Ducks at the Marina

After the exciting news of rare migrant ducks in the Chagres river posted by my friend Jose Tejada in the media networks, I went with my friend Rafael Luck to the Gamboa Rainforest Resort's Marina to check them out.  Early in the morning, we inspected the river close to the docks and quickly found some of the species plus two resident ones (Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks and Muscovy Ducks); however, the restaurant, with its balcony overviewing the river (supposedly the best site for spotting the birds), was closed. This young American Crocodile right at the ramp was a nice surprise.

American Crocodile

After recording some common species, we met Rafael Lau and José Soto.  I know José from a while now, he is a chief guide at the resort, and he was planning to see to ducks as well.  He kindly invited us aboard a small boat to explore the shores of the river, in a mini birding-by-boat tour (recommended).  These Mangrove Swallows greeted us while we were leaving.

Mangrove Swallows

And soon we relocate some of the species we already had seen earlier.  Close to the dock, three Blue-winged Teals were accompanied by a Northern Shoveler.  The teals are very common in Panama during the winter (in fact, we saw many more later); however, the shoveler is a rarity down here.

Northern Shoveler and Blue-winged Teals

Northern Shoveler and Blue-winged Teals 

After some photographs, we navigated upriver, dodging the islands of floating vegetation and seeing some common inhabitants of this habitat.  Some aquatic species are specially adapted to walk in this vegetation without sinking.  They have specialized long toes to better distribute their weights.

Wattled Jacana

Purple Gallinule

The Wattled Jacana and the Purple Gallinule are very common there.  Notice the long toes of the gallinule... those of the jacana are even longer!  Notice also de frontal shield these birds exhibit protruding from the base to the upper bill.  Since these birds forage through dense vegetation, this shields may protect their heads and eyes; however, the shape, size and color of these shields are hormone-dependent, so involved in courtship display and territorial defense.  These were not the only birds with frontal shields in the river.  The most common aquatic bird was the Common Gallinule, but we also found some migrant American Coots as well, both species exhibiting frontal shields.

Common Gallinules and an American Coot

American Coots

The American Coot is regular in these waters, sometimes in amazing numbers.  In the rest of Panama is an uncommon winter resident.  However, we were looking for some rarer migrants.  José headed back to the dock, this time we checked the area in front of the restaurant's balcony, which was open and full of birders as well... and for a good reason... three American Wigeons (two hens and a drake) were swimming in front of them!

American Wigeons

Eventually, they flew away.  I managed some flight shots showing the wing pattern, important for the identification of members of this family.

American Wigeon

American Wigeon

Although rare, the American Wigeon has proven to be regular in some sites (usually in small numbers) in recent winters.  However, the next species is both a rare and irregular winter visitor to our country.

Ring-necked Ducks

Ring-necked Duck

Yes, three Ring-necked Ducks were also present, allowing great views and some nice photos.  In these birds notice the peaked head, dark crown, white eye-ring (with faint pale line behind it), pale neck collar and pale ring to the bill.  Other shots showed the pale vertical mark on side of chest.  All these features separate this species from the similar Lesser Scaup hen (we saw a drake Lesser Scaup earlier).  What a nice day!  Seven (7) duck species in a single spot in Panama.  Even though I did not break my personal record of eight species in a single spot for one day (check this post), it remains an extraordinary number for Panama

Gamboa Rainforest Resort

I want to thank José and the Gamboa Rainforest Resort staff for their kindness and availability to show these species in a comfortable way.   In just a couple of hours, we saw and hear 60 species of birds (eBird list here).  Do not miss the opportunity to see these rare species in Panama!   

Ducks fest!

Because a promise is a debt, as I told you in a previous post, we had an extraordinaire day at the marshes east of Panama City a week ago, seeing/photographing eight (8) ducks species!  Ok, it may not sound extraordinaire for some of you... but in Panama, this is simply a mind-blowing number of species.  Not only variety... the numbers were impressive too, just check the next photo of one of the flocks of Blue-winged Teals.

You see, here in Panamá, our bird list includes 16 species of ducks; one is considered extirpated (White-faced Whistling-Duck) while five others are considered vagrants (Comb Duck, Mallard, White-cheeked Pintail, Green-winged and Cinnamon Teals), leaving us with ten species with some kind of realistic (but not optimistic) chances to see in Panamá, since seven are considered rare to very rare, some with connotations like "local" and "irregular".  Guess what, this season, all those ten species had been recorded, and personally I have seen nine already!

Did I mention the numbers?  The above photo shows only a tiny fraction of the huge flock of Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks in the site.  This and the Blue-winged Teals are, by far, the commonest species in Panamá, the ones that we see more often, and both are well-known by the panamanians with names like "guichichi" and "salceta" respectively.  From here, all the next species are considered rare, but you have to agree that if you have seen recently a flock of more than 90 Lesser Scaups, then seeing a dozen or so that day was not unexpected.

Seeing Muscovy Ducks was not unexpected too.  Considered rare, this species is also well-known by the locals (as Pato Real), and, away from Las Macans marsh in Herrera province (central Panama), is the second most often found resident species in Panama (second after the "guichichi").  We saw two females, with little white in the wings and no crests.

And talking about resident species, one of my personal highlight was the female-plumaged Masked Duck that we found (actually twice) in one of the first ponds.  A little far for photos, the bird eventually flew (literally jumping out of the water), showing the white patches in the secondaries to land few feet away to "disappear" within a flock of other species.  Curiously, in the way out, we found a dead bird in the street.  This is only the second time I see this species, so I was really happy without knowing what else to expect.

OK, I was expecting at least one other species, a Northern Shoveler, considering the growing number of reports for this season, including five that we saw recently in Punta Chame, to the west of Panama City.  And we found a single female among a group of American Coots and Blue-winged Teals.  Again, only a distant shot.

From here the things become serious!  Among the hundreds of teals, we recognized larger birds resting with them.  It became evident that the birds were American Wigeons when we saw an adult male, and then another, and another, and then two flying... WOW, I don't know how many, but to be conservative I annotated ten birds (surely an underestimation).

But ten American Wigeons is nothing compare to forty (40!) or more Northern Pintails!!!  The last time I remember a report of this species in Panama was 14 years ago, and then only a pair was seen.  The next photos shows different groups (and I could be underestimating the numbers again, check again the first photo in this post).

So you can imagine my surprise when we saw this flock?  Not only that, this duck is elegant, beautiful, very rare and was a LIFER!!!  What a crazy day!

Birding the marshes. Part I

Last saturday, I joined Osvado Quintero early in the morning to explore some marshes to the east of Panama City where someone told us that he was seeing "clouds" of duck every morning since a while. Intrigued, we followed the directions and eventually found the site, surprisingly next to a huge urban development and a neighborhood.  Our first sight: CLOUDS of Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks darkening the sky... amazing!

If you have the time (and patience) to count the dots, no less than 1500 birds are present in that photo... and this was only part of one of the flocks!  Eventually, we saw and photographed eight (8) ducks species that morning, definitively a record for Panama (but more about that in another post).  Quantity and quality, everything was exaggerated.  For example, we saw tons of American Coots, just the next photo shows more than 20!

Or the absurd numbers of Cocoi Herons and Wood Storks all over the place, but specially in a big pond where I took the next photo (just half of the pond in this photo).

We also recorded Great Blue Herons, Great Egrets and Striated Herons, among many others as you can see in the next photo (although I accept comments about the Striated Heron).

Of course, the Pied Water-Tyrant could not be absent.  We were so impressed by the immense flocks of other species that we saw only two of this smart flycatcher.

However, one of the highlights were two (YES, TWO!) Long-winged Harriers.  We saw first a dark bird with the characteristic profile and facial pattern, pale panels in the primaries, white rump band and many white tail bands.  We even managed to take some photos of this individual.  Then, we saw another individual, a brown one with creamy underparts and dark chest, surely a female.

With just a handful of reports, this was exceptionally good... rethinking it, I have been quite lucky with this species, and that day in general will be hard to forget!

A mini twitch

I joined Osvaldo Quintero this morning in order to make a quick twitch to Gamboa town (Colon province, central Panama, merely 40 minutes from home) where a huge flock of Lesser Scaups have been reported recently.  The site was easy... at the resort marina, in the waters of the mighty Chagres river, that ultimately made possible the construction of the interoceanic canal.

In fact, as soon as we got there, we found the birds (and birders/facebook friends too...) quite far away.

I counted at least 92 birds, the highest number of scaups that I have seen so far.  A group of females was closer to shore and allowed some photos.

We didn't see more duck species at the marina, but the river was full of Common Gallinules, including some individuals pretty close to us showing the red of their legs and the lobulated toes.

There where also some scattered American Coots among the gallinules... always a good sight in Panama (as the scaups).

We just spend 20 minutes at the marina... then, we moved to the Gamboa Ammo Dump ponds... but more on that in my next post!

Jan Axel's Blog becomes international... again!

Since the day that I initiated this blog, I only have made one birding trip outside Panama (to Colombia..., my trip to Toronto was not exactly a birding trip). Taking advantage of my vacations, and accepting the invitation made by my good friend Rafael Cortes and his family, I left Panama last march 2nd, heading to northern South America (that's right, Colombia, Venezuela and Ecuador!), stopping at first in Bogotá, Colombia's capital city. After an uneventful flight, the Cortes family received me with their open arms. Rafael didn't want to waste the time and we used the last hours of light to reach some nearby marshes (one hour away), known as the Lagunas de Siecha, within the Chingaza National Park. I understand that we didn't reach the main marshes, but the remanent we birded were full of life, in spite of its nearness to a town. Soon I started to count my first life bird, in the form of an unexpected (for me) Noble Snipe.

The waterfowls were well represented, with many migrant Blue-winged Teals both in the lake as in the marshy grassland, and a pair of Andean Teal discreetly trying to pass unnoticed, but their dark heads were quite apparent. There were many American Coots feeding at the grass, along with two or three Spot-flanked Gallinules that were life birds for me too. They have a disjunct distribution in South America, and at least one of them can be seen in my picture.

Then, we start to look for our main target, the endemic Bogota Rail in the reedbed. We already heard several individuals calling deep in the marsh, and it didn't take too long before Rafael spotted one individual cautiously walking in the edge of the reeds, allowing great views, and I even managed to take a recognizable photo!

We returned to Bogota (a huge city, here a view from La Calera) in order to have dinner and to prepare ourselves for the next day in search of the mythical Cundinamarca Antpitta. In only one hour of full birding, we saw 21 species, with three lifers; and the Bogota Rail was declared the bird of the day!

Post-carnival trip to the highlands. Part III

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).