Next stop: endemic island!

I finally managed to escape Panama City for two and a half days in order to accept the great opportunity my friend Kees Groenendijk (of Hotel Heliconia Bed & Breakfast) offered time ago... a quick visit to famed Coiba Island (off-shore central Panama) in order to clean-up the endemics and specialties it has to offer.  Isolated from mainland some 12,000 to 18,000 years ago, many of its inhabitants had diverged since then into distinctive subspecies and even completely new species restricted to this island, the largest of Central America's Pacific coast.

I joined a couple of visiting Dutch birders in this journey.  With Kees as guide, we boarded our boat at the Palo Seco beach in western Azuero (close to the town of Malena where the hotel is) and headed directly to Los Pozos trail in Coiba Island.  As soon as we landed, the birds started to show up.  A mixed flock included Scrub Greenlet, Blue-gray and Crimson-backed Tanagers, Streaked Saltator, House Wren and a pair of Tropical Gnatcatchers.  All these species are represented by endemic subspecies restricted to Coiba and adjacent islands.  Most of them look very similar to the mainland congeners, except by the greenlet and the gnatcatchers.  The endemic subspecies cinericia of Tropical Gnatcatcher is distinctively darker below than other subspecies, as you can see in this male.

male Tropical Gnatcatcher (ssp. cinericia)

Los Pozos trail is flat and easy to bird.  Along it we found more Coiba's endemic subspecies, including tons of Barred Antshrikes, some Tropical Pewees, a smart Rufous-capped Warbler, a Southern Beardless-Tyrannulet and several Red-crowned Woodpeckers.  We also saw a pair of Yellow-bellied Elaenia and a Red-rumped Woodpecker.  The subspecies subpagana of Yellow-bellied Elaenia is not endemic... but is the only site in Panama where it is found; while the woodpecker is VERY rare (essentially absent) from western Panama.  Then, Kees noticed a call he recognized immediately... it was our main target... the endemic Coiba Spinetail!  The little bird crawled along some tangled vines carrying some nesting materials... and then it entered a nest.

Coiba Spinetail's nest

I can't show you a photo of the Coiba Spinetail... but I can show you its nest, a globular mass with a lateral entrance.  There is nothing like the Coiba Spinetail in the adjacent mainland of Panama... and the most similar species, the Rusty-backed Spinetail, lives in a different habitat at the other side of the Andes in South America!  It was a huge lifer for me!  I promise you some photos next time.

Mangroves along the San Juan river, Coiba Island 

Around noon, we left Los Pozos trail and headed to a different habitat; this time navigating through the San Juan river, admiring the impressive mangrove forest along its banks.  Many waders, herons, Yellow -Mangrove- Warblers and Great-tailed Grackles call this forest their home, but Kees was looking after a special resident for the area... a species extirpated from adjacent mainland Panama: Scarlet Macaw.

Scarlet Macaws

Coiba Island is a reserve of macaws and the only wild and viable population in Panama of this striking species.  After a couple of minutes, Kees was able to localize a pair resting under the canopy following their raucous  calls (photo above).  In spite of their size and plumage, they can be difficult to detect sometimes.  We were lucky to have this pair close enough for photos.  They were new birds for me as well.... a very colorful lifer!  After leaving the mangroves, we stopped by the former penitentiary... hundreds of Sandwich and Royal Terns were resting at the remains of the old pier, with some Black and Elegant Terns mixed in (including an anomalous Elegant Tern with red legs).

Black Tern

Elegant, Royal and Sandwich Terns 

Elegant, Royal and Sandwich Terns

We also visited Los Monos trail in order to find another endemic subspecies for Coiba.  Taxonomically talking, the situation of the next species is not clear.  Most authorities consider the Gray-headed Dove as a polytypic species spreading from SE Mexico to western Colombia; however, the form present in the Pacific slope of central Panama (essentially Azuero Peninsula and off-shore islands) is isolated from other populations, have a brighter plumage, apparently is vocally different too and probably deserves species status as Brown-backed Dove, an endemic species for Panama and represented in Coiba Island by its own endemic subspecies nominate battyi).  Well, after walking for a while, Kees located a pair of these doves on the ground.  It was dark and tangled, and my poor photos barely shows how bright this bird looks in the field.

Brown-backed Dove 

Brown-backed Dove

It is almost pale blue in the crown (instead of gray) and bright rufous in the back, with pinkish breast... simply beautiful.  By far this was my best experience with this species... not a lifer, but I only got glimpses of it during my last visit to Coiba Island many years ago.  We saw many more birds in that trail, including Lance-tailed Manakins, Tropical Parulas and White-throated Thrushes... but it was getting late and Kees had another surprise in store for us.  Our boat took us to some rocky islets to the north of the main island.  After some searching, we found three stock shorebirds with yellow legs and long bill.

Wandering Tattler

They were Wandering Tattlers, elsewhere a VERY rare migrant to Panama, but in these islets seems to be regular and even present year-round!  It was my third lifer for the day, something hard to say for me in Panama.  I want to thank Kees for this very quick trip to Coiba... I have to return someday to take better photographs!

It is summer time!

Time to enjoy the sun and the marine breeze!  Well, in Panama you can enjoy them anytime... as I did with my family last weekend in one of the huge all-inclusive beach resorts that abound along the central Pacific coast.

To be honest, I didn't intended to bird extensively... only during the first hours of light while the others were still sleeping, or if something curious or rare appear.  My morning checklists included more than 20 species, most of them common inhabitants of the lush gardens at the resort.  At the sandy beach, the numbers of Laughing Gulls and Sandwich Terns were impressive.  They were fairly confident ... just walking a few steps away when someone approached.

Sandwich Terns

Of course some other marine birds were present too: pelicans, frigatebirds, cormorants and even a lonely Blue-footed Booby dive-bombing near shore.  The only shorebird seen were the omnipresent Willet and Whimbrels... and a tiny group of Sanderlings too.  But no bird was as confident as a curious raptor that visited the main pool.  Some tourists, noticing my binoculars, showed me the bird, and asked me if I knew what it was.

Common Black-Hawk

I said yes, it is a Common Black-Hawk.  I know it sounded obvious... it is a hawk, is black... and certainly common if just appeared in the middle of a huge resort full of bathers.  I didn't want to deepen on taxonomic issues, but this form used to be known as the Mangrove Black-Hawk and I still call it that way when birding alone.  Well, after all the bird was a great show and people seem satisfied with my explanation, so all happy!  Enjoy the summer, and good birding!

Gulls and Terns by the Beltway

Coastal Beltway

Panama City's waterfront, with its manicured gardens, wide sidewalks and cycleways, sport fields and courts and several other facilities, is a very popular site to spent some time during the weekends.  Today, like every sunday, four lanes of the Coastal Beltway became a huge cycleway (38 kilometers long!) throughout the morning.  I don't bike, but took advantage of the empty sidewalks to take some pictures of the gulls and terns (and other birds) along the route.  The inshore waters were full of pelicans, cormorants and frigatebirds.  I checked a tiny beach close to the Yatch Club, where several gulls and terns (and feral Rock Pigeons) were resting.

Laughing Gull

As you can see, some Laughing Gulls are in complete alternate plumage... it is seen just for a short period of time in Panama... the same applies for alternate Sandwich Terns.

Sandwich Tern

Both species are common year-round in Panamanian coasts, but during the passage period, they become locally abundant.  I really like the light pink tones to the breast of these two species when they are in high breeding plumage... which is seldom seen in Panama of course.  After a while, I noticed another tern species mixed in with the Sandwich Terns.  Structurally very similar, both in shape and size, this individual had a yellow-orange bill:

Sandwich and Elegant Terns

An Elegant Tern!  Notice how similar it is to the Sandwich Tern next to it (thus, quite different to the Royal Tern, also present in the site).  The Elegant Tern is an uncommon and irregular passage migrant in the Pacific coasts of central Panama, with no peak of abundance... but I'm pretty sure that by this time, most of them are farther north on route to their breeding grounds... finding one of them during such a short walk along Panama City's waterfront made my day!

Elegant Tern

Five gulls species in Panama Viejo!

If you already read my last entry about gulling in Panama Viejo, then this entry will remind it a lot... except for one thing: yesterday, I saw five (5) instead of four different gulls species in Panama Viejo!  Yes, I went to Panama Viejo after receiving reports of a huge flock of Sandwich Terns resting in the area.  As soon as I get there, I noticed the huge flock... simply amazing.

Most of these birds were Sandwich Terns and Laughing Gulls in many different ages of course.  There were some Royal and Gull-billed Terns mixed in as well.  The Gull-billed Terns are very elegant... picking up food from the water surface... not plunge-diving as many other terns species.

Laughing Gull... any guess about its age?

Gull-billed Tern

Soon I found some Franklin's Gulls among the Laughings... only three of them... all were first-winter birds recognized by its smaller size, stocky look, half black hood with prominent broad eye crescents and white outer tail feathers (conspicuous at flight).

Franklin's Gull, 1st-winter

The third and fourth species were a first-winter Herring Gull and an adult Lesser Black-backed Gull... both continuing birds in these mudflats.  Both were far away for good photos... these are only record shots.  Notice the pale inner primaries of the Herring Gull and the bright yellow legs of the sleeping Lesser Black-backed Gull.

Herring Gull, 1st-winter

Lesser Black-backed Gull, adult

At this point, I was happy with my four gulls... certainly, I was not expecting another species.  So, when I saw this gull among the Laughing by the creek I got excited:

Ring-billed Gull, 1st-winter

Ring-billed Gull, 1st-winter

The Ring-billed Gull is regular in low (very low) numbers along central Panama's coasts, specially in the Pacific side.  Panama Viejo is a regular site, but my last bird there was many years ago.  Five gulls for the day!  Trust me or not, that was not the only highlight of my visit to Panama Viejo... the other was to meet Kevin Zimmer who was leading a VENT tour at the place.  I know him as a member of the South American Classification Committee (SACC), which I follow avidly, but who has not heard about this celebrity of the Neotropical birding?  Even with his experience birding in our country, that day Kevin got a new species for his Panama list: the American White Pelican that decided to winter  on our shores this season!  Great day in Panama Viejo!

American White Pelican

Long weekend. Part I

My family and I decided to spent this long weekend at our house in Penonomé (Coclé province, central Panamá), in order to enjoy some fresh air and to share with our relatives.  Of course, I also took advantage of these free days to do some birding... and accompanied by Osvaldo Quintero and Rafael Luck, we visited some localities along the Panamerican highway, starting at El Chirú.  Most of the former savanna habitat was turned into a corn field, but still we managed to find some common birds, like Brown-throated Parakeets and even a White-winged Dove, but perhaps the change was too much for the Grassland Yellow-Finches that we used to find there regularly.

We moved closer to the coast, to Juan Hombrón, passing first by the extensive rice fields where we saw last year a Long-winged Harrier... this time we saw plenty of egrets and herons, and a flock of more than fifty Glossy Ibises, that weren't completely unexpected... but a good sight away of Las Macanas marshes, specially in such numbers.

The secondary growths along the road produced many species typical of these dry areas, like Lance-tailed Manakins, Blue-black Grassquits, Streaked Flycatcher (the only one allowing photos), Yellow-crowned Euphonias and many more.

At the beach, we saw the usual suspects: Brown Pelican, Neotropic Cormorant and Laughing Gulls... but it was an Osprey that allowed the best views and photographic opportunities.  This is an impressive eagle and, thanks God, a common one!

We left Juan Hombrón with a huge day-list of birds... but we wanted more, so we visited Punta Chame (to the east, coming closer to Panamá City), a well-known site for waders, and many more aquatic and marine birds.  Also, we enjoyed a nice fried fish as lunch after checking the beach.  It was only after reviewing my photos of a flock of gulls and terns resting in the sand that I realized that we didn't see the two Common Terns among the numerous Sandwich and Royal Terns and the Laughing Gulls!  Can you identify them in the next pic?

But the real surprise came in the way out.  We did a routine stop to check a section of beach by the road, noticing a group of ducks in the far shore... it took me a while, but eventually I recognized the huge beaks and the unmistakable plumage of an adult male Northern Shoveler with four female-plumaged birds!  These ducks are rare in Panama... and we were seeing five of them!  They were quite distant... but you can notice the beak shape in my cropped photo (OK, I recognized it, this is an awful photo).

That was a nice way to call it a day.  Rafael and Osvaldo left me at the Panamerican highway... they were going to Panama City and I was going back to Penonomé... the weekend was just starting!

Common, as its name suggest

Last week, I wandered around Panama City with my camera and binoculars reaching, eventually, the Coastal Beltway in high tide. The first bird I noticed was a lonely Gull-billed Tern (the whiter tern in Panama), but then I saw many common birds like Laughing Gulls, Royal and Sandwich Terns (black bill with yellow tip, the most common in the place) flying around, but a little flock of medium sized terns caught my attention. Very elegant when flying, with a stylized figure and forked tail, plunging to feed from the surface... Common Terns! Eventually I realized that the site was full of them, even with some individuals resting in the beach! You may ask why I seem to be so excited by a bird with the adjective "common" as part of its name. Because in Panama, this bird is common only during a short period of time, while migrating... and october is the perfect month to see them here. All of them had the winter plumage, characterized by the dark carpal bar at rest, the black cap with white forehead and a characteristic flight pattern. I checked almost all the birds present looking for rarer species, like Forster's or Artic Terns... but all seemed to be Commons. Judge by yourself!

It is always great to find these little guys in the city... a personal addition to the Coastal Beltway list of birds!

Sand and terns at Santa Clara beach

A clear day in Santa Clara beach (central Panama pacific coast) is something hard to forget. Green waters, white sand and the cool marine breeze. Even the food at the beach is excellent too! But most important, a flock of Sandwich and Royal Terns plus Laughing Gulls at the sand allowing close pics is simply great!