Assault to the highlands

The highlands of Chiriqui province in western Panama (and all its horde of endemics birds) are too far from Panama City for a weekend trip... unless a VERY rare endemic species becomes common due to a natural phenomenon that occurs only every 15 to 20 years!  Yes, the bamboo is flowering... and many  bamboo-specialist are around!  So, I went with Gloriela in a hurry to the highlands, checking at our hotel in the town of Guadalupe at night this last saturday.  My plan was to walk the road to El Respingo the next day in the morning and then, start the 6+ hours-drive to Panama City again.  It sounded good... except the part of "walking" all the way up to El Respingo.

Yes, all the way up!

However, before getting into bed after a long drive, I contacted my friend Ito Santamaría (who is an experienced guide resident of Guadalupe) with the intention to settle unfinished business.  Somehow, after all this years visiting the highlands, one species still eludes me: Dusky Nightjar.  Endemic to Costa Rica and Panamá, Ito knew a reliable spot to find him... just few steps from his house.  So I followed him in the dark and started to search.  After a little bit of playback, a majestic male showed up allowing great views... taking a photo was difficult due to light conditions... and this was my best shot:

Dusky Nightjar

Notice the conspicuous white corners to the tail and dark rufous plumage.  What a great start!  The next morning, after taking our breakfast, we headed to El Resingo.  As planned, we parked the car where the asphalt ends and started to walk.  Quickly, we recorded several species, like Resplendant Quetzals, Mountain Thrushes, Barred Parakeets, Collared Whitestart, Chestnut-capped Brush-Finch, Fiery-throated Hummingbird, Yellow-thighed and Large-footed Finches (the last three endemics to Costa Rica and Panama).

Fiery-throated Hummingbird

Large-footed Finch

As we climbed, we started to notice the flowering bamboos and the singing birds.  At first, some stayed high in the bamboo... in fact, the few Slaty Finches that we saw never approached closely...and I only got this photo of a singing male.

Slaty Finch

But then, the buzzy calls of our target became more and more common... and it was evident that the place was invaded by Peg-billed Finches!  This species is kind of irruptive in Panama... only present associated with flowering bamboo in most cases, and this was not the exception!

Peg-billed Finch

At first, we only got distant shots, like the above showing well the bamboo... but eventually, we got better views and I even managed to record the call with my cell phone.  The distinctive pointed, bicolored bill is evident.

Peg-billed Finch

Close to the entrance of the rangers' station at El Respingo, we saw a pair of Peg-billed Finches carrying nesting material into a rock crevice at no more than one meter from the ground.  The male regularly perched in a sunny spot, where I got this photo:

Peg-billed Finch

I don't know if there are nesting records from Panama... we didn't want to disturb the pair, so we left the birds in peace.  Although the drive to Panama City was tiring, we were both happy with our lifers!  I don't know how long is going to last this Peg-billed Finches invasion... but if you still need to see this Costa Rica/Panama endemic then what are you waiting for?

Target Birding: Silvery-throated Jay

Some years ago, a good friend of mine, Rafael Cortés, introduced me to the "target birding".  The concept, that he learned from the late Jesús Estudillo López, consists in selecting a list of interesting bird species, either by their beaty or rarity, and then organize specific field trips in order to find those species.  In this way, many other unexpected species will show up while you're looking for the desired one!

Why this introduction?  Well, because the bigger your life list, the harder it is to get new lifers... and my Panama life list is quite long by now!  So I made my wish-list and, in order to find the first species, I organized a quick trip to the western highlands of the Chiriqui province... specifically, to the agricultural town of Cerro Punta (pictured above).

There, my objective was the Silvery-throated Jay.  This species is endemic to the highlands of Costa Rica and Panama.  In Panama, is very local... restricted to real primary forest above the town and so far only recorded (at least recently) along the famed Los Quetzales trail... entering through El Respingo rangers station.

El Respingo

A local guide and friend of mine, Ito Santamaría, helped me in my quest.  He knew exactly the right place where we could see our goal: a site known as Respinguito, about 2500 meters above sea level and two hours away of El Respingo.

Oh yeah!  There is the "Respinguito"

We saw some common species along the trail... but we were focused in the jays.  After more or less two hours climbing up and down through a lush montane forest, we finally reached the Respinguito.  Almost immediately, Ito heard the characteristic calls of a group of these jays.  The birds were working above the tall canopy, allowing only few glimpses... eventually, I got one individual in full light showing its conspicuous silvery throat and eyebrow and the metallic blue shine to the body... simply spectacular!

Eureka!,  Silvery-throated Jay!!!

The place was pretty dark for photos... and I only managed some record shots.  Actually, the two photos I'm  presenting here are the best ones.  Notice how slaty this species looks according to light conditions.  The birds turned out to be very curious... they (at least 10 noisy individuals) came closer to inspect Ito's pishing!

We stayed in the site for some 30 minutes, completely surrounded by the jays.  In one occasion, we were seeing one individual inspecting a little twig when a worm fell out to the ground.  The jay immediately followed it, landing just three feet from me!  What a great way to get a lifer!  

Western highlands' endemic empids and pewees

The highlands of Costa Rica and western Panamá are a high endemism area for birds (and other wildlife), as we verified in our last trip to the Chiriquí highlands of western Panamá.  As you may guess, I'm going to write only about a though group of flycatchers, often hard to identify: empids (Empidonax ssp) and pewees (Contopus ssp).  Curiously, the next highlands endemics are very distinctive, easily recognizable... nothing to do with the northern species of impossible look-alikes!

See what I mean?  This handsome flycatcher is the Black-capped Flycatcher, found usually very high in the mountains.  Not the best photo, but the bird is gorgeous anyway.  Usually, you get more distant looks, like the one I got in my last trip above El Respingo of a bird perched and vocalizing high on bamboo.

The next species is distinctive in range.  The Dark Pewee is, certainly, very similar to other species both to the north and the south, but you can id it only by range.  No other pewee species in Panama (or Costa Rica) is as uniformly dark and large as this one.

A very typical pewee species, it always is found perched on an exposed high branch, waiting for the insects to pass... then catching them with a short fly and returning to the same branch.  This is a common sight in Chiriquí highlands... not like our next species:

Right!  The Ochraceous Pewee is a genuine rarity in the panamanian part of its range, found only in some very specific sites... absent in most of the apparently perfect suitable habitat up there.  Our guide, Ito Santamaría, heard and then attracted this couple to mere 3 meters from us at Los Quetzales cabins inside La Amistad International Park.

They were lifers for me and for Osvaldo Quintero (who first saw the birds just above our heads), a lifer that I will never forget!

Raptors high above

A curious thing about our last trip to the Chiriqui highlands in western Panamá last month was the great number of raptors that we saw up there, most of them migrating.  Starting at the foothills with Barred Forest-Falcons, Yellow-headed Caracaras and Roadside Hawks, the variety was quite good.  Can you id the raptor in the next photo?

Once in the highest part, at El Respingo, above 2550 meters above sea level, we witnessed a spectacle: hundreds of migrant Swainson's and Broad-winged Hawks flying back to North America above our heads.  By far the highest number of Buteos I had ever seen in the highlands.

That's because, usually, the only Buteo we see in the Chiriqui's highlands is the resident race of Red-tailed Hawk.  This bird in particular was far away... so we weren't able to check all the field marks... but considering that migratory races of this species are rare in Panamá, we assume that this one belonged to our residents.

Little before that, we witnessed an uncommon migrant raptor, an adult Sharp-shinned Hawk, fiercely chasing a Wilson's Warbler.  I mention this because when we were trying to decide where to have lunch, I saw a raptor elevating in a thermal just in front of the hotel in Guadalupe.  At first sight, I thought it was an immature Sharp-shinned gaining height... but it was apparent that this bird was larger and bulkier.  I took a couple of shots... look at them and let me know what you think.

All the photos show the typical Accipiter shape, with long tail and relatively short wings... but all my photos show the rounded tip to the tail, a field mark for Cooper's Hawk, a vagrant to Panamá, with only some records.  Anyone agree?

A mix of widespread and endemic birds

Western Panamá highlands form part of the Talamanca range, a well-recognized endemic bird area shared with Costa Rica, and a birding trip to this part of Panamá always is full of a great diversity of both Talamanca endemics and more widespread species.  During our last incursion to the highlands, Osvaldo Quintero, Rafael Luck, your blogger host and our guide, Ito Santamaría,  experienced this diversity.  We visited the Bajo Frío area, above Cerro Punta, looking primarily for quetzals (and we eventually saw and photographed them) and finding tons of birds in the way, starting with some common, widespread species.

See what I mean?  Who can't recognize an Acorn Woodpecker?  This clown-faced birds are quite noisy and conspicuous, a common sight in this part of the country.  And talking about common sights, nothing is more common in the highlands than Mountain Elaenias.  This species is found from northern Central America to northern South America.

While looking for quetzals, a covey of Spotted Wood-Quails started to sing close to us.  Ito attracted them with a recorded tape.  Eventually, we got amazing looks of several individuals, but capturing a photo is another theme.  These wood-quails are found from southern Mexico to western Panama; in fact, I have seen this species in Costa Rica as well.

As we moved to higher slopes, along the road to El Respingo, the avifauna changed, and we started to find Talamanca's endemics birds..., like this cooperative Black-cheeked Warbler, part of a flock with five or six birds foraging low in the understore.  This one was taking a sunbath!

There are too MANY endemic birds in those mountains, so I'm only showing a few... in this post of course.  However, we found the next two endemics high at El Respingo, in spite of the weird sign (as I said before, "beware of dog" is not enough in Chiriquí):

"No trespassing, tiger running free"

The Fiery-throated Hummingbird is a specialty of these high altitudes.  The "fiery" throat is hard to see (and this bird liked to stay in dark places), but the tiny white post-ocular spot and the blue tail are good marks.

Also endemic, the Volcano Hummingbird is a tiny gem.  This male was making impressive aerial displays.  The pointed throat usually looks dark, but in the right angle, it glows in an splendid purple tone!

Stay tuned for more highland specialties in the next posts!

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!

Going to the West

In spite of being a small country, Panama possesses five Endemic Bird Areas (EBA's) according to BirdLife International. That means more endemics birds in a little container. That's why I drove almost 2000 km in an extendend weekend (since thursday) with Gloriela to visit the western part of the country (Chiriqui and Bocas del Toro), passing through three different EBA's. Though the Panamerican highway runs along the historical limits of the South Central American Pacific Slope EBA, now what's left is only very degraded habitat in the lowlands, except for some isolated sites. However, is good for raptors. Only along the stretch of highway between Chame and Santiago we saw three different vultures species; Pearl and White-tailed Kites; Savanna, Roadside, Short-tailed and Common Black Hawks; Crested and Yellow-headed Caracaras; Bat and Aplomado Falcons and even two American Kestrels (hard to see details of the crown and chest at 80 km/hr). After a few stops in the way, we arrived to Paso Canoa, in the border with Costa Rica, and headed south to Puerto Armuelles to check the Progreso and Esperanza marshes described in the book Where to Find Birds in Panama (Angher, Engleman & Engleman 2006), finding only Cattle Egrets. We headed back to Concepcion and, eventually, Volcan and Cerro Punta, but the heavy rain and the fog prevented us to do any birding that afternoon. We stayed at the modest Cerro Punta hotel. Friday's morning was sunny, allowing us to bird the road to El Respingo above Cerro Punta, and to visit Finca Dracula in the morning. The first birds of the day were the familiar Rufous-collared Sparrow and the Mourning Doves (we started very early as you can see in the photo). A pair of Black Phoebes were working at the hotel's garden, and flocks of Band-tailed Pigeons flew over us. Then, at the entrance of the Respingo road, a female Resplendent Quetzal welcomed us with a group of Black Guans. More or less at the middle of the road, we found a big mixed flock with Sooty-capped Bush-Tanagers, Ruddy Treerunner, Streak-breasted Treehunter, Yellow-thighed Finches, Ruddy-capped Nightingale-Thrush and Collared Whitestart that delighted us for an hour or so, allowing me to take some pictures. Back to Guadalupe, we had brunch in a little restaurant with Stripe-tailed Hummingbirds and Slaty Flowerpiercer out in the garden. We decided to spent the rest of the morning at the Finca Dracula. They have an incredible orchid collection, making them 7th in the world! We took the orchid tour and learned a lot about these marvelous flowers, saw the world's smallest orchid and all the different Dracula sp. that grow in their grounds, among others (hundreds of them, the finca houses 2200 species from all over the world!!). The orchids aren't the only reason to visit Finca Dracula. Being adjacent to La Amistad International Park, and the several bird feeders in their ground (fruit, seed and hummingbird feeders) make this place excellent for birding. In fact, we saw or heard many birds there, including the regular Slaty Finches, Silver-throated & Flame-colored Tanagers, many hummingbirds, and even a Red-tailed Squirrel on a banana feeder. We spent several hours in this place, crossing the sidewalks, taking pictures and watching birds. For the evening, we descended to Volcan and took the road to Santa Clara. It was devoid from birds, maybe because of the time of the day (it was hot). We reached the frontier town of Rio Sereno where we don't last much. Back in Bambito we had our dinner in an argentine grill and called it a day. Time to sleep because next day's plan included to drive over the Continental Divide to Bocas del Toro!