2017 Global Big Day in Panama

For the third year in a row, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology held the Global Big Day on last May 13th, a day when thousands of eBirders around the world joined forces to record the largest ever seen before number of birds.  Not a global competition, but an event to raise awareness and support global conservation, to work as a team, to set goals and to surpass oneself... that's the magic of this initiative.
In one way or another, many birders worked together to elevate their countries to the highest place in this non-declared "competiton".  Here in Panama, several groups announced their routes and targets.

Of course I did the same.  In what is now a tradition, I went with my wife Gloriela to the foothills of Cocle province (central Panama) and stayed the night before at the cabin of the General de Division Omar Torrijos Herrera National Park above the town of El Cope.  Exactly at 12:00 am, I went out in the dark looking for owls.  The night was chilly and foggy, and only a Mottled Owl was heard in the distance... but that was my first bird of the day!  Later, around 5:00 am, we were ready to listen the dawn chorus.  In quick succession we started to add species by ear: Rufous Motmot, both Clay-colored and Pale-vented Thrushes, Hepatic Tanager and so on...  With the first lights we started to hike La Rica trail, taking then La Rana trail in a kind of loop back to the cabin.  There was another group birding the area, so we did the transect quite quickly, adding some nice species like Stripe-breasted Wren, Spot-crowned Antvireo and Orange-bellied Trogon.

Adult male Orange-bellied Trogon

Soon, it was time to start the descend to the lowlands.  On route we did several stops to check the activity... still above El Cope town we found Black-headed Saltator, Chestnut-headed Oropendolas and Giant Cowbirds, while at town a Lesson's Motmot allowed nice views and photos.  The exact ID of members of the former Blue-crowned Motmot in central Panama is a mystery, but now I think that all of them (both in the foothills and in the lowlands) probably are Lesson´s Motmots.

Black-headed Saltator 

Lesson's Motmot

The heat of the lowlands savanna contrasted with the chilly humid premontane forest that we left behind.  It was suffocating!  Nevertheless, we kept birding.  Typical birds of this habitat were Savanna Hawk, Ruddy, Plain-breasted and Blue Ground-Doves, Brown-thorated Parakeets, Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl and both Golden-fronted and Scrub Greenlets.  At the Aguadulce Salinas, a huge group of Black Skimmers was expected, but the dozens of Wilson's Phalaropes were not!  Nice additions for the day.  At El Salado beach, many waders, including American Oystercatchers, were present, while some nearby fields were good for egrets, meadowlarks and other species.

Wilson's Phalarope (file photo)

Our next stop was Sarigua, were our target was the isolated form of Common Ground-Dove.  An important species for the country since no other group was expected to find it... the ground-dove is extremely localized in Panama, and Sarigua is the best place to find it.  It took us a while, but eventually Gloriela found a pair by the main road in the way out.  With our target in the bag, we ended the day at the town of Chitre, checking some common species and few waders.  We still had a long way to western Azuero... where we stayed that night in order to prepare for the pelagic trip (yes, more about that in my next post).

Globally, the event was a complete success! In Panama, we only managed to achieve one goal (of three): to surpass last year's numbers.  We failed in being the first Central American country in the general table and to enter the world Top Ten...  but certainly next year will be waaay better!

Rare migrant at the saltflats

The month of August marks the beginning of the migratory season in Panama.  All over  the country, the early migrants are showing up in both expected and unexpected sites.  One of the historical migrant traps in Panama are the Aguadulce Salinas (saltflats) in Cocle province (central Panama), where I did a quick stop with my family last weekend, finding some goodies.

Black Skimmers and Royal Terns

The huge flock of Black Skimmers was accompanied with impressive numbers too of Royal Terns... none of these breed in Panama, but they are found year-round in Panama.  The skimmers, particularly, are regular in these saltflats.  Another species present year-round in Panama is the Black-necked Stilt, but they do breed in Panama... and the saltflats are one of the few breeding sites known in the country.

Black-necked Stilt

But I was more interested in those long-distance migrants that use the saltflats as a re-fueling stop in their journey to higher latitudes... some of them only spent few weeks at our country.  After checking flocks of peeps and larger shorebirds (specially both Yellowlegs), I finally found a lonely Wilson's Phalarope frenetically swimming in circle picking food from the surface.  It was far away, so my pic is essentially for documenting purposes.

A distant Wilson's Phalarope

But my big surprise was the single Stilt Sandpiper found with some Yellowlegs and Dowitchers in a shallow lagoon.  The long legs, slightly downcurved, thin bill and white eye-brow were diagnostic.

Stilt Sandpiper

The Stilt Sandpiper is a rare passage migrant through Panama. Curiously, this is my second sighting this season because we saw at least two of them some days ago to the east of Panama City in Finca Bayano.  It seems that this is going to be a good migratory season!

Back in Panamá!

After a productive trip to Córdoba, Argentina, I'm back in Panamá... and still on vacations.  The true is that I'm spending most of the time in home with my baby girl Gabrielle... occasionally seeing some birds from the balcony.  That's why, when we traveled this last weekend to Penonomé (central Panamá), I took advantage to visit some places that, usually, are great for birding.

It has been a while since my last visit to the road to El Gago... and many things have changed.  I went with Gloriela and Gabrielle last saturday's afternoon and were impressed by the sight of the tall windmills in the savanna.  These are part of an important government project to produce green energy.  It was a little bit late as you can see in the photos... so we only saw some very common savanna birds, like many Eastern Meadowlarks, singing from exposed perches.

Or this Roadside Hawk inspecting us curiously.

The next day, I convinced the same crew to accompany me to the Aguadulce Salinas (saltponds), 30 minutes to the west.  It was around noon and hot, but I only wanted to have a quick look at the saltponds, searching for passage migrants.  The first thing we noticed were the big flocks of terns and skimmers over the place.  Check for example the next photo showing many Gull-billed Terns resting with several Elegant Terns.

Or this flock of Black Skimmers in the distance... more than 100 birds were resting in that pond.

I already had seen this numbers in Aguadulce this year.  But other species were new for the year, like the Stilt Sandpipers and Wilson Phalarope.  These are passage migrants (don't winter in Panamá), and this is the only time to see them in Panamá... so mission accomplished!

I saw Red-necked Phalarope in my previous visit, making this year a two-phalaropes year for the site.  We had to return to Panamá City, so we only spend 45 minutes in the pond.  In the way back, I just made a quick stop at a flooded field in Río Grande where a flock of several species of herons were feeding in the mud.  It looked like a great place for migrant shorebirds.

I only saw two Solitary Sandpipers and a Black-necked Stilt among the Cattle, Great and Snowy Egrets, the Southern Lapwings and the lonely White Ibis... but I'm sure this place deserve more visits.

Now they're everywhere?

I have said before that the main reason for my many visits to the Aguadulce Salinas (Coclé province in central Panamá) was to find a vagrant American Avocet.  It seemed to be logical... it was the site with more reports until a group of avocets was found in Costa del Este (Panama City) last march.  I was fortunate enough to watch this group (here, with my daughter Gabrielle) more than 20 days after they were first reported and then I found a lonely individual in full breeding plumage in the same site (you can read more about it here... the next photo is of that day).

So yesterday was the first time that I was going to the saltponds NOT thinking on finding an avocet.  I left Penonome with Gloriela and Gabrielle and 30 minutes later we were at a restaurant having breakfast by the main plaza.  I took my time to cross the town in order to reach the saltponds... it was sunny and hot, and, since Gabrielle is only 8 months-old, I decided to drive with the air conditioner on, stopping the car and watching from my window if any interesting stuff was appearing.  That's how I got these (and many other) photos of a nice Pearl Kite preening on a telephone cable by the access road.

We found more raptors, including a vibrant Aplomado Falcon perched nicely on a telephone cable too, and a Common (Mangrove) Black-Hawk, which I think is probably the same bird that I photograph each time I visit the saltponds (it seems to like exactly the same telephone pole).

Eventually, we started to see scattered flocks of shorebirds and waders along both side of the road crossing the ponds.  The highlight was a pair of Wilson's Phalaropes swimming in a pool very close to the road.  A huge flock of more than 30 Least Terns was also noteworthy; however, they were too far away for photos.

While checking one of these flocks, I noticed a bird standing alone in the background.  I quickly recognized its white-and-black pattern and even the upturned bill characteristic of a non-breeding American Avocet!!!  The bird flew a few meters, just to land farther away of us.  Once my nemesis bird; now, it is the third time I found this species this year (and curiously, all those times I was with my family... lucky amulets?).

Great way to confirm that the Aguadulce Saltponds are still a vagrant magnet!

Bird-addict?

You are a bird-addict if after an intense birding-weekend, with 11 hours-long trips to the deep Pacific ocean or to remote, almost inaccessible, mountain ranges you want more birds; and guess what? Rafael Luck, Euclidos "Kilo" Campos, and your blogger host wanted MORE!! So, after a quick lunch in Santiago city, we headed to the Aguadulce Salinas (saltponds) in coastal Cocle province (central Panama). Not happy with that, we had enough energies not only for birdwatch from the road, but also to actively search the birds, walking INTO the saltponds! We had a nice afternoon at the saltponds, finding many of the now-usual species. However, something new for me there were the Wilson's Phalaropes. At least four individuals of this delicate shorebird were scattered in the different ponds that we checked out. Other Wilson's bird, the Wilson's Plover, was trying to hide itself, but we got nice shots of it. Of course, the most common peeps were present too (Western, Least and Semipalmated Sandpipers), among both Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs, Willets, Whimbrels, and Short-billed Dowitcher all around. The plovers were also well-represented, with Black-bellied, Semipalmated, Wilson's (as I mentioned) and Collared Plovers all over the place. Our intensive search with Kilo's scope produced several Stilt Sandpipers. These birds are only passage migrants, so this is the time to enjoy them in Panama. They were easily picked up among the birds present by their bigger size. We tried to reach the distant mangroves that were full in egrets and pelicans, but each time, the shorebirds stopped us... who can resist to appreciate cooperative shorebirds feeding only some meters from your feet? Anyway, we inspected the mangroves with the scope, finding several Wood Storks and Roseate Spoonbills, plus a flock of migrants Blue-winged Teals that took off as soon as they detected us. There were also several terns species, including Gull-billed and Royal terns patrolling the area, and a group of at least twelve Least Terns in winter plumage (like the one pictured here), but also some with part of its breeding plumage, with mostly yellow bills. As usual, the noisy Black-necked Stilts were everywhere. Later, we also found hundreds of Black Skimmers resting in one of the ponds in the way to the beach, which was crowded in people thanks to the sunny day and the high tide. We stayed until it was too dark for photographing, so we left very happy after satisfying our addiction.

Recently arrived gull?

Last friday (september 3rd), I went to Panama Viejo and Costa del Este in Panama City, this time with Osvaldo Quintero, just to check out the hundreds of shorebirds present in the mudflats. The day was cloudy and by the time when we arrived to Panama Viejo, it began to rain. Not only that, the 13-feet high tide was not enough to push the birds close to shore, so we did not get many photographic chances. In any case, we walked towards the beach, finding immediately the now-usual suspects: Western, Semipalmated, Least and Spotted Sandpipers all around, plus Black-bellied, Semipalmated, Collared and Wilson's Plovers. Then, I saw an agitated shorebird running from one side to the other, with a long and thin bill... a Wilson's Phalarope. I was surprised because that was my first phalarope in more than ten years! It was wearing its winter (basic) plumage and soon flew behind the mangroves. I got awful photos of the bird (as you can see... it was too far away for my lens), but Osvaldo's are better. Anyway, you can see the characteristic silhouette and thin bill of the bird. We decided to visit Costa del Este (not before watching one, of two, Wood Storks leaving the mangroves where they were resting). In Costa del Este the things were not better, we only found distant shorebirds... but two PETRELS were carefully inspecting them with their scopes. We only stayed for a while, and decided to return to Panama Viejo to see if the weather improved. Back in Panama Viejo, we noticed among the Laughing Gulls and the Royal and Gull-billed Terns, a bigger gull with darker mantle. Through my binoculars I noticed the not-so-heavy-looking and slender beak, with not a pronounced gonydeal angle, dusky with yellow tip, the dark grey back, the white (unmarked?) head, underparts and tail, and the yellow legs: a Lesser Black-backed Gull. It was too far away (like the phalarope), but my pics still show most of these marks (you can enlarge the photos by clicking on them).

In the last photo, you can notice its relative size compared to the nearby Laughing Gulls, and its darker mantle (compare the colour with that of the Black-necked Stilt standing in front of it). You can see also that this bird retains pale (younger) secundaries feathers in the closed wings. When it took off, it flew directly away of us, showing pale secundaries and inner primaries (the outer primaries were darker than the mantle) and a slightly dark smudge to the end of the tail.

This was almost an adult bird, and is the earliest date that I see this rare gull in Panama (and it seems that the earliest date recorded before was september 6th, 1997). I'm not an expert, but I'm calling it a third-winter (basic) Lesser Black-backed Gull probably molting from its 3rd-alternate. What do you think?

Ending the day, we went to the Panama Viejo's Visitors Center where we saw other Wood Stork, a Great Blue Heron (recently arrived too?) and, under the "curious thing" tag, a Ruddy Turnstone walking along with a Rock Pigeon. Is not curious?