Blooming miracle!

Finally spending some time at home thanks to some compensatory time off the hospital.  Apart of staying at home, enjoying my family, I have to admit that I get impressed by the nature around our apartment building.  This time, I noticed a blooming tree right at the social area due to some activity over its yellow flowers.

To be honest, it was the first time I noticed such a tree.  After a while I realized that there were more similar trees in the area, but only the one at the social area was in bloom.  After some research, I finally found the name of this tree: a Yellow Flame Tree (Peltophorum pterocarpum).  Native of South-east Asia, this tree now is part of our urban landscape in Panama City.  What impressed me more is the fact that, in spite of not being a native tree, its flowers attracted a huge number of critters, from bees and other bugs to hummingbirds, honeycreepers and other birds!

Just in few minutes I was able to photograph several different species of bees and related insects.  I only have a superficial idea of what they may be, but there is no doubt that this tree was a rich source of nectar for them, due to the swarms of these flying insects around it.

The usual hummingbird species were around too, both Rufous-tailed and Sapphire-throated Hummingbird were zipping around, chasing each other.  Then, I heard the characteristic metallic call of a species that I had never recorded at my house.  A quick look and I was able to find not one, but two Snowy-bellied Hummingbirds feeding on the yellow flowers!

Snowy-bellied Hummingbird

The Snowy-bellied Hummingbird was new for my apartment list, another addition due to the quarantine!

Great day at the feeders!

Yesterday, I joined Osvaldo Quintero, Rafael Luck and Itzel Fong in a day-trip to Cerro Azul, the gated community in the foothills to the east of Panama City.  Our destination was Birder's View, known by its well-kept hummingbird feeders and lush garden attracting many species of birds.  At our arrival, we were attracted to the feeders... just like the tons of hummingbirds swarming around!

What a great spectacle!  Both White-necked Jacobin and Bronze-tailed Plumeleteer (like the one above) were the most common species.  Those red feet are so distinctive among the Panamanian hummingbirds.  Other common species was the Snowy-bellied Hummingbird.  Notice the sharp contrast between the iridescent green breast and the snowy white belly.  They have an easily recognizable call, quite metallic in quality.

As I said before, Cerro Azul is the most reliable site (in the world) to find the near-endemic for Panama Violet-capped Hummingbird.  This bird is very special... and beautiful... the only member of the genus Goldmania.  With the right angle, these birds literally glow!

The same for this Crowned (Violet-crowned) Woodnymph.  Usually, it looks pretty dark... almost black, but then... PAM!  Shock of color!

Other common species at the feeders were the Rufous-tailed Hummingbird and Green Hermits.  In fact, one of these hermits was trapped inside the house.  Luckily, Carlos (the house keeper) rescued him and released it smoothly.

Some other regular species were present in lower numbers, like the Violet-headed Hummingbird (one of my favorites) and the stunning Purple-crowned Fairy.  This one looked like a stuffed bird!

The Long-billed Starthroat and the Green-crowned Brilliant made a single appearance, not enough for photos.  However, we did not lack subjects to photograph.  Not only hummingbirds were attending the feeders: Bananaquits, Green, Red-legged and Shining Honeycreepers were trying to slurp a bit of sugar water.  We even saw a male Yellow-faced Grassquit drinking at the feeder.

What a great day in the foothills!

Coquette and others hummers in Cerro Azul

The last place visited during our saturday trip to Cerro Azul (foothills east of Panama City) was the lovely home of our good friends Williams and Claudia Ahrens (both members of The 600 Club). They are full time residents in Los Altos de Cerro Azul, and they have banana and hummingbird feeders all over their place. After trying to find the Rufous-crested Coquette in Birders' View, Rafael Luck, Osvaldo Quintero and your blogger host, headed to the Ahrens' place (after seeing only the regular Violet-headed Hummingbird at the supposed coquette site). As usual, the place was full of birds, not only hummingbirds, but also tanagers, honeycreepers and woodcreepers among others. Bill and Claudia welcomed us warmly and invited us to check their feeders, where we immediately saw the usual suspects, mainly White-necked Jacobins, but also some Amazilia hummingbirds and even a male and female Violet-crowned Woodnymph (female on a feeder). We were surprised with the answer to our question about the coquette: Bill said "ahhh, she is at the feeders right now, or in the Verbenas outside". What!!??? The coquette was there all the time? Just seconds after his answer, I saw a little black dot leaving the feeder that he pointed, heading to the purple flowers of the Verbena : a female Rufous-crested Coquette!!! We all started shooting while the beautiful creature was quietly visiting the flowers, with its tail cocked up and looking like a big bee. They say that at least two female-plumaged birds have been visiting their grounds in the past few day, one probably is an immature male. An adult male often appears too, but not recently. We were lined up in front of the Verbena, only the shooter's noise was heard. Definitively, we looked like paparazzis taking photos of a celebrity, the coquette certainly is one. Then, Claudia saw another specialty of her garden visiting one of the feeders, a Long-billed Starthroat that quickly flew to a perch in a pine tree. The colourful gorget (the "star" throat) is hard to see in the field, but the white moustache and the long and straight bill are diagnostic. The coquette reappeared in the same bush, and we took many more photos. Eventually she left the place, leaving us astonished! We barely paid attention to the others hummers in the property, despite a Snowy-bellied Hummingbird did its best to show us that it can be radiant too, showing its glowing feathers with the sun. Thank you Bill and Claudia, and lets us know if the male coquette appears!