Flycatchers, wrens and warblers in Metro Park

I went this afternoon to the Metropolitan Natural Park (Panama City) trying to find the Worm-eating Warbler reported by Osvaldo Quintero some days ago. I reached the place by noon, and in spite of the time, the activity was great. I didn't find my target (this time), but I still had a great time. The first thing I noticed was the noise: almost all the resident species were vocalizing and calling, many of them were with nesting materials in their beaks. Surely this is a busy season for them. I had the opportunity to have side-by-side views of two flycatchers species that are hard to identify: a Yellow-olive Flycatcher and a Greenish Elaenia. Both are superficially similar and share similar habitats, but you can notice the broad bill of the flycatcher and its pale iris. Also, both were calling, making easier for me the ID. Notice that both are carrying nesting material too. It was impressive the number of flycatcher species present in the Mono Tití trail (were I took all the photos): Southern Bentbill, Brown-capped, Southern Beardless, Yellow-crowned and Paltry Tyrannulets, Black-tailed, Ochre-bellied and Ruddy-tailed Flycatchers, just to mention a few! The Ruddy-tailed Flycatcher deserves a special mention... it must be the most handsome and cute of all the flycatchers in the park... just look at its face! It stayed still, curiously looking at me while I was taking the photos. Of course, I saw more than flycatchers. The forest by this time of the year is very dry, and many trees have lost most the leaves, making easier to watch the birds, including the skulkiers. I saw easily three wren species, but of course they were not easy to photograph. The Rufous-breasted Wren was the most active, but the beautiful Rufous-and-white Wren was the most vocal... you have to heard its loud and musical song to believe it! The Black-bellied Wren almost passed unnoticed, it was very quiet. It certainly have a black belly, but its white throat is very conspicuous in the dark interior of the undergrowth. Others skulkiers like antwrens, antbirds and antshrikes were also easy to see. And about the warblers, well... the site was excellent. In a same tree were Tennessee, Yellow, Chestnut-sided, Bay-breasted and Black-and-white Warblers... but then, a flash of colour caught my attention: a male Golden-winged Warbler joined the flock, showing its bright golden wing panel... sweet!

Not only that. After a while, I detected movement in some tangles away from the main flock. A quick look with my binoculars confirmed my initial ID, a Magnolia Warbler, my second individual for this season! My poor photos are at least better than nothing, and they show at least the gray breast band over the yellow underparts and the grayish face with a white eye-ring. I also noticed in the field the two white wing bars and prominent black streaks to the flanks.

Well, very good walk in the park... and I still have an excuse to keep visiting it (still need my Worm-eating Warbler for this season).

New year-birds in Metro Park

A very short visit to the Metropolitan Natural Park, in Panama City, recently produced some new year-birds for me. As usual, I started in the Mono Tití trail up to El Mirador (where I got the view pictured above... it is incredible how a park so close to a cosmopolitan city still holds such species like tinamues, forest-falcons, antbirds, manakins, monkeys, and so on...), and then completing the circuit through La Cieneguita trail. Most of the migrants are gone by now, so the activity was slow. In the other hand, the first rains of the season probably explain the hungry mosquitoes that I found during my walk... specially in La Cieneguita trail. I found a big mixed flock by the entrance of the trail, close to "The Castle", attended mostly by Red-throated Ant-Tanagers and lots of flycatchers, including Yellow-olive and Panama Flycatchers, Yellow-bellied and Greenish Elaenias, Southern Bentbill and Beardless-Tyrannulets and a pair of Common Tody-Flycatchers. Also, a lonely Rufous-breasted Wren accompanied the flock while singing, followed by a Yellow-green Tyrannulet. This active, smart and gnatcatcher-like tyrannulet is a national endemic for Panama, and Metro Park is a reliable site to find it, specially if you know its call. Close to the flock, but not exactly with it, was a pair of Blue-crowned (Whooping) Motmots flycatching. After the flock passed, the things turned quiet... only finding a handsome Orange-billed Sparrow skulking in some bushes. My photo shows the bird just like you usually find it in the field... with tons of tangles and branches in front of it! With patience it is possibly to attract them by "pishing", as I did. In my experience, the only birds that are usually attracted by my "pishing", apart of some warblers, are the Ant-Tanagers. They rapidly approach scolding me and that day was not the exception. The common one in most of Panama is the Red-throated Ant-Tanager, but in Metro Park you have great chances to find the Red-crowned Ant-Tanager as well... just like I did! I found a pair close to a flock of Red-throateds that responded to my "pishing" (I usually don't "pish", nor use play-luring techniques... I only tried this time to get a picture of the sparrow... instinctively it came out from my mouth while holding the camera!). The males differ in its more uniform brick-red coloration, while the female are safely told apart by its yellow crown (both species have red or yellow throats, both males have red crowns). In the way back I found some interesting mammals, including a Central American Agouti, a White-nosed Coati and a group of Geoffroy's Tamarins (the monos titíes), detected by its bird-like calls. A short walk after all, I only stayed for a couple of hours, but found great birds and wildlife!