The traveller phalarope

We all know that shorebirds (in general) are great, long-distance migrants.  It is incredible how these lightweight birds fly thousands of miles twice a year from and to their breeding grounds... but some of them stand remarkably.  That's the case of one of the Red-necked Phalaropes with attached tracking devices from Shetland (north-east of Scotland).  It was thought that these birds wintered in the Arabic Sea, the logical route... however, this individual preferred the warm waters of the Pacific Ocean in Ecuador and Peru!  That's right, a 16000 miles round trip crossing the Atlantic Ocean through Iceland and Greenland and flying along North America's east coast and the Caribbean to finally end in Peru... and back!

Red-necked Phalarope in basic plumage.  Aguadulce Salinas (Panama), August 17th, 2013.

But you know what is more amazing?  This bird probably flew over Panama, specifically over the Aguadulce Salinas (saltflats).  In this article, the short video shows the route followed by this particular Red-necked Phalarope... check the migration route over Panama (at minute 1:10).  I've always wondered what does this pelagic species inland during its passage... now this "new" migration route provides a logical explanation.  So, next time you see a Red-necked Phalarope inland, ask yourself if is not coming from northern Europe!

Huge numbers in Aguadulce!

As you may know by now, the Aguadulce Salinas (saltponds) are just 30 minutes away of our house in Penonomé (central Panamá).  I took advantage of this proximity and visited the saltponds very early last sunday hoping to find interesting species closer to the road due to the low traffic at that time... and it worked.

As you can see, the diversity and numbers were awesome... and this is only a fraction of the flock!  Can you see how many species were together in that pond?  The Roseate Spoonbill was, by far, the most attractive bird... the pink shade comes from the food it eats: tiny crustaceans rich in carotenoids produced by the algae they eat as well.  The Wood Stork is not exactly a beauty...but is extremely elegant when flying.  I saw no less than 500 storks along the ponds... and amazing number at any season.

Most egrets and herons were fairly numerous as well, but not as the storks.  The most common was the Great Egret as you can see in the first photo.  Also recorded were Snowy and Cattle Egrets, Great Blue, Little Blue, Tricolored and Green Herons.  The Black-necked Stilts were abundant too... but they like to congregate in little, sparse groups all over the ponds.  They are resident there (the only known breeding site in Panama), but the numbers increase with the arrival of northern migrants.

Despite migration has just started, the ponds were covered in migrant shorebirds and plovers.  Thousands of peeps (including Western, Semipalmated and Least Sandpipers), Semipalmated Plovers and both Lesser and Greater Yellowlegs were feeding at the ponds.  This Greater Yellowlegs shows the typical bicolored (paler to the base), slightly upturned bill, separating it of the Lesser Yellowlegs.

However, it was another migrant that surprised me.  I found a resting group of Black Skimmers in a sand bar in the middle of a pond... not an unusual sight for the site, nor for the time of the year.  Then, more and more flocks started to arrive directly from the sea... I counted 238 birds (at least)... all seemed to belong to the race breeding in North America.

Some other species were simply more conspicuous than in other visits... that was the case of the White-winged Doves.  Restricted to the drier areas along the Parita Peninsula of central Panamá, this species is readily found along the street running parallel to the beach heading to the fishing town of El Salado.  I found many individuals, some in groups of three to four birds, some vocalizing.

The last bird I found in the ponds was also the less expected.  A basic-plumaged Red-necked Phalarope was swimming and feeding, bobbing its head nervously and allowing some shots.  This species is mainly pelagic... that is, usually found away of the coast in the sea; but Aguadulce is a quite regular site to see this migrant.  Well, what a great day at the saltponds!

P.D.:  I count eight (8) different species in the first photo.  How many do you?

Islands trip

We have just arrived after an exciting day at the ocean, specifically around the Gulf of Panama, participating in a whale-watching trip guided by my friend Venicio "Beny" Wilson.  I went with Gloriela and Gabrielle, and three other participants, leaving Panama City early in the morning and heading directly off shore, to the waters surrounding Otoque island.

With the town of Otoque Oriente in sight, our captain pointed out the first marine creature of the day, a huge Sea Turtle that made a brief appearance for our delight.  We don't know the exact species, nor which one is expected in these waters... any help?

Very close, southeast of Otoque, is the island of Boná, the first thing we noted was some old structures covered in vegetation that used to be some kind of excavation project, long ago abandoned.

However, I was more interested in the seabirds colony of the islands, mainly Magnificent Frigatebirds.  Hundreds of these masters of the air, including many young birds, were on their nests or flying around us.

There were also boobies on the cliffs... both Blue-footed and Brown Boobies nest in this island, and we saw many of these species resting at the cliffs, sometimes side-by-side!

But it was the Boná's turquoise, warm waters that we liked most, and we couldn't resist to have a bath.  Gloriela took the photo of us holding my camera with just one hand (Gabrielle was in the other arm)... she did the same when she photographed the immature Brown Booby that circled us, probably thinking that we were fishing or something.

The third island of that group, Estivá, is quite curious in having a huge cave excavated in one of its cliffs... with bats included.

The rocky northern tip of the island was full of Brown Pelicans and Blue-footed Boobies as well.

We left this group of islands and head north, in our way to the Valladolid islet.  Before reaching the islet, we crossed a group of shorebird-like birds that we confirmed were Red-necked Phalaropes.  We also got closer views of both Brown and Blue-footed Boobies (on a log), and saw two different Bridled Terns; however, I was unable to focus my lens on them... my record shot is just for documentation... in spite it is flurry, you can see the characteristic profile and longish tail, as well as the upperparts color, ruling out other -more common- terns.

At the Valladolid islet, we also saw many pelicans and more boobies... but this islet in particular was dominated by Neotropic Cormorants, that flew as soon as we approached them.

We did see some cetaceans, in the form of Bottlenose Dolphins; however, the whales failed to show... still, we were very happy with the experience... surely we will repeat it!  Thanks Beny for the trip!