Mud, rain and endemics!

The mountains of central and eastern Chiriqui province (western Panama) are home to many endemics bird species and sub-species. After the pelagic trip off Punta Mala, I went with Rafael Luck to the town of San Felix (by the Pan-American highway) where Euclides "Kilo" Campos was already waiting for us (the rest of the T.P. Gang went to the coclesian foothills of El Cope after the Umbrellabird). After a long day in the sea, we were so tired that we fell asleep after a couple of minutes. Still dark, very early the next morning (sunday, september 12th), we started our way to Cerro Santiago, entering the Ngöbe-Buglé reservation and passing first by the town of Hato Chamí. This 30 km-long road is famed because its toughness, only passable with strong 4WD vehicles with really high clearance... not a problem for the FJ Cruiser! After passing Hato Chamí, it was clear enough to see the spectacular landscapes with the subtle morning light... simply impressive. After two hard hours in the road, we reached a muddy part impassable for the cruiser! Can you imagine, we needed to push it to a less-muddy spot and then we began to hike along the very-muddy road (did I already mention that it was muddy?). We soon found the first birds along it: Purple-throated Mountain-Gem, Magnificent Hummingbird (a female) and Violet Sabrewings, Golden-crowned Warblers, Spotted Wood-Quail (only heard), Chestnut-capped Brush-Finch, Mountain Thrush and several Silvery-fronted Tapaculos heard in the understore. We were more or less at 1700 meters above sea level and I was feeling the effect of the reduced oxigen plus the steepy and muddy road. Anyway, I managed to follow Rafael and Kilo, finding more interesting species. Soon a female Selasphorus hummingbird showed up. It is supposed that the female Glow-throated Hummingbird is indistinguishable from that of the Scintillant Hummingbird, the former a panamanian endemic, the latter not expected there except during migration (photo courtesy of Rafael Luck). Then, Kilo found the other panamanian endemic, a flock of noisy Yellow-green Finches. These birds were shy, and were foraging higher in the trees than its relatives, the Yellow-thighed Finch of Costa Rica and western Panama. They were too far away, usually in dark spots, so I got only a marginal photo (but at least you can see that it is a Pselliphorus finch). We reached the antenna, supposedly the best place to find the Glow-throated Hummingbirds, but its favored bush were not flowered, and we only found more females! However, the last female that we saw, both perched and flying while feeding in some tubular flowers, showed conspicuous white tips to the tail (not buffy nor rufous as in the female Scintillant Hummingbird). It is significative? (WARNING: the next two photos are probably the worst photos of any bird ever published in the web; prepare yourself).Anyway, the spot was excellent for swifts, because they were flying at eye-level. We got two species there: the huge White-collared Swifts, and the less numerous Chestnut-colored Swifts. It was very hard to photograph them, but somehow I managed to get some pics. We also found around there Yellow-winged Vireo, Collared Whitestart, Black-and-yellow Silky-Flycatcher, Black-faced Solitaire, Sooty-capped and Common Bush-Tanagers and a singing Brown-billed Scythebill. In the way down, the sunny day quickly turned into a foggy and rainy one, but despite it we found a male White-tailed Emerald, many Western Wood-Pewees and a Mountain Elaenia. Under the rain, and laying on the muddy road, Kilo was able to remove from under the car a part that got stuck into the mud, and we descended the road very carefully because that part protected the axis of the vehicle. Sane and save, we were glad when we reached the lowlands in one piece (trust me, that road is scaring)... but also because we saw many special birds!Rafael and Kilo among the fog and the mud.
P.D.: I need some moral support in order to keep (or not?) my decision of not including the Glow-throated Hummingbird in my Life List. Let me know what you think in the comments.

As if the birds were not enough

In the same scenario, with the same protagonist of my previous post about the pelagic trip off Punta Mala in the Azuero Peninsula of central Panama, we do not only saw all those terrific birds, we also saw three species of cetaceans!

The first species that we found was the Short-finned Pilot Whale (Globicephala macrorhynchus). A group of at least five individuals of this rarely seen species in Panama accompanied us for a while. You can see in the photo the characteristic bulbous head (as its scientific name suggests) that distinguishes this group of cetaceans (my id is range-based).

Of course we also found several Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops truncatus). The tursiops are pretty common in panamanian waters, sometimes seen from the coast, specially around islands.

The third species was a Humpback Whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) that did a brief appearance for the delight of some of the group. I missed it, but I have seen this species before (around Coiba island). Well, not only life birds, but life cetaceans too (the Pilot Whales were my firsts).

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.

Nusagandi and Bayano day trip

Nusagandi is an area protected by the Kuna people (under the name of Nargana Widlands Area) located at the western corner of the Kuna Yala reservation accesing through the now-improved El Llano-Carti road, starting in eastern Panama province. It protects humid forest from the foothills at the border with Panama province to the coast and is home of many range-restricted species difficult to find anywhere else in Panama (and, in some cases, in the world!). So I picked up Euclides "Kilo" Campos for then meeting Rafael Luck at his home in order to begin another of what he denominates "FJ Cruiser trips" to this bird-rich area. After 1.5 hours on the road, we finally reached the reserve. The road has a heavy traffic by people looking to escape during the weekend to the pristine waters of the Caribbean coast or to one of the paradisiac islands of the Kunas. We began to do some road birding, but curiously, the sunny day became to hot, and the activity was low (although it was an EXCELLENT day for all the beach lovers!). Anyway, I found at least one new year-bird in each stop we made, thanks to my companions. At the first one, a flock of Brown-hooded Parrots; in the second one, a mixed flock with White-vented Euphonia, Sulphur-rumped and Rufous-winged Tanagers; in the third, a mixed flock of antwrens with a pair of Russet Antshrikes and in the last one, a Black-and-white Hawk-Eagle soaring not so high, showing its distinctive white edge to the wing. We failed to locate the Slate-throated Gnatcatchers that are very local and scarce in Panama... but despite the heat, we had an already impressive bird list before we decided to walk the trails at the headquarters. After paying the fee for using the trails, we followed Kilo to the Igar Nusagandi (Igar = trail in the Kuna lenguage). We found a Western Slaty-Antshrike (female in the pic) near the entrance of the trail, but the big surprise (literally) was a Crested Guan that showed itself for a brief moment, to stay undercover after that, inspecting us nervously. These big birds have learned to be aware of the humans, and always are cautious and alert (compare this photo with that of a Black Guan in Altos del María some time ago). The rest of the trail was almost devoid of birds. We followed the trail to the iber (waterfall) after passing the entrance of the Wedar Igar and then the trail became very inclined and slippery to a little creek where we heard a covey of Black-eared Wood-Quails and a Stripe-throated Wren. A Rufous Piha appeared for a while, always behind a cover, making its loud call Pi-HAA! Then, we heard the bird of the day (so far), a Speckled (Spiny-faced) Antshrike. We crawled through the muddy slope to a flat area with dense cover where we found both male and female of this enigmatic species. We got excellent unobstructed views of this Panama near-endemic bird, but the site was so dark that my pictures barely show the bird (I'm sorry about these pictures, but you can check Rafael's photos -which are MUCH better- here). It is indeed a weird bird, just like its Latin genus states: Xenornis, no doubt about why Darien named his website of latest reports of rare birds after it. In Panama, we all call this bird simply the Xenornis, but if we have to use an english name, we use Speckled Antshrike instead of Spiny-faced (the setifrons part of its Latin name), for obvious reasons (enlarge the images and tell me, can you see the tiny spine-like bristles around the beak?... me neither!). If this is the only country where you have a chance to see and enjoy this bird, why don't call it like all the natives do? We were so happy that we almost forgot the very inclined slope behind us, but we quickly remember it. Exhausted (well, Rafael and me, Kilo must be a marathon runner or something), we left the place and drove to the town of Cañita to have a well-deserved cool drink and our lunch. The day became cloudy but fresher, so we were optimists in that it would be good for birds and birding. We explore the side roads beyond the Bayano bridge. In the first one we found, almost immediately, a pair of near-endemic Black Anthrikes (a male in the picture, and the fourth species of antshrike for the trip), plus Gray-headed Tanagers, White-flanked Antwren and an immature male Red-capped Manakin. Then, we tried another road, finding a nice mixed flock right by the entrance. Some birds attending were both Cinnamon and One-colored Becards, Ruddy and Blue Ground-Doves, Boat-billed, Piratic and Dusky-capped Flycatchers, Streak-headed Woodcreeper, Black-cheeked Woodcreeper and a pair of Orange-crowned Orioles (adult and juvenile). Then, Kilo found the bird of the day after hearing it: a female Golden-green Woodpecker. This rare woodpecker is found locally in just few sites in Panama, and the subspecies found here (and Colombia) is almost unknown, ornithologically talking. What a bird, and a lifer for me and Rafael! Its bright yellow crown, malar stripe and throat are unique among our woodpeckers. At this point, we were debating about the bird of the day (as you can imagine), but I stick to my decision toward the woodpecker (the Xenornis was not a lifer, just the first time I saw it after 12 years!). A quick stop at the Rio Mono bridge only produced Bat Falcons, Rufous-winged Antwren (heard), a pair of Barred Puffbirds vocalizing (its call is SO funny) and a troop of White-faced Capuchin monkeys. What a great day!

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?

Alien invaders

I'm pretty sure that by now, nobody would call "alien" to a Cattle Egret or a Southern Lapwing. These birds are so common and familiar that they almost never are targets of our cameras' lens (and someone might ask what was I doing photographing Cattle Egrets?). The truth is that some years ago (in one case maaany years ago), the simple sight of one of these species would have been breaking news. And that is because they are "naturally" arrived birds to our country, and many others. I wrote "naturally" because, despite they were not directly introduced in Panama by us, its spreading along the Americas was favored by habitats changes made by us. Both species prosper in open habitats, like grasslands, gardens, football fields, pastureland and so on..., just like us! Of course, that is not the only factor that contributed to its successful history (in that case I would be expecting more Cattle Tyrants around). These are very adaptable birds, taking advantage of any opportunity to feed, to nest, to do their things. As all you know, the Cattle Egret originally accompanied the hordes of big mammals in the african savanna and other tropical zones in the Old World. Amazingly, the first report for our continent was from northern South America (way back in 1877) where they arrived having apparently flown across the Atlantic Ocean... what about that!!! In Panama, it was first reported in 1954 and then spread quickly (just to make it clear, I didn't witness that). In the other hand, the Southern Lapwing is original of South America, where it is particularly common in the basin of the River Plate. Its colonization of the isthmus was more recent than that of the egret. Back in the 90's, when I started to birdwatch, it was still an uncommon bird (while the egret was so abundant). One of my very first reports to the XENORNIS included a Southern Lapwing at the former Tocumen marsh. The particular individual pictured here was feeding alone. When I tried to approach it to get better photos, it ducked down, becoming undetectable... well, almost. They are noisy, but still good-looking birds, with an agressive attitude against the intruders. They are now common residents in many sites of Panama, and they are spreading towards the north, at least up to Nicaragua (with a report from Mexico). Well, so the next time you see one of these birds, think about the history that is behind them and, suddenly, they will not seem to be so boring.