At the highlands with family and warblers!

Taking advantage of one of these long weekends, I went with my extended family to spent some time relaxing in the highland town of Paso Ancho, close to Volcán, in Chiriquí province.  Although not a birding trip, I still enjoyed some resident and migrant warblers that call the highlands their home.  We spent most of the days at a comfortable cabin watching the children playing in the garden, grilling on the barbecue or just chatting.

Gabrielle and her cousins, Ana, Givellis and Kevin

Right at the garden, some common species showed up, including Blue-gray and Flame-colored Tanagers, Yellow-billed Siskins and Rufous-collared Sparrows.  However, I was interested in some common migrant warblers.  The first one spotted was the Wilson's Warbler.

A very bad shot of an adult male Flame-colored Tanager... this bird is well-named!

Adult male Wilson's Warbler

This is the most common warbler wintering in the highlands, found essentially everywhere!  The black cap is characteristic of the adult males... but the bright overall yellow coloration is enough to ID this species.  Then, I spied two other migrant species.  These were working the non-native pine trees next to the property.

Black-throated Green Warbler

Black-and-white Warbler 

As you can see, both the Black-throated Green and the Black-and-white Warblers (both females) were close enough to snap a shot... something quite hard with these restless birds.  We call the latter species the "Creeper Warbler" due to its unique habit of climbing trunks, sometimes upside down, very creeper-like.  The Black-and-white Warbler is very common during the winter through all Panama.  At the other side, the Black-throated Green Warbler is also common during the winter, but only at the highlands; however, it is a frequent passage migrant in the rest of the country.  Both these species are, in fact, more common and widespread than some resident species.  One morning, I went with Gloriela to the Macho de Monte canyon, at the foothills below Volcan... there, we saw one of these resident warblers... the smart Buff-rumped Warbler.

Buff-rumped Warbler

Buff-rumped Warbler

In comparison with the typical and familiar warblers, this species exhibit a different behavior.  It is terrestrial, always found close to water... usually rushing streams, flicking its expressive tail from side to side.  Certainly the Macho de Monte canyon is a great place to find this species... and a nice touristic attraction too!

Macho de Monte canyon

The Buff-rumped Warbler was not the only river-dweller bird we saw that morning.  A Spotted Sandpiper and a pair of Black Phoebes were present too.  In previous visits we had seen Torrent Tyrannulets and American Dippers as well!

Spotted Sandpiper and Black Phoebe

Black Phoebe

Well, a trip to the highlands is always a nice trip.  Of course, we ended it with the traditional stop at the dessert shop to enjoy some sweet strawberries with cream!

Gabrielle, Gloriela and... strawberries!

Weekend at the highlands. Part I

Yeap! We saw the chance, and we took it. After attending an appointment in Penonome last friday, we decided to drive farther west to the Chiriqui highlands (western Panama) to see what we can get. After a very early start, and after a quick breakfast at Santiago, we reached the Concepcion - Volcan road around 8:00 am. As usual, I decided to stop at Cuesta de Piedra to have a look at the Macho de Monte river. The day was very cloudy and the light awful for photography, but anyway Gloriela and I managed to find some interesting species, including a new year-bird for me and some lifers for her. Probably the most interesting sight was the ocurrence of all the four resident river-dwellers in the same general area: a Black Phoebe (photo of a previous trip), two Buff-rumped Warblers, four (two pairs) Torrent Tyrannulets and an American Dipper. Not only that, we also found a Northern Waterthrush and a Spotted Sandpiper working at the same rivers... making the place very productive. We saw other species as well, including my year Yellow-bellied Flycatcher (lifer for Gloriela) and a Blue-crowned Motmot of the ssp lessoni. This is the first time I see this form since its recognition as a valid species by the AOU's South America Classification Committee (SACC) under the name of Blue-diademed Motmot... a change not yet recognized by the North America Committee (neither by the Panama Audubon Society -PAS). Anyway, this motmot was very shy. We checked all the distinctive field marks (including its general greener coloration, specially to the underparts) except its vocalization. When I fot closer in order to take a picture, the motmot concealed itself behind the leaves! Well, we left the place and headed to Volcan, where we got a room in town. For the afternoon, we decided to walk the road to El Respingo, above Cerro Punta. The weather did not improve, so we were accompanied by a light rain almost all the way up. By the entrance we found a mixed flock with Sooty-capped Bush-Tanagers, Black-cheecked Warblers and my year Philadelphia Vireo (plus Yellow-winged and Brown-capped Vireos too). Next to them, a Long-tailed Silky-Flycatcher was eating some berries, not paying attention to us. Higher on the road, another mixed flock brought to us a cooperative pair of Collared Whitestarts, a Slate-throated Whitestart as well, two Ruddy Treerunners, an Spot-crowned Woodcreeper, a Yellowish Flycatcher, more Black-cheeked Warblers and a beautiful Flame-throated Warbler. Not far from us, at the edge of a big clearing, a handsome Black-capped Flycatcher was quietly perched on some bushes. It was a lifer for Gloriela and only my second time ever (so, it was a year-bird for me). For an Empidonax flycatcher, it is very distinctive! After 1.5 hours climbing, we finally reached the Respingo rangers' station, at 2500 meters above sea level. The smiley park ranger welcomed us and showed us the place, which have all the facilities for staying during a night or more. After paying the entrance fee, we walked a little around the station finding Yellow-thighed Finches, Black-and-yellow Silky-Flycatchers, tons of Band-tailed Pigeons, a flock of Sulphur-winged Parakeets perched (lifer for Gloriela) and a pair of Volcano Hummingbirds doing exhibition flights... amazing how fast and high these little birds get during these flights! After enjoying the magnificent view of the Cerro Punta valley from El Respingo, we went down to Volcan to enjoy a well deserved dinner at the hotel. We scheduled a visit to the Volcan lakes for the next morning, so stay tuned!

A Varied Weekend

My vacations have ended, but anyway I managed to have another free weekend. In order to spent it well, I joined Osvaldo Quintero and Rafael Luck in a birding trip to Cocle province last saturday, visiting new sites for Rafael's GPS. We headed to El Chirú, a place that holds some typical lowland species. At the first stop on the road we heard (and eventually saw) a Rufous-browed Peppershrike, the first of many Yellow-green Vireos, a cute Southern Beardless-Tyrannulet and many others. We decided to walk a side road with a plantation of Eucalyptus and other scattered trees in one side, and a open grassland at the other. Soon we heard a loud Bob, Bob-white!!! so we started to search in the surroundings for the hidden singer. After a few minutes we realized that a Crested Bobwhite was calling above us high on a tree (yes, on a tree!). A flock of Brown-throated Parakeets flew around the Eucalyptus, allowing us eventually to spot some couples. The place got hot quickly, so we started to walk back, not before exploring another side road that was seeming promising for raptors, but finding instead a mixed group of birds that included Lesser and Yellow-bellied Elaenias, Plain-breasted and Ruddy Ground-Doves, Panama, Social and Boat-billed Flycatchers, and a Pale-breasted Spinetail. Then, we drove to Juan Hombron, a little to the west and still in the lowlands close to the coast. The agricultural field proved to be very good for raptors. We found White-tailed Kite, Savanna Hawk, Crested and Yellow-headed Caracara and an American Kestrel of the isabellinus race. A bit dehydrated, we drove toward El Valle de Anton to have lunch and to drink some water. Renergized by the drinks and the fresh climate, we decided to bird the entrance to the Gaital Natural Monument... finding much of the same as in our last visit, plus a White-tailed Emerald and a group of Common Bush-Tanagers. We tried to visit Los Llanitos, but the rain ruined our last plan for the day, so we headed back to the city.

But this continues... Next day, very early in the mourning, I met the participants of the PAS fieldtrip to Cerro Azul. The plan of the day was to bird the Río Mono trail, making some stops along the way. In the first stop, we found a pair of Black Phoebes, an uncommon sight in this part of the country. Then, at a viewpoint, we saw a pair of Blue Dacnis from above. Before reaching the entrance of the trail, we found a nice mixed flock with Blue-gray, Palm, Crimson-backed, Bay-headed and Plain-colored Tanagers, Green and Red-legged Honeycreepers, a very cooperative Yellow Tyrannulet, a group of Scaled Pigeons and many more. The trail was steppy, slippery and quiet, through a beautiful forest where we found three different manakins (Red-capped, Blue-crowned and White-ruffed), Short-billed Pigeons, Speckled Tanagers, Wood-Wrens and Stripe-throated (aka Little) Hermits. The rain was threatening to fall above us, so we decide to visit Birder's View, where the Kaufmanns had some snacks and sodas already prepared. The rain forced us to go indoors because the temperature quickly dropped (contrasting with my previous day). It was time to relax, talk with friends and to view the photos captured during the day. When the rain stopped, we decided to make it a day, not before enjoying a Bay-headed Tanager and a White-ruffed Manakin feeding in a little bush right at the entrance of the house. So, it was a varied weekend, with so many habitats, weather, birds and friends.