Birding the Tabasará range. Part I

The mountains of the Tabasará range, in western Panamá, are physically (and ecologically) separated of the main Talamanca range by the Fortuna depression, making this an area of subespecific  and especific endemism.  Most of the intact forest is restricted to the higher altitudes and to the Caribbean slope of the range, with very few, if any, good roads accessing it; and all the area is included within the indigenous reserve of the Ngöbe-Buglé people, making this area quite difficult to visit.  That's why, when I received the kind invitation of William Adsett for visiting this region for the weekend, I said "YES!" immediately!

After joining Charles Davies in Panamá City, and Dan Wade in the town of San Félix in Chiriquí province, we drove the improved road up to the mountains, passing the Ngöbe town of Hato Chami and exploring partially the new road to Llano Tugri, finding some low elevations birds and then returning to the main road.  This paved, well-maintened road reach its highest elevation (little more than 1700 meters above sea level) in the western slope of the Cerro Santiago massif, to then run along the Continental Divide between the former provinces of Chiriquí and Bocas del Toro (now the Ngöbe regions of Nedri and Ñucribo, respectively) for a couple of kilometers.

Road over the Continental Divide

Leaving the paved road, we followed the dirt, pot-holed road to the Ngöbe town of Ratón, passing by the infamous Cerro Colorado and through very nice patches of forest, home of most of the endemics species and forms of the region.  Our home for the next three nights was a rustic cabin right in the Continental Divide, in a site known as Buena Vista (well-named, it means good look).

Buena Vista!

Our hosts were the Pineda Montezuma family, owners of the cabin and the land surrounding it, and interested in conservation issues.  One of its member, Jorge, accompanied us during the birding outings... and the birding was good!  That night, we had great views of a calling Bare-shanked Screech-Owl right by the cabin!

Now you can see why this bird is named that way (shank is the lower part of the leg).  This bird was quite rufous, a color not appreciable in my shots due to the low light conditions.  The first day, we birded a trail going to the Caribbean side, finding some interesting species... like this beautiful male Orange-bellied Trogon.

In the forest, we crossed a nice mixed flock with Spangle-cheeked Tanagers, Slate-throated Whitestart, Barred Becard (range extension), Brown-capped Vireo (range extension) and Three-striped Warblers.

We followed a river through degraded habitat, finding some other birds, but we were surprised by the lack of life in the river itself... until we reached the highest part, with furious rapids and many fallen trees and logs.  Charles found two American Dippers and a Torrent Tyrannulet, rivers dwellers typical of the highlands creeks and rivers.  I watched them for some minutes... and I can state that it is always amusing to watch American Dippers.  It is incredible how comfortable they are in the water!

A light drizzle accompanied us during our return journey to the cabin.  Of course we saw endemics... but that is theme of other post!

Birding Boquete: Part II

After a very good birding in the morning, the group conformed by me & Gloriela, Osvaldo Quintero and Osvaldo Quintero Jr., Rafael Luck, Milagros Sánchez and Olmedo Miró, decided to have a well deserved late lunch close to Boquete (western Panama highlands), in Alto Lino at an italian restaurant. It was around 3:00 pm and all of us enjoyed a tasty pizza (except Rafael who ordered pasta) in the lovely place. There was a creek in one side of the restaurant where a Torrent Tyrannulet was having lunch too. It perched on rocks in the restaurant's garden right by the window, allowing some very close photos. While listing the birds watched during the morning, everyone was impressed when I mentioned an American Dipper seen from the car in the middle of the Caldera river at Bajo Mono. It seems that nobody else have seen this bird before, so we quickly decided to return to Bajo Mono searching for it. After passing by "The Bricks" (an hexagonal basalt wall of volcanic origin), we stopped close to the "Y" (an intersection in the road of bajo Mono) to inspect the river. After few minutes, a pair of American Dippers appeared close to us. The most amazing thing about these birds is their habits. They swim and dive in the cold waters of the river, looking for aquatic invertebrates. They stayed together for a while, but then one of them flew upriver, giving some high-pitched calls. The other bird stayed for more photos, diving, swimming and even giving a glimpse under the water, as I pictured in my photo. Eventually, it was joined by a pair of Torrent Tyrannulet, about half of its size despite the subjective proportions of my photos (the photo of the tyrannulet was of a very close bird). Unlike the dippers, the tyrannulets never wetted intentionally. They picked up tiny insects from the surface, tolerating the splashing with the water if neccesary. A little farther, a Black Phoebe completed the trio of stream dwellers (a forth one, the Buff-rumped Warbler, is found at a lower elevation). Continuing the day, we went towards the area of Horqueta, making few stops for common birds, including the omnipresent "Tío Chicho" (Rufous-collared Sparrow), but also Green Violetear, Flame-throated & Tennessee Warbler, Mountain Elaenias, Orange-billed Nightingale-Thrush and White-naped Brush-Finch among others. Once in Horqueta we decided to walk a little bit the lower trail, but it was getting late so we decided to return when I saw a bulky ground-dove perched in a bush. I clearly saw two distinctive violaceous wing bars just for three seconds... then the bird flew reveling its wide white tail corners: a female Maroon-chested Ground-Dove!!! The combination of wing bars and white in the tail, plus the altitude (1.995 meters above sea level) confirmed the id. We didn't see any bamboo in the site, and the bird flew to a coffee plantation. That was the last bird of the day... and what a bird! Back at Olmedo's house, we planned a trip to Batipa (in the lowlands) for the next morning, but that is another history!