Gulls and Terns by the Beltway

Coastal Beltway

Panama City's waterfront, with its manicured gardens, wide sidewalks and cycleways, sport fields and courts and several other facilities, is a very popular site to spent some time during the weekends.  Today, like every sunday, four lanes of the Coastal Beltway became a huge cycleway (38 kilometers long!) throughout the morning.  I don't bike, but took advantage of the empty sidewalks to take some pictures of the gulls and terns (and other birds) along the route.  The inshore waters were full of pelicans, cormorants and frigatebirds.  I checked a tiny beach close to the Yatch Club, where several gulls and terns (and feral Rock Pigeons) were resting.

Laughing Gull

As you can see, some Laughing Gulls are in complete alternate plumage... it is seen just for a short period of time in Panama... the same applies for alternate Sandwich Terns.

Sandwich Tern

Both species are common year-round in Panamanian coasts, but during the passage period, they become locally abundant.  I really like the light pink tones to the breast of these two species when they are in high breeding plumage... which is seldom seen in Panama of course.  After a while, I noticed another tern species mixed in with the Sandwich Terns.  Structurally very similar, both in shape and size, this individual had a yellow-orange bill:

Sandwich and Elegant Terns

An Elegant Tern!  Notice how similar it is to the Sandwich Tern next to it (thus, quite different to the Royal Tern, also present in the site).  The Elegant Tern is an uncommon and irregular passage migrant in the Pacific coasts of central Panama, with no peak of abundance... but I'm pretty sure that by this time, most of them are farther north on route to their breeding grounds... finding one of them during such a short walk along Panama City's waterfront made my day!

Elegant Tern

Common, as its name suggest

Last week, I wandered around Panama City with my camera and binoculars reaching, eventually, the Coastal Beltway in high tide. The first bird I noticed was a lonely Gull-billed Tern (the whiter tern in Panama), but then I saw many common birds like Laughing Gulls, Royal and Sandwich Terns (black bill with yellow tip, the most common in the place) flying around, but a little flock of medium sized terns caught my attention. Very elegant when flying, with a stylized figure and forked tail, plunging to feed from the surface... Common Terns! Eventually I realized that the site was full of them, even with some individuals resting in the beach! You may ask why I seem to be so excited by a bird with the adjective "common" as part of its name. Because in Panama, this bird is common only during a short period of time, while migrating... and october is the perfect month to see them here. All of them had the winter plumage, characterized by the dark carpal bar at rest, the black cap with white forehead and a characteristic flight pattern. I checked almost all the birds present looking for rarer species, like Forster's or Artic Terns... but all seemed to be Commons. Judge by yourself!

It is always great to find these little guys in the city... a personal addition to the Coastal Beltway list of birds!

Panama City from the Ancon Hill

After my visit to the Metropolitan Natural Park in the morning of november 10th, I went to Panama City's Ancon Hill in the afternoon to visit the main team of counters participating in the "Raptors Ocean to Ocean" of the Panama Audubon Society. I was a 12-years old kid the last time I visited the top of the hill (probably younger, I don't remember well), so it was like a new experience for me. The windy road to the top have just one lane, so you have to wait the signal of the guard at the entrance to go up. I will try that road on foot next time, since it is forested and seemed perfect for migrants. At the top, Ovidio Jaramillo, Juan Pablo Ríos, Euclides "Kilo" Campos and the enthusiastic Laura Reyes were counting each single raptor flying over the hill. Not only that, they were also collecting other data (on weather conditions), compiling the totals and explaining to all the visitors their task and the importance of this little piece of land for the migration of these raptors. I have to say that this is a great work, since many young student visit the hill with their teachers and all seemed astonished with the spectacle and with the explanations. Great work guys and congratulations. At the other hand, the place is very popular because you can get amazing views of the city and surrounds... and I took pictures:

Northwest view: the Centennial Bridge over the Gaillard Cut (the narrowest part of the Canal), with Miraflores and Pedro Miguel Locks in the foregorund (separated by the Miraflres lake).

Southwest view: the "Bridge of the Americas" over the Pacific entrance to the Canal, once the only permanent terrestrial connection between North and South America.

South view: the colonial Panama City (better known as the "Casco Antiguo"), with all its churches and old buildings.

Southeast view: the modern and cosmopolitan Panama City, with its skyscrapers and the Coastal Beltway next to the Pacific Ocean.

If you have a chance to visit this part of the city, took it!

The panamanian flag atop the Ancon Hill.

Magnificents' feeding frenzy

While driving in the Coastal Beltway of Panama City, I was able to see a huge flock of at least 40 Magnificent Frigatebirds flying over the bridge at the mouth of the Mataznillo river, at the easternmost end of the way. I could not resist to stop at a parking lot to inspect the action, just to realize that the frigatebirds were out of control, chasing each other, making all sort of acrobactics, harassing all the other birds at the site (including gulls, herons and pelicans) and repeatedly flying low in order to pick up food from the water with their bills.

If you enlarge the above photo, you could count no less than 15 frigatebirds! All these birds were females (with black heads and white chests) or young birds (with white heads). I saw not a single male in the group. As you can see in the photo (from Farfan beach, at the west bank of the Panama Canal), the males are all dark-coloured, but they exhibit a spectacular red throat sack inflated during courtship displays at their breeding grounds. These are big birds, unique among the seabirds because they never float in the water, nor swim. They are perfect flying machines, covering great distances effortlessly, and the true pirates of the seas, stealing food from smaller seabirds!And they are so agile! I witnessed it during my last pelagic trip, when a group of females followed our boat, maneuvering with spectacular agility in order to catch in the air the sardines that we were throwing to them!

TRULY MAGNIFICENTS!

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!

Black Terns in the Coastal Beltway

Taking advantage of yesterday's high tide, I decided to walk along Panama City's oceanfront in the Coastal Beltway. It is just a 5 minutes walk from my apartment and is a very popular place for jogging or for bicycling while admiring the city skyline or the Panama Bay and all the ships waiting to enter the Panama Canal. Of course, I brought with me my camera and binoculars... just in case. There were not so many people in the beltway, surely because it was around noon in a very sunny (and hot) day and many municipal workers were doing some gardening and maintenance of the installations, which is a good thing. I started in front of the Balboa monument. It is an icon of the city, appearing in many postal cards. Vasco Núñez de Balboa discovered the Pacific ocean (the "South Sea") back in 1513 (september 25th) after a 24-days journey through the wilderness of what is now the Darien province. Many things in Panama are named after him, including our currency and the avenue that runs along the beltway. Despite the hour, almost all of the common urban birds were immediately evident along the beltway, including an absurd number of Ruddy Ground-Doves accompanied by a pair of females Saffron Finches and a pair of Tropical Mockingbirds close to the monument. The Gray-breasted Martins patrolled the air while the House Sparrows sang from the light poles. I started to pay attention to the ocean. Many Sandwich Terns were flying around, accompanied by an occassional Laughing Gull or two. Usually is the only gull species present during the summer (our wet season). Then, I saw a graceful little tern flying very close to the huge boulders that limit the beltway: a Black Tern in winter plumage. Soon, another individual joined the first one in what I think was a kind of circuit, flying from one side to another always to the west of the Yatch Club. I know that some birds stayed during the summer in Panama, but this is the first time that I saw this species away of its ususal migration dates. They were so regular (that is, completing the circuit every each 15 minutes or so) that I was able to sit at the second best spot to photograph them (the first spot was already occupied by a busy couple!). No matter that, they were too fast, so my pics are a little blurry. Anyway, I'm happy because they were my first Black Terns of the year! Since we are in "winter" here in Panama, most of the waterbirds were resident species, including the Neotropic Cormorants resting at the Yatch Club and in the boats, but also Brown Pelicans, Magnificent Frigatebirds and many herons. It is a nice contrast to see all these birds against the modern skyscrapers and the luxurious yatchs. One that was over-wintering was an Osprey, resting atop the main mast of a sailboat. They do not breed in Panama, but you can always find some individuals year-round. Well, nice walk in the beltway, even getting a new bird for my year list!

The Coastal Beltway

Last sunny evening (y'day), I went with Gloriela to the recently opened Coastal Beltway (Cinta Costera). Independently of the controversies, I can't deny that this work has changed the aspect of the city. Is supposed that it will guarantee an efficient solution to the traffic jam on Balboa Avenue but, as you can see in the photo, I think the new four-lane highway soon will not be sufficient. What really I admire is the opening of the public green areas, as well as recreative and cultural areas. We enjoyed seeing families having a walk, people jogging and kids playing basketball along the way. And what about the birds? Despite I only spent 30 minutes, I saw several flycatchers, the omnipresent grackles, a pair of Ruddy Ground-Doves, a female Sporophila seedeater, two Saffron Finches and, of course, all those birds you expect from the mudflats around the Intercontinental Hotel and the Yatch Club (low tide). Let's wait for the migration.