Owls, wine and cheese night

Every year, the Panama Audubon Society organizes the "Owls, wine and cheese night" for its members (and non-members as well) with the intention of spending a pleasant time with friends and, incidentally, find some owls.  The 16th annual meeting was held last saturday in the facilities of the Parque Municipal Summit, on the Gaillard road in the way to Gamboa.  For those who arrived early, the event started birding the Summit Ponds, that are very close to the park.  We saw several common species (personally recorded 37 different species); however, this American Crocodile was a highlight (at least for me).

American Crocodile

This was the second "Owls, wine and cheese night" for Gloriela and me.... and the first one for Gabrielle.  As usual, we started with the wine and cheese part of the event.  Ten persons attended the meeting, and we enjoyed a nice selection of cheeses, desserts and ceviche... as well as some fine wines (coke for the drivers like me).

After a while, we went out in search of some owls.  Rosabel Miró and Karl Kaufmann took the lead handling the spotlight and the recorded calls to attract the birds.  Edgar Arauz, park director and with whom we are very grateful for all the support offered, joined us while we drove slowly the paved circuit crossing clearings, shrubs, forest patches and borders.  The first night creature to appear was a Four-eyed Opossum for some of the group, but we missed it; however, we had another nice marsupial in the spotlight: a handsome Central American Woolly Opossum (Caluromys derbianus - also known as Derby's Woolly Opossum) that allowed some photos!

Central American Woolly Opossum

It was a lifer for me and for most of the participants... simply great!  And what about the owls?  Well, the only species to respond to our recorded calls was the Mottled Owl; however, while looking for the responsive owl, incidentally one of the participants found a young Spectacled Owl high in a tree!

Spectacled Owl

Why so excited?  Because my highly edited photo shows an owl that we actually SAW during the "Owls, wine and cheese night".  Traditionally no owls are seen in these events (although many are heard).  Gloriela thinks this is due to our "wine first, owls later" methodology... I think it is just luck.  In any case, it is not easy to see owls in Panama... most of them are forest dwellers that, although attracted by our recordings, usually remain just out of sight.  Even Gabrielle was excited by seeing this owl!

I also saw a Pauraque to complete the bird list for the night.  I hope to see you in the next Panama Audubon Society's "Owls, wine and cheese night"!

Flash trip to Darien National Park

The Darien National Park covers 579,000 ha of pristine primary forests and other habitats in extreme eastern Panama, and is home to some range-restricted endemics and near-endemic bird species.  In fact, around 40 species of birds are only readily found for Panama in this park... so you can imagine why I was trying to visit this park.  I have my own "Darien Gap" in my life list... and I wanted to fill it!

To be honest, this was not my first time in the park.  On two previous occasions (you can read about it here and here), I have accompanied the Panama Audubon Society in its annual fieldtrip to El Real, which includes a short visit to Pirre Station (also known as Rancho Frío).  This station is barely within the limits of the park, but surrounded by tall primary forest, making it a great place for birding.  Besides, the installations are comfortable and ideally located next to the Peresénico river.

But reaching it require a two hours walk through muddy trails and creeks from the nearest town, making a one-day visit not exactly a good idea for quality birding... although surely you'll find widespread species like the eastern form of Chestnut-backed Antbird cassini, with distinctive small white spots on wing coverts and females brightly colored below, as shown in the photo.

I  went to this station some days ago, taking advantage of my last days of vacations.  I spend only two half days in the station... my main objective were the highlands of the Pirre range (more about that in my next post), but that was enough to see great birds... and even a life bird for me.  The day of my arrival, my local guide pointed to me a HUGE cuipo tree next to the trail before entering the limits of the national park.  A quick search with my binoculars revealed a wide nest atop the tree... a Harpy Eagle nest!  After searching the surrounding, Isaac found a young Harpy close to the nest... what a great way to start my birding trip!  Not every day you see a Harpy Eagle!

We were not even 15 minutes from the station!  Once in the station, I only had time for dinner and take a shower... soon it got dark and the sounds of the night took over the place.  I heard both Crested and Spectacled Owls, and a Vermiculated Screech-Owl behind the station.  The next day I hiked to the highlands, leaving the station in the darkness of the dawn and returning at night; however, I still managed to photograph a Spectacled Owl in the darkness.

For the last day, Isaac took me to a spot 10 minutes away of the station, crossing the river.  It was a little bit dark, but we heard (and saw) both Streak-chested and Black-crowned Antpittas, Spotted and Chestnut-backed Antbirds and a Bright-rumped Attila.  We stopped next to a tall tree with a wide nest on it... another eagle nest!  This time, the tree was considerably smaller than the HUGE cuipo tree we saw two days before with the Harpy Eagle nest.  This nest was empty... Isaac began to whistle... I waited.  Suddenly, a ghostly shape flew under the canopy, perching in a nearby tree.  I was able to see clean white underwings... a young Crested Eagle!

I was able to see the field marks that separate this young bird of the very similar young Harpy we saw before: single-pointed crest, less massive bill and longer, less massive legs.  But the show was about to start... after a couple of minutes, an adult eagle arrived to the nest, and started to vocalize.

We spent more than 1 hour seeing both birds... but I needed to go.  Reluctantly, I left the eagles interacting between them... what a great life bird... and so close to the facilities!  Amazing.  I started and ended my flash trip to Darien National Park with two huge eagles, the largest eagles in Panama... but those were not my highlights of the trip (not kidding)... check my next post if you want to know!

Birding El Valle de Anton with friends

El Valle de Anton is a picturesque town located in the crater of an extinct volcano in Cocle province of central Panama.  A couple of weekends ago, Osvaldo Quintero, Rafael and Montse Luck, Itzel Fong and your blogger host went to this lovely town to bird the surrounding forests.  We usually bird the Cerro Gaital Natural Monument, but this time we were accompanied by two local experts: Domiciano (Domi) Alveo and José Alberto Pérez.

First, we followed them to Las Minas trail, crossing some patches of forest, then pasture land and then forest again (plus breathtaking landscapes).  It was roughly a two hours walk, full of a mix of lowlands and foothills, forest and open land species.  For example, this singing Thick-billed Seed-Finch was side-by-side with some Eastern Meadowlarks and Black-striped Sparrows.

While a little farther we found a flock of noisy Black-chested Jays, singing Pale-vented Thrushes and White-breasted Wood-Wrens.

We followed the trail through another patch of forest, and then to second growths were the activity became better, with Yellow-olive Flycatcher, both Black-headed and Buff-throated Saltators, a colony of Chestnut-headed Oropendolas with a pair of Piratic Flycatchers, Yellow-billed Cacique and the first of many White-lined Tanagers.  We moved to the entrance of the road to Rio Indio, where the general lack of birds was compensated with amazing close views of a pair of Orange-bellied Trogon.  We saw first the female with her catch in the bill (I posted the photos of the male here).

After birding the forest above Mata Ahogado (that's the theme of another post), we had a typical lunch in town.  By then, it was cloudy and raining already, but we decided to visit the Cara Iguana trail anyway.  In spite the we just drove for 5 to 10 minutes, the forest was completely different, just like the birds.  This is a drier area, and we saw or heard Lance-tailed Manakins, both Rufous-and-white and Rufous-breasted Wrens, Rosy Thrush-Tanager, Long-billed Gnatwren, Scrub Greenlet, Rufous-capped Warbler and many more.  Then I saw a weird figure high in a tree... with my naked eyes I thought it was a termite nest, but with my binoculars it was evident that the figure was a wet Spectacled Owl drying out!

We saw this majestic beast for a while only to realize that this bird was guarding a young one perched very close to us.

How different they are!  That was an excellent way to end this trip, and I'm pretty sure is not the last time we visit El Valle de Anton!

Night outing

Some weeks ago, I went to the famous Pipeline Road and its Rainforest Discovery Center, in central Panama, with Osvaldo Quintero and Rafael Luck, but this time at night during one of the scheduled "night trips" they organize. Of course, our main objective were the owls that live deep inside that forest, specially the Crested Owl that have been reported recently by the Center's staff and which would be new for all three of us. It was a chilly night, and since the instant of our arrival we felt surrounded by the darkness and the silence, only disturbed by the occasional breeze and the buzzing insects. Julia was our (excellent) guide for the night, and we almost immediately heard a Crested Owl behind the facilities, but it was far away. I also heard a distant Spectacled Owl, they sound like a distant machine gun as Ridgely states in "A guide to the birds of Panama". Of course, the photo I'm picturing here is of a different individual that I took many years ago in daylight because we saw no owls that night. These are big birds, actually the biggest of the regular encountered owls in Panama, and one that I have found several times, both at day and night. Julia also heard a distant Tropical Screech-Owl. However, the real show was performed by a little troop of Western Night Monkeys. It is amazing how these creatures move around the tree tops and the branches so acrobatically in complete darkness! My poor photos are due to the distance and the almost complete lack of any source of light. At close range, they don't look like monkeys to me... but like big-eyed squirrels or something like that as you can see in the daylight photo I took in Panama City of a sleeping pair of these some months ago (thanks Beny). There are some taxonomic issues about this species; some think that this form, which occurs in Panama and the colombian Pacific slope, is a good species by its own: the Choco Night Monkey. Eventually, we heard another Crested Owl close to the tower, but despite our efforts, it remained invisible. We heard several others Crested Owl in the entrance road too, plus more Night Monkeys, so I think it was a succesfull night after all!