And here we are again! This year is about to end, and everyone is looking forward to have a new beginning, with new goals and resolutions. I'm glad to say that my last year's wish came true, to have more life birds... and some of them, plus other goodies, are now part of this new Top 10 Birds for Panama in 2017.
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| Large-billed Tern |
10. Large-billed Tern: extremely rare and erratic in Panama, this impressive species showed up at the Charges river in Gamboa (central Panama), where I was able to twitch it successfully.... several times! Curiously, later in the year, a pair appeared in Finca Bayano, where I was able to photograph and audio-record them!
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| Buff-fronted Quail-Dove |
09. Buff-fronted Quail-Dove: this secretive species was a long expected lifer for me. I include it in this top 10 not because of its rarity or beauty, but for the story surrounding it... a long twitch with my wife Gloriela, a scary drive in the dark through an extremely rough road, and finding it quietly walking the trail in the chilly morning... simply a sublime experience!
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| Hermit Warbler |
08. Hermit Warbler: also a long twitch to the western highlands with my family. This rare migrant warbler decided to spent some days in Bambito (Chiriqui province). Thanks for the alert of fellow birders, I was able to catch it during the most important festivity for the Panamanians: the carnival.
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| Dusky-backed Jacamar |
07. Dusky-backed Jacamar: this range-restricted species, found only in eastern Panama and Colombia, used to need a complete expedition to find. My good friend Nando Quiroz showed it to me, with many more eastern Panama specialties, aboard a little canoe and whistling it in!
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| Nop, there are no birds in the picture! |
06. Gray-capped Cuckoo: another extremely rare and erratic species. A Gray-capped Cuckoo appeared in Finca Bayano and stayed for three more days (at least). No photo of this one. It was probably taking advantage of the caterpillars feeding on the mangroves, as pictured above by my friend Rosabel Miró. The mangroves suffered... but at least it made some lucky birders very happy!
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| Little Cuckoo |
05. Little Cuckoo: this one appeared while trying to relocate a Dwarf Cuckoo reported in Rio Torti. I dipped on the Dwarf Cuckoo, but this localized species made my day. Why? Because that was the last species missing in my very first "Wish List", which I wrote down more than 20 years ago! Follow the link and you will see the blank space after the "Cuco Enano" entry!
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| Maguari Stork |
04. Maguari Stork: this huge and elegant vagrant from South America was found by my friend Rolando Jordan in Finca Bayano... just the second sighting for the country. One day later, short of time and in a hurry, I was able to relocate the bird with some friends. I was unable to find it the first time it appeared in Panama, and curiously, it was a species that eluded me in South America as well... so it was a huge lifer for me!
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| Volcano Junco |
03. Volcano Junco: this is the only species that was not a Panama-lifer for me in this list. But seeing it after more than 15 years (and just for the second time) at the highest point of the country (at the summit of the Baru volcano, in the western highlands) with my wife and the fading light of the sunset... priceless!
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| Carib Grackle |
02. Carib Grackle: this smart and adaptable species colonized Panama unnoticed! The first records for the country are so close to Panama City that it is almost shameful. After seeing it with a group of fine birders and friends (including Beny Wilson, Rolando Jordan and Natalia Decastro), I realized that this was the species that I saw and photograph some weeks before in Finca Bayano as well!
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| Russet-throated Puffbird |
01. Russet-throated Puffbird: I know you already figured it out... a new species for Panama and North America! Found yesterday by an organized birding group, I twitched it immediately with my friend Rolando Jordan, sorting traffic jams, pot-holed roads, torrential downpours and bad light conditions... well, that's probably the recipe to success!
OK, I hope you enjoyed this list as much as I did... and now, take your binoculars, go out, sort some obstacles, and lets find some new life birds in the new year!
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