And the birding continues! Pelagic off western Azuero

And after exciting 16+ hours of pure birding, we ended at the town of Malena, western Azuero, with our friends Kees and Lowes of Heliconia Inn.  We scheduled a pelagic trip for the next day, and the rest of the participants were already there: Mario Ocaña, George Angehr (yes, the author of "The Birds of Panama" field guide), visiting birder Enos Diestre and Kees Groenedijk as our guide.

That's me, George, Mario, Kees, our captain and Enos

As usual, very early the next day (May 14th) we took a quick breakfast and headed to the dock at Rio Negro, close to the town of Mariato.  With the first lights we started to navigate along the western coast of the Azuero Peninsula, in a route now familiar to some of us who were recurrent in this kind of trips.  It soon became clear that this would be a spectacular journey... since hordes of Black Terns, Brown Noddies and Galapagos Shearwaters started to appear... even close to shore!

We found several of these flocks feeding over schools of Bonitos... the show was simply amazing!  Frenzy feeding action both under and above the waves... it was hard to focus in just one bird.  In fact, among the dozens of goodies and Black Terns, there were other terns species, like Common and Sooty Terns for example.

Brown Noddies

Alternate Black Tern

Common Tern

Sooty Tern

But most important, the first tubenoses were also attending the party.  First a few... then, flocks with up to 50 Galapagos Shearwaters resting on the water or swiftly moving around each good spot.  The Galapagos Shearwaters are always present in these pelagic trips; however, it was the first time I saw so many... reminding me those photos of one of my favorite field guides on pelagic birds.  They allowed some close shots by the way!

Galapagos Shearwater

When we reached the Continental Shelf break, some other tubenoses started to appear... up to three Wedge-tailed Shearwaters started to feed among the Galapagos Shearwaters, while some Black and Wedge-rumped  Storm-Petrels also did some quick appearances... but they were quite shy for photos. Trust me, it is not easy to aim and shoot those little guys from a buoying boat in the middle of the ocean!

Wedge-tailed Shearwater

Wedge-tailed and Galapagos Shearwaters

Wedge-rumped Storm-Petrel

We recorded some other species, including Brown and Nazca Boobies, Bridled Terns and Laughing Gulls out there.  We also had some nice non-avian highlights... like several Hammerhead sharks (unknown species... if you have an idea let me know) and at least two different species of sea turtles, including the one pictured here:

Hammerhead Shark sp.

Sea Turtle sp.

As you can see, a successful trip.  Each one of these trips in Panama help us to understand a little bit more our pelagic avifauna... still a lot to do in this aspect of course.  

Pelagic off Punta Mala

I had the opportunity to join a fine group of birdwatchers last saturday, september 11th, in a pelagic birding trip off Punta Mala, at the tip of the Azuero Peninsula in central Panama. Worldbirder Björn Anderson kindly organized the trip and invited me (I'm so grateful by the way) and other four birders: Kenneth Allaire, Gonzalo Horna, Darién Montañéz and Rafael Luck. My journey started friday, when Rafael picked me up after work around 3:00 PM. We were loaded with fish leftovers, tuna cans and popcorn (the ingredients of the chum) and with all the excitement of being part of that trip. We all met at the charming town of Pedasí, where we stayed for the night to meet very early in the morning our captain Jeff and his seaworthy assistant, Armando. We followed them to a private dock at Punta Mala and were ready to go aboard the 30-feet-long fishing boat "Flora Cristina". You can see in the map the route that we did, reaching 10,000-feet depth waters just outside the continental platform. No more than 20 minutes after we left the dock, we began to prepare the chum when I noticed that the first bird of the trip was following us. I limited myself to say "the chum is working already", but then it was evident the dark plumage of the bird with a conspicuous white trailing edge to the wing, a pattern that I had already seen in Perú: an Inca Tern!!! The beautiful bird followed us for a while and then landed on the boat... amazing!!! Of course everyone was delighted with the bird and almost everyone got excellent photos of it. The bird sailed with us for more or less 20 minutes and then, it followed its own path for never be seen again. What a great way to start a trip... with a bird not reported for Panama in the last 27 years! After the tern, much commoner species started to appear... most of them surely coming from the Frailes Islands to the west: Brown Noddies, Bridled and Sooty Terns. We got distant views first, but at the end of the trip (when we got close to the islands) we got better views, allowing photos (I have to say that trying to photograph pelagic birds aboard a constantly-moving boat is really hard task!). The juvenile Sooty Tern that I'm presenting here was the first one I ever saw of that species. The next photo shows some adults Sooty Terns with two Brown Noodies (one is floating, you can enlarge the photo). After a while, we left the terns and began to find shearwaters and petrels! The first shearwater to appear was the expected Galapagos Shearwater, which offered some close views and photographic opportunities.

We saw four Oceanites storm-petrels that we are calling Wilsons' (thank you Björn for noticing it). The commonest storm-petrel was the Wedge-rumped Storm-Petrel, with one to four birds after our chum in several sites. But more important, a bigger storm-petrel with pointed wings and a definitive narrower rump band turned out to be a Band-rumped Storm-Petrel, id by the experts, the first register for Panama, and a personal lifer! At 8:30 AM, Björn found the main target of the trip: a Tahiti Petrel (N 07º 20.002' W 079º 36.910). I hurried enough to see the clear dark-and-white pattern of the underparts and to appreciate its agile and swift flight above the sea with its long and narrow wings. It was a first for Panama too, and my second lifer for the trip! After the petrel, the things became calmer, with only common species, including Blue-footed and Brown Boobies, a lonely Neotropic Cormorant out there, more Wedge-rumped Storm-Petrels and Galapagos Shearwaters. In one of those calm periods of time, the captain found a little bird in front of the boat that flew away revealing its shorebird shape and lined back: a Red-necked Phalarope (year-bird, like many others).

In our way back, Björn found some Wedge-tailed Shearwaters along with a flock of Brown Boobies. After some maneuvering by the captain, we got close to the shearwaters, allowing great views and photos (compare with that of the Galapagos Shearwater). We were at N 07º 15.883' W 080º 00.146'.

Two years ago, Darien and I reported the first Wedge-taileds' in more than 30 years around the Frailes Islands. Now we have photos!

Well, after all it turned out to be one of those memorable trips that you'll never forget... including new species for Panama (and for me)!The self-denominated T.P. (Tahiti Petrel) Gang; from left to right: GH, BA, KA, JA, DM and RL.

More about this trip here, more photos and a complete bird list at Xenornis.

And The Action Continues...

That's right. We didn't stop after the Santa Fe fieldtrip. Instead, we headed south to the Azuero Peninsula and stayed in the town of Pedasí (hometown of the first woman president of Panama). We wake up early on monday morning and meet our captain at El Ciruelo port (with an adult Bare-throated Tiger-Heron close to the beach). Our destination: the Frailes islands and its colony of seabirds. The last time I visited the islands, there were no terns on it (you can read a narrative of that trip here). The only other occasion I visited the islands was more than ten years ago and back then I did not notice any Sooty Tern, despite the fact that the islands were full of breeding birds (maybe simply I was unable to separate them from the Bridled Terns). This time I was prepared and, after reading some fieldguides and seeing many plates, I printed in my mind the following differences to look in the Sooties:

1. Heavier look with broader wings

2. Less white in the underwing
3. Less contrast between crown and mantle

4. Lack of complete white nape collar

5. Bigger white forehead patch not extending behind the eye

Maybe you can pick apart the Sooty Tern from these pics:

As you can see, we saw both of them, the Bridleds being commoner, and the Sooties restricted to south Frailes Islands, where we noticed another thing: the low pitched voice of the Sooties, quite different from the high nasal calls of the Bridleds. Other birds seen breeding in the islands were the Brown Noddies (the commonest) and the Brown and Blue-footed Boobies. There were also Brown Pelicans and Magnificent Frigatebirds, but none seemed to be breeding in the islands. On the way back, between Frailes north and south, we saw a lonely Galapagos Shearwater close to the boat. The sea and the clouds cooperated and gave us a calm return to mainland, where we prepared ourselves for the next journey.