More birds this 2016!

It is not a secret that I'm an avid birder... but during the last years my birding activities have dropped a little bit due to "lack of time".  The truth is that you don't need to organize a one-week expedition to exotic forests or mountaintops to watch birds... you can bird everywhere, anywhere!  One of my new year resolutions is to "watch" more birds... more accurately, to record more birds.  So far, I'm recording everyday the birds that I see from my home and from the office... and I have even taken the time to go to hotspots within Panama City, like Costa del Este and Panama Viejo.  In fact, today was the third day in a row visiting the mudflats and mangroves of Panama Viejo (at Panama City's waterfront).

Ruins, skyscrapers and birds mix in Panama Viejo

How can I ignore that?  This place holds a bird list of more than 270 species, with some rarities regularly recorded.  These last days, the place was filled with tons of Laughing Gulls and some shorebirds (godwits, willets, whimbrels, dowitchers and black-bellied plovers, among others).  A closer to look to the flock revealed some Franklin's Gulls too... and a Ring-billed Gull too!

Franklin's Gull

Ring-billed and Laughing Gulls

As I have mentioned on other occasions, you can expect only one gull species in Panama: Laughing Gull... so, three species is not bad at all.  But after checking eBird, I knew that at least two other species have been reported from the same site recently.  The next two days produced both of them... a first-year Herring Gull flying away and an adult Lesser Black-backed Gull today.

Herring Gull

Lesser Black-backed and Laughing Gulls

Rare species so close to home... priceless.  Of course, more widespread species were present too, like cormorants, pelicans, frigatebirds, lapwings and many more... ah, and don't forget the American White Pelican that continues wandering around!

American White Pelican

So, this year I hope to watch more birds, use more eBird, get some lifers and add some new species to the Panama list this year... ambitious?   I don't think so!

Five gulls species in Panama Viejo!

If you already read my last entry about gulling in Panama Viejo, then this entry will remind it a lot... except for one thing: yesterday, I saw five (5) instead of four different gulls species in Panama Viejo!  Yes, I went to Panama Viejo after receiving reports of a huge flock of Sandwich Terns resting in the area.  As soon as I get there, I noticed the huge flock... simply amazing.

Most of these birds were Sandwich Terns and Laughing Gulls in many different ages of course.  There were some Royal and Gull-billed Terns mixed in as well.  The Gull-billed Terns are very elegant... picking up food from the water surface... not plunge-diving as many other terns species.

Laughing Gull... any guess about its age?

Gull-billed Tern

Soon I found some Franklin's Gulls among the Laughings... only three of them... all were first-winter birds recognized by its smaller size, stocky look, half black hood with prominent broad eye crescents and white outer tail feathers (conspicuous at flight).

Franklin's Gull, 1st-winter

The third and fourth species were a first-winter Herring Gull and an adult Lesser Black-backed Gull... both continuing birds in these mudflats.  Both were far away for good photos... these are only record shots.  Notice the pale inner primaries of the Herring Gull and the bright yellow legs of the sleeping Lesser Black-backed Gull.

Herring Gull, 1st-winter

Lesser Black-backed Gull, adult

At this point, I was happy with my four gulls... certainly, I was not expecting another species.  So, when I saw this gull among the Laughing by the creek I got excited:

Ring-billed Gull, 1st-winter

Ring-billed Gull, 1st-winter

The Ring-billed Gull is regular in low (very low) numbers along central Panama's coasts, specially in the Pacific side.  Panama Viejo is a regular site, but my last bird there was many years ago.  Five gulls for the day!  Trust me or not, that was not the only highlight of my visit to Panama Viejo... the other was to meet Kevin Zimmer who was leading a VENT tour at the place.  I know him as a member of the South American Classification Committee (SACC), which I follow avidly, but who has not heard about this celebrity of the Neotropical birding?  Even with his experience birding in our country, that day Kevin got a new species for his Panama list: the American White Pelican that decided to winter  on our shores this season!  Great day in Panama Viejo!

American White Pelican

More rarities showing up in Panama Viejo!

The mudflats and mangroves of Panama Viejo (Panama City) are exceptionally good for shorebirds and other water birds.  The list of specialties and rarities found in this site is quite extensive... and this season, many have been reported so far.  After seeing several reports of rare gulls in the social media, I did a quick visit some days ago.  As soon as I get to the site, I checked the huge flock of Laughing Gulls resting in the mud behind the Museum and Visitor center... and this guy immediately caught my attention!

Herring Gull (1st winter) with Laughing Gulls

The immense size and brownish plumage of this first-winter Herring Gull made it very conspicuous among the Laughings.  It moved occasionally to preen, paying little attention to the surrounding gulls.

Laughing and Herring Gulls (1st winter)

Except for one.  I noticed that this Herring Gull started to walk towards a sleepy gull in the middle of the flock... I thought it was a random gull, but a closer look revealed its yellow legs and bill.

Laughing, Lesser Black-backed and Herring Gulls (and two Sandwich Terns)

Yes, an adult Lesser Black-backed Gull was hanging around too!  Both species are rare, but regular, winter visitors to Panama, an any of each can make your day... but both of them in the same frame?  Simply great!  The Lesser Black-backed Gull was not comfortable with the closeness of the gull, so it walked away from it ... approaching me and allowing some nice shots.

Lesser Black-backed Gull

Three gulls species was not bad... so I started to search the flock looking for another different species.  Eventually, I saw a distant adult Franklin's Gull flying by the mangrove island.  I took some record shots.

Franklin's Gull (winter adult)

Four species in a single spot in Panama... that is remarkable.  However, my personal record is SIX species in Costa del Este some years ago (all these plus Kelp and Ring-billed Gulls).  I don't know if more species have been seen the same day in a single site for Panama, but both Costa del Este and Panama Viejo seems to be very special places for this to happen, specially if you consider that other species have been reported in these sites (Black-legged Kittiwake, Belcher's, Gray, Gray-hooded, Bonaparte's and Sabine's Gulls).  So... want to break this record?  Check the mudflats at Panama Viejo!

Brown and American White Pelicans

P.D.: Bonus American White Pelican still at the rocks behind the mangrove island!

Brown and American White Pelican

Vagrant gulls still in Panama Viejo!

Just in case, the Bonaparte's Gull reported wintering in the area of Costa del Este/Panama Viejo since last november is still around.  A report of Xenornis shows photos by Rosabel Miro last sunday in Panama Viejo, resting with the huge flock of Laughing Gulls (with some Franklin's by the way).

I did a short stop by the Visitor's Center two days ago... no Bonapartes... but the third-cycle Lesser Black-backed Gull that is wintering in the area was a nice consolation prize.

However, my friend Celeste wrote me today an e-mail with an attached photo of the Bonaparte's Gull in the same site... so if you still need this species for your Panama Life List... what are you waiting for?

Gulls at Panama Viejo

The mudflats of Panama Viejo (Panama City's oceanfront) are well known by the huge numbers of peeps and seabirds that occur there, including a long list of gulls, including rarities like Gray-hooded or Bonaparte's Gulls.     I visit this place often, depending of the tide, and this time I was accompanied by my friend Benoit.  We started to search the hundreds of Laughing Gulls that were resting in the beach, when one bird caught our attention.

Nop, this is NOT a Common Black-headed!

Of course, the coral-red beak and pale legs triggered all the alarms, but the bird seemed to be exactly the same size as the surroundings Laughings, with same mantle color... after a while, the bird took flight, showing only black primaries with white rump and tail with some black spotting... a second-summer Laughing Gull with aberrant soft parts.  I have to admit that I was a little bit disappointed; however, we kept searching... finding some Franklin's Gulls mixed with the Laughings.

We not only saw gulls in Panama Viejo, there were some shorebirds, pelicans, frigatebirds and even a lucky Neotropic Cormorant with a freshly caught catfish in the beak... a huge one by the way!

The high tide gathered the flock closer to the mangroves. Suddenly, I noticed a large gull with conspicuous yellow legs standing with the Laughings, with noticeably darker mantle, pale eye and dark streaking in the head and neck.

Yeap! An adult Lesser Black-backed Gull in basic plumage.  The sun was bright and the bird far away... these photos are overexposed and cropped... but the main field marks are evident.  Notice how different the color of the mantle looks depending on the angle of the bird.

The Lesser Black-backed Gull is a very scarce migrant to Panama, although regular... with at least one individual recorded each winter.  This was a new year-bird for me, a good one in fact!

In search of THE gull

Two days ago, a Bonaparte's Gull was found in Costa del Este (Panama City).  Some birders were lucky enough to attend the alert and managed to watch the little gull standing in the exposed mudflats at the mouth of the Matias Hernandez river.  I was in Cerro Azul and was not able to reach the site in time, so I went yesterday to Costa del Este hoping to find the vagrant (only a handful of records for Panama).

The view of Panama City from Costa del Este is overwhelming.  By the time I arrived, some birders were leaving the place (including the same pals that accompanied me the previous day in Cerro Azul)... so I joined Rosabel Miro (who first found the gull) and George Angehr along the coast in order to approach a group of waders and gulls resting in the distance.  In spite of our search, we didn't localize the Bonaparte's Gull.  However, Rosabel found a Lesser Black-backed Gull among the abundant Laughings (digiscoped with Gloriela's point-and-shoot and Rosabel's scope).

The Lesser Black-backed Gull is a rare winter visitor to our coasts... always in low numbers (usually one), so we were happy anyway.  However, keep an eye for the Bonaparte's Gull, who knows where it will show up!

Recently arrived gull?

Last friday (september 3rd), I went to Panama Viejo and Costa del Este in Panama City, this time with Osvaldo Quintero, just to check out the hundreds of shorebirds present in the mudflats. The day was cloudy and by the time when we arrived to Panama Viejo, it began to rain. Not only that, the 13-feet high tide was not enough to push the birds close to shore, so we did not get many photographic chances. In any case, we walked towards the beach, finding immediately the now-usual suspects: Western, Semipalmated, Least and Spotted Sandpipers all around, plus Black-bellied, Semipalmated, Collared and Wilson's Plovers. Then, I saw an agitated shorebird running from one side to the other, with a long and thin bill... a Wilson's Phalarope. I was surprised because that was my first phalarope in more than ten years! It was wearing its winter (basic) plumage and soon flew behind the mangroves. I got awful photos of the bird (as you can see... it was too far away for my lens), but Osvaldo's are better. Anyway, you can see the characteristic silhouette and thin bill of the bird. We decided to visit Costa del Este (not before watching one, of two, Wood Storks leaving the mangroves where they were resting). In Costa del Este the things were not better, we only found distant shorebirds... but two PETRELS were carefully inspecting them with their scopes. We only stayed for a while, and decided to return to Panama Viejo to see if the weather improved. Back in Panama Viejo, we noticed among the Laughing Gulls and the Royal and Gull-billed Terns, a bigger gull with darker mantle. Through my binoculars I noticed the not-so-heavy-looking and slender beak, with not a pronounced gonydeal angle, dusky with yellow tip, the dark grey back, the white (unmarked?) head, underparts and tail, and the yellow legs: a Lesser Black-backed Gull. It was too far away (like the phalarope), but my pics still show most of these marks (you can enlarge the photos by clicking on them).

In the last photo, you can notice its relative size compared to the nearby Laughing Gulls, and its darker mantle (compare the colour with that of the Black-necked Stilt standing in front of it). You can see also that this bird retains pale (younger) secundaries feathers in the closed wings. When it took off, it flew directly away of us, showing pale secundaries and inner primaries (the outer primaries were darker than the mantle) and a slightly dark smudge to the end of the tail.

This was almost an adult bird, and is the earliest date that I see this rare gull in Panama (and it seems that the earliest date recorded before was september 6th, 1997). I'm not an expert, but I'm calling it a third-winter (basic) Lesser Black-backed Gull probably molting from its 3rd-alternate. What do you think?

Ending the day, we went to the Panama Viejo's Visitors Center where we saw other Wood Stork, a Great Blue Heron (recently arrived too?) and, under the "curious thing" tag, a Ruddy Turnstone walking along with a Rock Pigeon. Is not curious?

Not a Belcher's, but a Kelp Gull in Costa del Este

Confirming the early suspicions on the identity of the dark-mantled gull which appeared several times in Costa del Este last weeks, a group of experts (including, among others, Dr. Bob himself) determined it as a sub-adult Kelp Gull. A review of the description plus the photos obtained by Euclides Campos and Ramiro Duque showing the bird with a typical adult Kelp Gull (you can see the photos in Xenornis) helped with the i.d. The diagnostic features that exclude a Belcher's Gull are size (and jizz), pale yellow legs (not bright yellow), dark streaking along sides and flanks, bill shape/pattern, and a mostly dark tail (not a definitive "band"). My error! considering that I have seen both species in central coastal Perú few years ago... my own photos of that trip demonstrate the slimmer shape and its relative small size (specially if you compare it with the nearby Inca Terns in the second photo):

An extensive Google search produced few photos of confirmed sub-adult (third-year) Kelp Gulls, the most useful being those at Martin Reid's website. If you check this group of photos you can see the same bill shape and pattern, the mostly black tail and black primaries with the wings closed, while this other one also shows the mostly black tail. Conclusion: it is a sub-adult Kelp Gull... follow your first impressions.

P.D.: in spite of the several other visits, I failed to re-locate the Kelp Gull(s) at Costa del Este, but I find more Herring Gulls (up to three at the same time) and the Lesser Black-backed Gull that was reported initially by the Ahrens (thanks to Darien and the Kaufmanns). I got only a distant photo.

Gulls bonanza

*Note:  The bird called Belcher's in this entry turned out to be a third-cycle Kelp Gull.  Read this post for rationale.

If you have birded in Panama, then you know that you are a lucky guy if you find any gull species apart of the omnipresent Laughings and the ocassional Franklins'. Well, yesterday a group of birders touched gold in Costa del Este because of the huge mega-flock of gulls and terns present. I saw SIX gull species in three hours, plus lots of very cool birds (many of them were year-birds). I went with Gloriela and our nephew, Michael, to Panama Viejo trying again for the Lesser Black-backed Gull (which was not present). We found again the strange Laughing Gull but this time, the flock of Laughings was accompanied by a full adult Ring-billed Gull somewhat distant. I managed to take a couple of photos for the record. You can see the white unstreaked head and the white spots in the black primaries.

Happy with the finding, we decided to move to Costa del Este, stopping by the western corner (the part closer to the city and to the "corredor sur"), finding a great assembly of birds, including gulls, terns and shorebirds. What immediately caught my attention was a huge dark-backed gull standing alone in the shoreline. It was considerably larger than the Laughing Gulls and than the Ring-billed Gull present (more on that one later), with a bulkier shape and heavy yellow bill tipped in black, followed by red (wider in the lower mandible). Dark eye. Pale yellow(ish) legs. Head and breast completely white, with no streaking. Sides of neck, flanks, belly and upper back white with diffuse dark spots. Back and wings black... blacker in the wings and with a brownish tinge in the back (specially with the bright light). The secondaries had wide white tips. I didn't saw the tail while perched inicially. I thought first it was a Kelp Gull (as I told to Ken Allaire of the Canopy Report who also saw the bird in his way to El Valle), but then the bird took flight, showing a white rump contrasting with the mostly dark tail! It also shows a wide trailing edge on wings (the secondaries tips) and almost no pattern in the underwings (pale with lots of dark markings). Checking my photos I saw a mostly dark tail, with some white on it closer to the rump. I'm still waiting the experts consensus but the tail markings id this bird as a Belcher's Gull (aka Band-tailed Gull), a very rare vagrant to Panama! Here are the photos (only cropped and sharpened, I didn't change color or contrast except otherwise stated):

The last photo shows a complete dark tail, but then you can see some white in the base of it at the first photo.

I overexposed the next photo in the field, then I increased the contrast and did some sharpening at home. It shows better the bill pattern.

In the same site we found this Ring-billed Gull, something between first and second-winter, resting with the Laughings.

While seeing the birds, I almost step on a group of Least Sandpipers accompanied by Collared, Wilson's and Semipalmated Plovers, that were resting under a little mangrove. Those Collareds' are cute, in the words of Gloriela (I'm pretty sure that you will agree).

Eventually, we were joined by Karl and Rosabel Kaufmann and then by Darién Montañez. We decided to move to the mouth of the Matías Hernández river, but the tide was too high so we decided to have lunch and go back later. The plan worked well, because we found a massive flock of gulls at the river. A careful search with the scopes produced some Franklin's Gulls, two first-winter Herring Gulls and a first-winter Lesser Black-backed Gull. We didn't find again the possible Belcher's Gull. The gulls were not alone. Some Black Skimmers (more than twenty) were present too. We notice that there was a single individual with paler underwings, a definitive white tail and broader white trailing edge. May be all this is due to age, or is a different subspecies? Also, lots of shorebirds were in attendance: Marbled Godwits, Willets, Southern Lapwings and Whimbrels. Convinced that the possible Belcher's Gull would not show up, we drove to Panama Viejo again, finding more interesting birds, including two Elegant Terns and the Long-billed Curlew that has been around for a while. I ended the day with seven new year-birds, including one possible Panama life bird. Good numbers for a "trip" right here in the city.