Lifer next door

When many people participate in a massive birding event, as last Global Big Day, it is inevitable that some rare or exotic species will be reported.  While reviewing the Panama numbers (620 species, so far!), I noticed three rare species reported for the Canal Area and Panama City that were potential life birds for me.  One of them was reported very close to my home, in the exposed mudflats of Panama Viejo.  So, taking advantage of my lunch time, I grab my bins and camera and headed that way.  The first thing I noticed was the huge number of migrant Short-billed Dowitchers and Black-bellied Plovers.

Short-billed Dowitchers 

Black-bellied Plovers

I was interested in the peeps that use these mudflats, but most of them were far away following the retiring tide.  Not enough with that, it started to rain and I had to seek refuge in my car several times due to the short showers that prevented me to review thoroughly the flocks.  Well, at least I found the continuing American White Pelican mixed in with the Brown Pelicans (can you find it?).

Brown and American White Pelicans

During one of those moments waiting inside the car facing the mudflats, I noticed a small flock of peeps approaching from the mangrove island.  I hurried to check them.  Initially, nothing out of the ordinary.  Then, one of the peeps caught my attention.  The flock included both Western and Semipalmated Sandpipers... but one of them looked "wrong".

A Western/Semipalmated Sandpiper and a...

The birds flew closer and I was able to relocate the bird, this time it was close enough to confirm my initial suspicion: a White-rumped Sandpiper!!!

White-rumped Sandpiper

Notice the slender profile due to its long wings and the more angled position while feeding compared to the other peeps.  I also noticed that the wing tips crossed each other after passing the end of the tail and the finely streaked breast and flanks.  I know these are awful photos... but it is a rare passage migrant in Panama, and a lifer for me (did I mention that already?).  The flock only stayed for less than 5 minutes in front of the Visitors Center before flying away.  When leaving, I managed some last shots of my lifer:

White-rumped Sandpiper

White-rumped Sandpiper

Any doubt?

Gabrielle's first Christmas Bird Count

Today we participated in the Atlantic Christmas Bird Count organized by the Panama Audubon's Society (PAS)... and "we" includes my wife Gloriela and my two years-old Gabrielle.  We woke up very early in the morning and took the highway all the way to Galeta Point, in the Galeta Island Protected Area.  There, we met with a group of biology students and their professors who volunteered to participate with us.

After organizing the group, we went to the coastal habitats looking for shorebirds and seabirds.  The activity was pretty low in that matter, probably this American Crocodile had something to do with the lack of shorebirds?

The truth is that I really like Galeta.  Is quiet and scenic, with nice Caribbean beaches and a northwest breeze that keeps everything fresh.  The only shorebirds in the area were the Black-bellied Plovers resting at the breakwater.

However, after a persistent search at every corner of that coast, we found a lonely Ruddy Turnstone resting nervously.

We decided to sit and wait.  Gabrielle seemed to be enjoying the trip a lot!

While Gabrielle was playing with the pebbles at the beach, a small tern appeared over the sea accompanying a pair of larger Sandwich Terns.  The red feet, dark carpal bar and dark wedge to the upperwings confirm the ID: a Common Tern, a rarity for the count.

My distant shot is only for documenting the sighting... at least in this one the red feet are obvious.  By the end of the day, we counted 82 species... not bad at all, including this cooperative Broad-winged Hawk in the way out.

Nice day in the Caribbean coast!

Tight together by the tide

Last friday 16-feet tide was high enough to push all the shorebirds of Panama Viejo to a tiny piece of beach close to the road. When I got to the place, it was raining so I started to watch them with my binoculars, waiting for the rain to stop. I noticed a plump-shaped shorebird accompanying the flock of peeps, evidently larger than them and looking quite similar to a dowitcher, except for its short bill... it also behaved different. A closer look revealed it to be a basic-plumaged Red Knot, which is not often found there. The rain stopped so I left the car and started to approach the birds. The knot did not stay, but all the others shorebirds did, including the flock of Short-billed Dowitchers. I usually don't have these close encounters with the dowitchers, so I took all the photos I could, including the molting individual that still was exhibiting some juvenal feathers at the coverts and the tail (the third photo).But definitively, the main show was protagonized by the three peeps species. I have to say that in Panama, these birds show their alternate plumage just for a brief period of time. The Least Sandpiper is, perhaps, the most easily identified, with its yellow legs, the thin bill and darker back. The size per se is not a good field mark as you can see in the next photo. Also, they usually like to wander close to the grassy coast and to the mangroves, instead at the extensive tidal flats like the other two species.In basic plumage the Western and Semipalmated Sandpipers are very difficult to distinguish. The main field marks are bill lenght and shape. Other field marks, like body shape, grade of facial contrast and vocalizations are not easy to determine under usual viewing conditions. Even with close and careful observations, many sandpipers will be left unidentified. I can id for sure the extremes... that is, long-billed females Westerns' (almost always with an evident dropped tip of the bill) and short, straight-billed males Semipalmateds'. For example, the next three photos are Western Sandpipers (the last two photos of a juvenile molting into basic-plumaged adult?).And the next ones are of a Semipalmated Sandpiper.Bear in mind that both species can show the rufous tinge to the scapulars, so it is not a good field mark in Panama. That day, it seemed that most of the peeps present were Western Sandpipers.
The peeps were all tight together in the same flock, with the dowitchers and some plovers, specially Wilson's and Semipalmated Plovers, with few basic-plumaged Black-bellied Plovers among the multitudes.

In general, the big shorebirds were apart of the peeps. The exception were the Willets... they looked immense compared to the peeps surrounding them.

But my favorites were the Marbled Godwits. That bubblegum-pink bill is unreal.

Well, a typical day at the Panama Viejo's mudflats!

At the nearest beach

If Costa del Este and Panama Viejo are close to our apartment, then thePanama City's Coastal Beltway is at our backyard! I almost forgot that there is a tiny sandy beach in its eastern end (by the mouth of the Matasnillo river, in Paitilla), so I decided to check it this morning during high tide. It proved to be a good idea, since I found an amusing flock of twelve Sanderlings running from one side to another, never getting its feet wet! They were not alone... with them were at least six Semipalmated Plovers (three of them in the picture) and four Ruddy Turnstones (two of them still wearing most of its colourful alternate plumage). Notice how the Sanderling and the basic-plumaged turnstone are well-adapted to its wintering grounds, looking similar to the sand, the coloured pieces of shells and the pebbles of the beach.In the list of species represented by only one individual I got a Black-bellied Plover, a Willet, a Whimbrel and a Spotted Sandpiper still wearing some spots.Not bad for the nearest beach to home!

Waiting the Mega Flock

Yes... I know is still september but I was hoping to find earlier this year the mega flock of migratory sandpipers. Every year, a huge number of sandpipers (mostly Western and Semipalmated) spent the winter in Panama's Upper Bay, most of them arriving in october. It is the best month to look for vagrants among the thousands of peeps. Anyway, I tried yesterday the usual spots (Costa del Este and Panama Viejo) finding only the usual suspects (Black-bellied Plovers, Whimbrels, Willets, Black-necked Stilts, Greater Yellowlegs, and few Semipalmated and Western Sandpipers) in Costa del Este. My heart accelerated for a second when I saw a peep with an unusual rusty back (thinking on a MUCH rarer Stint or something like that) but otherwise identical to the accompanying Western Sandpipers. It was a lot of fun to watch the noisy Spotted Sandpipers doing nothing else but to chase each other... when do they eat? Of course, there were hundreds of residents birds, including pelicans, egrets and cormorants in the beach. In Panama Viejo I saw again the Gull-billed Terns and the adult Ring-billed Gull among the Laughings close to the Visitor Center, but the sandpipers were too far away even for my binoculars. Well, I suppose that I must be kept waiting.