To the depths of the Burica peninsula

Due to Panama's topography, there are few sites from where you can launch a pelagic birding trip.  The typical sites (in the Pacific) are extreme eastern Darien province and some sites in the Azuero Peninsula of central Panama.  The logistic is always complicated (and expensive) due to lack of tour operators and pelagic birders as well!  But then, there is another site where the oceanic depths are close to shore: the Burica Peninsula in extreme western Panama.  While looking for good boats to make a pelagic trip, I came upon Hooked On Panama, a fishing lodge at the southerly town of Limones, at the very tip of the peninsula.  They were more than eager to provide boat, crew and chum, plus the on-ground facilities for our pelagic trip after explaining to them the lack of scientific knowledge of the pelagic avifauna in Panama!

From left to right: Jan Axel, Dave Klauber, George Angehr and Christian Gernez

This was an scouting trip after all... June - July is probably not the best season for pelagic birding in Panama, but anyway we wanted to make that first contact and to evaluate the feasibility of doing more trips from Limones.   Three other birders joined me: Christian Gernez, Dave Klauber and George Angehr, who is the author of "The Birds of Panama,  A Field Guide" and probably one of the most experienced pelagic birder for Panamanian waters.  Taking advantage of the lodge, I travelled with my family, who enjoyed the pool and the beach while we were out under the sun looking for pelagic birds.  In fact, the excellent road conditions from David city, and the lodge amenities are points in favor.  Another point in favor: the boat!  A locally customized 33' Blackfin vessel with all the safety equipments, spacious, comfortable, designed to offer a 360º view of the surroundings and easily accommodating up to six pax!

Our crew knew exactly what we were up to!  Our captain Chaka took us immediately to deep waters south of Burica island and then to the east along the Continental Shelf break while mate Jacinto helped us with all our needs and with the chumming process (essentially fish guts and pop corn).  They have a lot of experience fishing pelagic billfishes, but this was their first time guiding a group of birders... the essentials tips seems to be the same for both activities (fishing and birding in deep waters).  But even before reaching deep waters, we started to have some nice surprises, like the completely out-of-season Elegant Terns close to the lodge (they are supposed to be breeding in Baja this time of the year) and the Humpback Whales swimming extremely close to the town beach (a little bit early, but not unexpected).  Bird and whale watching could be some activities that the lodge can offer during the low-season months of fishing, as Christian pointed out.

Royal and Elegant Terns with Brown Pelicans at the lodge

Humpback Whale at Limones

One of the things about doing a pelagic trip in Panama in June-July is weather.  We were always close to dark clouds and storm systems, but somehow we managed to avoid all of them, experiencing no rain at all (OK, Chaka had a lot to do with that).  Still with land at sight, we started to find the first pelagic birds in the form of Storm-Petrels.  With the exception of few Black Storm-Petrels, all of them were Wedge-rumped Storm-Petrels.  Paying attention to this species is key to gain experience on its identification and of other species.  However, after seeing many of them and starting to feel comfortable, we realized that they often showed different flight styles (quite direct with steady wingbeats, but also more bouncing and desperate-looking), size/proportion impressions and molt-timing!  Some birds were fresh-looking while other were in active wing molt... some looked quite small and compact while others looked larger with proportionally long wings...  Were these differences age/sex related, or were they different subspecies?  Or different species?  We need more study on these guys!

Fresh-looking Wedge-rumped Storm-Petrel

Wedge-rumped Storm-Petrel (notice wing molt)

The storm-petrels were not the only tubenoses out there, we also find Galapagos Shearwaters and a possible Wedge-tailed Shearwater as well, but was too far away to ID with certainty.  However, the most impressive of them all were the Tahiti Petrels (YES, in plural).  We managed to see up to four different individuals at the same time, sometimes very close to the boat!  Just the fourth record for Panamanian waters, where the species surely is a regular visitor during its non-breeding season.  Thinking on these birds crossing the vast Pacific Ocean to visit our warm waters is simply overwhelming!

Tahiti Petrel.  Fourth record for Panama

Apart of the Elegant Terns seen at shore, we only saw another tern species during the trip: Brown Noddy.  Most of the terns species found in Panama are boreal migrants, so we did not expect to find them in June-July, at least not in considerable numbers.  Our resident tern species (like the noddy) are probably found close to their breeding islands during this time of the year.  Anyway, we enjoyed the sole member of the Sterninae out there... the anti-tern species by the way (dark body, pale crown, wedge tail)

Brown Noddy

Another highlight of the trip were the Sulids (boobies).  We found three different species (of five possible), including Nazca and Brown Boobies.  At some point, we approached Islas Ladrones that host one of the biggest colonies of Brown Boobies in Panama, crossing several flocks of these boobies flying back and forth from and to the islands.  The Nazcas, as usual, were always far from shore, on floating debris or in powerful flight over the waves showing no interest in the boat.

Brown Booby 

Nazca Booby

Soon it was time to go back.  A huge school of Short-beaked  Common Dolphins gave us the farewell before heading back to shore.  Calm waters meant that nobody had sea-sickness at all and the cloudy day help to avoid sunburns!  After a 6-hours trip we were back at the lodge, enjoying a couple of cold drinks and celebrating this very first pelagic experience birding the depths of the Burica Peninsula.  I can not wait to go back!  Would you join me?

Short-beaked Common Dolphins

Global Big Day 2019! What a day!

And the Global Big Day started!  Last May 4th, thousands of birders around the world joined efforts to record the largest number of birds species in 24 hours.  Of course, new records were set and hundreds of birding histories were told.  You can read the global summary at the eBird page... and my own history here (just keep reading).

Ramiro Duque, Rolando Jordan, Jan Axel Cubilla and Carla Black

Like last year, my intention was to do some pelagic birding... and again, my destination was Bahía Piñas and fabulous Tropic Star Lodge in eastern Darien.   Last year, getting to Bahía Piñas was a complete adventure... this year, well, there were some inconvenients as well.  First of all, I was not able to take the commercial flight to Bahía Piñas... all the seats were booked due to the Presidential Elections that would be held the next day.  However, the NGO ADOPTA Panama Rainforest managed the support of the government (through MiAmbiente) who contributed with transport and logistics for several teams to remote counting areas, including the ADOPTA Team to Puerto Obaldia, in extreme eastern Guna Yala.  Guido Berguido (ADOPTA's executive director and a friend of mine) included a stop in Piñas in the flight plan, so I joined them in the ride.  After some mechanical setbacks, we were finally in the air heading to Piñas.... but due to some logistical problems, the ADOPTA team had to stay in Piñas, so we improvised a little bit.  Rolando came with me on the boat while the rest of the team birded around the town and the airstrip.

Bahia Piñas airstrip and town

After an early breakfast on May 4th, I was ready for the pelagic trip.  Rolando was already waiting for me at the dock, as well as the crew of our fishing boat.  The day was dark and soon it started to rain... a lot!  Anyway, we headed directly to deep waters.  The Continental Shelf break is very close to the coast in this part of Panama, meaning that quite soon we were enjoying pelagic birds around us.  These waters are incredibly rich, the avifauna is abundant and easy to approach, paralleling the other wildlife for what these waters are famous: pelagic fishes, specially billfishes!

We were not there to fish, that was for sure... we were quite busy counting and identifying the birds around, specially the storm-petrels.  Three different species (Least, Wedge-rumped and Black Storm-Petrels) swarmed around the boat in huge numbers!  Check one of the flocks that we crossed containing all three species.

Storm-Petrels off Piñas

We scanned these flocks looking for rarer or unreported species for Panama, and I tried to took as many photos I could... sometimes you detect rarities on land, reviewing the photos, but not this time.  Apart of the storm-petrels, we saw both Galapagos and Wedge-tailed Shearwaters, several terns and boobies species, including obliging Nazca Boobies!  We essentially followed a route along the shelf, stopping at usual fishing hotspots and whenever we find activity, both of birds and other animals like dolphins and tuna.  In fact, a huge school of tuna was followed by more than 100 Short-beaked Common Dolphins!  What a sight!

Pair of Nazca Boobies on floating debris

Short-beaked Common Dolphin

Time flies when you are having fun, and soon it was time to head back to the lodge.  Closer to the coastline we find different species, like Brown Pelicans and Blue-footed Boobies, adding them to the growing list.  It was not an exceptionally long list, but certainly one with quality birds.  In fact, we were sure that we got that day several unique species for the country, since we were the only team birding the seas.

Blue-footed Booby

Back at dock, I said good bye to Rolando, who went back to Piñas town to bird with the rest of the group.  After few minutes of rest, I also started to scan the surroundings.  The lodge is surrounded by lush forest, and some good species wander around.  Unfortunately, I was not able to relocate the Viridian Dacnis I saw the day before, but anyway, I kept birding.  The highlight was a flock of swifts including Spot-fronted Swifts and a lonely Chapman's Swift!  Creepy photos of both them at this eBird checklist https://ebird.org/camerica/view/checklist/S55817569.  At night, I ended my participation recording Gray-cowled Wood-Rail and Mottled Owl... but a Crab-eating Fox just in front of my cabin stole the show!

Crab-eating Fox

I ended up submitting 72 species for the day, a modest number compared to other teams... but for second year in a row I manage the greatest number of unique species to the national total, only matched by Isaac Pizarro (who birded all the down from Pirre range to the lowlands around El Real): both recorded 11 unique species.  These numbers reflect that we need more participation... another team doing pelagic or more teams covering Darien National Park; but also, they indicate how important each participant is.  As they says, every bird counts!  Panama numbers, as in general, were good.  We didn't break our previous year record of 750 birds species since we got 731!  Still an awesome effort that positioned us as first for the Central American region and 8th worldwide!  I wish to thanks all the participants who kindly donated their time and effort in making this possible, and to ADOPTA a Guido Berguido for coordinating the logistics and transportation provided by the government.  Next year I hope more participation and official support to keep making Panama number ONE in Central America in terms of avian diversity!

Pelagic off Western Azuero

The pelagic avifauna of Panama is essentially unknown.  Very few, if any, pelagic birding trips are done off Panamanian coasts, specially off the Azuero Peninsula (central Panama) where the Continental Shelf break is close to shore.  Several new species for Panama have been recorded in those trips in the last five years, including Tahiti Petrel, Pink-footed Shearwater and Band-rumped Storm-Petrel, while many others have been confirmed and documented adequately.  That's why a pelagic trip in Panama is always exciting.  So, more or less one month ago, we took the opportunity to make a pelagic trip off the Azuero Peninsula again... but this time from its western side... departing from Reina beach close to the town of Mariato.  Our friend Kees Groenendijk (who runs the charming Heliconia B&B in the town of Malena with his wife Loes) organized everything: lodging, boat, captain (Tim), chum and snacks... so it was not difficult to convince George Angehr, Howard Laidlaw, Rafael Luck and Euclides -Kilo- Campos to join us in the adventure!

Rafael, Euclides, Howard, George, Jan and Kees

The Continental Shelf break was still one and a half our away to the south from the departing point, but the inshore waters were full of life, with American Oystercatchers and Collared Plovers at the sand of Reina beach, with over-summering Willets, Whimbrels and a lonely Spotted Sandpiper.  Soon, we started to see the first Brown and Blue-footed Boobies for the day, plus many Magnificent Frigatebirds, Brown Pelicans and even a pod of Bottlenose Dolphins close to Cebaco island.  Kees showed us some rocky islets close to Punta Naranjo (Azuero's southwestern corner) that were covered in Brown Noddies.  This tern is seldom seen so close to shore in Panama.

Rocky islets close to Punta Naranjo (and a Brown Pelican)

Brown Noddies 

The omnipresent Magnificent Frigatebird dwarfed the Brown Noddies, although they are quite large for a tern.

Magnificent Frigatebird and Brown Noddy

At this point we started to see real pelagic birds. The Continental Shelf break drops steeply VERY close to shore in this part of the Azuero Peninsula... in fact, most of the pelagic birding was done having the southern Azuero coast within sight.  Kees started to chum at several spots along the break... soon, we were surrounded by several Black and Wedge-rumped Storm-Petrels attending the slick. I have to admit that this was the first time I saw those species so close and in detail!

Wedge-rumped and Black Storm-Petrels

Black Storm-Petrels

Black Storm-Petrel

Wedge-rumped Storm-Petrel

These small tubenoses are well adapted for the rough seas, in spite of their size.  Most (if not all) of the Black Storm-Petrels seen were in wing molt, probably indicating non-breeding birds on its second cycle (year) at this date.  About the Wedge-rumped Storm-Petrels... I don't know if they can be ID to subspecies in the field.  Both the nominate tethys and kelsalli forms have been recorded in Panamanian waters.  These birds were evidently larger than the Least Storm-Petrels seen nearby and the wings looked narrow and long, with a shallow tail fork (they looked square-tailed in the field and in the photos), all consistent with nominate tethys.  As I mentioned earlier, we also saw some Least Storm-Petrels.  They showed little interest in the chum and only visited the slick for few seconds; however, I managed a diagnostic photo showing the graduated tail and the dark plumage resembling Black Storm-Petrel.

Least Storm-Petrel

The storm-petrels were the highlights of this trip due to the prolonged and detailed views of the birds, but we also recorded several Galapagos Shearwaters (all of them of the "light-winged" variation), a definitive Pink-footed Shearwater (fifth report for Panama, second one documented with photos) and a Nazca Booby flying to the west above the Continental Shelf break.

Galapagos Shearwater

Pink-footed Shearwater

Nazca Booby

The pelagic birds were not the only highlights of this trip.  At some point, we saw no less than four Humpback Whales, with one young animal leaping off the surface almost completely!  This, plus the dozens Pantropical Spotted Dolphins off shore in a feeding frenzy, the Bottlenose Dolphins inshore and the Spinner Dolphins spotted by some of the group (not by me), made it a four-species-day of cetaceans!

Humpback Whale

Pantropical Spotted Dolphin

I wish to thank Kees and Loes for receiving us and for organizing this amazing trip.  I know I'll be back to western Azuero soon... and not only for the pelagic birding because the area is home to many endemic taxa and other nature marvels.  See you soon!

Bird of the Month: Nazca Booby

The Nazca Booby (Sula granti) is a highly pelagic species of the eastern Pacific and endemic breeder to the Nazca plate, hence the name.  Formerly considered a subspecies of the more widespread Masked Booby, they were split based on physical, ecological and genetic differences.

Nazca Booby

This is a large and elegant species that usually nest in cliffs and steep slopes in remote islands and atolls.  At sea, it feed by plunge-dives from various heights.  As all the boobies and gannets, it has specialized reinforced skulls and air sacs at neck and shoulders to cushion the impact.

Nazca Booby

It is less prone than other boobies to follow ships; instead, they will circle the ship once to then follow its path.  However, this behaviour is enough to get good chances for photos!

Nazca Booby

In Panama, it is rarely (if ever) seen from shore or inside the Panama Gulf.  You need to venture out of the Continental Shelf to see this beautiful sea bird.  For these, and many other reasons, is why wew chose the Nazca Booby as our Bird of the Month!

Nazca Booby

Literature consulted:

1.  Ridgely R, Gwynne J. A Guide to the Birds of Panama. Princeton University Press 1989.

2.  Angehr G, Dean R.  The Birds of Panama. A Field Guide. Zona tropical 2010.

Pelagic off Pedasi

Pelagic birding is always fascinating... the idea of chasing birds that only land to nest in remote islands, with some of them crossing the world to visit our seas, is just overwhelming!  Our knowledge in Panama about our pelagic birds is limited, so there is plenty of room for new discoveries.  That's why I did not think twice when I was offered the opportunity to participate on a pelagic trip off the Azuero Peninsula in central Panama from the charming town of Pedasi, last weekend.

Sunrise at El Arenal

So I joined George Angehr, Rafael Luck and Euclides "Kilo" Campos aboard a 30 ft sport fishing boat anchored at El Arenal beach, just few minutes from town.  Our captain Jeff and his crew member "Lito" were willing to make our trip enjoyable as possible, so they received us with a cup of hot coffee and explained some safety issues before departing.  Jeff is experienced in this kind of trips, since he was the captain of our last pelagic (back in 2010) and, of course, of the most recent trip earlier this year (report here).

Euclides "Kilo" Campos, George Angehr, Jan Axel Cubilla and Rafael Luck

Good fortune smiled on us from the beginning... the sea was calm as a mirror in El Arenal, and remained so throughout the trip... no seasickness at all (except when Lito mixed up the chum... more on that later).  Also, our captain managed to keep us in schedule and to avoid the thunderstorms that approached from several directions!  We planned a 8-hours trip out at the sea with the intention to visit two seamounts to the south and south-east of Punta Mala, one of these surrounded by 1000-meters depth where we saw a Tahiti Petrel (the first for Panama) in 2010.  We got some common in-shore species the first hour of the trip, like Brown Pelicans, Magnificent Frigatebird and Brown Boobies.

A shy Brown Booby

Soon, we started to see more pelagic species.  Not exactly tubenoses, but some interesting species like Sooty, Black and Common Terns.  The later prove quite difficult to ID at sea wearing its winter plumage.  Of course, we were on the search for some rarer terns (like Artic or Roseate Terns for example)... but the photos were pretty useful for ID purposes.

Common Tern

We reached the first seamount by 8:00 am (N 7º 14' 52.0'', W -80º 1' 0.2'').  The idea was to spent at least one hour at each seamount chumming.  Our chum consisted in a mixture of fish oil, some cans of tuna, sardines and popcorn.  We only had two gallons of fish oil, which is hard to find in Panama.  However, I want to thank Fulo Motta and Lily Vallarino who kindly donated the oil and who seemed really interested when Rafael explained them what we would do with it!  Instead of throwing bait overboard constantly to create a wake behind the boat, we decided to throw some to create a "stain" to then navigate around it by making wide circles, waiting for the tubenoses!

Bucket of chum... stinky!

We were surprised by the strong smell of this modest mixture... as soon as Lito started to mix it up, the stench penetrated directly to our medulla oblongata!  Kilo and I struggled to avoid throwing up at the time (we were really close to the chum).  Thank God we got used quickly... and the chum started to work... and boy, it did it!  A medium-sized bird approached swiftly gliding low over the waves, arcing and banking with its long wings.  Dark brown overall with contrasting, well demarcated white lower breast and ventral parts... Kilo and I shouted at the same time TAHITI PETREL!!!

Tahiti Petrel

Tahiti Petrel

The moment was so sublime that even George  thought we were joking... a Tahiti Petrel was inspecting  the stain of chum, allowing great views and photos as well (all the bird photos in this post are mine... If you want to see some really great photos of this trip, check Rafael's at the report in Xenornis).  Size, all-dark throat, lack of white leading edge to the wings and pale rump separates this species from other very similar (although unexpected) tubenoses, including Phoenix Petrel.  In fact, these photos confirm its presence in Panama waters, because it was considered hypothetical for Panama.

Tahiti Petrel with southern Azuero in the background

Eventually, we saw two birds at the same time!  I really like the above photo because you can see how close to mainland we were... that is the charm of this region ... the continental shelf ends abruptly near the coast here, allowing us to have these experiences.  The Tahiti Petrel was not the only species attracted to by the chum... three species of Storm-Petrels decided to show up as well.  I had seen both Wedge-rumped and Black Storm-Petrels before in Peru and Panama... but the Least Storm-Petrel was a life bird for me... the first for the day!

The Black Storm-Petrels are not really "black"

After this success at the first seamount, we decided to go to the next one, which seemed even more promising given the proximity to really deep waters.  On route we started to see our first shearwaters, plus another species already recorded, like Brown Boobies and Sooty Terns.  The first shearwaters to appear were the Galapagos Shearwaters.  This species is regular and common (at least in september and october) and so far all seem to be of the "pale underwing form" (there is some variation in the underwing pattern of this taxa).

Galapagos Shearwaters (pale underwing form)

Then came the second most common shearwater for this time of the year, the Wedge-tailed Shearwater.  My photos shows an individual in pale-phase, by far the most common out there; however, we also saw a dark-phase individual (photo in Xenornis).  Notice the slender profile accentuated by the long tail and long, dark bill.

Wedge-tailed Shearwater (pale phase)

Wedge-tailed Shearwater (pale phase)

After two hours, we finally reached the second seamount (N 7º 18' 31.7'', W -79º 39' 43.1'') and started to chum again, this time with no adverse effects at all.  This time, the birds were slow to appear; however, the first one to show up was... you guessed it, a Tahiti Petrel again!!!

Our third Tahiti Petrel for the day!

Tahiti Petrel over the waves

The photos showed a different bird to the two others we encountered before in the first seamount (notice the molt in the flight feathers)... simply amazing!  But soon things got better... our captain warned us that a white bird was flying in front of the boat heading to port... so I hurried in that direction in order to catch a distant Nazca Booby that seemed to be just passing (completely ignoring us).

Nazca Booby

It was a lifer for me as well!  And a long expected one.  I managed to get the distant photo above showing the diagnostic orange bill.  The bird disappeared in the waves soon after that.  And we started to see Wedge-rumped Storm-Petrels.  At one point, we saw three of them at the same time... a low number considering previous experiences with this species in these waters.

Wedge-rumped Storm-Petrel

We were running out of time, so we started the way back.  By 12:30 pm, we saw a huge flock of shearwaters and terns close to the surface.  According to Lito, this was a feeding frenzy over a school of tuna, so we headed there.  The activity was fast... and furious.  Soon, a Pomarine Jaeger (the second for the day) inspected our wake, followed closely by our second Nazca Booby!  This time, the bird circled us once (allowing great photos) and lost interest.

Nazca Booby 

We finally managed to spot a definitive Sooty Shearwater (after several false alarms, including the dark-phase Wedge-tailed Shearwater of which I spoke earlier), the silvery wing linings literally shone.  We are pretty sure that it was not alone, but we were not able to inspect all the flock due to lack of time.  The big surprise came shortly after this.  Three shearwaters were approaching the boat from the bow to port flying just a few feet above the waves... I called them first Wedge-taileds due to their size and general pattern and started to shoot them; however, I realized that they looked stockier and not as long-tailed, so I yelled to Rafael to shoot them with his full-frame camera, which he did when the birds made ​​an U-turn and began to approach from astern.

By that time, I just thought it was a good opportunity to photograph the birds, as they were passing close... I shoot them again, but this time managing only to capture the back of one of them.

It was not until I reviewed my first photo that I realized that these birds were in fact PINK-FOOTED SHEARWATERS... a species that I had seen twice in Peru in large numbers, but ever recorded for Panama... I grabbed Rafael's camera and started to see his photos as well... simply WOW!!!  He managed excellent shots of these birds!  The stocky shape, lack of white in the rump and the heavy looking, pale bill with black tip are good field marks.

Pink-footed Shearwater

In the cropped photo above is evident the underwing pattern... even the pale legs are visible (almost reaching the tip of the tail)!  If accepted, this would be a new addition to Panama's bird list.  Certainly, a successful trip... two life birds, another two Panama life birds, one confirmed species and another new to the country!  This only proves that we need to venture more often to these depths in order to better understand the occurrence and distribution of these pelagic species in our country.