A Land of Contrasts

Our duties in Bolivia were not over.  After completing successfully the first part of the XII International Course on Advances in Gastroenterology and Digestive Endoscopy in La Paz, it was time for the 40 of us participants from 18 Latin American countries to take a 1-hour flight to Santa Cruz de la Sierra, in the Amazonian lowlands.  It was a drastic change: Santa Cruz was hot, flat and green... nothing to do with La Paz.  After arrival, we had little time to visit the main plaza, including the impressive Minor Basilica of San Lorenzo and the surroundings.

Minor Basilica of San Lorenzo, Santa Cruz de la Sierra

Again, the activities of the course demanded all our time and concentration.  We had talks to attend, topics to discuss and workshops to get done at the Hospital Universitario Japones.  Every participant prepared topics in advance concerning common gastrointestinal diseases in their countries and, at the end, we presented a set of conclusions and recommendations to implement back in home.

My working group at Montero

Then it was time for the social projection of the course, we left behind the busy Santa Cruz city and moved to the town of Montero, some 50 km to the north.  There we performed endoscopic studies to the population in two intense journeys.  We stayed out of town, in a immense resort with wooded areas, a natural lagoon and lots of facilities.  My own cabin was pretty close to the lagoon and to a jogging track rich in wildlife.

I did early morning walks along this track, and the number of species was quite impressive. Not only birds, but also some mammals, like White-tailed Deers for example.

White-tailed Deer female

I got some new species for my life list of birds.  Some where straightforward, but others were more difficult to ID... for example those Thrush-like Wrens... I was not aware that the subspecies present there was essentially unspotted!  I also photographed some common species in the ground of the resort, check them out:

Limpkin

Rufous Hornero 

Burrowing Owl

Some of the new ones were quite common too, like these Velvet-fronted Grackles that I thought first were cowbirds until I heard them, or the Red-crested Cardinals that were everywhere.  These cardinals (two species in the resort) are not related to the northern cardinals nor to the grosbeaks, but to the colorful tanagers.

Velvet-fronted Grackles

Red-crested Cardinal

And talking about colorfulness.... one of my last lifers in Santa Cruz was a famous bird, icon of the tropics and probably the most common one in advertisements concerning paradisiacal beaches and lush forests, even in countries were this bird is not found (like Panama): Toco Toucan:

Ooops, wrong photo!

Toco Toucan

Yes, I know... is a terrible photo, but I got great views through my bins.  The bird stayed just few seconds, but it was enough to see every detail.  After all, I spend 10 days in Bolivia, a country full of contrasts, new friends and exuberant wildlife... and I hope to be back soon!

New friends and birds in the heights

"Nobody warned us that nostalgia is the cost of having good times"  -Mario Benedetti.

La Paz, Bolivia

I just spend ten fabulous days in Bolivia.  At first, just another training course (although a renowned one) concerning my job... now, beautiful memories of what certainly was one of the best academic and socio-cultural experiences.  The XII International Course on Advances in Gastroenterology and Digestive Endoscopy was held in La Paz, gathering together young professionals of 18 Latin American countries.  Most of us arrived one day earlier to adapt to the height... 3600 meters above sea level (4000 at the airport!) is quite impressive.  In spite of the "soroche", we had time to fraternize at the historical center of the city... the click was immediate.

Plaza Murillo, La Paz

It was an intense course, with live cases, premier conferences with international experts and long sessions, but we all were happy to share experiences and to work together.  The action was non-stop, with academic activities from dawn until sunset, and cultural events at nights.  An early start means sunrise photos.

Sunrise in La Paz

La Paz is so different to Panama City that even some common birds were lifers for me.  During the scarce spare time we got, I visited the ravine below the Zenon Iturralde park, very close to our hotel.  I got a quite impressive list... eventually; including Rufous-collared Sparrow, Great Thrush, Peruvian Sierra-Finch, Giant Hummingbird and so on...

Peruvian Sierra-Finch (female)

Great Thrush

I also got several Gray-bellied Flowerpiercers.  This active little bird is hard to photograph (sorry for the poor shot), but is an endemic bird to Bolivia..., found nowhere else in the globe.  They were actively visiting the flowering bushes in the ravine.  Following them up and down the stairs at 3600 meters above sea level was exhausting!

Gray-bellied Flowerpiercer

The last day of La Paz course, our hosts planned a touristic afternoon.  We visited some iconic places close to the city, like "the Animas valley", the "Zona Sur", the Cable Car to El Alto (really impressive) and the "Valle de la Luna".

I can assure you that there is nothing similar in Panama. The eroded valley attracts visitors for its strange figures.  Neil Armstrong himself named the place because of its similarity to lunar landscapes... who better to make such a comparison?  However, I don't agree.  The valley seemed full of life to me..., nothing to do with the moon: the xenophitic vegetation (something we're not used in Panama) was exuberant and beautiful.

What a great experience... but it was not over.  The second part of the course was in the city of Santa Cruz... but that is another story.  Meanwhile, let me emphasize that this was one of the best lived experiences in every way!

Group at Valle de la Luna

Love you guys!

Easter outing

After a long free weekend, due to the Holly Week festivities, I went with my family in a short outing to the Metropolitan Natural Park, in Panama City.  The truth is that we were just seeking to leave home for a while... and this park (mere 5 minutes from our place) is a great place to spend a couple of hours.

But first, some egg hunt!  My wife placed some decorated eggs in the woods ... my daughter found them all in a few minutes.  She still don't know the meaning of Easter... but certainly had fun looking for them in the woods!  I found my own jewels in the woods... a particular fruiting tree attended by many resident and migrant birds.  In the ground, picking up fallen fruits, was this usually-hard-to-see Orange-billed Sparrow.

Orange-billed Sparrow

It was joined by these migrants:

Bay-breasted Warblers

Yes, those were Bay-breasted Warblers picking up the fallen fruits too.  There were more in the tree itself, accompanying Chestnut-sided and Yellow Warblers (both migrants as well), and several White-shouldered Tanagers that never left the canopy.  This species exhibit a notorious sexual dimorphism... males and females look completely different.

male White-shouldered Tanager

female White-shouldered Tanager

They were joined in the canopy of the tree by this beautiful male Black-crowned Tityra.  It stayed just for a few seconds... and was alone.  We usually see pairs of tityras on fruiting trees.

male Black-crowned Tityra

As you can see, we all enjoyed our Easter.   Happy Easter to all!

More on Coiba's fauna

If you only watch endemic birds during your visit to Coiba Island, off-shore central Panama, then you did it wrong.  Coiba is such an amazing place... rich in wildlife, most of it quite distinctive, reason why it is a national park including the surrounding waters, (rich in wildlife as well).  First of all, the boat ride from mainland is usually enriched with sightings of pelagic birds, whales and dolphins.  One of the most regular species is the Pantropical Spotted Dolphin... we found a pod of these graceful swimmers close to mainland.

Pantropical Spotted Dolphins

As its name suggests, they are widespread in tropic oceans; however, the next species is unique to Coiba.  It is pretty common and used to visitors around the rangers headquarters... in fact, I took the next photography right by the dinner hall.  As many other "endemics", this one looks rather similar to a mainland species; however, the Coiban Agouti differs in some skeletal (craneal) parameters.

Coiban Agouti

During my short visit to Coiba Island a couple of weeks ago, I managed to see many endemic subspecies of birds and mammals, including the agouti.  Curiously, the only mammal we actually targeted in this trip was not seen... but at least we heard it (or them) a couple of times.  For example, one of them vocalized at the beginning of this sound file recorded in Los Monos trail.

Did you hear it?  Listen carefully... just some howls at the very beginning.  Sometimes regarded as a good species, the Coiba Howler Monkey is most often considered a subspecies of the Mantled Howler Monkey.  When treated as full species, usually includes the Azuero Howler Monkey that is restricted (as its name suggest) to the Azuero Peninsula in central Panama... you can check some photos of this howler in this post.  Now another question.  Did you recognize the song in the sound file?  It was a White-throated Thrush, also represented by an endemic subspecies in Coiba.

The howlers were not the only primates recorded in the trip, we also saw a troop of White-faced Capuchins patrolling the beach near the rangers headquarters.  A lonely Bare-throated Tiger-Heron didn't pay too much attention to them, but they were the main starts during our departure of the island.

White-faced Capuchins (Coiba Island) 

White-faced Capuchin and Bare-throated Tiger-Heron

There are many endemic forms of animals and plants in the island... too many to list.  During a previous visit to the island I also saw the endemic subspecies of White-tailed Deer very close to the rangers headquarters... I managed a photo with a point-and-shoot camera... it is the smallest form of this widespread species.

tiny White-tailed Deer, ssp. rothschildi (Coiba Island)

Well, after all it was a great trip... birds, mammals and I not even mention ALL the lifers I got underwater while snorkeling with Kees at the coral reef in Granito de Oro Island... just another world!  

Next stop: endemic island!

I finally managed to escape Panama City for two and a half days in order to accept the great opportunity my friend Kees Groenendijk (of Hotel Heliconia Bed & Breakfast) offered time ago... a quick visit to famed Coiba Island (off-shore central Panama) in order to clean-up the endemics and specialties it has to offer.  Isolated from mainland some 12,000 to 18,000 years ago, many of its inhabitants had diverged since then into distinctive subspecies and even completely new species restricted to this island, the largest of Central America's Pacific coast.

I joined a couple of visiting Dutch birders in this journey.  With Kees as guide, we boarded our boat at the Palo Seco beach in western Azuero (close to the town of Malena where the hotel is) and headed directly to Los Pozos trail in Coiba Island.  As soon as we landed, the birds started to show up.  A mixed flock included Scrub Greenlet, Blue-gray and Crimson-backed Tanagers, Streaked Saltator, House Wren and a pair of Tropical Gnatcatchers.  All these species are represented by endemic subspecies restricted to Coiba and adjacent islands.  Most of them look very similar to the mainland congeners, except by the greenlet and the gnatcatchers.  The endemic subspecies cinericia of Tropical Gnatcatcher is distinctively darker below than other subspecies, as you can see in this male.

male Tropical Gnatcatcher (ssp. cinericia)

Los Pozos trail is flat and easy to bird.  Along it we found more Coiba's endemic subspecies, including tons of Barred Antshrikes, some Tropical Pewees, a smart Rufous-capped Warbler, a Southern Beardless-Tyrannulet and several Red-crowned Woodpeckers.  We also saw a pair of Yellow-bellied Elaenia and a Red-rumped Woodpecker.  The subspecies subpagana of Yellow-bellied Elaenia is not endemic... but is the only site in Panama where it is found; while the woodpecker is VERY rare (essentially absent) from western Panama.  Then, Kees noticed a call he recognized immediately... it was our main target... the endemic Coiba Spinetail!  The little bird crawled along some tangled vines carrying some nesting materials... and then it entered a nest.

Coiba Spinetail's nest

I can't show you a photo of the Coiba Spinetail... but I can show you its nest, a globular mass with a lateral entrance.  There is nothing like the Coiba Spinetail in the adjacent mainland of Panama... and the most similar species, the Rusty-backed Spinetail, lives in a different habitat at the other side of the Andes in South America!  It was a huge lifer for me!  I promise you some photos next time.

Mangroves along the San Juan river, Coiba Island 

Around noon, we left Los Pozos trail and headed to a different habitat; this time navigating through the San Juan river, admiring the impressive mangrove forest along its banks.  Many waders, herons, Yellow -Mangrove- Warblers and Great-tailed Grackles call this forest their home, but Kees was looking after a special resident for the area... a species extirpated from adjacent mainland Panama: Scarlet Macaw.

Scarlet Macaws

Coiba Island is a reserve of macaws and the only wild and viable population in Panama of this striking species.  After a couple of minutes, Kees was able to localize a pair resting under the canopy following their raucous  calls (photo above).  In spite of their size and plumage, they can be difficult to detect sometimes.  We were lucky to have this pair close enough for photos.  They were new birds for me as well.... a very colorful lifer!  After leaving the mangroves, we stopped by the former penitentiary... hundreds of Sandwich and Royal Terns were resting at the remains of the old pier, with some Black and Elegant Terns mixed in (including an anomalous Elegant Tern with red legs).

Black Tern

Elegant, Royal and Sandwich Terns 

Elegant, Royal and Sandwich Terns

We also visited Los Monos trail in order to find another endemic subspecies for Coiba.  Taxonomically talking, the situation of the next species is not clear.  Most authorities consider the Gray-headed Dove as a polytypic species spreading from SE Mexico to western Colombia; however, the form present in the Pacific slope of central Panama (essentially Azuero Peninsula and off-shore islands) is isolated from other populations, have a brighter plumage, apparently is vocally different too and probably deserves species status as Brown-backed Dove, an endemic species for Panama and represented in Coiba Island by its own endemic subspecies nominate battyi).  Well, after walking for a while, Kees located a pair of these doves on the ground.  It was dark and tangled, and my poor photos barely shows how bright this bird looks in the field.

Brown-backed Dove 

Brown-backed Dove

It is almost pale blue in the crown (instead of gray) and bright rufous in the back, with pinkish breast... simply beautiful.  By far this was my best experience with this species... not a lifer, but I only got glimpses of it during my last visit to Coiba Island many years ago.  We saw many more birds in that trail, including Lance-tailed Manakins, Tropical Parulas and White-throated Thrushes... but it was getting late and Kees had another surprise in store for us.  Our boat took us to some rocky islets to the north of the main island.  After some searching, we found three stock shorebirds with yellow legs and long bill.

Wandering Tattler

They were Wandering Tattlers, elsewhere a VERY rare migrant to Panama, but in these islets seems to be regular and even present year-round!  It was my third lifer for the day, something hard to say for me in Panama.  I want to thank Kees for this very quick trip to Coiba... I have to return someday to take better photographs!

Gamboa's Ibis

The news spread like fire on summer dry grassland in Coclé (OK, I know it only makes sense to the Panamanians, sorry about that)... a country first-record was twitchable in the town of Gamboa, in central Panama, mere 30 minutes from Panama City.  A group of visiting birders photographed a Plegadis ibis right at the one-lane bridge over the Chagres river but it was not until they review the pictures back at the lodge they were staying that realized that it was a White-faced Ibis, a species ever recorded in Panama.

White-faced Ibis spot, with the Gamboa bridge in the background

The next day, many local and foreign birders re-found the bird in the same spot early in the morning.  It stayed most of the day feeding in the muddy banks of the river.  Certainly is the most photographed and documented first-record for Panama!  My duties prevented me to be part of the crowd admiring that day, so I coordinated with Itzel (who also failed to attend the event) to go get it early the next day.  We where at the bridge at first light, and I even managed to see the White-faced Ibis from the car while crossing it.

Great Kiskadee (and yes, THE ibis is in the background)

The bird was feeding right where we were told, but the light was awful for photos... it took a while before it got close enough for decent shots at least.  As I mentioned before, the occurrence has been extensively documented, and some impressive photographs of this particular bird are available, so I consider my photos just mere record shots.  No matter that, it still shows the red iris and bronzy-green sheen to the back.

White-faced Ibis

It is always a treat finding or relocating a rarity.  It was not a lifer for me, this species breeds in temperate zones of both North and South America, where I saw one a couple of years ago (in central Argentina).  The North American population is partially migratory, reaching northern Central America with an old record from Costa Rica, so this sighting is a big deal for us.  Officially, the Panama list of birds includes 1002 species, a HUGE number for such a tiny country... and I'm pretty sure it will continue to grow!

White-faced Ibis

And talking about colorful migrants...

Just a short note.  After incidentally finding my friend Osvaldo while birding in Metro Park yesterday morning, he agreed to show me the city park where his son first found a wintering American Redstart some weeks ago.  It was almost noon, and the place seemed quiet... just a city park in the middle of a nice residential area in Panama City.  At first, just the most common species were evident: Blue-gray Tanagers, Yellow Warblers and Yellow-crowned Euphonias.

(Northern) Yellow Warbler

I followed Osvaldo to the spot where he relocated the redstart, finding some seedeaters, grassquits and two Summer Tanagers in the way.  Of course, the colorful migrant I'm talking about was not the Summer Tanager... but it was a nice bonus.

male Summer Tanager

After some pishing, a curious male American Redstart showed up.  The contrasting orange patches were quite conspicuous of course.

male American Redstart

This is not a rare species in Panama, but having one wintering right in the middle of the city is worth the effort.  Thanks Osvaldo for the tip!

male American Redstart