More surprises at Finca Bayano

I guess that, at this point, you already know that Finca Bayano (the rice farm to the east of Panama City) is a terrific place for birdwatching.  Not only quantities, but also quality is present at this site... so far, many rare and very rare species have been recorded... including a new species for Panama!  I thought that the rarity season ended with the fall migration, and had not visited the site in a few weeks... until my friend Euclides "Kilo" Campos reported a VERY rare (for Panama) Northern Pintail... so I decided to pay a visit.

We have been so many times in Finca Bayano this year that it was easy for Kilo to give me the exact location of the observation ... he just had to tell me "the Roseate Spoonbill's spot" and that's it!  So, I drove directly to the site last December 11th , finding the pond pictured above.  At first glance, no ducks were on the water, but eventually I realized that there were scattered groups hiding in the rice at the farther edge of the pond.  I walked along a dry dike in order to get closer to take some photographs... but as usual, the ducks became very nervous when I approached them.

Blue-winged Teals, Stilt Sandpipers and Long-billed Dowitchers

I approached them enough to take the above shots... As you can see, those Blue-winged Teals were mixed with Stilt Sandpipers and two Long-billed Dowitchers.  Then, I noticed other ducks well hidden in the rice.  These birds were larger than the teals, with obvious bigger bills: Northern Shovelers.  The shovelers are scarce, but regular, winter visitor to our country.

Northern Shoveler

I checked them carefully looking for the pintail, but I just found more teals and shovelers instead.  When I started my way back, a huge flock of teals took off from the rice fields.  I was not aware they were hidden in such numbers in the rice... dozens of bird suddenly started to fly from one side to another.  For my surprise, one of the teals looked suspiciously pale in the underside... when I found it with my binoculars I watched the bright green speculum and the lack of pale blue wing coverts... I barely trusted my eyes!

Blue-winged and Green-winged Teals

Blue-winged and Green-winged Teals

Not one, but two Green-winged Teals were present within the flock... GREEN-WINGED TEALS!!!!  Why so excited?  That was just the third record for Panama... and the first photos of the species for the country!  Ohh... and a life bird for me as well!!!  What a HUGE surprise for the site.  Thanks God the photos show well the birds... they are fast flyers, with sudden shifts and turns, and hard to follow with the lens.  Four days later, I went back to the site... this time with my friend Kilo.  His careful scrutiny with the scope resulted in finding both birds at the edge of the same pond... they were life birds for him as well!

Digiscoped Green-winged Teal

After much searching, we were not able to find the pintail... but who is complaining?  Finca Bayano is still full of surprises.  Interestingly, we have not yet found the rare rallids we expected to find when we started visiting the rice farm... we thought at first that Finca Bayano would be full of rails and crakes... but so far, only common species have been recorded... and not so often.  However, as a nice bonus, this Sora decided to show up attracted by our recorded calls... it is a common species seldom seen this well.

Sora

So, what are you waiting for? You may be the next discoverer of a mega rarity, or even a new species for Panama, at Finca Bayano!

A Record-breaking day!

And for a second year in a row, a world birder visits our isthmus in his quest to record the largest number of birds species in a year.  Arjan Dwarshius' attempt to break the world's big year record of 6042 species recorded in a year, set by Noah Strycker just 11 months ago, was about to make history!  After spending his first day in Panama last November 3rd, Arjan was just 11 birds away of the record!  This was not coincidence... Arjan and, his uncle Fred, chose the local advantage to make the most of their time in our country... they were guided by Guido Berguido who runs Advantage Tours and who is the head of the local NGO ADOPTA Panama Rainforest... and also an old, good friend of mine!  Also joining them was another friend of mine, birder extraordinaire and, since recently, an excellent, independent birding guide Ismael "Nando" Quiroz.

Elfin forest at Cerro Jefe, above Cerro Azul (file photo)

I took the late night bus from Penonome town (about two hours from Panama City), where I was resting with my family during the holidays (yes, the first days of November are holidays in Panama), in order to join the group in the record-breaking day!  Very early the next day, we headed to the gated community of Cerro Azul in the foothills to the east of Panama City, and headed directly to the upper slopes of Cerro Jefe and its stunning elfin forest, home of many range-restricted birds.  The day started quite low, but with some new year-birds for Arjan.  At the Vistamares trail we crossed a mixed flock with Shining and Green Honeycreepers, Rufous-winged, Emerald, Speckled and Black-and-yellow Tanagers, migrant Red-eyed Vireos, Tawny-capped, Fulvous-vented and White-vented Euphonias, Paltry Tyrannulets and White-ruffed Manakins, among others.

Black-and-Yellow Tanager (male)

After a while, Guido managed to attract an endemic Stripe-cheeked Woodpecker allowing scoped views... but the desired Black-crowned Pittasoma refused to show up...  but a pair of handsome Yellow-eared Toucanets were a nice consolation price instead.  Eventually, we managed to find 10 new birds for Arjan's list.  Year-bird 6042 was the Black-eared Wood-Quail that we actually managed to see thanks to Nando's advice (it was a life bird for me; although I have heard it several times previously).  After that, the activity dropped sharply... and we decided to have lunch before heading to Calle Maipo trail.

Yellow-eared Toucanet (male)

At Maipo, the record-breaking bird arrived quite unexpectedly when a Tody Motmot (very rare in the area) responded to a recorded call played by Guido... we tried hard to see the bird but it turned out to be very shy... but we saw a pair of Crimson-bellied Woodpecker that were Panama lifers for me as well (not a new year-bird for Arjan of course).  After realizing that we were not going to see the bird, we accepted that the record-breaking species was a heard-only record... of course, lots of high-fives, big smiles and congratulations continued!  Uncle Fred surprised all of us (including Arjan) when he opened a Champaign bottle and a nice banner to celebrate the moment... I'm impressed of his organization!

He did it!

We ended the day at the-now-famous Finca Bayano, were we managed to find the Long-billed Dowitchers reported earlier in the season... they were new year-birds for him, as well as three other species in spite of the short time we spent there.  And in spite of the short time I shared with Arjan, I can tell that he is passionate about birds and birding... he really seemed to be enjoying each little brown job that, desperately, we were pointing to him hoping it to be a new year-bird for him... but what can you show to a man that already has seen more than 60% of the extant birds of the world! I recommend you to track his progress HERE... the numbers are just amazing!  Not only that, remember that he is birding as a fundraiser for the BirdLife Preventing Extinctions Programme , so enter the webpage and make a donation!  I had to said good bye after leaving Finca Bayano... a long journey back with my family was awaiting me.  He spent five more days in Panama, watching amazing birds in Chucanti, Nusagandi, Yaviza, Aligandi and even right here in Panama City before taking his flight to Costa Rica.  Check this POST and you'll see that he is VERY lucky as well! 

FAREWELL, MY FRIEND.... I know 7000 birds for this year is plausible!

Bird of the Month: Hudsonian Godwit

The Hudsonian Godwit (Limosa haemastica) is an elegant wader of long legs and upturned long bill that breeds locally in subarctic Alaska and Canada (east to Hudson Bay) and winters in southern South America on both coast, but mainly along the Atlantic coast.  Their migration routes not usually include Central America nor Panama; that is why they are extremely rare here.

Hudsonian Godwit

So far, there are only two published records: a basic-plumaged bird at the Caribbean side of former Canal Area in October, 1983 (photographed) and three birds seen at flight (from an airplane) on the coast 20 km east of Panama City in September, 1997.  A more recent unconfirmed report (January 2010) of a basic-plumaged individual appears in Xenornis by my friend Venicio Wilson.  This season, two juveniles were found by Euclides Campos on October 25th, 2016 in Finca Bayano, a rice farm 40 km east of Panama City.  So far, they have been re-located on October 29th and today, November 1st, at the same site (and where I took all the photos shown in this post).

Hudsonian Godwit showing tail pattern

These birds were actively feeding by probing the mud with their long bills in typical habitat.  In other parts, these birds are found in mudflats and coastal areas as well.  The scaled back and warm tones of these birds make them juveniles; adults in basic plumage are grayer overall.  However, at all ages these birds exhibit black tails with white rumps (as seen in the preening bird above) and dark wing linings and narrow white wing stripe in flight, as seen in the blurry bird below.

Hudsonian Godwits (notice under wing pattern)

Despite its delicate appearance, these birds are powerful creatures that make nonstop flights over the open sea for several days in order to reach their wintering grounds.  Having a pair refueling in Panama to continue its journey is a special event... one that nobody knows when it will repeat.  For these, and many other reasons is why we chose the Hudsonian Godwit as our Bird of the Month!

Hudsonian Godwits

Literature consulted:

1.  Ridgely R, Gwynne J. A Guide to the Birds of Panama. Princeton University Press: 1989.

2.  Angehr G, Engleman D, Engleman L. Where to find birds in Panama. Editora Novo Art, 2006.

3.  Angehr G, Dean R. The Birds of Panama. A Field Guide. Zona Tropical: 2010.

4. Van Gils J, Wiersma P, Kirwan GM. Hudsonian Godwit (Limosa haemastica). In: Del Hoyo J, Elliot A, Sargatal J, et al (editors). Handbook of the birds of the world alive. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona.

Shorebirds all around!

When Osvaldo Quintero and I arrived to days ago to the entrance gate of Finca Bayano, to the east of Panama City, the picture was not good... storm clouds were covering the entire place and the overcast day was cold and windy.  It didn't take long before we had to shelter inside the car and wait for the rain to stop.  By that time we only had seen some herons and Wattled Jacanas, but not a single shorebird... and we were after a special one, the Buff-breasted Sandpipers reported twice at the site earlier this season.

Finca Bayano

Eventually, the rain stopped enough to start to watch birds.  The place was flooded and wet... but it was just perfect for shorebirds... they started to appear all over the place: on the road, at the fields, flying overhead... everywhere!  The most common were the peeps, with Least and Western Sandpipers as the most conspicuous, but also with some Semipalmated Sandpipers as well.

Least and Western Sandpipers

While watching them, we started to notice larger shorebirds mixed in.  Most of them were Pectoral Sandpipers but, eventually, we noticed one bird with yellow-buffy tones and yellow legs... it only stayed enough for a couple of shots, but it proved to be the only Buff-breasted Sandpiper of the day!

Pectoral Sandpipers

Buff-breasted Sandpiper

The Buff-breasted Sandpiper is a rare passage migrant in Panama, with only few reports each fall (almost none in spring).  This was just the second time I see this species, and was a life bird for Osvaldo!  However, it was not the main highlight of the day.  Soon we realized that it was about to be a unique trip... other rare passage migrants showed up as well: several Stilt and White-rumped Sandpipers were around allowing photos.

Stilt Sandpipers

White-rumped and Semipalmated Sandpiper

Other not-so-rare-but-pretty-uncommon species showed up well too, including a pair of confident American Golden-Plovers and, as a photographic highlight, I have to mention the Wilson's Snipes.  They are common winter visitors but you not often see them so close!

American Golden-Plover

Wilson's Snipe

Nice collection of birds eh?  Oh yes, and there was also the first-record-for-Panama thing... well, YEAH!  A bird ever recorded in Panama... about the same size of the Pectoral Sandpipers, but with contrasting chestnut crown and white eye-brow... but most important, buffy breast with almost no streaks... here is the photo that I added to my eBird checklist:

SHARP-TAILED SANDPIPER... WOW!  An Asian breeder way out of route!  It is still pending review, but if accepted by the local Birds Records Committee, it could be the first documented one for Central America!  Now that is what I call a terrific day!

Visiting Finca Bayano

Since the closure of the former Tocumen marshes to birders some years ago, we have been visiting a rice farm to the east of Panama City known as Finca Bayano, looking for those open habitat species of birds difficult to find around Panama City.  The site is promising since it have a nice mixture of habitats: pastures, gallery forests, scrubs and bushes, cultivated fields and so on...  So we visited it last weekend, reaching the place at sunrise.

Finca Bayano

I joined Rosabel Miro and Bill Adsett for this birding adventure... and to be honest, I was expecting a regular day in the field, however, we soon noticed that everything was set to have a great day!  Literally hundreds of herons, egrets, ibises and storks were feeding on the flooded fields.

Well, but all these species were common ones... then we started to notice some shorebirds in the same fields... first some scattered groups... by the end of the trip we saw no less than 100 Pectoral Sandpipers, both Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs, Spotted, Solitary, Western, Semipalmated and Least Sandpipers... but more important, we saw at least two Stilt Sandpipers, pretty uncommon for Panama. I took a short video showing some Pectoral Sandpipers (is the first time I saw so many of them!).

As you can see, my digiscoping abilities are close to zero... but I just wanted to document the numbers.  The waders were not the only highlights.  We saw many species with nesting materials or feeding young.  In fact, we saw several pairs of elegant Pied Water-Tyrants making nests and at least two Pale-breasted Spinetails feeding young birds (they look rather plain).

Pied Water-Tyrant

Also impressive was the number and variety of raptors in those fields: both Caracaras, Bat and Laughing Falcons, Pearl, White-tailed and Hook-billed Kites, Common Black, Roadside, Gray-lined, Savanna and Zone-tailed Hawks were hunting all over the place... in fact, we just saw this Zone-tailed Hawk to grab a whiptail lizard from the ground.

Zone-tailed Hawk with whiptail lizard

However, the most surprising bird (at least for me) was another raptor... but not a diurnal one.  Over a field with dry grass I saw a ghostly figure approaching low to land over a bush facing away.  After a while, the bird turned its head 180º towards me... a Barn Owl was making eye-contact with me under a bright sun!

Barn Owl

Any day with an owl is a good day!