Herons at the bay

Some days ago, I stopped at the Panama Viejo mudflats to check the migrant shorebirds and gulls that spent the winter in the site.  However, I was impressed by the number of resident birds present in the area... particularly herons.  The most common were Great and Snowy Egrets.

Great Egret

Snowy Egret

Both species breed in Panama... in fact, notice the bright colors of the bare parts and the elongated plumes in the back of the Snowy Egret pictured above.  However, there are relatively few nesting colonies identified in Panama (heronries).  Another species that breeds in Panama is the Tricolored Heron.

Tricolored Heron (immature)

This individual is an immature due to the rufous tones in its plumage.  I usually see only few individuals of this species in these mudflats.  In the other hand, the Little Blue Heron was very common, both immature and adult birds.

Little Blue Heron (immature) 

Little Blue Heron (adult) 

Curiously, this species is considered a rare breeder in Panama; however, as mentioned earlier, this species is very common and present year-round in our country.  Also present in the mudflats were both Yellow-crowned and Black-crowned Night-Herons.

Yellow-crowned Night-Heron

Black-crowned Night-Heron (subadult)

These birds are more active at night, when those specialized eyes are really useful, but they seemed to be comfortable during daylight as well.  Nice collection of species... add the Green Heron present at the river and the other resident waterbirds like pelicans, cormorants and White Ibises and you get a colorful collage for the site.

White Ibis

In the adequate season, you can also see Cocoi and Great Blue Herons in these mudflats.  In fact, I took the next photo some months ago.

Great Blue Heron

Two or three Cocoi Herons were feeding close to this Great Blue Heron that day.  So, in a good day, you can get nine different species of herons in this site... and you only need to move farther east to get up to four more species (Cattle Egrets, Capped and Striated Heron plus Bare-throated Tiger-Herons are present in the marshes around Tocumen for example)... hmmm, sounds like a challenge!

Riverine birds at Costa del Este

When I go to Costa del Este (Panama City), usually is to check the mudflats and the beach along the "Paseo del Mar" to then move to the grasslands next to this avenue. But last sunday morning, the "Paseo del Mar" was closed to traffic due to a marathon. So, I went directly to the grasslands, finding one Pectoral Sandpiper (more on it in my next post) and two Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks that flew away. Then, I stopped by the bridge over the Matías Hernandez river at the Main Avenue (next to the Police Station). Huge numbers of resident Neotropical Cormorants congregate here to rest at the trees or to feed by diving in these waters. One of them inspected me with its bright-green eyes... I need a closer picture of it.
Also, there was a flock of Black-necked Stilts feeding at a muddy bank... but one of them came closer, allowing photos. This population appears to reside here year-round, but it is not clear if they breed here... yet.

The place is very good for herons too. Several species roost here, like this subadult (and lazy) Yellow-crowned Night-Heron that was trying to hide from me, find some shade, or just was stretching... I guess.

After leaving Costa del Este, I paid a visit to the Panama Viejo Visitors Center where I photographed a Black-crowned Night-Heron (flying again!, but this time closer) and enjoyed the flocks of migrating raptors over the place.

More than shorebirds in Costa del Este

When I mention Costa del Este (Panama City), I'm pretty sure that, at this point, most of you think on shorebirds. Yes, Costa del Este is an excellent site for shorebirds, but you can find other interesting species as well. Yesterday, I found two hard-to-find species within the city limits, considering that both are pretty common just to the east and to the west. The first one was a young (but beautiful) Savanna Hawk in the middle of a grassland. It stayed for a while and then flew to a streetlight post, where an American Kestrel started to attack him (I included it in my "raptors on streetlights" collection).The other species was a Lesser Yellow-headed Vulture. It was eating something in the ground, but I did not figure out what it was.Later, I moved to the Matías Hernández river, which was full of Neotropic Cormorants. I found several Yellow-crowned Night-Herons (I included a photo at my "waders and more waders" post), but also Mangrove (Yellow) Warblers, Eastern Wood-Pewees, an Amazon Kingfisher and a subadult Black-crowned Night-Heron perched in a mangrove tree.It is always nice to find all these birds in the city!

Waders and more waders

How many different herons species can you find in a morning. If you visit specific sites at the Upper Bay of Panama, then the answer is MAAANY! Yesterday, I went with Osvaldo Quintero to the Juan Díaz mangroves, Costa del Este and the Panama Viejo mudflats in a quick succession, twitching the recently reported American Avocet (which we did not find by the way). So, from east to west we got: Great and Snowy Egrets, Tricolored, Little Blue and Green Herons and Wood Stork (not a heron, but a wader too) in Juan Díaz.Cattle Egrets (same birds seen before) and Yellow-crowned Night-Heron in Costa del Este and Cocoi Heron, a Little Blue Heron molting into adult plumage and a Black-crowned Night-Heron (yes, the flying-away bird with the black back) at Panama Viejo (behind the new Visitors Center).Nine species in just two hours. Now, consider that three other species can be expected (Capped, Great Blue and Striated Herons) and you get herons' heaven.

Bonus Long-billed Curlew at the Panama Viejo's Visitors Center, a life bird for Osvaldo (which was a nice surprise for me!).