00.016-05:00

I still don't know why I don't visit the Ancon Hill more often. It is in Panama City, VERY close to my place, and holds a good amount of wildlife, not only birds, but also mammals and insects. But, more important, it is a nice migrant trap in the right season, specially october. Several times during the first two weeks of this month, I visited the volunteers of the migrant raptors count, who have reported rare migrants like Black-billed Cuckoo and almost a definitive Painted Bunting this season at the summit of the hill. Despite I saw none of these rarities in my visits, the number of species and individuals of migrants was really amazing. Gloriela (and Gabrielle) accompanied me the last time, and even helped the counters recollecting data on temperature and wind direction for the records. Surely, the most common species (only after the abundant Sawinson's Thrushes) was the Eastern Kingbird. Flock after flock passed by, taking advantage of some fruiting trees in the vicinity of the summit. Some of them also did some flycatching while we were there, sometimes side-by-side with our local Tropical Kingbirds who simply shared the perch without hesitation. The flycatchers were well represented. Not only the Eastern Kingbirds were present, we also saw Great Crested and Sulphur-bellied Flycatchers. The latter is an uncommon transient through the isthmus. We had the opportunity to have side-by-side views of this species with the very similar, resident and much more common and noisy Streaked Flycatcher. Many field marks have been described to separate these two flycatchers, but the most reliable is the black chin and more pronounced black malar stripe of the Sulphur-bellied Flycatchers. You can notice that the chin area of the Streaked Flycatcher is completely white. The amount of yellow in the underparts can be similar for both species, the same with the color of the bill (usually, the Sulphur-bellieds have only little pink in the base of the lower mandible). Perhaps the Streaked Flycatcher is very common, but it can't be more beautiful! In the meanwhile, a single Geoffrey's Tamarin was eating the berries of a tall tree abiove our heads. We noticed it first because one of the berries struck Gloriela in the head! We were able to heard the rest of the group in the trees nearby; they sound like a flock of little birds... or were they laughing at us? We quickly forgot the incident after seeing our first group of migrant Scarlet Tanagers. Even without the breeding plumage, the males are still attractive, with their contrasting jet black wings. They outnumbered the others tanagers, a phenomenon that happens only this time a year. The only other migrant tanager (or should I say "cardinal"?) was the Summer Tanager, with one or two shyly working around the trees bordering the access road. Another representative group was the wood-warblers. Hordes of Yellow, Canada, Blackburnian, Tennessee and Black-and-white Warblers invaded the hill, giving it some color. My photo of the female Black-and-white Warbler is simply to poor to reflect the beauty of this smart, creeper-like warbler. I still need a good photo of most of these warblers, but you know, they simply can not stop... always in the move, usually high in the canopy, in backlight... in summary: a real headache for the amateur photographer (like me)! Sometimes it was hard to focus in a single bird due to the great activity all over the place, but a slim silhouette definitively caught my attention during one of the first visits. The bird in the shade turned out to be the first (of many) Yellow-billed Cuckoo having a huge worm for lunch... I was expecting the Black-billed reported by the volunteers... but you can not win everytime and, after all, it is a good reason to return next year!

One-day expedition to Darien

2011-10-16T12:11:00.002-05:00

Darien is the easternmost, largest and less developed province of Panama, with a rich biodiversity, including hundreds of birds species. And now it is not indispensable to organize a huge expedition to remote areas to enjoy it... as you will read, it is enough with one day! The last weekend of september, I left Panama City the friday's afternoon with Rafael Luck and Osvaldo Quintero toward the town of Meteti, in central Darien. We only did few stops along the way, including some spots around the Bayano bridge, finding a female Cerulean Warbler with a mixed flock and a nice Crimson-crested Woodpecker drilling a hole in a dead trunk. In Meteti, we contacted our local guide, Daniel Santos by recommendation of Venicio "Beny" Wilson who told us about the several new birding spots along the Panamerican highway and the highlights he found recently (you can read it on his report to Xenornis). A very early breakfast the next day in town (with tons of House Sparrows waiting for the breadcrumbs) and we were ready for action. We picked up Daniel along the way and immediately he showed us the first birding spot: a marshy area beyond the town of Betzaida. The place was alive with birds, with both Smooth-billed and Greater Anis inspecting the bushes, Cattle Egrets following -you guessed it- the cattle, adult and juvenile Purple Gallinules inspecting the rushes and a pair of Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks flying over the marsh. We also heard the first, of many, Gray-breasted Crakes, but they were hidden in the thick vegetation. We drove a little farther to the east and took a side road with the entrance marked by a cow's skull. Immediately, in the dirt road we saw several Red-breasted Blackbirds very low, the males exhibiting the rather dull non-reproductive plumage, and a Cattle Tyrant walking in the open. There are few reports of Cattle Tyrants from Darien, including the very first one for Panama in Cana many years ago, so it was a delightful find. Each time we approached the bird, it flew to a low tree by the side of the road, where it looked like a kingbird. We visited exactly the same site at least four more times and we found the bird each time in the same place. The tyrant was not the only highlight of that road. We also saw several Pied Water-Tyrants, one (probably more) Spectacled Parrotlet and a White-tailed Kite eating a lizard, but the best was about to come. Close to the entrance, we heard the characteristic tinkling song of several Gray-breasted Crakes. Osvaldo started to play the call with his i-phone and then an adult Gray-breasted Crake came to the open for five seconds to inspect us!!! A HUGE lifer for me and for Rafael, who managed to took the photo I'm showing here. You can't imagine how many times I have been close to singing individuals without having a glimpse of the bird! Very happy with the encounter, we drove back to the first marsh, when suddenly, I spotted a bird atop some bare branches next to the road... a male Yellow-hooded Blackbird!!! Osvaldo took a quick blurry shot of the bird from inside the car, but the blackbird didn't wait for the rest of us, and flew very high in the distance. This species is a recent addition to Panama's list, but it was Beny who first reported it in that part of the province. It was not a lifer for me, since I saw a male a couple of years ago in El Real (farther east), but it was for Rafael and Osvaldo. It was around 10:00 A.M. and the sun was very high and hot already. We drove back towards Meteti, picking up along the way some interesting species like Spot-crowned Barbet, Orange-crowned Oriole, Yellow-breasted Flycatcher and a nice Striped Cuckoo singing its heart out. We stopped at a little marsh outside the town of Nuevo Bijao. It was tiny, VERY close to the highway and the place was so hot that we had little expectatives. But then Daniel saw a male Yellow-hooded Blackbird flying just over the marsh just to drop into it suddenly! Only Daniel saw it... but it was enough for us to spent a couple of more minutes inspecting it. Despite the heat, we started to see and hear nice birds eventually. Inspecting the distant trees at the edge of the marsh, we discovered a lonely Limpkin perched quietly quite low while an adult Pearl Kite was trying to escape of the trio of Tropical Kingbirds harassing him. We heard both Gray-breasted and White-throated Crakes side-by-side and saw a bunch of migrant Orchard Oriole and Yellow Warbler. But the real surprise came later. At the edge of the marsh, we got a pair of Black-capped Donacobius preening! Despite the distance, the amount of white, both in the tail and wings, was pretty obvious. After asking for permission to the owners of the adjacent ranch house, all of us climbed up (OK, some crawled) the barbed wire fence to have closer looks. With the aid of Osvaldo's i-phone, the birds approached enough to have excellent views (but not excellent photos as you can see). These birds are unique, and the show they perform while duetting is amazing! However, while enjoying the Donacobius, we did saw several males Yellow-hooded Blackbirds flying over the place... I even saw one perched among the tall grass for few seconds after it landed. We left Nuevo Bijao and visited the Fundación Vida Nueva at the entrance road to El Salto. The foundation keeps an extensive forest which harbors many Darien specialties... but it was almost noon when we reached the place, and the only birds we saw were Collared Aracaris, Black-chested Jays and a pair of Black-cheeked Woodpeckers (the "USE BOOTS" sign is justified, the trails were VERY muddy). We left Daniel at his home and left Darien after an excellent birding, with a huge list full of eastern Panama specialties and after spending only one morning!

Bird of the Month: Spot-crowned Barbet

2011-10-03T13:54:00.010-05:00

The Spot-crowned Barbet (Capito maculicoronatus) is distributed from central Panama to northern South America. The barbets are colourful, chunky inhabitants of tropical forest and adjacent areas. Most of them exhibit sexual dimorphism like this species, with males more strikingly patterned. In Panama, the Spot-crowned Barbet is well distributed and common in the right habitat from the Caribbean slope in the central part (around the Canal area) to the east, where it can be found in both slopes. I took all these photos in the province of Darien, Pacific slope of eastern Panama, most of them in a recent trip to that province (all those of the female, with black breast and inspecting nesting sites). You can see in the second photo why this species is called spot-crowned (you may need to enlarge the picture). With some exceptions, almost all the members of this group eat mostly fruits, with some arthropods to add some proteins. There is an interesting taxonomic issue about the barbets. Traditionally, they were recognized as a worldwide family, closely related to others groups, like toucans. Then, some authors considered these two groups as one (barbets and toucans, with the toucans being recognized as simply big-billed barbets). Now, the picture is different: all the three major groups of barbets (neotropical, african and asian) are recognized as separate families, apart of the toucans. Not only that, some authors even split the neotropical barbets in two families: the "typical" barbets and the toucan-barbets (including the Prong-billed Barbet of Costa Rica and Panama and the Toucan-Barbet, endemic to the Choco bioregion of South America). More studies are needed but I'm pretty sure we have not hear the last word about them. For these, and many others reasons is why we choose the Spot-crowned Barbet as our bird of the month!

Literature consulted:

1. Angehr GR, Dean R. The birds of Panama. A field guide. 1st edition. 2010

2.Roberson D. Birds families of the world. 11th edition. Available at http://creagrus.home.montereybay.com/

Visiting "La Angostura"

2011-07-19T14:41:00.010-05:00

Sometimes we have natural marvels that remain secret despite how attractive they are. That is surely the case of La Angostura canyon in Penonome (Cocle province, central Panama). Close to Gloriela's dad "finca" (see the previous post), the mighty Zarati river runs along a tight rocky canyon after passing its narrowest point (no more than three meters wide), a tiny waterfall known as "La Angostura", which literally means "the narrowness". The Zarati river is quite famous due to all the local legends and narratives inspired on it, and because of the popular aquatic carnivals organized each year attracting thousands of visitors. However, this part of the river is little known, even by the panamanians, surely due to the complete lack of facilities for the visitor and the modest dirt access road passable with a high clearance vehicle, but the place is at walking distance from the main road to La Pintada (the entrance is marked by a chapel, opposite to a Jesus Christ statue, after the neighborhood of Vista Hermosa and before the entrance to Los Uveros town), crossing some pastureland and dry bushes until you reach a rocky formation that descends towards the river (you must use the steps carved in the stone). I visited the place last sunday, under a stifling sun, just for a couple of minutes, enough to appreciate the beauty of the place (also enjoyed by a Green Heron in the other side of the river) and to take these photos. The chocolate-brown tone of the water is due to the recent heavy rains in the area. The most accepted theory about the origins of this canyon states that the Zarati river excavated its way through the material deposited by the volcanic eruptions of the Guacamaya hill, five thousands of years ago. In some parts, the walls of the canyon reach 100 meters og height! So, next time you visit central Panama, specifically the Cocle province, try to visit La Angostura... is worth the effort.

Colourful birds of the dry forest

2011-07-18T14:22:00.017-05:00

I went with Gloriela to Penonome (Cocle province, central Panama), to spent the weekend. Of course, we visited Gloriela's dad finca in the outskirts of the town where the originally-planned cabin has become a huge building, looking almost like a fortress with several rooms and gardens, but still surrounded by a nice dry gallery forest and creeks. It is always nice to walk around, feeling the breeze and hearing the birds. One of the most active and colourful is the Rufous-capped Warbler. A group of noisy four of them were working the bushes and the understore close to the house, with one of them begging constantly for food... however, it looked like an adult to me, since it had the complete rufous cap and ear covers characteristic of this species. I easily attracted them by "pishing"... these were very curious birds and I even managed a nice photograph of one of them. Close to them, I heard the unmistakable sound of a Lance-tailed Manakins lek. After a while, I found at least four adult males loosely associated, perched and vocalizing, but I saw no females around. Around the property, I have identified by ear at least four different leks of these beutiful birds, but actually seeing them is more difficult because they like the tangled understore were they perch flying only if a female, or a competitor, approaches. Sometimes, the birds are perched considerably higher in the tree than you expect. I barely got these photos, including a curious male quite high in the canopy, with a "puffy" look, raised red crest and wings dropped down (displaying?). I could spent hours admiring these guys, but I have to admit that sometimes it is frustating because you can hear them very close to you and still remain elusive! I will try to get better pictures next time.

Night outing

2011-07-15T21:06:00.013-05:00

Some weeks ago, I went to the famous Pipeline Road and its Rainforest Discovery Center, in central Panama, with Osvaldo Quintero and Rafael Luck, but this time at night during one of the scheduled "night trips" they organize. Of course, our main objective were the owls that live deep inside that forest, specially the Crested Owl that have been reported recently by the Center's staff and which would be new for all three of us. It was a chilly night, and since the instant of our arrival we felt surrounded by the darkness and the silence, only disturbed by the occasional breeze and the buzzing insects. Julia was our (excellent) guide for the night, and we almost immediately heard a Crested Owl behind the facilities, but it was far away. I also heard a distant Spectacled Owl, they sound like a distant machine gun as Ridgely states in "A guide to the birds of Panama". Of course, the photo I'm picturing here is of a different individual that I took many years ago in daylight because we saw no owls that night. These are big birds, actually the biggest of the regular encountered owls in Panama, and one that I have found several times, both at day and night. Julia also heard a distant Tropical Screech-Owl. However, the real show was performed by a little troop of Western Night Monkeys. It is amazing how these creatures move around the tree tops and the branches so acrobatically in complete darkness! My poor photos are due to the distance and the almost complete lack of any source of light. At close range, they don't look like monkeys to me... but like big-eyed squirrels or something like that as you can see in the daylight photo I took in Panama City of a sleeping pair of these some months ago (thanks Beny). There are some taxonomic issues about this species; some think that this form, which occurs in Panama and the colombian Pacific slope, is a good species by its own: the Choco Night Monkey. Eventually, we heard another Crested Owl close to the tower, but despite our efforts, it remained invisible. We heard several others Crested Owl in the entrance road too, plus more Night Monkeys, so I think it was a succesfull night after all!

Beach and Motmots

2011-07-05T16:24:00.015-05:00

During a familiar weekend at an all-inclusive resort in the coclesian Pacific coast (central Panama), I had the opportunity to have a close look at the resident motmot species: the Blue-crowned Motmot. A single individual (with no tail racquets) was eating the fruits of a palm tree. Of course, the motmot was not the only bird species detected in the gardens of the resort, we also saw many common residents like Boat-billed Flycatchers and the similar-looking Great Kiskadees, Palm and Blue-gray Tanagers and the very vocal Rufous-browed Peppershrike; but by far, the most colourful bird was the motmot. And it was not only beautiful, it is also intriguing. The Cocle province in central Panama is the extreme western end of the range for the conexus subspecies, part of what is described as Momotus subrufescens, or Whooping Motmot by the South America Checklist Committee (SACC), a change not recognized by the AOU nor by the Panama Audubon Society (you can see a distribution map here). The bird did not vocalize, which is the main field mark to separate this form from the lessoni group, the so called Blue-diademed Motmot of western Panama (and Central America). According to Stiles in his original paper, lessoni can be diagnosticable in the field based in 14 plumage characteristics. This bird showed characteristics consistent with conexus, the expected form in this part of Panama (not big contrast between chest and belly, bright green throat, contrasting thighs -as in the last photo-, lots of violet color in the posterior part of the diadem, etc...), except for the black border around the posterior diadem which was broad and conspicuous, as expected for lessoni. Considering that Cocle province could be a potential intergrade zone for the lessoni and conexus forms of this complex, I will try in the months to come to listen for these birds near my home in Penonome in order to address properly this issue about which form occurs in Cocle... so stay tunned!

Bonus, a young Green Iguana at the resort's gardens (abundant!).

This post was submitted to Bird Photography Weekly # 150, check it out!

Bird of the Month: Black-and-white Owl

2011-07-01T14:20:00.012-05:00

The Black-and-white Owl (Ciccaba nigrolineata) is a medium-sized, strictly nocturnal bird inhabitant of forest and forest edges and adjacents clearing of Central and South America. In Panama, is a a common owl (by voice) in the adequate habitat, which includes the Panama City itself, where I took all the photos I'm showing here (more specifically, in the Albrook residential area, thanks to my friend Karl and Rosabel Kaufmann). This spectacular bird is beautifully patterned in black and white as its name suggest, with contrasting orange-yellow bare parts, making it unmistakable in its panamanian range, though some similar-looking species exist in South America (including the still undescribed "San Isidro Owl from Ecuador and Peru). Despite its commoness, and characteristic vocalizations (similar to those of the Mottled Owl), it is not well-known by the general population, surely due to its nocturnal habits. It feed mainly on insects (notice the katydid this indivual have in the beak), but also on small mammals, including bats that sometimes flycatch under artificial lights. It is always nice to find these big predators, specially if they allow you to take some pictures despite the light conditions. For these, and many others reasons is why we choose the Black-and-white Owl as our bird of the month!This post was submitted to Bird Photography Weekly #149, check it out!

Literature consulted
1. Ridgely RS, Gwynne J. A guide to the birds of Panama. 1st spanish edition 1993
2. Angehr GR, Dean R. The Birds of Panama. A field guide. 1st edition 2010

Rainy day in Pipeline road

2011-05-14T17:04:00.008-05:00

Some days ago, I received the nice visit of a great friend of mine from Colombia. Rafael Cortes came attending a seminar, but somehow we organized a short walk along the famous Pipeline Road in central Panama, just to remember old times. The day was particularly dark, and a heavy rainstorm quickly change the original plan of walking deep inside the road. Instead, we waited at the Rainforest Discovery Center, enjoying some cokes and snacks, waiting for the rain to stop, and watching wet Yellow-rumped Caciques essentially doing the same (waiting). Eventually, the rain stop, and we were able to walk a little. The activity was low, the day dark, and the percentage of humidity in the environment was so high that we almost felt the water in each breath. Most of the birds recorded were by calls, and Rafael recalled very well many of them despite he is now used to a different set of birds in the Colombian Andes. But we did saw some birds! The first of many of them were a flock a Brown-hooded Parrots, with a pair lovely taking care of each other. They are quite colourful if you got close looks as we did, usually you found these parrots flying swiftly above you. At the bridge over the Frijoles river, I spotted a very distant woodpecker, a pair of them actually. Despite the distance (they were VERY far away), we both recognized the parallel white lines in the back, making them a pair of Lineated Woodpeckers because the other possibility, the Crimson-crested, have white lines in the back forming a "V". My photo shows a female, of course is from my files (notice the clear skies and the proximity of the bird). We walked all the way to the Limbo river, and a little beyond... but it was getting late and it was clear that the road deteriorates after that point, becoming really muddy. In the way back, we crossed an antswarm with all the usual ant followers: Spotted, Bicolored and Ocellated Antbirds, Plain-brown and Northern Barred Woodcreepers, Gray-headed Tanagers, and a group of Song Wrens. At this point, we already recorded two species of trogons, including a male Black-throated Trogon calling from an exposed perch. Later, I heard a White-tailed Trogon... three, of five trogon species found along this road. It was a great day, not only had a good walk through the forest, but also the company of a great friend make it unforgettable. Hope to see you soon Rafael!

Bird of the month: Black-capped Donacobius

2011-05-01T14:13:00.006-05:00

The Black-capped Donacobius (Donacobius atricapilla) is an enigmatic resident of marshy areas and grassy river banks in eastern Panama and most of South America (to northern Argentina). Its real affinities are unclear, being classified as a mockingbird, a wren, incertae sedis (meaning "not classified at all!") and, lately, as the sole member of its own family (Donacobiidae), probably related to an Old World group of warblers! The thing is that this fascinating bird resembles all of them. It is sized and shaped as a mockingbird, but performs loud duets while calling, like some wrens species. Also like some wrens, it is a cooperative breeder, meaning that individuals other than the breeding pair help them to feed the youngs and to protect their territory. Probably we saw one of these "helpers" during our last trip to central Darien province (eastern Panama) where we saw a pair of these splendid birds making the duetted performance accompanied always by a third individual (top photo). Seeing a pair of these birds duetting is an extraordinaire experience, with their loud calls reminiscent of a car alarm (seriously!) and their asynchronic, but rhytmical movements while exposing the patch of orange skin at the sides of their necks. Unlike any wren, they make cup-like nests among the reeds. Panama is the extreme end of its world range, and I have to say that we are very fortunate to have such a beauty as part of our avifauna. For these, and many others reasons is why we choose the Black-capped Donacobius as our bird of the month!

This post was submitted to Bird Photography Weekly # 140. Check it out!

Literature consulted:

1. Angehr GR, Dean R. The Birds of Panama. A field guide. First edition 2010.

2. Remsen JV, et al. A classification of the birds species of South America. Version: 31-march-2011. American Ornithologists Union.

3. Roberson D. Birds Families of the World: Donacobius page. 10th edition.

Ring-billed Gull in Santa Clara beach

2011-04-30T14:12:00.010-05:00

After visiting Penonome (central Panama) during april's last weekend, Gloriela and I decided to stop by the Santa Clara beach before returning to the city. For my surprise, we found a Ring-billed Gull among the dozens or more Laughing Gulls. Probably for most of you, the Ring-billed Gull is an abundant, boring gull found everywhere... but for us, in Panama, it is a very scarce migrant, present mostly on the Pacific coast of central Panama, specially around Panama City (more birdwatchers there?). It has been a while since my last sighting of a Ring-billed Gull in Panama... surely due to my few visits to regular sites like Costa del Este and Panama Viejo. The presence of this gull is expected in this part of the country according to Panama's new field guide (Angehr & Dean 2010), but for me was a nice surprise. It was not a mature adult, as you can see by the brown flight feathers; but I'm not an expert aging sea gulls. It was with a flock of Laughing Gulls, begging for food close to a group of visitors. Compared to the the Laughings, the Ring-billed was bigger, paler, heavier, with a distinctive pale iris and a different flight pattern, which both of us saw several times. I followed the flock for a while, trying to capture some close pictures, and I think I did it well. After a while, the whole group flew away (surely a group a playing kids with their canine pets had something to do with that)... so we left in the place enjoying the breeze, the sand and the cold waters of Santa Clara beach!

How many tones of yellow you see?

2011-04-30T14:11:00.014-05:00

Recently, during one of those weekends that Gloriela and I spent in Penonome (central Panama), I noticed that most, if not all, of the birds that I photographed were mostly yellow... Mother Nature have an infinite variety of tones and mixtures of colors, making the word "yellow" not good enough. For example, what can be more yellow than a Yellow Warbler? By this time of the year most of the individuals are gone, and those that you are lucky to see exhibit the bright yellow plumage honoring its name. Nice yellow don't you think? But then a male Yellow-crowned Euphonia appears and you have to re-define your concept of "bright yellow"!

Probably the contrast with the black parts makes its yellow to look brighter... or maybe it is simple BRIGHTER! Well, now compare these two with the modest Yellow-bellied Elaenia's yellow belly. I think it is attractive in spite of its dullness, giving a bit of color to a mostly grayish bird.

In general, the small tyrannids are simply duller than others species. In a short walk near the stream, bordering the property, I found almost side-by-side a Mouse-colored Tyrannulet (thanks to its characteristic call, which to me sounds like a maniac little laugh) and a Pale-eyed Pygmy-Tyrant (also by its pretty loud call, specially considering that it is a really tiny bird). Both are dull yellowish, one with brown tones, the other more greenish. Notice the pale legs and the white iris of the Pygmy-Tyrant. Both species are typical of dry areas, so its ocurrence around Penonome is completely expected because the town is located almost in the heart of Panama's dry arch, the area of coastal lowlands in the Pacific slope of central Panama with a marked dry season. Of course we found others birds typical of this habitat too, like Lesser Goldfinches, Lance-tailed & Golden-collared Manakins (the former with no yellow at all I have to admit, but seriously gorgeous), Tropical Kingbirds, and Rufous-sided Warblers showing also its nice yellow underparts. I found several of these active and curious warblers while walking along the stream, in the most shaded areas. I think they are my favorite birds in Penonome due to their curious behavior and the contrasting patern of the head with the underparts. It was a nice combination of yellow tones and good birds!

Easter Holidays in Darien. Part III

2011-04-28T14:08:00.023-05:00

After an excellent day near El Salto town, in central Darien province (eastern Panama), our last day in Darien province started with a Pied Water-Tyrant at the grounds of our hotel in Meteti acting as a House Sparrow. This elegant bird was hunting the insects attracted during the night to the parking lot lamp. A couple of photos and we (Rafael, José Carlos, Mahelis, Gloriela and I) were ready to visit the Filo del Tallo Hydrological Reserve, to the south of Meteti. The first part of the trails, until the first creek, is full of Heliconias patches, thus making it Hermits' heaven! In fact, we saw five hermits species, including the one of the photo. The light conditions were awful, but you can see the long central rectrices tipped in white (ruling out Rufous-breasted Hermit and Band-tailed Barbthroat, both seen), the greenish back and the quite-straight-for-a-hermit bill (ruling out Long-billed and Stripe-throated Hermits, also seen), making it a Pale-bellied Hermit. Like the hermit, another eastern Panama specialty was hanging around the creek, a male Black Antshrike appeared allowing some photos (a female was there too, but was shyer). As its name suggest, it is completely black, but you can recognize the shrike-like, heavy bill characteristic of this genus. After a while, the trail runs along the border of the forest and a cleared patch with regenerative vegetation. The bird activity was great probably due to this mixture of habitats. We saw a Forest Elaenia working VERY low (it is usually a canopy-dweller, only detected by its calls), allowing us to see its yellow crown patch and an unexpected Mangrove Cuckoo (probably the first record for the Darien province)... but the bird that definitively stole the show was a very cooperative Cinnammon Woodpecker making a hole in a dead trunk right by the trail, almost at eye-level allowing GREAT photos!

Photographic oppotunities like that can not be wasted, so we spent almost 30 minutes with the woodpecker! After that, we continued our walk, entering the forest again. It was magical, with tall trees and hanging bridges, tons of butterlies and, of course, birds.

We started hiking uphill, finding Slaty-tailed Trogon, Golden-crowned Spadebill and an Olivaceous Flatbill in the way. Eventually, we reached our main target: a Golden-headed Manakins lek. It was crazy... around twenty gorgeous males were together in the same group of contiguous trees, making noise, exhibiting themselves, doing the "moonwalk" dance (moving backwards on its perch rapidly without evidently moving the feet... amazing!), and acting as really wackoes each time a female approaches (which occurred very often, so I suppose the competence was fierce). We even saw an immature male (notice the bright soft parts) performing the dances! The place was quite dark, so most of my photos of the gaudy males are not good enough to show you how really great are these birds. The deep black body contrasting with the bright yellow head and those expressive white eyes visible from far away are hard to forget! Again, we stayed long enough to impress that amazing spectacle in our minds and, reluctantly, started the way back. The raucous calls of a Red-throated Caracara helped us to locate the bird just under the canopy of a distant tree, but despite the distance I think the photo was very good. Formerly well distributed in Panama, now it is mainly restricted to the eastern part of the country, with scattered records from the western half, one of them recently from the Chiriqui highlands. In the way back to Panama City, we stopped at the San Francisco Reserve, near the town of Torti, and again in the Rio Mono bridge (both in eastern Panama province), adding more eastern Panama's specialties (with One-colored Becard at the bridge as highlight). After all it was a succesful trip, full of special birds, many of them not found in any other part of Panama, nor Central America (notice that I posted photos of thirteen species not found any further than Panama into North America in this three-parts account, starting here with Part I). We hope you enjoyed them as much as we did!

Easter holidays in Darien. Part II

2011-04-26T23:37:00.019-05:00

After a long traveling day, the morning of friday 22th caught us (Rafael, José Carlos, Mahelis, Gloriela and your blogger host) in our way to the Embera village of Nuevo Vigía, in the margins of the mighty Chuqunaque river... but due to supposed securities issues, the authorities at Puerto Peñita didn't let us continue upriver in order to visit the site. So bad, after spending half morning trying to convince them, we realized that it was useless, so we decided to move to another site, (seeing an Orange-crowned Oriole as consolation prize) also in the margins of the Chuqunaque river near the town of El Salto, where Venicio "Beny" Wilson, George Angehr and others documented, probably for the first time, a nest of a Double-banded Graytail, an enigmatic ovenbird only found in eastern Panama and northern Colombia. We hired the services of a local guide, Daniel Santos, who took us to the site of the nest and through secondary forest and pastureland looking for one of the main targets of the trip (more on that later). The nest was a globular structure as described by Beny, but from a different angle, it looked like a oven (or like a donut?). No birds were seen then, so we followed Daniel, hearing Yellow-breasted Flycatchers in several places, seeing some of them eventually. You can see in the photo the characteristic broad bill and a little bit of ochre in the chin. Formerly known only from El Real (farther to the east) some years ago, this species have colonized most part of the Darien province in an accelerated way. The calls of Greater Anis, and the sightings of several Wood Storks in the skies announced that we were close to the required habitat of our main objective: Black-capped Donacobius. According to Daniel, the site was close to the margins of the river, but we started hiking inland under a merciless sun with Daniel saying every each stretch of road "only 200 meters away". After several "200 meters", we finally reached a very wet, muddy place, finding at least three Green Ibis flying away while making their loud cacophony. We were at the margins of a little marsh, covered in lilies, mud and water all the way to the ankles. At first glance, nothing moved. José Carlos played the recording and we wait for a while... nothing. Then, Daniel found a curious Black-capped Donacobius inspecting us atop some lilies in the opposite margin of the marsh! Then two others birds appeared! The three of them eventually got closer to us, stopping to sing in a duetting fashion, while "dancing" rhytmically, bouncing their heads while fanning their tails from one side to another: magnificent! In the meanwhile others birds appeared. A nice Spot-breasted Woodpecker, with its contrasting white face, was calling above us while an immature Tiger-Heron was quietly perched on a Cecropia tree inspecting us as curiously as we inspected the Donacobius. I have to admit that I need help with this bird. We can exclude Fasciated Tiger-Heron by habitat (can we?), but the others two species can be found in that habitat (open marshes close to forest). Now, according to Angehr & Dean (2010), the Bare-throated Tiger-Heron is not expected away from the coast in that part of Panama and, considering the buffy spots in the wings, making a clear band effect not found in such species, my diagnosis is Rufescent Tiger-Heron. It was to hot to saw anything, so we left Daniel at his home and went back to Meteti to have lunch and to rest a little at the hotel. In the afternoon we went back to the site, checking again the Double-banded Graytail's nest without luck, but finding a flock of Spectacled Parrotlets, the smallest psittacid in Panama, and a specialty for this part of the country. We first heard their sweet chattering calls, very different from any other parakeet or parrotlet in Panama, and then saw at least six individuals, two of them probably looking nesting sites. An excellent end for our first day of full birding in Darien. For the next (and last) day we planned a visit to the Serranía Filo del Tallo Hydrological Reserve... click here to read about it!

Easter holidays in Darien. Part I

2011-04-25T21:43:00.018-05:00

Recently, taking advantage of the Easter holidays' long weekend, a team of adventurers departed from Panama City in order to explore some new sites in Darien, Panama's easternmost province, the largest and less populated too. José Carlos García and Mahelis Rodríguez (of Birding Panama), Rafael Luck, Gloriela and I started our journey a little after 2:00 PM last thursday, aboard Rafel's FJ Cruiser. It was planned as a travel day, but we did a short stop over the Rio Mono bridge, an excellent place to start looking for eastern Panama specialties. And we were not dissapointed. We followed the characteristic call of a Barred Puffbird and after a while we got excellent views of this bird, allowing some photos. At the bridge itself, a molting male Black-tailed Trogon also showed up, along with a Cinnamon Becard, both of them quite common in that place. Notice the yellow bill of the trogon, which separates him from the similar Slaty-tailed Trogon, which is commoner where we usually bird (around Panama City). Some people ask why do we risk our lifes birding on the edge of a bridge where most of the drivers past rapid and furius (Gloriela included)?... well, we always took our precautions, the reason is simple: canopy-dwellers birds at eye-level. Don't trust me? Check the next photos of a male Rufous-winged Antwren that simply came close to have a glimpse at us.

Usually, you have to break your neck to get only belly-views... but there, I even got its back in the frame!

Eventually, we reached the town of Meteti, in central Darien province, our base for the next two days of birding. As a fun fact, the Hotel Felicidad, where we stayed for the night (waiting for the next day), was submerged in the loud calls of several Clay-colored Thrushes... not supposed to be in Darien, so I guess we started with the right foot our trip!

Dry arch's fruits and birds

2011-04-16T17:15:00.016-05:00

It has been a while since my last post, I have been busy at work this month... but somehow I managed to accomplish some short trips to the dry coastal lowlands to the west of the former Panama Canal Zone, an area known as the dry arch for its weather conditions, very popular for its white sand beaches and many resorts along the coast. At almost the end of the dry season, tons of fruiting trees are fully loaded in some tropical, tasty and colorful candies. If you drive along the PanAmerican highway in this section you will see lots a tiny fruit stops where you can buy them. One of the most abundant fruit is the plum. Despite we call it a plum, these fruits probably are not related. The plum trees are popular as fence's posts around the properties and houses. Grape-shaped, these fruits are hard, turning red and fleshy while maturing. In fact, many people eat them still green, calling them then "cracker plums" due to the sound they produce with each bite. Many birds visited the plum trees at Gloriela's relatives property in Gorgona (western Panama province, at the eastern end of the arch), including Blue-gray, Palm and Crimson-backed Tanagers (a gaudy male in the photo), Red-crowned Woodpeckers and Brown-throated Parakeets; but, to be honest, I saw none actually eating the fruits. Another common tree loaded in fruits was the cashew. If you don't know from where the cashew nuts come from, then just check my photo and you will recognize one of them attached to that yellow fruit. The fruit itself have a funny taste, I like it more in juice, or "chica" as we say in Panama (in other countries of the region, the term chicha implies some alcohol in the content of the drink... it is not the case in Panama). Again, many birds are attracted to these fruits, but also the insects and others critters that also attracted other non-frugivorous birds, like the female Barred Antshrike or the singing Rufous-browed Peppershrike that I'm showing here, both of them photographed near the fruits while catching the insects. But by far, probably the most iconic tropical fruit in this part of Panama (and perhaps, everywhere) is the mango. There are too many varieties of this fruit, with so many regional names that it is impossible to list them all, but here is a little sample: mangos calida', chupa-chupa, hilacha, huevo 'e toro, papaya, etc... If you know more mango varieties or any other dry arch's fruit missing, let me know in the comments.

Bird of the month: Ovenbird

2011-04-01T08:01:00.013-05:00

The Ovenbird (Seiurus atricapilla) is a ground-loving warbler that breeds in Canada and eastern United States, migrating then to Florida, Central America, the Caribbean and northern South America for the winter. Panama represents the southernmost part of its usual wintering range, where it is frequently encountered in the western part of the country, becoming increasingly rarer farther east, including around the former Panama Canal zone in central Panama, and with only two record from our easternmost province, Darien. It can be seasonally very common in selected sites. We were just dating when I took Gloriela to her first real birding trip to the exotic, remote and tiny Escudo de Veraguas island off the coast of Bocas del Toro (western Caribbean slope, check the map at the end of the posts of this blog). It was october's second week and the island turned out to be a migrant trap... Gloriela got the wrong idea that the Ovenbird was simply the MOST common bird of Panama, considering the number of tame individuals that we saw, sometimes walking just inches from our feet (she called them the "pollitos"). In fact, I took the first photo with a point-and-shoot camera with an optic zoom of 3X (notice the sandy soil of the island)! The orange crown bordered in black and the white eye-ring separates this species from the similar-looking waterthrushes, sharing with them the ground-dwelling habits and the streaked underparts. But despite the general similiar appearance, these birds are not closely related, as demonstrated recently by Lovette and Hochachka. In fact, the Ovenbird seems to be basal to all the others warblers, a rather surprising relationship for this migrant. Well, for these and many others reasons is why we choose the Ovenbird as our bird of the month!

You can check this week's most interesting posts at Bird Photography Weekly # 136.

Literature consulted:

1. Ridgely RS, Gwynne J. A guide to the birds of Panama. First spanish edition 1993.

2. Angehr GR, Dean R. The birds of Panama. A field guide. First edition 2010.

3. Lovette IJ, Hochachka WM. Ecology 2006; 87:S14-S28

More migrants and skulkers in Metro Park

2011-03-20T09:19:00.013-05:00

The Ovenbird was not the only bird we found and photographed during our last visit to the Metropolitan Natural Park in Panama City yesterday. In fact, despite we did not walk a lot, we found many species taking advantage of the fruiting trees in the first part of the Mono Titi trail. In a single tree, hordes of migrant tanagers, warblers and vireos were taking the fruits desperately, in preparation for the upcoming flight to their breeding grounds in the north. A cooperative Yellow-throated Vireo stayed enough for photos. It was singing, something rarely heard for this species in Panama. Others migrants at the same tree were the vocal Summer Tanagers, Yellow, Bay-breasted and Chestnut-sided Warblers. Also, some residents were in the same tree, with Yellow-green Vireos, Scrub Greenlets, Northern Scrub-Flycatchers and White-shouldered Tanagers being the most numerous. We walked a little uphill along the Mono Titi trail, hearing the distrinctive scolding calls of the Red-throated Ant-Tanagers, the only birds that really pay attention to my insistent "pishing". You can see in the photo the contrasting red throat of the male of this species. However, the Red-crowned Ant-Tanager is also found in the park (probably the most reliable site for this species in central Panama), and coincidentally, we managed to find a group of three of these birds. My photo shows a young adult, still with some yellowish feathers, but already showing the more uniform red color to the body, without a contrasting throat (the males of both species have red crowns). These furtive tanagers have little, if any, to do with ants. More often are found in small groups or with mixed flocks, but rarely following army ants or alikes. Also confusingly, these birds are not exactly tanagers, they are more related to the grosbeaks, buntings and allies than to the tanagers, and some authorities consider them part of that family (Cardinalidae). Not too far, a mixed flock with more warblers included a rare, but regular, Blackpoll Warbler, a Canada Warbler and a Worm-eating Warbler only heard. Despite my photo of the Canada Warbler is out of focus, it is evident the diagnostic collar and the spectacles of this attractive warbler. Back to the entrance, we took El Roble trail, heading directly to the Ovenbird's spot, finding not only the Ovenbird, but also a male Kentucky Warbler exactly in the same place, very active and constantly chipping. My poor photo in the dark interior of the forest shows the facial pattern with the distinctive black mask (and I'm posting the photo here to continue the bad-photos-of-good-warblers festival). After a while, after loosing the warblers in the dense undergrowth, we detected more movement in the fallen leaves of the forest floor: a mixed flock of skulkers was passing by, including Rufous-and-white and Rufous-breasted Wrens, Dot-winged Antwren, Dusky Antbirds and a male White-bellied Antbird that was inspecting the area looking for something to eat. This antbird is handsome, with its black throat and chest contrasting with the white belly and the chestnut-rufous back. At least that individual allowed good pictures, a great end to a day full of skulkers and never-resting birds in the city!

A faithful Ovenbird

2011-03-19T15:35:00.013-05:00

Last weekend, the participants of the Panama Audubon Society (PAS) beginners' walk in the Metropolitan Natural Park (Panama City) were lucky enough to find an Ovenbird, a scarce migrant to central Panama (specially in the Pacific side). The information appeared in the PAS' facebook page with detailed instructions to find it along El Roble trail. So, I got my binoculars and my camera and went to the park, after work hours, last tuesday... but the day was clouded, dark and it was raining. Anyway, I entered the trail and in the way back I found the Ovenbird right where I was expecting it! Too dark for photos, so I delighted myself watching the little creature walking deliberately in the forest floor without making any noise. The park was about to close so I left the trail after 10 minutes watching the bird.

Two days ago, the afternoon was sunny and warm, perfect for another visit to the park in order to relocate the Ovenbird and, who knows, maybe get some pictures. For my surprise (I have to admit it), the bird was EXACTLY where I left it two days before! The site was dark anyway, despite the bright sun, so my efforts to photograph it resulted in poor pictures that, at least, show the essential field marks to recognize the bird (first photo).

Then, I went this morning for another try. This time, Osvaldo Quintero was waiting for me at the Ovenbird's spot. When I reached him, the bird was standing in the ground right in front of him... and he still had not noticed it! I pointed the bird to him and, eventually, we both got better pictures.

The bird simply continued doing its things practically ignoring us, faithful to its patch of forest floor but never totally exposed or in the open. Sometimes it was frustating trying to get a picture of the bird because it seldom stopped and was always behind a tangle, a leaf or a stick; but at least we managed to capture decent pics. Another warbler for this season's collection!

This post was submitted to Bird Photography Weekly # 134. Make sure to visit all the links!

Visiting an old friend

2011-03-17T21:40:00.013-05:00

Do you remember the Cape May Warblers that took residence at the Panama Audubon Society's office in Panama City? For several weeks now, nobody have reported them, so I went this afternoon to the office to try it. The neighborhood where the office is located have many common and tame birds, easily photographed, so the warblers are not the only attraction. The presence of gaudy tropical birds like toucans, parrots and trogons surely is due to its proximity to forested areas. For example, the first thing I noticed was a group of Gray-headed Chachalacas crossing the street and perching on a palm tree. These birds look like Spielberg's Velociraptors when they run in the ground! In others places, where they are still hunted, they can be shy... but is not the case there. After saying hello to Rosabel (the only one in the office), I waited in front of the warblers' preferred tree. A pair of Social Flycatchers were the only ones in that place, calling and flying to one side to another. I did not hesitate because it was still early in the afternoon, the Cape May Warbler usually appears around 6:00 PM. Despite I was completely focused on the preferred tree, a movement in a nearby mango tree caught my attention: two Blue-headed Parrots were feeding on the mangos. These parrots are quite common in the city, but you usually gets them flying. Not too far, a multicolored Keel-billed Toucan was doing its croacking call. They are simply beautiful, and I'm glad that we can call them as common "city birds" here in Panama. At the expected hour, the adult male Cape May Warbler showed up in the expected tree! Come on, how can you get tired of such an impressive warbler! The bird checked the middle and upper levels of the tree and then flew to the mango tree where I took my last photo. It was nice to see this old friend again, and if you are in the city and still need this rare warbler for your Panama list, you still have time!

Post-carnival trip to the highlands. Part III

2011-03-13T22:44:00.016-05:00

After an excellent birding in La Amistad International Park the previous day, for our last day in the Chiriqui highlands (western Panama's Pacific slope), we planned a visit to the Volcan Lakes (Lagunas de Volcan, as in the colorful sign) in the morning before engaging in the 7-hours-drive back to Panama City. These lakes are at 1200 meters above the sea level and are surrounded by a nice forest. The entrance road was alive with tons of birds, most of them Rufous-collared Sparrows and Mountain Elaenias, but also the very vocal Pale-breasted Spinetail (and my photo shows it exactly how you usually find it in the field), at least one Slaty Spinetail, and a nice male Masked (Chiriqui) Yellowthroat for just two seconds. At the forest surrounding the lakes, a huge mixed flock contained Wilson's, Blackburnian, Tenessee, Chestnut-sided, Black-throated Green, Rufous-capped and Golden-crowned Warblers plus two Slate-throated Whitestarts, which were not as photogenic as their relatives (the Collareds), always staying in the shade. Others species in the flock were Streak-headed Woodcreepers (a pair), Slaty Antwren, one Slaty-capped Flycatcher and a Plain Antvireo. However, this time the lakes were full of acquatic birds too.

As you can see in the pictures, we saw Northern Jacanas, hordes of American Coots, several Common (Moorhens) Gallinules and a group of very shy males and females Blue-winged Teals that dissappeared as soon as they detected our presence (I only managed very distant, poor photos for recording purposes only). Also in the lakes (but not in the photos) were several Purple Gallinules, a Great Blue Heron, Great Egrets, and both Least and Pied-billed Grebes. We recorded a good number of different species in just two hours. By the end, we stopped at a nearby coffee store where we enjoyed some hot beverages while admiring the magnificent view of the Baru volcano before heading home. This was an excellent swift trip to the highlands as always!

P.D.: just in case you are asking, it is in fact a House Wren using toilet paper as nesting material (at the coffee store).

Post-carnival trip to the highlands. Part II

2011-03-13T22:40:00.012-05:00

After spending the morning travelling and birding in the foothills, Gloriela and I took a deserved nap at our hotel room in Volcan before heading to the town of Las Nubes for an afternoon walk. We visited La Amistad International Park , famed by its biodiversity and for being the only of our parks shared with Costa Rica. We first had lunch at the excellent restaurant in the entrance of the park, accompanied by Violet Sabrewings, Magnificent Hummingbirds and White-throated Mountain-Gems attending the feeders. Then, we moved to the administrative installations were we paid the entrance fee. From there, we took El Retoño trail, a 3-km loop trail that reaches 2305 meters above sea level. The forest is exhuberant and the journey is very entertaining through beautiful landscapes, several creeks and bambu patches... and the birding is excellent too. Because of the time of the day, the forest was quiet... but we found scattered species, most of them quite common inhabitants of the cloud forests. Eventually, we found a nice mixed flock, first noticed by the presence of two (probably more) Collared Whitestarts. These curious little guys are confident enough to stay close to you while you are taking pictures, making them really good photogenic birds! A group of four Black-cheeked Warblers accompanied them, as well as two Flame-throated Warblers, or I should say Parulas? Yes, this warbler is a Parula, a striking one as you can see in the photo, endemic to the highlands of Costa Rica and Panama. Others members of this flock were the finches. We first noticed three or four Yellow-thighed Finches following the flock, but then two Large-footed Finches jumped in front of us... a lifer for Gloriela! As the parula, both species are also endemic to Costa Rica and Panama. A good highland mixed flock is not complete without furnariids, and another endemic made our day on that regard: a Streak-breasted Treehunter was a little less skulkier than usual, allowing great pictures. WOW, I never expected to have a good photo of such a secretive species, and Gloriela simply added another lifer to her list! Some Red-faced Spinetails and two Spot-crowned Woodcreepers also accompanied the flock, the same as both Yellow-winged and Brown-capped Vireos, the resident species of vireos in these forests. Reluctantly, we left the site in order to complete the loop, hearing Silvery-fronted Tapaculos and Black-faced Solitaires... but the best bird of the day was about to come. Suddenly, a red and green figure appeared right in front of us to perch in a nearby mossy branch, a male Collared Trogon! That was only my second sight of this bird (the first one more than 12 years ago) and a beautiful lifer for Gloriela! This trogon is not rare... but somehow have eluded me all these years. The red belly was specially contrasting and bright, and the bird stayed for a while inspecting us before flying away into the forest. Curiosly, we saw later an Orange-bellied Trogon (distant views of a male), but failed to locate a quetzal this time. Anyway, that Collared Trogon was gorgeous! It was a long day, and after 18 hours in the field, we finally arrived to our room in Volcan in order to rest for our next (and last) day in the highlands.

Post-carnival trip to the highlands. Part I

2011-03-12T20:52:00.023-05:00

At last, the end of the first day of our swift trip to the Chiriqui highlands. I left Penonome (central Panama) with Gloriela around 3:00 AM today, in order for be birding early in the morning in several spots along the Concepcion-Volcan-Santa Clara road (Chiriqui province, western Panama's Pacific slope). Our first stop was at the entrance road to the town of San Vicente, where a small patch of forest survives along the junction of two creeks. A flock of Golden-hooded Tanagers was inspecting the bushes while a female Purple-crowned Fairy showed up for our delight. Despite it is not a rarity there, it is always nice to see this elegant hummingbird. But more interesting, an adult male Spot-crowned Euphonia perched in a bare branch for five seconds, enough to check its limited yellow crown. This species is scarce due to habitat loss in its former panamanian distribution. You will have to trust me on this one, since my photo only shows the complete yellow undertail coverts and the black throat, field marks that this species shares with the more common Yellow-crowned Euphonia, which have a more extensive yellow crown as its name suggests. Our next stop was the Macho de Monte river, entering through the town of Cuesta de Piedra. By the time we reached the place, it was quite hot, and the activity was low. However, we got a great collection of cool birds common of this habitat, including a male Golden-olive Woodpecker (photo), an Eye-ringed Flatbill (lifer for Gloriela), Buff-rumped, Chestnut-sided, Tennessee and Blackburnian Warblers and a Torrent Tyrannulet. The only hummer attending the flowered Inga tree turned out to be a Blue-throated Goldentail, a bird not seldom seen by any of us. We then passed the town of Volcan in our way to the town of Santa Clara. This part of the road crosses several patches of foothills forest and coffee plantations that sometimes are alive with birds. We stopped at a now-usual site with lots of Cecropia trees with fruits... and birds. One of the first to appear was a smart Tropical Parula. This delicate and beautiful creature checked actively every single fruit, surely looking for tiny insects to eat. There were also tons of Clay-colored Thrushes and at least one White-throated Thrush... but the main characters of that scene were the tanagers: Cherrie's, White-lined, Blue-gray, Palm, Golden-hooded and Silver-throated Tanagers were all feeding on the fruits in a kind of frenesi (my photo of the Silver-throated Tanager is of an individual on a banana feeder that we saw later in the day above Cerro Punta). It was around noon when we decided to return to Volcan, were we rest for a while (well-deserved) before heading to our next stop in the highlands: La Amistad International Park above the town of Las Nubes.

Flycatchers, wrens and warblers in Metro Park

2011-03-09T18:55:00.020-05:00

I went this afternoon to the Metropolitan Natural Park (Panama City) trying to find the Worm-eating Warbler reported by Osvaldo Quintero some days ago. I reached the place by noon, and in spite of the time, the activity was great. I didn't find my target (this time), but I still had a great time. The first thing I noticed was the noise: almost all the resident species were vocalizing and calling, many of them were with nesting materials in their beaks. Surely this is a busy season for them. I had the opportunity to have side-by-side views of two flycatchers species that are hard to identify: a Yellow-olive Flycatcher and a Greenish Elaenia. Both are superficially similar and share similar habitats, but you can notice the broad bill of the flycatcher and its pale iris. Also, both were calling, making easier for me the ID. Notice that both are carrying nesting material too. It was impressive the number of flycatcher species present in the Mono Tití trail (were I took all the photos): Southern Bentbill, Brown-capped, Southern Beardless, Yellow-crowned and Paltry Tyrannulets, Black-tailed, Ochre-bellied and Ruddy-tailed Flycatchers, just to mention a few! The Ruddy-tailed Flycatcher deserves a special mention... it must be the most handsome and cute of all the flycatchers in the park... just look at its face! It stayed still, curiously looking at me while I was taking the photos. Of course, I saw more than flycatchers. The forest by this time of the year is very dry, and many trees have lost most the leaves, making easier to watch the birds, including the skulkiers. I saw easily three wren species, but of course they were not easy to photograph. The Rufous-breasted Wren was the most active, but the beautiful Rufous-and-white Wren was the most vocal... you have to heard its loud and musical song to believe it! The Black-bellied Wren almost passed unnoticed, it was very quiet. It certainly have a black belly, but its white throat is very conspicuous in the dark interior of the undergrowth. Others skulkiers like antwrens, antbirds and antshrikes were also easy to see. And about the warblers, well... the site was excellent. In a same tree were Tennessee, Yellow, Chestnut-sided, Bay-breasted and Black-and-white Warblers... but then, a flash of colour caught my attention: a male Golden-winged Warbler joined the flock, showing its bright golden wing panel... sweet!

Not only that. After a while, I detected movement in some tangles away from the main flock. A quick look with my binoculars confirmed my initial ID, a Magnolia Warbler, my second individual for this season! My poor photos are at least better than nothing, and they show at least the gray breast band over the yellow underparts and the grayish face with a white eye-ring. I also noticed in the field the two white wing bars and prominent black streaks to the flanks.

Well, very good walk in the park... and I still have an excuse to keep visiting it (still need my Worm-eating Warbler for this season).

Photo safari in the savannah

2011-03-09T17:23:00.013-05:00

Like many thousands of panamanians, I went with Gloriela, some relatives and friends to Penonome (central Panama) in order to relax and to enjoy the carnival, which is a serious celebration for most of Panama's population! Our house in the outskirts of the town was full and the responsability of being the host was heavy... but anyway we both manage to reserve a couple of hours in the morning to visit the savannah to the south of the town. Gloriela took most of the photos that appear in this post because I was driving, and I have to admit that she did a very good job (you will see). As usual, the place was excellent for raptors, with Roadside and Savannah Hawks, White-tailed Kite, a Bat Falcon and both caracaras in several sites of the road. The Crested Caracara is a fierce-looking bird with powerful flight, this individual was in the ground checking a bunch of dry leaves. Not too far, a Common Opossum, with its little cub on the back, was running away... probably the presence of the caracara had something to do with its hurry. The doves were well-represented there, with lots of Ruddy and Plain-breasted Ground-Doves all over the place, many White-tipped Doves and some Pale-vented Pigeons around... but the award for the most pretty dove is for the Mourning Dove. You only need to see its soft tones and subtle iridiscence to the neck, and that cute facial expresion to know what I mean.

They are quite shy, but we managed to approach one of them that was vocalizing... it was the first time that I heard this dove vocalizing in Panama, a soft call with three hollow notes, very low, almost unaudible.

Ridgely & Gwynne stated that this call have not been heard in Panama, but the new field guide by Angehr & Dean simply describes the call... doesn't mention nothing about how often it is heard. For a dove locally so common, I have to admit that it is weird that this is the first time that I heard it... probably the low volume plus its shy habits have something to do with this. We found most of the common inhabitants of this habitat, including many Fork-tailed Flycatchers eating a lot a fruit (and nop, none of these were Scissor-taileds... we checked them all). These masters of flight have a very distinctive trilling call that is a common sound in these fields. We also crossed several coveys of Crested Bobwhites, with one short-crested individual staying enough for a photo after crossing the road and a pair of Southern Lapwings inspecting a recently burned field. Very entertaining for a short photo safari through the savannah!

Another raptor for Costa del Este's collection

2011-03-05T22:26:00.011-05:00

The grassy fields of Costa del Este, in Panama City, attract a good number of raptors. But somehow, a common species, even in the city, eluded me from this site until a few days ago when I saw my first White-tailed Kite there. I made a quick visit in the afternoon to check the tidal mudflats. Nothing to report there, so I moved to the fields where I saw this magnificent creature perched atop a sort of pipe or metallic tube.

Considering that this kite has some crepuscular habits, probably my late arrival to Costa del Este was the reason for this first encounter. The bird was a little far, but anyway I took some photos. These do not show its white tail, but the black shoulders are quite evident (remember that it used to be the Black-shouldered Kite). Like this kite, almost all the raptors that I have seen in this site have been perched atop man-made structures, like streetlights, cranes, buildings, etc... except for the migratory ones.

If you want to see more pictures of raptors in Costa del Este, check these posts: Raptors on streetlights , More than shorebirds in Costa del Este , and A peregrine bites the dust.

This post was submitted to Bird Photography Weekly # 132. Check it out!

My wife went to GUATEMALA, and brought me...

2011-03-02T22:43:00.016-05:00

... lots of things!!!, including the two field guides pictured above: The Birds of Tikal (a classic guide) by F.B. Smithe and the practical Birds of Mexico and Adjacent Areas (Belize, Guatemala and El Salvador) by E. Preston Edwards. She stayed all the past month, and took advantage of the free weekends to explore this Central American country blessed with a rich culture, beautiful landscapes and diverse nature. She also brought me, among the souveniers, plenty of photos from her trips, including some birds' photos! Here I'm showing only a little sample of her most memorable moments in Guatemala, including her visit to several picturesque towns in the shores of the majestic Lake Atitlan (that's her in San Pedro de la Laguna, with the San Pedro and Atitlan volcanoes in the background) where she experienced part of the diverse ethnicity this country has to offer (and where she took the photo of the American Coots, resident birds there). Certainly, one of the most spectacular experiences was during her visit to the world-famous Tikal. The monumental buildings and pyramids are simply incredible... and the nature and wildlife surrounding the complex is impressive as well. Can you imagine Ocellated Turkeys walking close to you while you are admiring the legendary Maya city?
Hard to believe eh? And what about her trip to the -active- Pacaya volcano, reaching the highest slopes and seeing the sunset while admiring others three magnificent peaks (Fuego, Agua and Acatenango volcanoes) in the distance?

She wants to thanks Diana for receiving her and Yeri for the company, and all the friendly people she met in Guatemala. Also to the Instituto de Dermatología y Cirugía de Piel (INDERMA) and all its medical staff for opening its doors. And I want to thank all the people that took care of her during her long stay. Surely this was not her last visit to Guatemala!

Bird of the month: Cape May Warbler

2011-03-01T14:25:00.008-05:00

I know it is not a surprise, our bird of the month is the beautiful Cape May Warbler (Dendroica tigrina). This warbler is found only as a rare vagrant in Panama, but so far, there have been three reports of four different birds this season, including a pair in a same locale. Simply outstanding! The Cape May Warbler breeds in coniferous forests of Canada and northern United States, migrating through most part of eastern United States to its winter ground mainly in the Caribbean, but also in Mesoamerica and northern South America, where it prefers all sort of habitats, including gardens and residential areas. As you can see in the photos, the male is beautifully patterned in bright yellow and black, with rufous cheeks and a white wing panel. This pattern is the reason of its scientific and spanish name (in spenish its is the Reinita Tigrina, kind of "Tiger Warbler"). As usual with the warblers, the female is much duller, but still distinctive even with its basic plumage thanks to the yellow on the face, the yellow rump and the streaked underparts. This species have an unique curled and semitubular tongue which it uses for collecting nectar in its wintering grounds (as you can see in Osvaldo's photos in Xenornis), the reason why they prefer flowered trees. For these, and many others reasons is why we choose the Cape May Warbler as our bird of the month!

Literature consulted:

1. Angehr G, Dean R. The birds of Panama. A field guide. 2010.

2. The Cornell Lab of Ornithology. All about birds: Cape May Warbler at http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Cape_May_Warbler/id.

Visiting the Metro Park

2011-02-27T11:26:00.013-05:00

I don't know why I don't visit more often the Metropolitan Natural Park. It is right here in Panama City and holds a huge list of both resident and migrant species. Trying to change that, I went this morning to the Mono Titi trail, where I joined Osvaldo Quintero. The park is quite popular, and we crossed several groups of joggers, birders, trekkers, or people simply having a walk through nature. At first, we saw mostly big-sized birds, like the always-present Blue-crowned Motmot, Crimson-crested Woodpecker, White-tipped Doves, at least three Scaled Pigeons high on a tree, some Slaty-tailed Trogons heard and a female Black-throated Trogon that welcomed us with her calls. Is when you see the female of this species that you understand why its scientific name is Trogon rufus. Then, we started to see the smaller species of tanagers, greenlets, flycatchers and warblers that are very common in these forests. Of course, we were paying more attention to the warblers and other migrants. In the lookout, the fruiting trees were full of migrants, including several Bay-breasted Warblers, some of them acquiring parts of their breeding plumage. Other migrants present were tons of Great Crested Flycatchers, Yellow-throated Vireos vocalizing and Chestnut-sided and Yellow Warblers. Soon the lookout got crowded with a group of little children, and the place became quite noisy... time to move on. In the way out, we find others common residents of the park, like the Red-throated Ant-Tanagers, both Scarlet and Yellow rumped Caciques, and a immature male Lance-tailed Manakin calling and displaying, allowing some great pictures. As you can see in the photo, this male still have some olive in its plumage. At the entrance, by "The Fortress", a mixed flock stopped us for a while. We saw one active Black-tailed Flycatcher, fanning its tail and exposing its yellow rump, several Northern Bentbills, Yellow-margined Flycatchers and Greenish Elaenia. We also got more Chestnut-sided and Bay-breasted Warblers plus another Yellow-throated Vireo and resident Plain-colored Tanagers. A calling bird out in the open turned out to be a Northern Scrub-Flycatcher, who stayed for photos. We waited in front of a fruiting tree waiting for the mixed flocks to pass, but we only got some Red-legged Honeycreepers and more Plain-colored Tanagers. In the other side of the field, a group of birders, guided by our friend José Carlos, were focused on a patch of tangles where they heard, and then saw, a rare White-eyed Vireo (!!!), and a coperative Pale-eyed Pygmy-Tyrant that showed well when we finally arrived to the place (but the vireo left). The pale eye of the pygmy tyrant is not very conspicuous in the field, but you can see in my photo its pale legs and mandible, plus its compact size. By the end, at a mango tree right in the entrance, a pair of Green Honeycreepers were inspecting the dead leaves... both of them stopped their duties to have a look at me. For a short walk, we saw tons of birds... definitively I will try to visit more often this place!

Walking the Pipeline Road

2011-02-26T18:10:00.018-05:00

I'm back from an early visit to Gamboa and Pipeline road (central Panama) this morning with Osvaldo Quintero. As usual, we started at the Gamboa Ammo Dump, where the activity was great, with lots of common birds in the surroundings. Among the flycatchers, the chachalacas, and the jacanas, we found a cooperative pair of Barred Antshrikes feeding at eye level. Curiously, these are the first individuals of this species that I see this year, despite they are pretty common in the city (and perhaps elsewhere). I really like its call, a ba-ta-ra-ra-rarara-RA! frequently heard, and the origin of the spanish name for the group (Batará). Many people think that the female is prettier than the black-&-white male, what do you think? Close to them, two or probably three Buff-breasted Wrens were skulking, giving loud notes eventually... they were simply too shy for my camera! We left the Ammo Dump and headed to the entrance of Pipeline road, where a huge fallen trunk blocked it. We had to left the car in the entrance and started to walk the first part, which usually we by-pass to go directly to the Juan Grande bridge or to the Panama Rainforest Discovery Center (PRDC). It was a good think actually, because we got some others birds in the short walk, and we also joined Jennifer Wolcott who arrived earlier to the road. We found a group of skulkiers in the undergrowth, including Dusky Antbirds, Dot-winged Antwrens and a Black-bellied Wren that I barely captured with my camera... you can have an idea of the tangled and dark habitat this wren prefers by looking at the photo. In an area with tall grass (where we never stop with the car), I detected little activity in some vains, it was a warbler and I managed to take these photos (you can enlarge them):

Not the best photos (Osvaldo's are much better), but at least you can see the mostly bright yellow underparts with white vent and undertail coverts and the narrow black line through the eye of a Blue-winged Warbler, another rare warbler for this season's collection! In the field was very evident its two white wing bars over the blue wings. It was foraging alone, despite there were two Squirrel Cuckoos and several Lesser Greenlets close to it. The cuckoos stayed for photos, the warbler did not. It is so nice to have such a gorgeous and big cuckoo as a common species in Panama. We walked beyond the Juan Grande bridge, but we only heard more antwrens, some fruitcrows and a pair of Black-breasted Puffbirds, so we decided to walk to the Rainforest Discovery Center. Good choice because the activity was crazy there, both of birds and people... several birders and non-birders groups were in the Center, even George Angehr (author of the new field guide to the birds of Panama) arrived there later. After saying hello to the staff, and after having some sodas and a snack, we started birding the surroundings. A huge mixed flock was passing by, with Yellow, Bay-breasted, Chestnut-sided and Golden-winged Warblers, Brown-capped Tyrannulet in a Cecropia tree (usually only heard, this is a canopy-dweller, tiny flycatcher), White-winged Becard, Dot-winged Antwren, another Black-bellied Wren and several Scarlet-rumped Caciques. We heard the characteristic call of a Moustached Antwren, and after a quick search we found him with the flock high in the canopy.... again, only marginal photos of this tiny, but attractive bird. At the end, it was worth the effort to walk into the road, instead of driving it.

Back to the ponds!

2011-02-23T22:22:00.017-05:00

I returned this afternoon to the Summit Ponds (central Panama), after visiting the place last monday, this time accompanying Rosabel Miró who wanted to see the White-eyed Vireo reported there. The place was crowded with two groups of birders, one of them guided by Carlos Bethancourt himself (who reported the rare migrant in the first place, he is at the far left). They were more interested in the residents Lance-tailed Manakins, so we focused on finding the rare vireo (for Panama). Not even 10 minutes after our arrival, we found the White-eyed Vireo exactly in the same tangles where I left it last monday! In the meanwhile, both groups departed to the ponds. Since a year ago, the Autoridad del Canal de Panama (ACP) prohibited the entry to the ponds and we lost a nice birding area, but Carlos got a permission so he was able to visit the ponds and the old Gamboa road that passes through them... so I infiltrated in the group! Before reaching the ponds, a male Gartered Trogon welcomed us by perching over the road and vocalizing for the delight of all the birders... specially those with photographic equipment. The yellow underparts and eye ring are enough to recognize this species in Panama. My photo is a little overexposed, but still you can have an idea of the beautiful color pattern that this creature have. At the ponds, everyone was busy watching the birds that live there. This is one of the most reliable sites to find Boat-billed Herons, and of course we found two of them quietly resting on a branch over the water... I barely saw one individual last year because I was unable to visit these ponds. Others birds, regular in the area, were Lesser Kiskadee, Amazon and Green Kingfishers and Prothonotary Warbler. Then, Carlos spotted a heron perched quietly close to the road. The excitement was evident when he revealed that he got an immature Agami Heron. Despite its youth, it exhibited the long and thin bill plus the very long neck characteristic of the species. The heron also exhibited some blue feathers, specially in the wings, and a contrasting light blue crown... simply amazing! You know is still a young bird because of its mostly brown plumage, with white throat and underparts. This is just my third Agami Heron, and my first in the Summit Ponds where it have been reported before. Carlos called Rosabel, who was still at the vireo spot showing it to her husband Karl who arrived later, and then he continue his way deep inside the road. We stayed admiring the heron, watching it fishing and moving along the fallen trunk. What a great experience. After a while, Rosabel received another phone call from Carlos. He and his group saw an adult Rufous Nightjar on a nest. He gave us the directions, and we eventually reached the place... Carlos was kind enough to come back in order to show us the bird, which was magnificently camouflaged with its surrounding, as you can see in the photo. What a great manner to end the day. Carlos, thank you again for all the pretty birds!

Short stroll after the work

2011-02-22T14:06:00.011-05:00

So far, this has been a GREAT season for migratory birds in Panama. Some days ago, Carlos Bethancourt, the famous guide of the Canopy Tower, reported in the social network a White-eyed Vireo at the entrance of the Summit Ponds (central Panama). Two days ago, Osvaldo Quintero and Euclides "Kilo" Campos went to the site and found that the bird was still in the same place. So I went yesterday after finishing my work at the hospital, chasing the rare bird. The White-eyed Vireo is a vagrant migrant to Panama, with only few reports, mostly from sites near the Caribbean coast. I reached the place around 3:30 PM and the first bird I saw from the window of my car was a Yellow-throated Vireo working high in the trees. False alarm... or a sign of the good things to come? The place was very quiet, surely due to the heat, but anyway, I saw many migrants in the surrounding trees. Representing the warblers, present were Bay-breasted, Chestnut-sided and Yellow Warblers, plus a Northern Waterthrush. A fruiting tree had no less than three males Rose-breasted Grosbeak and a Great Crested Flycatcher. I even saw another Yellow-throated Vireo and several Summer Tanagers too. Around 4:00 PM, I detected a movement in a tangle. I saw with my binoculars the white underparts, two white wing bars, yellow spectacles... THE White-eyed Vireo!!!! WOW, just like that, it materialized in front of me! The bird did not vocalize, and it moved actively always in the tangled parts of the trees. Like Osvaldo stated, it was not easy to photograph, and my marginal photos only show the neccesary to have a positive ID. I'm very impressed with the conspicuous white eye... just look at the picture (you may need to enlarge it). A HUGE lifer, and I'm very grateful with Carlos for sharing it! After a while, I detected another bird skulking in the same tangles. About the same size of the vireo, I recognized it immediately as a warbler because it was moving even more actively than the vireo. After a while I got decent views, confirming it was a Magnolia Warbler, an immature considering its gray breast band. Curiously, this is the sixth species of warbler that I see this year and that I missed last year. Both birds foraged very close to each other, without noticing a single interaction between them. I stayed for 30 more minutes, and the birds stayed in the same general area. Again, only marginal photos of the warbler, but I'm very happy with them (at least the bird is recognizable). Well, as I said: GREAT season for migrants!

Coquette and others hummers in Cerro Azul

2011-02-22T13:52:00.013-05:00

The last place visited during our saturday trip to Cerro Azul (foothills east of Panama City) was the lovely home of our good friends Williams and Claudia Ahrens (both members of The 600 Club). They are full time residents in Los Altos de Cerro Azul, and they have banana and hummingbird feeders all over their place. After trying to find the Rufous-crested Coquette in Birders' View, Rafael Luck, Osvaldo Quintero and your blogger host, headed to the Ahrens' place (after seeing only the regular Violet-headed Hummingbird at the supposed coquette site). As usual, the place was full of birds, not only hummingbirds, but also tanagers, honeycreepers and woodcreepers among others. Bill and Claudia welcomed us warmly and invited us to check their feeders, where we immediately saw the usual suspects, mainly White-necked Jacobins, but also some Amazilia hummingbirds and even a male and female Violet-crowned Woodnymph (female on a feeder). We were surprised with the answer to our question about the coquette: Bill said "ahhh, she is at the feeders right now, or in the Verbenas outside". What!!??? The coquette was there all the time? Just seconds after his answer, I saw a little black dot leaving the feeder that he pointed, heading to the purple flowers of the Verbena : a female Rufous-crested Coquette!!! We all started shooting while the beautiful creature was quietly visiting the flowers, with its tail cocked up and looking like a big bee. They say that at least two female-plumaged birds have been visiting their grounds in the past few day, one probably is an immature male. An adult male often appears too, but not recently. We were lined up in front of the Verbena, only the shooter's noise was heard. Definitively, we looked like paparazzis taking photos of a celebrity, the coquette certainly is one. Then, Claudia saw another specialty of her garden visiting one of the feeders, a Long-billed Starthroat that quickly flew to a perch in a pine tree. The colourful gorget (the "star" throat) is hard to see in the field, but the white moustache and the long and straight bill are diagnostic. The coquette reappeared in the same bush, and we took many more photos. Eventually she left the place, leaving us astonished! We barely paid attention to the others hummers in the property, despite a Snowy-bellied Hummingbird did its best to show us that it can be radiant too, showing its glowing feathers with the sun. Thank you Bill and Claudia, and lets us know if the male coquette appears!

A day in the foothills

2011-02-20T21:39:00.017-05:00

Yesterday, I went to Cerro Azul with Osvaldo Quintero and Rafel Luck looking for colourful birds to photograph. The foothills of Cerro Azul are less than a hour-drive from Panama City, and it holds a completely different arrange of birds to what we are used here in the lowlands. Camera in hand, we visited first the section known as Altos del Frente, where we eventually found some activity in a now-usual spot where you can also have a great view of the city in the distance. There, two pairs of Crimson-crested Woodpeckers were displaying, making a lot of noise and flying from one trunk to another chasing each other. We also saw tons of Scaled Pigeos flying all over the place, with some of them calling and others perched atop bare branches, but never allowing us to approach enough to get good pictures. These are spectacular pigeons, with a very conspicuous red to the base of the bill and showy scales to the underparts. A flock of Keel-billed Toucans appeared, announcing their presence with their croacking calls. All these birds were a little far away, but Rafael found a male Masked Tityra close enough to see all the details of its plumage, and for some to take very good photos (not my case as you can see). A little farther in the road, we found a mixed flock with lots of tanagers, euphonias, flycatchers, woodcreepers, among others. The place is very good for tanagers... in that flock we saw Plain-colored, Golden-hooded, Bay-headed, Rufous-winged, Blue-gray and Palm Tanagers. Another tanager was accompanying the flock, at first glance it was dull gray, but then it perched in a Cecropia tree where I saw the white tufts at the sides of the chest: a Sulphur-rumped Tanager! This species is quite local and seldom reported for Cerro Azul, and the most recent reports come from that place precisely. My distant shots (two of them) show the white tufts... and barely part of the sulphur-yellow rump. Those marks are unique in this part of Panama. The flock also included a Black-cheeked Woodpecker and an endemic for Panama, a Stripe-cheeked Woodpecker that we heard first and then saw it briefly. The place became quiet when the flock left, so we moved on, this time to Birders' View, also a hot spot in these foothills. The property keeper, Nando, already told us about a Rufous-crested Coquette he saw the day before, so we waited there for it, watching closely the flowered bushes in the backyard. In the meanwhile, many others species showed up, including a migrant Black-and-white Warbler creeping a trunk close to us. It was an adult male, as you can see by its black cheeks. We also saw many more tanagers, and former tanagers in the form of Summer and Hepatic Tanagers. The former is migratory, the latter is a resident species. Both male and female were working the trees surrounding the backyard. It is hard to imagine these birds as cardinals, but I have to accept that the Piranga tanagers share many characteristics with their now-close relatives (overall coloration, beautiful voices, sexual dimorphism, etc...)... they are simply cardinals with specialized beaks! The first photo is a male, still with some yellow feathers in the body. You can separate them from the similar Summer Tanager by its darker red overall and dark lores. The females of both species are yellow, the head close-up of this female Hepatic Tanager shows well its dark lores, and also its dark bill. After all, we saw no less than 13 tanagers and former-tanagers, even more if we include the species of honeycreepers that we also saw. The coquette did not show up... so we tried another spot, this time the feeders at the Ahrens' place... but that is another story.

PAS fieldtrip to Campo Chagres

2011-02-16T21:07:00.008-05:00

Last sunday, february 13th, I guided the Panama Audubon Society (PAS) fieldtrip to Campo Chagres, in Chagres National Park. The group of PAS members included Itzel Fong, Javier Tejeira, Celeste Paiva, Michael Froude, Antonio Domínguez, Dona and Rick Pfarschner, and Jennifer Wolcott. After an early encounter at the meeting point, we departed to the site where Rolando, the park ranger, waited for us to open the gate. In the first part of the entrance road, the dry forest allowed views of interesting birds, including Gray-headed Kite, Collared Aracari, Yellow-backed and Baltimore Orioles, Scrub Greenlet, Cocoa Woodcreeper, Snowy-bellied Hummingbird, among others. Some others birds were only heard, including both Lance-tailed and Golden-collared Manakins and Rosy Thrush-Tanagers. We left the cars at the rangers' station and walked the trail to the lake, which was not as hot as I was expecting, surely because of the partially clouded day. We heard several species, but actually saw only a few of them, including a cooperative Blue-crowned Motmot for some of us, the noisy Red-throated Ant-Tanagers and a pair of Red-lored Amazons (file photo) perched in a Ficus tree. By the end, Jennifer wrote down the group list with her I-Pad, showing how the technology can help the birder in the field. We had a great time in this corner of Panama, and I had so much fun guiding this group of nature lovers.

Warblers and Hummingbirds at Altos del María

2011-02-13T23:04:00.016-05:00

Altos del María is a huge, private residential development located in the foothills of western Panama province, above the town of Sora. A resident there, Alfred Raab, and his friend from Switzerland, Robert Furrer, kindly agreed to guide me, Osvaldo Quintero and Rafael Luck into this still-little-known hot spot. Due to camera battery issues (I left it at home accidentally!), ALL the photos in this post are copyright Rafael Luck. The place turned out to be warblers' heaven! In the first stop, in second growth habitat, we found both Tennessee and Bay-breasted Warblers (the latter with buffy underparts including the undertail coverts and chestnut flanks) with some common residents like Variable Seedeaters, Plain Wren and Streaked Saltator. A little higher, we stopped at a clearing bordering a forested area around 950 meters above sea level. We immediately noticed the activity of both resident and migrant birds around us. Among a group of Clay-colored Thrushes, I saw for just a few second an infiltrated White-throated Thrush... but when I was about to show it to the others, others birds caught our attention. A big mixed flocks of warblers was passing by the woods. The first one to appear was an adult male Golden-winged Warbler... simply beautiful. Then, we got more Tennessee Warblers, two Black-and-white Warblers, a Black-throated Green Warbler (only seen first by Rafael, but then it showed well for the rest of us) and an absolutely great adult male American Redstart. A winter-plumaged warbler caught my attention... at first, we thought it was a Bay-breasted Warbler, but we noticed its yellower underparts (not buffy) with faint streaks in the chest and sides, plus white undertail coverts... a Blackpoll Warbler! There are just a handful of reports for this species in Panama, and is my first in maaaany years. Others migrants accompanying the flock were the Yellow-throated and Philadelphia Vireos. Both species of vireos were more cooperative than the warblers, moving slower along the branches and with the Philadelphia Vireo even sitting for a while, allowing some photos. This individual was particularly yellowish in the underparts... I'm used to see them with quite whitish underparts in Panama. Eventually, we were not able to follow the flock anymore and decided to move on despite the insistent chipping of a resident Rufous-capped Warbler. Alfred took us into the mountain, into the real cloud forest around 1000 meters above sea level, in a site where he and Robert saw a singing Brown Violetear the day before... and there it was, almost in the same place, singing its loud call (for a hummingbird) in an exposed branch. Despite it was against the sun, Rafael managed to take very good photos, like the one I'm showing here. Altos del María is a regular site for this erratic species in Panama, and Alfred have done a good job figuring out its haunts. In the same forest, but in a different site, Alfred reserved a surprise for us. At the end of a wide trail, he showed us no less than three adult males Snowcaps chasing each other and perching for few seconds near the canopy of a flowered tree. Amazing! These are very special hummingbirds, with a kind of patchy distribution in Panama. The trail also produced a singing Thrush-like Schiffornis, a flock of Black-faced Grosbeaks and wintering Blackburnian and Canada Warblers. In a marshy area we got Mourning Warbler and Northern Waterthrush, while in the nearby forest along a beautiful creek (walking along a brand new paved trail!) we found Spotted Woodcreeper, White-throated Spadebill and heard a Black-crowned Antpitta. What a wonderful place! In total, we saw twelve (12) migrant warblers! And I'm pretty sure that we still have not seen everything in Altos del María. Thank you Alfred for your company and expertise... shall we do this again, don't we?

The 600 Club closure act

2011-02-12T19:33:00.012-05:00

Last thursday, during the Panama Audubon Society monthly meeting, I conducted the closure act of The 600 Club. The meeting was crowded, there were snacks and beverages, a little shop with books for sale and an exciting feeling in the air, probably in part because I was not the only speaker... in fact, the main attraction of the night was the presentation of the new Bird Field Guide for Panama by its author George Angehr, and Karl Kaufmann also talked about e-bird Panama. I gave an introduction about the origins and aims of the club, and about last year's participants. The first to get his certificate was one of the original members, George Angehr, who did not only receive his certificate, but also the club's patch, featuring a Black-crowned Antpitta (first photo). One by one, each participant received his certificate and his patch, while I was revealing their final counts. Most of the participants passed the 600 mark, with Euclides "Kilo" Campos and Ken Allaire passing the 700 mark (and Ken recording exactly 800 birds for the year!!!!). Those numbers are probably out of reach for most of us, but are anyway impressive even if you work as a specialized bird guide! My final count was 620 birds for the year, my personal record! At the end of the meeting, George started to sign the books, including mine (great!). Congratulations to all the participants and new members of The 600 Club, and keep on birding!

Well dressed for a lifer!

2011-02-09T13:09:00.011-05:00

When I heard from Rosabel Miró that a Cape May Warbler was seen yesterday's afternoon right in front of the Panama Audubon Society office, in Llanos de Curundu (Panama City), I could not believe it! In Panama, this is a VERY rare species... very seldom reported, specially the beautiful males. So today, after finishing my duties at the hospital, I went to the office for a lucky shot. Surprisingly, I was the only one looking for this rare vagrant... probably I was the only dreamer thinking that such a rare bird would remain in the same place for one more day. The day was cloudy, and a light drizzle started falling down... but I was prepared. With my umbrella in one hand, an I-pod in the other, binoculars and camera, I searched in the tree where the bird was seen before. Rosabel took the photo where I appear next to the tree (she was still working at the office). I checked every warbler-like activity, noticing first a Tennessee Warbler and then a Yellow Warbler in the tree. Around 5:40 PM, a third warbler showed up...very active, I only saw first its bright yellow underparts with contrasting black streaks in the chest and flanks... an adult male Cape May Warbler!!! I called Rosabel, but when she went out, the bird flew far away. I only had time to watch it through my binoculars for just few seconds. I walked around the neighborhood, trying to relocate it, but eventually went back to the office, to say good-bye to everybody (around 6:15 PM) when I saw the bird in a distant palm tree and, for my surprise, it flew directly to the same tree where I saw it before (in front of the office). This time, the bird stayed longer, picking up tiny insects from the mossy trunk, and showing well its field marks. Incredible! This time Rosabel was able to see the bird with me and we both were astonished! I managed to take some photos. WOW, those rufous cheeks and black crown are so contrasting, just like the white wing panel that we also saw. Well, I imagine that the insistence, with a little bit of luck, pays!

Bird of the month: Killdeer

2011-02-01T00:17:00.014-05:00

The Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus) is a medium-sized plover inhabitant of open lands (usually short grass), not always close to water. Its name is an onomatopeyic version of its constant, loud and delicate kill-dee that is frequently heard wherever this shorebird is found. In fact, its specific Latin name is allusive to its habit of calling constantly, a habit that makes this plover easy to find if present. The Killdeer is also known by its "broken wing" act, that displays to lead intruders away from its nest (though is not the only bird that displays it). In Panama, is the only plover with double breast bands, as you can see clearly in the first photo. It has a wide distribution along the Americas, but in Panama, it is mainly an uncommon northern migrant. Probably is less than uncommon, at least for me, considering the very few encounters that I had experienced with this attractive plover. One of those encounters (in fact, the very first one) is still fresh in my mind. In my first years of birding (more or less 15 years ago) I had the great opportunity to bird with the charismatic Francisco Delgado (discoverer of the Azuero Parakeet) in his homeland in the Azuero Peninsula. He took me and my good friend Rafael Cortes to several spots in the Herrera province, finding many lifers for me, but the highlight of the trip was a visit to Las Macanas marsh where he just had discovered the first nesting attempt of this species! He showed us the Killdeers, and even showed us the broken egg shells left at a former nest! Since then, I only saw scattered individuals until this past january... I saw loose flocks of Killdeers at three different sites... including my last sighting precisely in Las Macanas marsh (where I took the photo of the flying bird). In fact, they are usually found in flocks in their winter grounds, despite they are lonely birds in their breeding grounds (generally seen singly or in pairs). These sightings are noteworthy considering that I saw none last year, when I was actively searching birds for The 600 Club challenge. For these, and many others reasons, is why we choose the Killdeer as our bird of the month!

Literature consulted:

1. National Geographic Society. Field Guide to the Birds of North America. Second edition (1994).

2. Angehr GR and Dean R. The Birds of Panama. A Field Guide. First edition (2010).

Two rare white birds... and a nemesis

2011-01-30T21:14:00.014-05:00

After a successful morning in Las Macanas marsh, Osvaldo Quintero, Euclides "Kilo" Campos and your blogger host headed to the Aguadulce Salinas (saltponds) around noon, trying to take advantage of the not-so-high high tide. As you can imagine, the place was hot as a boiler, and we only saw scattered shorebirds, mainly Least and Semipalmated Sandpipers plus two Collared Plovers. We also saw a Merlin chasing the shorebirds (making it a five-Falco-falcons-species day) and many herons... but one in the distance caught my attention: it was "dancing". We approached it, confirming it was an immature white morph Reddish Egret, probably the first ever reported for Aguadulce (all others had been dark morphs). We think this is only the third report of the white morph for Panama, with a previous one in El Agallito (Herrera) and the other in Pedasi (Los Santos), both in the Azuero Peninsula. We only stayed enough to take good photos and left the place, finding a big flock of Black-necked Stilts accompanied by five Stilt Sandpipers that probably stayed for the winter (usually only a transient in Panama) at the pond in front of the "Turicentro". We lunched in Penonome, and in the way back to Panama City, tried the spot in Punta Chame where Kilo reported the VERY rare (for Panama) American White Pelican. When we reached the place, we found a big flock of Brown Pelicans... but not the big whites. We stayed for a while, watching a flock of sandpipers and plover that included both Semipalmated and Wilson's Plovers (making it a six-plovers-species day) and an adult male Belted Kingfisher hovering over the water and occasionally plunge-diving. The pond was separated of the sea by a dike, so we decided to check it and the beach. When we started to walk the dike, the Brown Pelicans flew to the beach, leaving the pond. Again, no whites were seen. From the dike, we inspected the sandy beach, finding a Great Blue Heron and several American Oystercatchers. We amused ourselves watching these and many others birds, including Sandwich and Royal Terns, Black-bellied Plovers, and so on... only for insistence we checked back the pond, seeing in the distance two pelicans' silhouettes in a sand bank. Kilo aimed his scope and rapidly confirmed they were THE birds: two American White Pelicans preening and resting!!! They simply materialized there because we didn't see them approaching or flying... and they were exactly were we just checked few minutes before. A HUGE lifer, Kilo's report was only the third for Panama! I got some nice pictures despite the distance.

And what about the nemesis? A nemesis is a bird that, despite all your efforts, you can not find (and everyone ask: how is it possible that you have not found that common bird?). Well, the Striped Cuckoo was Osvaldo's nemesis. Close to Panama City, I suggested to try a spot close to the entrance to Farfan (close to the Pan American Highway). There, I played the cuckoo tape while Osvaldo was setting his camera... and after a few seconds the Striped Cuckoo appeared and perched in the telephone wire for just two seconds! Osvaldo demonstrated why we call him the fastest camera of the west by managing to take three photos of the bird... which is no longer his nemesis. Great way to end a day full of rare birds and lifers!

Not only ducks at Las Macanas

2011-01-29T20:09:00.013-05:00

As I mentioned in my last post, we do not only found ducks at Las Macanas marsh (Herrera province, central Panama) this morning, we (Osvaldo, Kilo, Hector and your blogger host) also found tons of other interesting birds as well. As usual, the place was simply great for raptors, with common species like Savanna, Common Black and Roadside Hawks in the nearby fields, Ospreys and Snail Kites in the marsh. Las Macanas hold a permanent population of these kites (a male in the photo), the only one outside the Canal Area. In the way to the marsh, we also saw Peregrine, Aplomado and Bat Falcons, plus Yellow-headed and Crested Caracaras (also falconiformes). The other group well-represented are the waders... we saw ALL the egrets (except Reddish), plus Great, Little Blue and Tricolored Herons, and two Black-crowned Night-Herons feeding in the open. We also saw some Wood Storks flying, tons of Glossy Ibises and several White Ibises as well. The Glossy Ibis breed there, and, despite its commoness, I still need a good photo of it as you can see. Anyway, they are really "glossy" with the adequate light. We walked along the edge of the marsh, out of the visitors area guided by Hector, finding in the way a Mangrove Cuckoo, which seems regular in that site in the right season. We reached an area with hundreds of whistling (and others) ducks, but also some shorebirds, including Least Sandpipers, Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs, Black-necked Stilts and four Killdeers (the third group I found this month... curious considering that I saw none last year). Kilo detected a group of five dowitchers that looked suspicious. In first place the habitat: a freshwater marsh away from the coast. They also exhibited dark gray breasts and, in flight, dark tails contrasting with the white patch on rump and lower back... but more interesting, they emitted a sharp and clear kick! when alarmed (after joining a bigger group of dowitchers looking essentially the same), and the same note in a quick series when they flew away... Long-billed Dowitchers! I'm pretty familiarised with the more musical call of the Short-billed Dowitchers, and these were completely different! A very rare migrant to Panama, and a lifer for two of us (Kilo saw them last year with Hector). All over the place, the Sandwich Terns were from one side to another, checking the ponds, but at this section of the marsh we also saw a flock of eight magnificent Caspian Terns. We saw them perched first, but they didn't allow us to approach them, so I only got flying shots. Anyway, its huge size and coral-red bill make them impressive birds. I'm convinced that Las Macanas is the most reliable site in Panama to find them. It was a good day. After all, for me, a day with a lifer definitively is a good one... but a day with TWO lifers is GREAT! What I'm talking about? Keep reading my next post and you will figure it out!

Ducks hunt!

2011-01-29T20:07:00.019-05:00

Today, I went to Las Macanas marsh (Herrera province, central Panama) with Osvaldo Quintero and Euclides "Kilo" Campos, trying to find some rarities recently reported for the site, specifically two pochard ducks species. Actually, our journey started yesterday, leaving Panama City in the afternoon and stopping in Gorgona where we found the wintering flock American Coots reported elsewhere (yes, the micro black dots in my distant photo of the lake), plus Common Moorhens (Gallinules), a lonely Pied-billed Grebe and an insane number of Least Grebes. Good start (the coots were lifers for Osvaldo). We slept at my house in Penonome, and very early today, we headed to the marsh, picking up in the way our local guide and friend Hector, of the Grupo Ecoturístico Las Macanas. We started checking the open waters, finding interesting birds, but not the pochards ducks we were looking for. We followed Kilo and Hector suggestion and walked to the other side of the marsh, which proved to be a good idea: the place was loaded in hundreds(probably thousands) of birds, specially the abundant Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks. This common species, locally known as "guíchichi", has become the common duck of Panama's ponds, marshes and rice fields. They are immediately obvious by their constant calls and by their flight pattern, with contrasting white wing stripe. We were aware that Las Macanas is, so far, the only site in Panama with a resident population of the rare Fulvous Whistling-Duck, so we started to search the flocks of guíchichis with Kilo's scope... and soon we found at least four of these rarities mixed with the guíchichis. Compared to the guíchichis, the Fulvous Whistling-Ducks are cinnamon-brown with darker backs, no contrasting head, dark beaks and feet, and wide white streaking in the flanks (contra white panel in the closed wings exhibited by the guíchichis). There are three identifiable birds in Kilo's digiscoped photo, can you recognize them? We searched the surroundings, finding not only ducks, but also other birds, including rare ones and a lifer for me (the theme of my next post). Hector found a group of what he called "black little ducks", which we confirmed were four American Coots, a lifer for him! He thought we were kidding after telling him that the coots are related to the Purple Gallinules, so common in the marsh, and are not ducks at all. In the meanwhile, Kilo kept searching the guíchichis flocks... his tenacity was rewarded with a pair of American Wigeons mixed with some Blue-winged Teals in the distance. Both birds were easily recognized by their size (bigger than the teals, the most common migrant duck in Panama), the pale heads and white lower underparts... all these marks are visible in Kilo's digiscoped photo (there is a female Blue-winged Teal to the right of the wigeons). The ducks are not a common element of Panama's avifauna, and to find four different species in the same site at the same time is quite amazing for this country (and we missed other two species!). Good hunt!