Hungry birds

The exposed mudflats, mangroves and beaches of the Upper Bay of Panama are a very important feeding station for both migrant and resident waterbirds and waders year-round.  The simply amazing numbers of peeps and other shorebirds that spent most of their lives here are prove of that.  But this time, I want to highlight that almost during every visit I witness a waterbird catching/eating large catfishes... like this Great Egret in Costa del Este.

Great Egret

The habitat is just ideal for the catfishes, so I guess they abound and are quite easy to catch. Sometimes, the birds just take them from the mud... or, in the case of the Magnificent Frigatebirds, are stolen from other birds.  This is a repetitive scene in Panama Viejo (where I took the next photos): a lucky bird catch a fish just to be harassed by these feathered pirates... and who can resist those bandits?

Magnificent Frigatebird

The Magnificent Frigatebird is a specialized kleptoparasite... parasiting by theft.  However, as it usually happens, this frigatebird was not the only one patrolling the site and soon another individual tried to steal the prize.

Two Magnificent Frigatebirds after the fish

Seeing those two frigatebirds in the air is fun.  The large birds are extremely agile in the air, and elegant... even when they chase each other.

Agility in the air

Eventually, the catfich fell to the floor... after all, nobody knows to whom is working... the birds spend 10 minutes disputing the catfish just to give it to a cat that was just passing by.

Yummy!

What can I say?  Some are luckier than others!

Trying again eastern Panama province for THE heron

Officially, we are experiencing an invasion of South American species into Panama.  The most remarkable example so far is the influx of Whistling Herons, the last ones seen in Gorgona (West Panama province) and another close to the town of Santa María in the Azuero Peninsula, both 100 and 200 km to the east of the first report close to Chepo! (see this eBird map).  In a random afternoon, I went to the original site close to Chepo with Osvaldo Quintero, who still needs the heron for his life list.  When we arrived, the place was very dry and hot.  We decided to explore the surroundings because the Whistling Heron was not in the original site.

Great Egret

Cattle Egret

We saw other herons species, like Little Blue Heron and both Great and Cattle Egrets.  The last two breed very close to the site; however, these were not the heron we were looking for!  Back in the site, we decided to wait.  Some common species started to show up as the afternoon wore on and the temperature descended.  We noticed a pair of active Pied Water-Tyrants picking insects from the ground and flying to some low bushes at the banks of a pond.

Pied Water-Tyrant 

Pied Water-Tyrant's nest

As you can see, they were carrying food into a globular nest... probably for some hungry chicks.  The minutes passed and the heron did not appear.  To protect me from the sun, I waited under the shade of a tree... and I was accompanied!  This little friend was also taking advantage of the shade to capture some ants.

Yellow-headed Gecko

Yellow-headed Gecko

This is a male Yellow-headed Gecko.  In the field, its body looks all dark... but a closer look reveals an intricate pattern of silver lines all over the body, except the lower belly and the tail, that has a white tip.  Also notice the blue spangles under the eye... sublime.  According to my grandparents, the introduced (and now abundant) House Geckos replaced this species in and around the houses... but this is prettier!

Buff-breasted Wren

After five hours, we saw no signs of the heron.  This Buff-breasted Wren said goodbye with several phrases of its sonorous song.  The bars in the closed wing were more evident in the field, just like those in the tail, separating it from the similar Plain Wren that is also present in the same habitat.  After all, it was a nice day in eastern Panama province!

Herons at the bay

Some days ago, I stopped at the Panama Viejo mudflats to check the migrant shorebirds and gulls that spent the winter in the site.  However, I was impressed by the number of resident birds present in the area... particularly herons.  The most common were Great and Snowy Egrets.

Great Egret

Snowy Egret

Both species breed in Panama... in fact, notice the bright colors of the bare parts and the elongated plumes in the back of the Snowy Egret pictured above.  However, there are relatively few nesting colonies identified in Panama (heronries).  Another species that breeds in Panama is the Tricolored Heron.

Tricolored Heron (immature)

This individual is an immature due to the rufous tones in its plumage.  I usually see only few individuals of this species in these mudflats.  In the other hand, the Little Blue Heron was very common, both immature and adult birds.

Little Blue Heron (immature) 

Little Blue Heron (adult) 

Curiously, this species is considered a rare breeder in Panama; however, as mentioned earlier, this species is very common and present year-round in our country.  Also present in the mudflats were both Yellow-crowned and Black-crowned Night-Herons.

Yellow-crowned Night-Heron

Black-crowned Night-Heron (subadult)

These birds are more active at night, when those specialized eyes are really useful, but they seemed to be comfortable during daylight as well.  Nice collection of species... add the Green Heron present at the river and the other resident waterbirds like pelicans, cormorants and White Ibises and you get a colorful collage for the site.

White Ibis

In the adequate season, you can also see Cocoi and Great Blue Herons in these mudflats.  In fact, I took the next photo some months ago.

Great Blue Heron

Two or three Cocoi Herons were feeding close to this Great Blue Heron that day.  So, in a good day, you can get nine different species of herons in this site... and you only need to move farther east to get up to four more species (Cattle Egrets, Capped and Striated Heron plus Bare-throated Tiger-Herons are present in the marshes around Tocumen for example)... hmmm, sounds like a challenge!

Panama Viejo with the PAS

Celebrating the 50 years of the Panama Audubon Society (PAS), we joined a group of volunteers, members of the directive board (myself included) and general public in a visit to Panama Viejo, last sunday.  This site exhibits a mix of habitats, like mangroves, mudflats, rocky and sandy beaches, and gives a great opportunity for environmental education and birding.

In fact, PAS resident biologist Michelle gave us a nice introduction to this complex ecosystem and showed some samples of different species of mangroves, mollusks and worms... very important to support the millions of birds that use the Upper Bay of Panama as wintering ground.

Besides the environmental importance of the site, Panama Viejo is also an UNESCO World Heritage Site.  The "old" city was the first European settlement on the Pacific coast of the Americas, founded in 1519, and is full of history and interesting facts, most of them explained in the museum... where we met.

Bell tower of the Catedral Nuestra Señora de Asunción

About the birds, well... at the end of the visit we counted 44 species, including 14 species of migrant plovers and shorebirds that use this site in their annual migration as a feeding station during the passage or as wintering grounds.  However, we were impressed by the resident species.  Hordes of Great and Snowy Egrets, Cocoi, Great Blue, Little Blue and Tricolored Herons filled the mudflats, accompanied by a flock of 17 Wood Storks... and even a Roseate Spoonbill that flew away to soon.

Did you notice the Black-necked Stints in the above photo?  They are present year-round, but are more abundant during the winter.  We saw impressive numbers of this species scattered in loose flocks at the mudflats.  We had such a great time identifying Western and Semipalmated Sandpipers, Short-billed Dowitchers, Willets and Whimbrels.  Eventually we found the lonely Long-billed Curlew that winters there.  It was too far away for photos, but everybody was able to watch it through the scopes.

After a while, we headed to the stand of mangroves in front of the Visitors Center.  There, we had great views of the city and the rocky shores full of sea creatures trapped in the pools left by the retiring tide.

We also had better views of the Wood Storks, this time feeding in the surf... acting like shorebirds.

This was a great experience, sharing with friends and people interested in our birds and how to preserve their habitats.  Happy Birthday PAS!

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.

Huge numbers in Aguadulce!

As you may know by now, the Aguadulce Salinas (saltponds) are just 30 minutes away of our house in Penonomé (central Panamá).  I took advantage of this proximity and visited the saltponds very early last sunday hoping to find interesting species closer to the road due to the low traffic at that time... and it worked.

As you can see, the diversity and numbers were awesome... and this is only a fraction of the flock!  Can you see how many species were together in that pond?  The Roseate Spoonbill was, by far, the most attractive bird... the pink shade comes from the food it eats: tiny crustaceans rich in carotenoids produced by the algae they eat as well.  The Wood Stork is not exactly a beauty...but is extremely elegant when flying.  I saw no less than 500 storks along the ponds... and amazing number at any season.

Most egrets and herons were fairly numerous as well, but not as the storks.  The most common was the Great Egret as you can see in the first photo.  Also recorded were Snowy and Cattle Egrets, Great Blue, Little Blue, Tricolored and Green Herons.  The Black-necked Stilts were abundant too... but they like to congregate in little, sparse groups all over the ponds.  They are resident there (the only known breeding site in Panama), but the numbers increase with the arrival of northern migrants.

Despite migration has just started, the ponds were covered in migrant shorebirds and plovers.  Thousands of peeps (including Western, Semipalmated and Least Sandpipers), Semipalmated Plovers and both Lesser and Greater Yellowlegs were feeding at the ponds.  This Greater Yellowlegs shows the typical bicolored (paler to the base), slightly upturned bill, separating it of the Lesser Yellowlegs.

However, it was another migrant that surprised me.  I found a resting group of Black Skimmers in a sand bar in the middle of a pond... not an unusual sight for the site, nor for the time of the year.  Then, more and more flocks started to arrive directly from the sea... I counted 238 birds (at least)... all seemed to belong to the race breeding in North America.

Some other species were simply more conspicuous than in other visits... that was the case of the White-winged Doves.  Restricted to the drier areas along the Parita Peninsula of central Panamá, this species is readily found along the street running parallel to the beach heading to the fishing town of El Salado.  I found many individuals, some in groups of three to four birds, some vocalizing.

The last bird I found in the ponds was also the less expected.  A basic-plumaged Red-necked Phalarope was swimming and feeding, bobbing its head nervously and allowing some shots.  This species is mainly pelagic... that is, usually found away of the coast in the sea; but Aguadulce is a quite regular site to see this migrant.  Well, what a great day at the saltponds!

P.D.:  I count eight (8) different species in the first photo.  How many do you?

In search of THE heron. Part I

There were some clues in the air... something really important was happening to the east of Panamá City.  But in spite of all my suppositions, I never thought that it would be a NEW species for the country and North America!  The news were published in various social media and in Xenornis a week ago.  A Whistling Heron was photographed and videotaped in the outskirts of the town of Chepo, 30 minutes east of Panamá City by Kevin Easley and others.  This is an extraordinaire record, since there are no known populations of this beautiful heron close to the Panamá border in Colombia.  Two distinct populations exists, one in the llanos of Venezuela and eastern Colombia (where I took the next photo, that I published elsewhere); the other, in the open lands of Bolivia to northeastern Brazil and Argentina.

So far, some resident birders visited the place after the first report, but the heron could not have been relocated.  So, accompanied by Rafael Luck, Venicio "Beny" Wilson and Itzel Wong, I went last saturday in search of it.   After checking maps of the area, Beny chose the route, following the old road to Chepo from the town of Palo Blanco, crossing pastures and degraded habitat, but also many gallery forests along creeks and rivers supporting species typical of wetter habitats.  That is so, that in our first stop we found a Rufous-breasted Hermit... essentially unexpected for us.

Others unexpected finds were Brown-hooded Parrots, Gray-headed Kite and this Gray-lined Hawk, nicely perched atop a dead tree.

However, the most common birds were those typical of open lands and marshy areas.  In fact, we checked many marshes in the middle of huge pasture lands, and we were glad to see again some species restricted to this type of habitat.  For example, this Pale-breasted Spinetail was very cooperative, calling from exposed perches and even showing the reason of its name.

And who can't be glad of finding Pied Water-Tyrants?  This elegant bird is restricted to the eastern part of the country, and always is a great bird to see.

And what about the heron?  Well, eventually we found the very same perch where the Whistling Heron was photographed.  The tree was a preferred perch for many species in the surroundings, including  Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks, Little Blue Heron and Great Egrets.  We waited and searched all around, but the heron was not there.

To be honest, we were quite optimistic, considering that the area is huge, full of adequate habitat... it was like looking for a needle in a haystack.  However, we kept searching... only stopping for a quick meal in town.  That habitat was also excellent for birds of prey.  Besides those already mentioned, we saw other seven hawks and kites species, including this majestic Savanna Hawk.

We also saw (or heard) four falconids, including three pairs of American Kestrels.  Formerly only a winter visitor from northern latitudes; now, South American subspecies have been established in our fields.

Notice the completely lack of spots in the underparts of this beautiful male, characteristic of southern subspecies.  Well, we didn't find the heron... but have a lot of fun looking for it!