Inca Tern at the Panama Canal... wait, whaaaat?

Yes... that was my first impression when my friend Venicio "Beny" Wilson reported this rarity in the Social Media yesterday... an adult Inca Tern was seen at the Miraflores Locks of the Panama Canal right in front of the Visitors Center.  The Inca Tern is a real vagrant to Panama, endemic to the Humboldt Current off western South America, supposedly only appears up here under anomalous conditions, specially during El Niño years.  So I hurried up to the Visitors Center, picking up in the way my friend Osvaldo Quintero and his son Osvaldo Jr.

Miraflores Locks, Panama Canal

We got to the center 20 minutes before closure... and started to look at the far side of the locks where Beny reported the bird earlier.  As you can see in the above photo, we used the lookout in the fourth floor to locate the bird, which was where the red arrow is pointing.  It required the maximum zoom of our lenses... and lot of trimming back in home... this is the result:

Inca Tern at the Panama Canal

Not only very rare... also exaggeratedly beautiful!  This bird was with Sandwich Terns and Laughing Gulls, and seemed to be enjoying its stay... we saw it fishing successfully twice, taking a bath, preening and resting by the walls of the locks.

Inca Tern with little fish

Inca Tern at the Panama Canal

There have been some reports in the past few years in Panamanian coasts, including mine back in 2010 (eBird checklist here), but this is the first report in the vicinity of Panama City in more than 30 years!  Good excuse to visit the Panama Canal these days!

Inca Tern at the Panama Canal

Double celebration!

One day like today... but 495 years ago, Panama City was founded as the first one in the Pacific coast of the recently discovered world by the Spaniards.  According to history, it was Pedro Arias de Ávila who founded the city on august 15th, 1519.

The original city was destroyed during a pirate attack in 1671, and now only some ruins stand out (Panama Viejo).  The most impressive is the bell tower of the Catedral Nuestra Señora de Asunción (above); however, other important structures have been restored, one of the most impressive is the Convento de la Concepción where I took the photo of the virgin in the glass box below.

I'm sure the Spaniards would be impressed with the new and modern city that exists today only a few miles away from the original town; however, would be even more impressed with the Panama Canal that, coincidentally or not, was inaugurated exactly 100 years ago, on august 15th, 1914.

In fact, they were who first thought of making a canal across the isthmus to link both oceans.  Yes, in 1534, King Carlos V ordered the first feasibility studies for this project... of course, the necessary technology would not exist until the 19th century.  Now, the Panamanian are proud of this magnificent engineering work, uniting the oceans and the world!

Happy august 15th!