Quick trip to the highlands. Part II

After a relaxing day in the western highlands of Chiriqui province, I was about to start a new birding day very early in the morning.  I left my family in the hotel room and joined Ito Santamaría who is a knowledgeable local guide and friend of mine.  He kindly accepted to show me two long desired additions to my life list right in the town of Volcan.  For the first species, we drove a little further towards the outskirts of the town. He emphasized that we needed to be very early in the site to locate the bird while it was vocalizing.  The place was just by the road, bordering some lush gardens.  He recognized a weird call... after some moderate use of playback a little flycatcher flew towards us and started to respond with the same rattling call.

White-throated Flycatcher

I got some shots of the little, and rather drab, creature: a White-throated Flycatcher!  You may say why this bird is so special... look at it, a LBJ (little brown job) that looks identical to many other common flyactchers.  In fact, I have confused this species but for its call, which is quite distinctive for an Empidonax flycatcher.  Notice that this bird looks nothing like the illustrations of the field guides plates... it looks disturbingly similar to the Lesser Elaenia, that was pretty common in the area.  However, notice the smaller size and chunky shape, proportionally shorter tail, discrete eye ring and the obvious white throat (I think this bird was molting).

White-throated Flycatcher

Also, this bird behaved very different to the elaenias, actively feeding by making short flights and flutterings and returning to the same perch or close to it.  Ito thinks they breed near this site, but so far he still need to confirm this by finding an active nest of young birds (that look more like the illustrations in the plates, with warmer brown upperparts and ochraceous wing bars).  The White-throated Flycatcher is rare and localized in the western highlands of Panama.  Actually, it seems to be quite uncommon and localized along its wide range.  There were only two previous records in eBird for this species in Panama, so I was more than happy when Ito showed me this individual only 5 minutes after our arrival!  However, Ito had another surprise for me.  We drove less than 5 minutes to the center of the town, to a particular garden bordered with tall trees and a wet meadow (although tiny).  We waited and listen... nothing happened, but he was optimistic.  He played a tape once and listen again... suddenly, an elaborate call was heard in the distance... and we hurried to the source.

Melodious Blackbird

I know, I know... another drab bird!  This is a very special bird... a recent colonizer to this part of the country: a Melodious Blackbird.  Originally endemic to northern Central American, the impressive range extension is probably due to deforestation.  It was first reported in Costa Rica in the 80's, and the first confirmed report for Panama was in the western Caribbean slope almost exactly three years ago (report in Xenornis).  According to Ito, a small population established in the town of Volcan two years ago, at least... but it is very localized... actually found in only two sites.  WOW!  Two life birds in less than 20 minutes... wordless!  It was still very early, so we decided to go to the Volcan lakes; however, the activity around the access road and the nearby coffee farm prevented us for reaching the lakes.  The highlight was a cooperative Masked Yellowthroat.

Masked -Chiriqui- Yellowthroat

Now you are talking Jan (you may say)... this bird is an eye-popper.  The Masked Yellowthroat is a widespread species in South America, with a isolated population in this part of Panama and adjacent Costa Rica.  In fact, this form is known as the Chiriqui Yellowthroat, and sometimes is considered a valid species.  Compare the extension of black in the face of this male with that of other subspecies in South America.

Masked -Chiriqui- Yellowthroat

Certainly is more extensive.  There are some differences in songs and calls as well, and the idea of having an endemic yellowthroat is simply great, so I hope to call this bird Chiriqui Yellowthroat in the near future.  That was only my third sighting of this species in 19 years of birding the highlands... not bad at all.  In the way out, an obliging Olivaceous Piculet sang to call our attention.

Olivaceous Piculet 

A common species, and a nice one.  After it, we had breakfast... a well deserved one!  Two life birds the same day two times the same month (do you remember those rare swifts?).  Thanks Ito for showing me these special birds!

Bright day in Batipa

Batipa is a private reserve in the lowlands of the Chiriqui province (western Panama) that still contains remaining patches of lowland forest. Its include the Cerro Batipa and other two hills, plus a coastline with tall mangrove forest. It is the only reliable site in Panama to find the endangered Yellow-billed Cotinga but it also holds many western Pacific specialties, including a former endemic for Panama. Last sunday, after an excellent day birding the highlands around the town of Boquete, Osvaldo Quintero, Osvaldo Quintero Jr., Rafael Luck, Milagros Sánchez, Olemdo Miró, Gloriela and me decided to visit this reserve, trying to locate the cotinga. We were a little delayed (after descending all the way from Boquete and meeting Mr. Ríos -the reserve owner- for the key of the access gates), so we started birding around 9:00 am. We didn't realized how hot it was in the lowlands until our first stop. After spotting a Laughing Falcon, we all went out of the cars, raising our cameras, noticing that these were completely misted due to the sudden change of temperature. Anyway, I tried to obtain some photos of the falcon... I needed to do a lot of photoshop to fix it! After solving the problem (only waiting a couple of minutes and driving with the windows down with the air conditioners switched off) we stopped a little farther, in a section of road bordered in trees with deep-orange tubular flowers. Soon, we saw five Fiery-billed Aracaris feeding close to a group of Howlers Monkeys. The aracaris moved closer to us allowing some photos, while others birds started to show up. First, an unidentified bird photographed by Olmedo resulted to be an Olivaceous Piculet laboriously working at a few twigs; then, Rafael spotted a hummingbird in the tubular flowers and then another one: a Long-billed Starthroat and a Veraguan Mango. The mango used to be an endemic bird for Panama, but now it is presumably established in Costa Rica's extreme southeastern corner due in part to deforestation. This individual was an immature male because it showed lot of white speckling in the underparts. It showed also a yellow throat probably due to the pollen of the flowers it visited earlier. Later, in the same site, we found an adult male Veraguan Mango feeding in the same flowers. We reached the tideland of the Horconcitos river and decided then to take the road around the Cerro Batipa, which passes through several forest patches and through an immense teak plantation, finding Black-hooded Antshrike and Lance-tailed Manakin in several sites plus Yellow-olive Flycatcher and Pale-eyed Pygmy-Tyrant in the hill itself. Besides the Laughing Falcon and both Caracaras, others raptors found were Swainson's, Gray, Roadside and Zone-tailed Hawks, plus a flock of ten or more Swallow-tailed Kites around Cerro Batipa. We didn't reach the mangroves and probably we never had a real chance to find the cotinga without a guide. By noon, we said goodbye to Rafael, Osvaldo and Osvaldo Jr, who were returning to Panama City, while we returned to David with Milagros and Olmedo. The last bird we saw together was a White-collared Seedeater in the urban area. Then, we separate only to meet us again at the San Jose de David Fair, where we visited the commercial and agricultural exhibitions, among others. We said goodbye to them too... it was time to rest and to prepare for the next day.

Birding Gamboa and Pipeline Road

Gamboa is a quiet town in the shores of the Gatun lake (central Panama) that offers a wide variety of habitats. From gardens and residential areas to primary forest, you can find it all there, close to Panama city. With so many options, the perseverance is the key. That's why we try to visit this place almost every weekend and last saturday was not the exception. Osvaldo Quintero and myself went to this place, making our first stop in the ammo dump, as usual. With cameras in hand, we checked the marshes, finding the usual suspects: a juvenile Rufescent Tiger-Heron (close to a nest), Wattled Jacanas, White-throated Crake, Green Heron, a pair of Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks, Rusty-margined Flycatcher, and so on... Then, Osvaldo spotted three little birds high on a tree. A quick check with my binoculars confirmed that they were Olivaceous Piculets, a lifer for Osvaldo, and only the second time that I have seen this bird in Gamboa.
We entered the Pipeline Road (seeing a Little Tinamou at the entrance) and began to walk from the first bridge (Juan Grande). The activity was low, and the rising heat made us reach only the third bridge (Frijoles). Anyway, we heard some birds and tried to fotograph a Black-bellied Wren (frustrating). We deserved a cold drink, so we headed to the Rainforest Discovery Center. Trust me, you must visit this place. Is located in the middle of the forest, and they have the best lowland hummingbirds feeders in Panama (you can see my video here). If the hummingbirds don't impress you, then the circuit of trails or the 100 feet observation tower will. The place was crowded, but nonetheless we enjoyed the hummingbirds and some antbirds and tanagers attending an antswarm (no Ground-Cuckoos this time). This place is excellent for both the amateur birder and the bird-maniac-lister-&-twitcher. After saying goodbye to Margelis and Julia (our hostesses), we returned to the city. The plans for the evening include to attend the 11th PAS Owls, Wine and Cheese Night (Osvaldo) and to finish some case reports (I'm not in vacations yet!).