Random day at the Metro Park

In spite of the long free weekend, I have not had time to go out to birdwatch... that's why I'm posting some old photos of residents birds at the Metropolitan Natural Park, right in the middle of Panama City.  By this time of year, the park is filled with migrants going back home, so I hope I can show pictures of them soon... for now, what about this common voice inside these forests?

Slaty-tailed Trogon

Yes, it is a male Slaty-tailed Trogon.  Its call sounds like a dog barking, seriously!  Sometimes it is hard to believe that such beauties live so close to the skycrapers... the same can be said about this Slate-colored Grosbeak.

Slate-colored Grosbeak

Actually not a grosbeak, but a saltator, a fact that sounds logical if you compare it with some other forest-dwelling saltators in South America.  Did you notice that both birds bear names that have nothing to do with their amazing coloration!  Just look the deep coral-red bill!  In the other hand, the next resident bird is named after its bill:

The Double-toothed Kite is a forest raptor quite common in the city.  Although not really "toothed", the name refers to the pair of identations at the cutting edge of the upper mandible.  This mark is not very conspicuous in the field, nor in my photo.  I found this immature bird a little bit after finding a pack of White-nosed Coatis.

White-nosed Coatis

I mention this because the Double-toothed Kite is known to follow troops of monkeys and other mammals, taking advantage of the insects flushed by these animals.  Perhaps this bird was doing just that!  Well, that's all for now... but soon I'll be back with those migrants photos!

In the way to Penonome. Part I

We spend this weekend at our house in Penonome, sharing with friends and family and enjoying the calmness of the place. We left Panama City on saturday, but before that I did a 2.5-hours walk in the Metropolitan Natural Park while Gloriela was buying the supplies for the weekend. The place was alive with migrants! First of all, I found many Turkey Vultures resting on the trees at the entrance to the trails, surely waiting for the day to heat up in order to continue its migration. Not too much after them, I started to find tons of migrants passerines, including Black-and-white, Yellow, Bay-breasted, Chestnut-sided, Blackburnian and Canada Warblers, Northern Waterthrushes, Red-eyed Vireos, Scarlet and Summer Tanagers, Olive-sided and Eastern Wood Pewees (singing), Great Crested Flycatchers and hundreds of Swainson's Thrushes... amazing! Despite so many warblers, I was unable to get decent pictures of them... they are so agile and the day was so cloudy that I hardly got a chance. However, the resident birds did show well. I saw three species of manakins (Golden-collared, Red-capped and this semi-concealed subadult Lance-tailed Manakin), three woodpeckers (Crimson-crested, Lineated and Red-crowned Woodpeckers), Cocoa and Olivaceous Woodcreepers, many tanagers (including Rosy Thrush-Tanagers), Green Shrike-Vireo, Lesser and Golden-fronted Greenlets and many flycatchers (Social, Boat-billed, Panama, Dusky-capped and so on...). But the one that stole the show was a very cooperative Slaty-tailed Trogon quietly perched at eye-level at the "Mirador". Very good after all for a short walk!

A short walk in Metro Park

The Metropolitan Natural Park, at the heart of Panama City, is a very accesible site that can be visited in a couple of hours. After a long day of duties in several sites in the city, Gloriela and I decided to have short walk in the main trails at the park during the afternoon. It was hot and very quiet, and the activity was low. Many of the trees have lost its leaves and the ground is covered in dry leaves, so you can heard the animals (including skulking birds) while they move from one side to another. That was how we found a pair of Dusky Antbirds (female pictured here), only following the noise they made while inspecting some dead leaves very low in a bush. We also detected a beautiful male Rosy Thrush-Tanager and a female White-bellied Antbird by the noise they produced while skulking in the dry leaves at the ground level. Both were life birds for Gloriela. It is hard to describe the experience: a fantastic black bird with deep pink underparts and eyebrow. This tanager is a speciality of this park, where you usually heard it year-long. Because of its habits, voice and shape, this tanager recalls a thrasher more than any other tanager... I suppose that the last word about the relations of this bird is not yet mentioned. Because of the season, there are many flowering trees in the area, covered by orioles, dacnises, honeycreepers and hummingbirds. Almost at the top of the Mono Titi trail, we found a mixed flock with Red-legged Honeycreepers, Blue Dacnis, White-shouldered Tanagers, Tropical Gnatcatcher and Scarlet-rumped Caciques. We stayed 15 minutes, while others birds were showing up: Black-bellied, Rufous-breasted and Rufous-and-White Wrens, Cocoa Woodcreeper, Chestnut-sided and Bay-breasted Warblers, Yellow-crowned Tyrannulets, etc... We returned through La Cieneguita trail, finding a group of Geoffroy's Tamarins and a scared White-nosed Coati, the only mammals we found (apart of some hikers of course). Very close to the end of the trail, a pair of Slaty-tailed Trogons gave us a colourful show, perching and vocalizing very close to us. I think they were inspecting us... maybe they were nesting nearby but we didn't see any nest hole. After two hours we were again at the entrance, after enjoying a nice afternoon among nature marvels here in the big city.

The Metropolitan Natural Park

Panama is the only latinamerican capital city blessed with a tropical dry forest within its boundaries. The Metropolitan Natural Park is considered the lung of Panama City, and it holds an amazing diversity of plants and wildlife (including birds) considering its proximity to the busy city. After spending a couple of hours at Veracruz beach and leaving an unexpected passenger at the main buildings of the park last sunday (january 17), we decided to walk La Cieneguita and the Mono Tití trails just to see what we can shoot (with the cameras). It was about 10:30 AM so the activity was low, but anyway we managed to find some birds. At our first stop, one of the rangers pointed us a branch that at first glance looked like any other, but with the binoculars we verified its identity: a Common Potoo perfectly patterned for disguising like a tree. What a beautiful creature, in spite of its reputation... this bird is the famous "Tulivieja" (a kind of witch) of our peasants due to its lugubrious (but enchanting) song. We delighted ourselves photographing this magnificent bird, but soon we were shooting other one: a pair of highly vocal Crimson-crested Woodpeckers in courtship display. A little farther in the trail we heard the characteristic buzzy call of the Slate-colored Seedeater and soon one male answered to our recordings (always close to the bamboo). This seedeater used to be very rare, but it has become regular at the bamboo in this park since last year. Other birds seen were Dusky and White-bellied Antbirds, Red-throated Ant-Tanagers and a Rosy Thrush-Tanager. We crossed some birders in the trails including a group, guided by our friend José Carlos, trying to spy an Orange-billed Sparrow, but having great views of a Slaty-tailed Trogon instead. We said goodbye to them, heading to the exit, but the musical whistles of a pair of Yellow-backed Orioles delayed us. As you can read, it was a very busy morning!