Impressive migration over Panama City!

When I went to my workplace this morning, all my unit in the hospital was closed.  The reason?  Our president decreed a day off due to XXIII Ibero-American Summit of Heads of State and Government... so I went back to my apartment to rest a little.  After a while, I started to noted some movements in the sky... all over, huge kettles of raptors were flying above Panama City, in their annual migration to South America.

The massive amount of birds darkened the sky... not kidding!  Soon, I started to receive text messages and facebook notifications of friends experiencing the same spectacle from different points of the city... this wonder of nature did not go unnoticed, since many of my non-birder friends also texted me!

The above photo only shows a tiny fraction of the Broad-winged Hawks and Turkey Vultures that passed today... there are at least 170 hawks... and this is a cropped picture!  The next picture shows better these two species that, above my apartment, were by far the most abundant.

In other parts (for example, above the Miraflores Locks of the Panama Canal), the predominant species was the Swainson's Hawk.  I only counted some 200 Swainson's Hawks in 55 minutes... compared to some 5000 Broad-winged Hawks and 10,000 Turkey Vultures!

When I see these huge kettles, I always look for other raptors mixed within these flocks.  That's how I picked up these Mississippi Kites.

Or this Osprey.  The long wings, slightly angled in the wrist, are characteristic.  None of these birds breed in Panama, nonetheless they are pretty common in this season.

I also saw four Peregrine Falcons.  They flew VERY high, so there was no way to see if any carry a transmitter or something (yeap, I'm talking about Island Girl).

Don't stop looking at the sky, since the season is not over yet!

Long weekend. Part I

My family and I decided to spent this long weekend at our house in Penonomé (Coclé province, central Panamá), in order to enjoy some fresh air and to share with our relatives.  Of course, I also took advantage of these free days to do some birding... and accompanied by Osvaldo Quintero and Rafael Luck, we visited some localities along the Panamerican highway, starting at El Chirú.  Most of the former savanna habitat was turned into a corn field, but still we managed to find some common birds, like Brown-throated Parakeets and even a White-winged Dove, but perhaps the change was too much for the Grassland Yellow-Finches that we used to find there regularly.

We moved closer to the coast, to Juan Hombrón, passing first by the extensive rice fields where we saw last year a Long-winged Harrier... this time we saw plenty of egrets and herons, and a flock of more than fifty Glossy Ibises, that weren't completely unexpected... but a good sight away of Las Macanas marshes, specially in such numbers.

The secondary growths along the road produced many species typical of these dry areas, like Lance-tailed Manakins, Blue-black Grassquits, Streaked Flycatcher (the only one allowing photos), Yellow-crowned Euphonias and many more.

At the beach, we saw the usual suspects: Brown Pelican, Neotropic Cormorant and Laughing Gulls... but it was an Osprey that allowed the best views and photographic opportunities.  This is an impressive eagle and, thanks God, a common one!

We left Juan Hombrón with a huge day-list of birds... but we wanted more, so we visited Punta Chame (to the east, coming closer to Panamá City), a well-known site for waders, and many more aquatic and marine birds.  Also, we enjoyed a nice fried fish as lunch after checking the beach.  It was only after reviewing my photos of a flock of gulls and terns resting in the sand that I realized that we didn't see the two Common Terns among the numerous Sandwich and Royal Terns and the Laughing Gulls!  Can you identify them in the next pic?

But the real surprise came in the way out.  We did a routine stop to check a section of beach by the road, noticing a group of ducks in the far shore... it took me a while, but eventually I recognized the huge beaks and the unmistakable plumage of an adult male Northern Shoveler with four female-plumaged birds!  These ducks are rare in Panama... and we were seeing five of them!  They were quite distant... but you can notice the beak shape in my cropped photo (OK, I recognized it, this is an awful photo).

That was a nice way to call it a day.  Rafael and Osvaldo left me at the Panamerican highway... they were going to Panama City and I was going back to Penonomé... the weekend was just starting!

2012 CBCs: Central circle.

Yesterday, many "auduboners", birdwatchers and nature lovers waked up early and went around the town of Gamboa and the Pipeline road in order to watch or heard as many species of birds possible for the Central Christmas Bird Count, organized by the Panama Audubon Society... many, except me!  For previously acquired duties, I was unable to participate in the morning... but then, I went to Gamboa by noon with Gloriela and Gabrielle, accompanied by Gloriela's sister Teresa and her son Kevin.

Actually, the town of Gamboa is a very nice place to spent a couple of hours with your family, enjoying wildlife, lush forests and, why not, HUGE SHIPS transiting in the middle of these forests!

Usually, when birding alone, I have a bottle of water and some snacks and that's all... of course, that is unacceptable when traveling with your family, including young kids... that's why our first stop was the restaurant at the resort marina, conveniently overlooking the Chagres river, where I counted the waterbirds present there (oh yes, Kevin helped me).

To be exact, we counted in that place before lunch 5 Brown Pelicans, 1 Neotropic Cormorant, 1 Royal Tern, 1 Franklin's Gull, 11 American Coots and 131 (!) Common Gallinules.

We also saw 12 Lesser Scaups... much less than some weeks ago in the same place, but definitively an excellent record for the CBC!

We drove slowly through the streets of the town, counting many common species, reaching eventually the Ammo Dump ponds, where we saw an Osprey (the third of the day).

But there were the unfeathered creatures that impressed more my companions... including the hordes of Central American Agoutis all over the town and, specially, the big American Cocodrile sunbathing in the other shore of the pond (thanks to God, as Teresa would say).

We ended the day visiting a great friend of mine, Guido Berguido, and his beautiful family.  Did I mention that he has some of the best feeders in town... if not the best?

With action like this, it doesn't matter if you're birding with kids... trust me!

Hundreds of thousands of birds (not joking again)!

LOOK UP! Hundreds of thousands Turkey Vultures and Broad-winged Hawks are flying over Panama City right now! It all started yesterday, when the preliminary counts revealed more than 650,000 birds migrating only over the Ancon hill (counts by the Panama Audubon Society). Today was amazing... swarms of hawks and vultures all around the city... great (and I thought that thousands of birds were impressive)!!!

Other migrating birds were also present, including some Mississippi Kites (and there is one in the above photo if you enlarge it, is the lowest bird to the left), Peregrine Falcons, hordes of swallows (mostly Barn and Cliff Swallows, but few Bank Swallows too, which were new for my balcony list) and scattered flocks of my year Chimney Swift (my marginal photo shows its "jizz" -which is distinctively different from that of the Short-tailed Swift- and its pale throat... you may need to enlarge it).

Some migrants that already are residing in their wintering grounds also showed up (Osprey, Gray Kingbird), along with some year-round resident raptors, including a Short-tailed Hawk and my 52nd balcony bird, a White-tailed Kite perched atop a tree to watch the spectacle with the tolerant Gray Kingbird.

And all this from the balcony!

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!

Raptors on streetlights

We have been visiting Costa del Este (Panama City) several times during this past weekend trying to locate all those rare gulls that have been reported (with success I must say!). Yesterday, I went with Gloriela and Osvaldo Quintero to the mouth of the Matías Hernández river in Costa del Este where we found two others birders (Cindy & Leslie Lieurance of Petrels in Panama) scoping the flock of gulls. The tide was too high, and the birds so far away, that we decided to drive around the streets and upriver just to see what we can get. It was a good idea since we found some interesting birds, including many raptors perched on the streetlights. Despite the lots of construction projects in the area, there are still some grassy open areas and gallery forest along the river and the coast where this raptors can hunt. By far, the most common raptor in Costa del Este (and in Panama City) is the Yellow-headed Caracara, commonly seen or heard and even very tame in some places. Its raucous screams are heard from far away. Is not unusual to find several individuals of this species. We also found a young Crested Caracara. They are more heavily builted than the Yellow-headed Caracaras, and much more uncommon in the city, but they become commoner just to the west and to the east (specially if the open areas are extensive). Later, we found a pair of American Kestrels perched on streetlights too. This beautiful little falcon is becoming widespread in Panama, just like in other countries. It used to be only an uncommon northern migrant, but now we have a resident population and nest activity have been reported from several places. The new colonizers came from the south. The males can be told apart in the field by differences in the crown and breast patterns (notice the unspotted breast of this individual). Its expansion is similar to that of the Pearl Kite some years ago. The streetlights are not the only perches in Costa del Este, nor the tallest. Other raptors, like Peregrine Falcons and Ospreys, prefer taller lookouts sites. That was true for the Osprey we spotted at the top of a construction crane, wherefrom it was thrown towards the river, probably in search of its next prey. Well, nice to see that some other birds are still surviving there, taking advantage of man-made perches!