YES, we are still in Panamá!

Birding takes you to amazing places.  Even if you're birding close to home, you may feel that  you are hundreds of miles away.  Well, I recently had that feeling.  Alfred Raab, an old friend of mine winter-resident of Altos del María (AdM), an exclusive development in the foothills of western Panama province, invited me to bird his domains. He wanted to show me some new year-birds for my Big Year quest and I was not going to refuse it.  So, accompanied by Rolando Jordan, we left Panama City around 5:00 am and spent the next 1.5 hours driving along the dry and hot Pacific lowlands while chatting about the probabilities for the day.  Soon we met Alfred at the entrance of AdM.

Altos del María at 8:40 am

AdM development includes several private neighborhoods with paved roads and all the facilities, well-maintained trails and exuberant green areas.  It spreads from about 350 to up to 1100 meters above sea level, with habitats that includes shrubs and pasture lands, secondary dry forests and primary cloud forest as well.  The latter, being above the 1000 meters mark and near (or at) the Continental Divide, are extremely wet, almost always covered in mist and quite chilly... sure it makes you wonder if you are still in Panama!  Well, of course we headed that way!

Red-faced Spinetail (immature)

The weather is not the only thing making you feel away of your usual birding spot... the birds as well!  Those forests represent the extreme eastern end of the range of several species of the western highlands, like Black Guan, Snowcap, Purple-throated Mountain-Gem, White-tailed Emerald, Black-faced Grosbeak and Elegant Euphonia... but also are home to some other more widely distributed highlands specialties that are nearly impossible to find in other central foothills (like Cerro Campana or Cerro Azul), like Scaled Antpitta, Red-faced Spinetail, Rufous-browed Tyrannulet, Sooty-faced Finch and others.  Some species are extremely difficult to find although, but still the list of possibilities is impressive considering how close to the big city it is and how developed it had become!

Common Chlorospingus ssp. punctulatus

Well, we were amazed by the activity up there... the dawn chorus was in its splendor, including five (5) different wrens species just yards away (Song, Scaly-breasted, Isthmian, Rufous-breasted, Rufous-and-White, White and Gray-breasted Wood-Wrens)!  We even got a new bird for AdM for Alfred (Gray-chested Dove).  However, the mist and rain made us move to a lower section, finding blue skies mere 10 minutes away!  Soon, we started to see flocks of Common Chlorospingus, one of the most conspicuous species in mixed flocks in AdM and represented there by the ssp. punctulatus, once considered a full species ("Dotted Chlorospingus").  The taxonomy of actual Common Chlorospingus is certainly a mess... with several different forms meriting specific status for sure!  Anyway, AdM is probable the best place to watch this form.  Other common foothills/highlands species seen or heard were Green-crowned Brilliant, Green Thorntail, Brown Violetear (lifer for Rolando), Tawny-crested Tanagers, Northern Emerald-Toucanets, White-throated Spadebill (one of my targets) and many more!

Brown Violetear

Northern Emerald-Toucanet

One of the most entertaining areas is Valle Bonito, with its trail to the Continental Divide.  It starts at an artificial lagoon with more open habitat that holds some aquatic species as well.  It is an exclusive area... even AdM residents like Alfred need a written permit in advance to enter the area.  Glad Alfred had it!  It was impressive how different the weather was: sunny and calmed... The walk into the forest produced few species (like Bicolored Antbird and Bronze-tailed Plumeleteers), while the walk around the lagoon produced a handsome Bran-colored Flycatcher showing exactly how bran color looks like!

Bronze-tailed Plumeleteer

Bran-colored Flycatcher

We decided to go back to first site... perhaps it was already clear and sunny as well and we had some targets only found at the wettest parts of the forest.  To our surprise, the place was still foggy and chilly!  We walked some trails adding few new species to our list.  One of these trails get you to a lookout that is good for soaring raptors... but we knew the chances of seeing them were very few due to weather.  Anyway, the sight of the cloud forest from the lookout was impressive.  Moss-covered trees dominated the landscape up there... it looked like another world!

Monte Azul lookout at 2:10 pm

It was a too short day at AdM with Alfred and Rolando.  We ended with more than 90 species in spite of the weather.  To celebrate, we had a quick lunch at a local restaurant accompanying our sancocho (typical chicken soup) with an excellent papaya milkshake.  It was time to go back to the city and to say good-bye to Alfred, not without promising that we will go back after those -few- species that we missed that day.  Happy birding guys!

Alfred, Jan and Rolando.  AdM

It does exist! A forest elf

Some bird species are so rare and seldom reported that you usually don't think on them... even when you visit the adequate habitat, they aren't in your radar and, in fact, you think of them as myths... until you find them!  Osvaldo Quintero, Rafael Luck and I had that experience today in Altos del María, an exclusive development in the foothills of Panamá Oeste province, above the town of Sorá.  The truth is that we were seeking for some rare sparrows reported elsewhere and started checking some open habitats near a park at the valley.  Soon we found common species, like Tropical Kingbirds, Streaked and Social Flycatchers, Palm, Blue-gray, Crimson-backed, Plain-colored, Summer and Hepatic Tanagers, Snowy-bellied Hummingbirds (and a Long-billed Starthroat), Black-throated Green, Rufous-capped and Tennessee Warblers.

female Hepatic Tanager

Long-billed Starthroat

African Tulipan Tree flower (and a Tennessee Warbler too)

Soon we realized that our search was in vain and decided to move to a better area close to the Valle Bonito lake.  One of the best trails in Panama starts there, running along a rushing stream (crossing it several times) and then climbing all the way up to the Continental Divide.

Valle Bonito lake (notice the sidewalk entering the forest)

My friend Alfred Raab, an Altos resident, told me that he had seen one of my nemesis bird along this trail (Dull-mantled Antbird)... my expectations were low... after all, it is my nemesis... and if you think I finally found my nemesis based on the title of this post... then you are wrong.  No, I didn't find the Dull-mantled Antbird... the trail was very quiet and we only found a little mixed flock at the beginning of the trail with some wintering warblers (Blackburnian and Canada), Carmiol's Tanagers, Slate-colored Grosbeaks and a Plain Xenops.

a young Slate-colored Grosbeak

After the 1 km mark on the trail, we flushed from the ground a medium-sized bird that perched at eye-level merely 2 meters from us.  It was in a dark spot, but close enough to see every detail with my binoculars... I could barely believe my eyes: a long-legged, tailless little forest elf... a Scaled Antpitta.  After a few seconds (after recovering from my shock) I was able to show it to Osvaldo and Rafael.  Then, I remembered that I had my camera in hand ... adjusted the setting and took a single photo:

SCALED ANTPITTA!!!

Hey, I know it is an awful photo, heavily edited to at least show the pale moustache and postocular spot, but the general jizz is evident (it looks better if you move away a few steps from the screen).  After all it is my life Scaled Antpitta!  This is a VERY rare species in Panama, and I do not know if it had been recorded before in that area (although the most recent records come from nearby El Valle and Cerro Gaital -you can check the Xenornis reports here-).  Osvaldo managed some shots too, and after editing them, he kindly let me show you one here... so stop hurting your eyes and check this:

Scaled Antpitta

Now that's much better.  This photo shows something we noticed in the field... the clay in its bill.  Was it probably looking for earthworms?  Notice the scaled crown and the tawny underparts.  This is a GREAT lifer, specially considering that I did not see it in places where it is supposedly easier (as in Mindo, Ecuador).  What a great day eh?

PAS Fieldtrip to Altos del María

Last month, the Panamá Audubon Society (PAS) organized the annual fieldtrip to the foothills of Altos del María.  This gated community, located in the foothills of western Panama province, gained relevance few years ago when the birders started to report western species not readily found in the mountains just to the east (Altos de Campana) or to the west (El Valle for example).  Surely it has something to do with the great accessibility to higher and well preserved cloud forests.  Alfred Raab, an Altos' resident, guided a group of 14 PAS members through these forests during this two-days trip.  However, Osvaldo Quintero, Rafael Luck, Itzel Fong and your blogger host only participated the first day.

After meeting in the town of Sora, we followed the group to our first destination, a spot close to the Valle Bonito's gate where we saw/heard some common species.

The Common Bush-Tanagers were, indeed, common.  We crossed several flocks, sometimes mixed with others foothill tanagers, like Silver-throated and Black-and-yellow Tanagers.  The form present there is of the distinctive subspecies punctulatus, recognized by its dark head and brighter orangish breast.  Also notice the distinctive shape of the post-ocular dot.

This Lineated Woodpecker was very cooperative and entertained us while we were waiting for the main attraction.

After some minutes, we found the specialty of the area: at least two males Snowcaps were around, stoping often in some skinny branches too far away for photos, but enough for terrific views through my binoculars.  The white crown is an special feature, readily evident in my poor photo.

We moved to higher forests, around 1000 meters above sea level.  It is obligatory to take a photo with the Picacho peak in the background, as Itzel did with my phone camera.

It was a little cloudy but fresh... and we found lots of activity.  More tanagers flocks, both Thick-billed and Elegant Euphonias, Olive-sided Flycatchers, and one (or more?) Rufous Mourner that seemed to be following us.

Notice how foggy it was in the above photo... however, the weather proved to be quite unpredictable up there.  Two seconds after the above photo the sun showed up (an also the butterflies and moths).

We followed Alfred through some roads and trails.  We crossed a Canopy Lodge birding group and found many others beauties like White-ruffed Manakin, Black-faced Grosbeaks, and even a male Green Thorntail seeking for insects under the leaves of a tree.  Itzel was lucky enough to get some photos that she posted in her blog.  A highlight was a paved trail all the way to the continental divide, where we saw more typical birds... including the local subspecies vividus of Tufted Flycatcher, which is less brightly colored than the subspecies in western Panama (but brighter than the birds of eastern Darien).

This trail runs along a mountain creek and offers the ideal habitat for my nemesis: the Dull-mantled Antbird.  In fact, its spanish name say it so: Hormiguero Guardarribera, with guardarribera meaning something like the one that guards the bank.  A lovely trail for sure!

Guess what!... it is still my nemesis bird in spite of Alfred attempts to lure out one of them. It was a great trip anyway, full of MANY others special birds (including that Orange-bellied Trogon that I missed), but I'll return for my Guardarribera! 

Warblers and Hummingbirds at Altos del María

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?

Visiting Altos del Maria

I just came from Altos del María, a gated community in the foothills of western Panama province that have proved to be a good birding spot. Along with Osvaldo Quintero and Alfred Raab, an Altos' resident who kindly guided us through the area, we explored some nice areas with good access roads and good birds. Alfred was constantly saying that we were lucky because we found a sunny day without fog in the upper part of the housing development (La Rioca), where we walked La Coruña street finding a nice mixed flock right in the entrance, with Silver-throated Tanager and Common (very common) Bush-Tanagers, along with Rufous-capped Warblers (feeding youngs), Tufted Flycatcher, Thick-billed and White-vented Euphonias, at least two Yellow-billed Caciques and an Ochraceous Wren that Alfred immediately recognized by its Winter Wren-like call. A little farther we took a trail that leads to an observation tower, attracted by the frog-like call of two Purplish-backed Quail-Doves that eluded us despite our efforts... but bonus birds were the male Purple-throated Mountain-Gem and a shy Black Guan plus a spectacular view of the Cerro Trinidad in the distance. At the tower, we had a terrific view of the pacific lowlands, and of the forest at the foothills. It is possible to see both oceans in a clear day. We decided to visit some other sites before the fog covered everything. Among other species recorded were White Hawk, Pale-vented Thrush, a bright female Shiny Honeycreeper, Paltry and Southern Beardless Tyrannulets, Yellow-margined Flycatcher, Golden-hooded and Bay-headed Tanagers.

We start to return, stopping at the Styria gate (the "pyramid") from where you can see all the lower valley of El Maria, where the main community is. We found a big group of American Swallow-tailed Kites plus a Short-tailed Hawk soaring in a thermal. You don't very often see these birds at eye level, nor from above, so we enjoyed the sight for a few minutes. Then, we descended to the valley, to Alfred's place. Alfred have done a good job in his property, hanging feeders and making trails that hold many birds. Only in few minutes around noon we saw or heard Rosy Thrush-Tanager, Black-striped Sparrow, Plain, Rufous-breasted and Rufous-and-white Wrens, a nesting Streaked Saltator and Lance-tailed Manakins... all of them typical of drier forest (like the Metropolitan Natural Park here in the city) than the humid mossy-covered forest that we found in La Rioca (which lies over the 1100 meters above sea level and on the Continental Divide). After a quick lunch, we headed to El Valle road (that connects Altos del Maria with El Valle de Anton), but as soon we got to the forest, the rain and the fog showed up. This part of the valley was full of flowering Inga trees that are very good for small hummingbirds (we only saw Rufous-tailed Hummingbirds) Despite our waiting, the rain didn't stop, so we decided to head back to Panama City after a great day in the foothills. Alfred: thank you for everything, I hope to see you soon!