Random stops along Panama City coast

The modern and busy Panama City offers more than lush and cheap shopping, it offers the chance to watch thousands of waders and other aquatic species without much effort.  Some days ago, I visited several sites along the coast just to see what can I find.  My first stop was at the west bank of the Panama Canal, at Farfan.  This site is opposite to the Amador Causeway, where the Biomuseo is now an iconic symbol (designed by Frank Gehry).

Biomuseo

There is a huge pond just next to the beach, surrounded by a dike with overgrown vegetation.  I was able to walk along this dike for some sections.  There were many shorebirds species, including this Lesser Yellowlegs (that was not shy at all).

Lesser Yellowlegs

I was interested in the ducks, since this site produced in the past some very rare species and this season some rare ones were reported too.  I saw several groups of Blue-winged Teals, which is the commonest wintering duck in Panama.  There were some individuals far away in the other side of the pond that I was unable to ID, but certainly they were teals too.

Blue-winged Teals

Blue-winged Teals

One of these groups of teals included seven Lesser Scaups as well... can you separate them?

Blue-winged Teals and Lesser Scaups

I also saw a weird concentration of Franklin's Gulls resting in this pond.  The Franklin's Gull is a common passage migrant, but quite uncommon as winter resident.  I counted no less than 35 individuals, including this first-winter individual.  Notice the white outer tail feathers, broad eye crescents, white underparts and pale inner primaries.

Franklin's Gull, 1st-winter

Then I moved to Panama Viejo.  The number of Laughing Gulls was impressive... and there were also some Franklin's Gulls with them.  Notice the difference in wing patterns and general shape/size of the two flying adults in basic plumage.

Laughing and Franklin's Gulls in basic plumage 

Franklin's Gull in basic plumage

I also saw a very distant Lesser Black-backed Gull among the Laughings and several terns species... too distant for photos.  But several other species were close enough to appreciate well, like this Wood Stork.  Panama Viejo is a regular spot for them in the city and, as you can see, they can be effective as pest control. What major city in the world has no rat problem?

Wood Stork (having lunch)

Nearby, a flock of elegant Black-necked Stilts was feeding in the exposed mudflats.  They are found year-round in this site and are beautifully patterned in black and white with long, pink legs.  They are even more elegant when flying.

Black-necked Stilt

But nothing compares to the elegance of the American Avocet... and a pair seems to be wintering right there in Panama Viejo!  One individual literally materialized in front of me, close enough for some shots.  It was feeding in the water.  When it flew again, I noticed something rarely seen... its curious pink toes.

American Avocet

Nice collection of birds along our coast!

Panama's Dry Arc

The coastal area of Panama's central Pacific slope is the driest in the country, receiving less than 1500 mm of annual rainfall.  The area around the Parita gulf is particularly dry, and is the middle point of an area known as the "Dry Arc" due to this condition, its xerofitic vegetation and "deserts", and the prolonged dry season (lasting up to seven months).

Last weekend, I went to this part of the country, accompanied with my pals Osvaldo and Rafael (no last names needed for these two).  After a quick breakfast in the town of Chitre, we headed to our first destination: Sarigua National Park.  This area, known locally as the Sarigua desert, is certainly the driest center of the arc.

Of course, this is not a true "desert", but a man-made one, after the indiscriminate exploitation of the natural resources since pre-Columbian times leaving only barren terrain and scattered bushes.  However, this vegetation is the perfect niche for the most localized ground-dove in Panama: the Common Ground-Dove.  This is the only reliable site to found this species in Panama, the closest population of its congeners is in central and northwestern Costa Rica!

This was one of our main target... but not the MAIN target of our trip to Sarigua.  In fact, we were looking for a rare migrant reported there last year.  We checked the very exact place where it was reported: the water tank behind the rangers' station, where a leak in the tank made a green oasis in the middle of the desert, attracting many common birds.  While waiting, I heard another specialty of the dry arc: White-winged Dove (file photo).

As the ground-dove, the closest population is in Costa Rica, but there is a record from western Panama, probably a vagrant migrant.  Then, I saw a green finch with pale bill... a female Painted Bunting, our main target!  We were not able to photograph it, but we saw it again two more times in the general area and again one more time in the road to the Parita river, certainly a different individual. The rangers advised us to look for the male in the flowering trees along the river.  We didn't find a male bunting, but this Spotted Sandpiper in breeding plumage entertained us (and yes, I took this photo in the "desert").

Other highlights were Bare-throated Tiger-Heron and a Common Nighthawk flying high above.  I only got marginal photos of these two... they are barely recognizable.

We left Sarigua and headed to Las Macanas marsh.  In the dry arc, the water is a precious resource... and any permanent water source is a magnet for wildlife.  This marsh is just that... a protected oasis used by men and animals with multiple purposes (as the sign suggests).

By the time we reached the marsh, it was pretty hot... and the water level low.  Thousands of herons, storks, ibises and jacanas were scattered all over the place.

One of the most numerous was the Glossy Ibis, like the one pictured below.  When I started to birdwatch some years ago, this was a very rare species in Panama.  Now, it is abundant in this part of the country.

By noon, we decided to have lunch in the Aguadulce Salinas (saltflats), 30 minutes from Las Macanas.  We were not expecting huge flocks of waders due to the horrendous heat and the low tide, but we witnessed the traditional salt harvest from the drying pools.

After a delicious fried fish (an entire corvina... our own tradition when visiting this site), we checked the pools again, finding a tiny flock with Black-necked Stilts, Least Sandpipers and both Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs.

Well, a typical day in Panama's Dry Arc!

Birding the marshes. Part II

After a successful previous day at some marshes east of Panama City, I travelled with my family to our house in Penonomé (Coclé province, central Panamá) in the afternoon.  The sunday morning, january 20th, Gloriela, Gabrielle, Teresa and Kevin joined me in a quick visit to Las Macanas marsh, in Herrera province, and only one hour away of Penonomé.

Of course, after seeing eight duck species the previous day, I wanted to see if I could find at least 10 species for the weekend, so I targeted Las Macanas to find my ninth species: the Fulvous Whistling-Duck.  My family stayed at the facilities because of the bright sun, but enjoying the refreshing breeze instead. 

I searched the ponds close to the tower... hundreds of Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks, but alas, no Fulvous.  The Black-bellieds looks almost comical, with their bright orange bill and legs, and sweet voice.

Knowing that sometimes they are hard to find, I started to walk my way through dry terrain to some ponds where I had seen those ducks before (check this post).  In the way, some Snail Kites were flying over the marsh, masterly maneuvering with the tails.

Eventually, I found a flock of Lesser Yellowlegs resting close to some Blue-winged Teals.

If you enlarge the photo with the yellowlegs, you may notice that one of the ducks is actually a female Northern Shoveler!  I didn't realize it back then, but I found a pair of Northern Shovelers later in the day.  The female stayed for some photos, but I only got distant flying shots of the male.  There are many sightings of shovelers in Panama for this season, which has been exceptionally good for ducks in general.

After a while, I reached the ponds that were full of whistling-ducks, teals and even a huge male Muscovy Duck.  By that time I was tired and thirsty, but I was glad to see that, when hundreds of whistling-ducks took off, at least one of them presented the characteristic dark wings and tail with white rump band of a Fulvous Whistling-Duck, my ninth duck species for the weekend!  They were too far away for photos... so I took photos of a nearby flock of Black-necked Stilts instead.

We left Las Macanas very happy... and in the afternoon, we left Penonomé in order to reach Panama City by mid-afternoon.  Of course, we made a quick visit to Gamboa searching for the tenth duck species: the female Ring-necked Duck reported elsewhere... but they were to far away to identify with certainty, and quite dark too.  But nine species of ducks in two days, and in Panama... exceptional!

Waders at El Agallito

Last saturday, I went with my family and my mother-in-law to Chitré (Herrera province, central Panama) in order to make some shopping... but I took advantage to check the mangroves and mudflats of El Agallito beach, just 5 minutes away of town.  We arrived at low tide, watching the extensive mudflats with some shorebirds and the Cocle province's coastline in the background.

The shorebirds were too far away to identify... mostly peeps, Semipalmated and Black-bellied Plovers, plus White Ibis and some herons, so I tried the lagoons at the mangroves around the former Alexander  Humboldt Ecological Station.

For my surpise, the small lagoon close to the station was full with resting shorebirds!

As you can see, most of them were Short-billed Dowitchers, but also you can see Willets, three Marbled Godwits (uncommon in this part of Panama), Greater Yellowlegs and Whimbrels.

Good numbers of Lesser Yellowlegs and Black-necked Stilts were present as well.

Sometimes, the whole flock was taking off if any large bird was flying nearby, like this fierce-looking Crested Caracara, but only to return exactly to the same place after a couple of seconds.

Well, nice way to start a shopping journey!

A bonus life bird!!!

The very same day that I left Panama in order to begin my birding trip to northern South America, I received a phone call from my friend Osvaldo Quintero (I was already in Colombia).  During a routine visit to Costa del Este (Panama City), he watched at least four American Avocets at the mouth of the Matías Hernández river.  Can you imagine?  The target bird of ALL those field trips to the Aguadulce saltponds (Cocle province) and now it was merely 10 minutes from my apartment in Panama... but I was in Colombia!!  OK, after my arrival to Panama (18 days later), I took a day to catch up with Gloriela and my daughter Gabrielle... but the next day I took all my family to a quick visit to Costa del Este.  I tried first the river itself, watching a big flock of Black-necked Stilts, but alas, no avocets (bonus Lesser Yellowlegs in the photo).

Most of the previous records for Panama describe one bird accompanying a flock of stilts... but it seems that this was not the case in Costa del Este (more than one bird and definitively NOT with the stilts).  I moved to the mouth of the river... watching first a group of Southern Lapwings yelling at me.

By the bridge, I saw two foreign birders inspecting the beach.  I introduced myself and started the search of the avocets with my binoculars.  With surprise, I found a group of seven American Avocets resting quite far away... so I called Gloriela (with Gabrielle) to see the birds as well.  Steve and Jackson (the foreign birders) already saw the avocets... but they were more interested in the Southern Lapwings (they don't have these plovers in New Jersey), completely unaware of the genuine rarity of this bird in Panama.

They kindly left Gloriela and me to use their scope... the views were excellent and the excitement very hard to describe.  Well, after a mega trip with so many lifers, an extra lifer at your front yard is more than welcomed!

Daddy, I want to see too!

Savanna and mangroves

The morning of last saturday, january 28th; Penonome (Cocle province, central Panama) received the visit of an important delegation of birdwatchers from Panama City, prepared to repeat past weekend finding of a Grasshopper Sparrow in Panama after more than 50 years! I joined Rafael Luck, Osvaldo Quintero and Venicio "Beny" Wilson early that morning and departed to the exact site where I saw the bird.

We didn't see it immediately, but certainly our hearts started pumping when we saw a very unusual flycatcher-type bird. Similar in shape and behavior to a Fork-tailed Flycatcher, it seemed to be a partially albino immature because of its relatively short tail. Shortly after this, we were joined by Darien and Camilo Montañez and Marlene (a guest), and started searching. Soon, we had several sightings of a single bird, all brief, but definitives. You can read more about these encounters at Darien's site, Xenornis.

After spending a couple of hours at the site, we went to the Aguadulce Salinas (saltponds), 25 minutes to the west. However, the former saltponds were completely dry, and we decided to go directly to the coast, were some mangrove still persist... and it turned to be a good idea!

In a little pond surrounded by mangroves, we found this flock of sandpipers. As you can see, most of these birds are Lesser Yellowlegs ( straight, relatively short bills, white eye rings, spotted flight feathers) plus some Greater Yellowlegs (similar to the Lesser Yellowlegs, but bigger, with two-toned upturned bills) and Short-billed Dowitchers (chunky shape, long & straight bills) There are at least two Stilt Sandpipers too (slightly downcurved bills). The pond also hosted a single Red Knot and many Black-necked Stilts which refused to stay for the photos. After seeing the obligate Yellow "Mangrove" Warblers, we had lunch at a local restaurant (we ordered an excellent fried fish) and returned to Penonome where we had more encounters with the sparrow before we had to return to our normal lives. It is always nice to scape from the monotony and to engage in the search of a lost bird.

Breeding shorebirds in Aguadulce

OK, it is not that there were breeding shorebirds in the Aguadulce Salinas (saltponds) during my last visit two days ago with Osvaldo Quintero, Euclides "Kilo" Campos and my nephew Michael (except for one species); but we did found many species still wearing part of its alternate (or breeding plumage). Panama is a very important stop for those holartic breeders in its way to the southern hemisphere, and the saltponds in Aguadulce have been historically one of the best sites in Panama to look for them. It is still too early for most of the species, but we found a nice collection of them scattered in the ponds. The first species we saw were the almost present Black-necked Stilts. These elegant birds were noisier than usual, and soon we noticed why: we found at least three different downy fledglings at the ponds, close to screaming adults. They are known to breed in this place since 14 years ago, but this is the first time that I actually see a chick. It was great to watch the little birds trying to look like the sandy soil where they were resting. I suppose that the stilts are still doing fine. Not many shorebirds species breed in Panama. Apart of the stilts, only some plovers breed in Panama... so it is not easy to find nests or chicks in our coast, despite they are full of birds. As you guess, the stilts where not the only shorebirds we found. The most common shorebirds were the Semipalmated and the Western Sandpipers. Several hundred were feeding in scattered flocks, sometimes together. Notice that the Western Sandpiper that I'm picturing here still had part of its rusty crown and scapulars. Apart of these, the spotting along sides and the dropped tip of the bill separate this bird of the similar Semipalmated Sandpiper. We also found a flock of Short-billed Dowitchers, with its distinctive feeding technique. Again, some of them were in alternate plumage. Taking into account the amount of ruddy on its underparts, these dowitchers seemed to be of the hendersoni subspecies, which breeds in central and western Canada. This is the subspecies listed by Ridgely, in the Guide to the Birds of Panama, as the one that earlier arrives to Panama (a group of 25 birds seen by the end of july precisely in Aguadulce, back in 1975). We found smaller numbers of Least Sandpipers, usually close to flocks of the more abundant peeps. They were easily recognized by their smaller size and distinctive darker back. With good light, and close enough we even saw the yellow legs. And talking about yellow legs, the only species we saw was the Lesser Yellowlegs. Despite we didn't have Greater Yellowlegs to compare with (and the fact that the birds didn't call), we were able to id them by noticing its straight and all-black bill. In the photo appears one individual, accompanied by a Western Sandpiper. About the plovers, the only species that we found was precisely one of those that does not breeds in Panama, but anyway is one of the most common, the Semipalmated Plover. We usually see drab brown birds with its winter plumage, so it is always nice to watch a bright individual like the one pictured here. Great collection of shorebirds... I can't wait to visit this place again at the peak of the migration season (in October).