Sunday in Pipeline road

Taking advantage of my free day, I went today with Osvaldo (no last name required) to the Gamboa area. Not an early start because we were more interested in photography and the light was not good enough. One thing is for sure... Pipeline road is getting popular among both visitors and locals. The parking lot was full of cars and we crossed many scientists, hikers, joggers, bikers and birders along the way. We drove directly to Juan Grande where we found our big surprise of the day. I saw "something" flying inside some bushes when crossing the bridge. Through a little space in the foliage I distinguished a typical kingfisher silhouette, a little bigger than the usual Green Kingfisher that we are used to see there... but it quickly flew away and perched over the water. Using my binoculars I saw the rufous underparts with no white at all... a Green-and-rufous Kingfisher!!! and it flew again after a short glimpse, and Osvaldo didn't see it. We walked along the muddy riverbank and after a couple of meters I saw the bird again, this time nicely perched behind a bunch of dead leaves. It took some time to place ourselves in order to start shooting our cameras, but at least we got a couple of recognizable pictures. Pretty shy for a kingfisher! Happy with our luck, we continued. The bird activity was low after our first sighting... only few antwrens and antshrikes, but eventually we found an antswarm attended by Bicolored and Spotted Antbirds, Gray-headed Tanagers and a Plain-brown Woodcreeper. An antswarm in the tropics always is a good find... except if you are so amazed enjoying the birds that forget the ants that are going towards you!! This particular antswarm was composed of thousands of little black ants, smaller and faster than the Eciton burchelli that usually we found, and it was not until we feel the bites in our ankles that we realize that we were in the middle of it!!! We stepped aside for a while, but the birds were so tame that I kept shooting. Being a little swarm, it did not have Ocellated Antbirds, always a spectacular guest to see... but the Spotted Antbirds offered a great show, jumping to few feet of us, vocalizing incessantly its buzzing calls that, with those of the Bicolored Antbirds, make unmistakable the sound of an approaching antswarm. Now, more than happy and thirsty, we drove to the Rainforest Discovery Center for a soda or two. Of course I took my time to photograph the hummingbirds, with a cooperative White-vented Plumeleteer being the highlight, gleaming with natural sunlight... but I must admit that those Blue-chested Hummingbirds are really spectacular when facing the sun. Well, a nice day after all, with no rain at all despite the weather forecast.

P.D. : if you have any idea of the identity of this winged friend below, let me know.

Rainy day

October is one of the most rainy months of the year in Panama, and we verified it last saturday, during our day visit to El Valle de Anton. The day started good, with clear skies, but it became dark rapidly. Our first stop was close to Los Llanitos ("Todies Land") where we recorded ALL the motmots species found in Panama, with Tody Motmot in my saw-and-barely-photographed list (as I have said before, they are very tough to photograph). After a quick hot coffee and a piece of pineapple pie in a little bakery close to the famous "mercado" in El Valle, we headed to the Cerro Gaital Natural Monument where a smiley-faced Brown-throated Three-toed Sloth welcomed us. By mid-morning the day was dark and chilly, with some dropplets falling down, but that didn't stop us. We walked the loop trail (El Convento) reaching only the second station. In the way we saw a nice Green-crowned Brilliant and a mixed flock of Silver-throated Tangers, Common Bush-Tanagers, Bananaquits and very cooperative Black-faced Grosbeaks (a huge group, maybe 15 individuals). A little noise in the understore resulted in a Nine-banded Armadillo who quickly ran away. The migrants were represented by Canada, Blackburnian and Mourning Warblers plus Swainson's Thrushes. It soon began to rain, so we headed back just in time to reach the car when a heavy downspur covered everything. We left El Valle, calling it a day not before a short visit to the lowlands of El Chiru, but it was late and we only saw very common birds (plus a nice Pearl Kite). The return journey was under a rainstorm all the way to Panama city, but at least it was refreshing!

Waiting the Mega Flock

Yes... I know is still september but I was hoping to find earlier this year the mega flock of migratory sandpipers. Every year, a huge number of sandpipers (mostly Western and Semipalmated) spent the winter in Panama's Upper Bay, most of them arriving in october. It is the best month to look for vagrants among the thousands of peeps. Anyway, I tried yesterday the usual spots (Costa del Este and Panama Viejo) finding only the usual suspects (Black-bellied Plovers, Whimbrels, Willets, Black-necked Stilts, Greater Yellowlegs, and few Semipalmated and Western Sandpipers) in Costa del Este. My heart accelerated for a second when I saw a peep with an unusual rusty back (thinking on a MUCH rarer Stint or something like that) but otherwise identical to the accompanying Western Sandpipers. It was a lot of fun to watch the noisy Spotted Sandpipers doing nothing else but to chase each other... when do they eat? Of course, there were hundreds of residents birds, including pelicans, egrets and cormorants in the beach. In Panama Viejo I saw again the Gull-billed Terns and the adult Ring-billed Gull among the Laughings close to the Visitor Center, but the sandpipers were too far away even for my binoculars. Well, I suppose that I must be kept waiting.

A Beautiful Desert

After visiting Herrera's wettest place in the morning, we drove to the driest one in the evening. The Sarigua desert is not a true desert actually, but a fragile coastal ecosystem known as "albina". Most of its tree-less landscape is due to the deforestation during the last century, though the area is also known as an important archaeological site. It is protected by its own national park, located in coastal Herrera, close to the town of Parita. Of course, we were looking for birds in this arid habitat. Our first stop was at the Visitor Center where we walked a little trail through cacti and xerofitic vegetation, following the call of a Crested Bobwhite nearby, and finding Prothonotary Warbler, Blue-black Grassquit, Eastern Wood-Pewee and Mouse-colored Tyrannulet. A Bananaquit was eating in a cactus. I'm amazed by the adaptability of this little friend. You can find it in humid montane forest, residential gardens, and is doing just great in that arid site! We climbed the observation tower near the Center to have a panoramic view of the surroundings. There were some shallow lagoons in the distance that seemed to be full with birds, so we decided to drive in that direction. Shortly after we started to drive, a couple of ground-doves flew to the side of the road. A quick search and soon we were watching a beautiful pair of Common Ground-Doves. This dove is only common, as its name suggests, in this part of the country, being absent in places just to the north or south. They were the first of many pairs that we encountered later. When we reached the lagoons, soon we identified most of the birds. Most of them were Western and Semipalmated Sandpipers with few Least Sandpipers. A group of plovers proved to be Collared, while some Black-necked Stilts and Black-bellied Plovers were feeding in the open. The lagoons next to the mangroves in the other side of the park seemed promising, so we headed in that direction too. The road didn't reach those lagoons, so we parked the car and walked through a fantastic landscape of rocky formations for a kilometer or two. We found tons of herons and egrets, Yellow-crowned Night-Herons, Whimbrels, Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks, White Ibis, Laughing Gulls and Least Terns. We wanted to get closer, but it was getting late, so we started to return. We found more birds in the way back, including migrating Eastern Kingbirds and Barn, Bank and Cliff Swallows, Fork-tailed Flycatchers and flocks of Yellow-crowned Amazons going to roost. It was a long day, full of contrasting experiences, a really nice way to taste some of Panama's great diversity.

More than birds

What I like about birdwatching is that it allows you to know many sites, cultures and nature marvels while you are seeking the birds. That´s why I was so excited by my last trip. With Gloriela, Osvaldo Quintero and Rafael Luck, I visited yesterday El Montuoso Forest Reserve, in Herrera province. Although the list of birds recorded there isn´t spectacular, the simple idea of visiting a new site for me in Panama was fascinating. Not only that, the journey was also interesting, crossing some very traditional towns, like Pesé (home of the locally popular Seco Herrerano), Las Minas de Ocú, and so on... After an overnight stay in Chitre (Herrera's capital city), we headed to El Montuoso early in the morning. That is a picturesque road, through pastures and grasslands, little towns with clay houses, and charming people with their "machetes" in hand. After Pesé, the road becomes hilly, specially after Las Minas de Ocú, with great views of the surrounding lowlands (check the photo). Around 8:00 am we reached the ANAM's Tres Picos ranger station where we met the rangers who had an special guest, professor Victor Martínez, a renowned herpetologist in Panama. He was collecting snakes with a group of students of the University of Panama. After a short introduction (and after paying the entrance fee), we walked the loop trail behind the station. It runs along a creek, crossing it several times. It is amazing that a humid forest like that one still survives in the Herrera province. Our main target was the Brown-backed Dove, a national and enigmatic endemic that would have been a life bird for Osvaldo and Rafael. Although we dipped on it, we found many others birds. In the beginning of the trail we found a lek of Lance-tailed Manakins close to a pair of Orange-collared Manakins, our other target for the day. They were not easy to photograph, as you can guess by my photo, but a regional endemic anyway! Other birds recorded were Chestnut-backed Antbird, Cocoa Woodcreeper, Black-and-white, Yellow and Rufous-capped Warblers, Blue-throated Goldentail and the third species of manakin for the day: a beautiful male White-ruffed Manakin with contrasting white vent. During the return we found another mixed flock, this time with Red-crowned Ant-Tanagers and Golden-crowned Warblers, plus one or two Orange-billed Sparrows. I saw a flycatcher accompanying the group with olive-green back and two ochraceous wing bars. When it turned around I was able to see the dusky markings in its face: a Sepia-capped Flycatcher! an unexpected life bird for me. Happy with the finding, we headed to the station where the professor ask us if we were lucky with snakes (while chasing a really BIG tarantula). He thinks that we find many snakes while birding. I didn't agree, until we find a long and thin green snake (maybe a Green Vine Snake) right in the entrance of the loop trail only ten minutes later! After watching the snake for several minutes, we continue our way, looking for the dove, which never appeared. This didn't discourage us since we were astonished by that charming forest. It is like an island in the middle of a sea of devastation, the last remaining oasis for those spectacular birds and animals in the Herrera province... at least it is protected. It was getting hot so we left the place, heading to Las Minas de Ocú where we had our tasty meal: rice, lentils and meat. The owner of the fonda where we ate offered us a "pesada"; a nance dessert prepared with the addition of sugar, flour, milk and a piece of white cheese... delicious! It is a quite common dessert in rural Panama. We took some pictures of the little town, its central plaza and its church before heading to the coast (1.5 hour away) to the El Agallito beach, near Chitre, where we had a cold beer while watching some waders and Mangrove Warblers. From pastures to forests, hills to beaches, tarantulas and snakes to life birds, that's why I like birdwatching!

Free weekend, short trips

This weekend was a really busy one for me. Anyhow, I managed to visit few places close to the city with my camera. Starting yesterday, taking advantage of the not too very high tide in the morning, I stopped at the mouth of the Matías Hernández river in Costa del Este. This site is known by the flocks of gulls and sandpipers that gather there, sometimes with really nice goodies (even a new species for Panama!). Unfortunately, the flock was not close, and it seemed to be composed mainly by Laughing Gulls, plus a lonely Black Skimmer. Resting with the gulls was a group of Marbled Godwits and Black-bellied Plovers too far away for my camera. A group of Semipalmated Plovers with Spotted Sandpipers and Whimbrels was closer, allowing me some shots. Then, I drove to Panama Viejo, checking the mudflats between the tower and the Visitor Center. A Ring-billed Gull was among the Laughings plus tons of Brown Pelicans and Neotropic Cormorants. There were Semipalmated and Western Sandpipers too, and many other common birds (Willets, Yellowlegs, and so on...), but I didn't stayed long because is simply a bad idea if you are alone (specially with binoculars and camera equipments clearly visible). So, I stopped at the Visitor Center where some Gull-billed Terns were delicately picking food of the surface, watching a Ruddy Turnstone (not so ruddy) flying by and Yellow-crowned Night-Herons right in the open in the middle of the day. The little patch of mangroves was full of pelicans, cormorants, egrets and herons, but no storks like other times. The garden and the grass at the Center hold a family group of Saffron Finches, now a common bird in Panama City. It never fails to impress with its bright yellow body. With that in mind, I finished my duties for the day and went to the dance presentation of my 5-years old nephew at his school in the afternoon. Today, I went to Gamboa, with Osvaldo Quintero. As usual, the first stop was in the Ammo Dump, where the resident Tiger-Herons were waiting for us. A female Olivaceous Piculet quickly appeared just for a couple of minutes, while a pair of babies Capybaras were having breakfast very close to us. After a few pictures, we headed to the Rainforest Discovery Center, enjoying a group of Purple-throated Fruticrows right in the installations, building a nest. Males and females were bringing nesting material, announcing its arrival noisily. We walked some trails with no luck, just to find a huge mixed flock right in the parking lot. The birds cooperated, allowing us nice views. Cinnamon and White-winged Becards, White-shouldered, Plain-colored and Golden-hooded Tanagers, Shining and Green Honeycreepers, Forest Elaenias, Brown-capped Tyrannulet, Yellow Warbler, Long-billed Gnatwren, just to mention a few. A beautiful male Purple-crowned Fairy was visiting the nearby Heliconias, just stopping for a second or so. My blurry picture does not do justice to it, but at least you can have a glance of the explosion of colours it gave to us when facing the sun. Every five minutes or so we added a new species to the flock... there is a Golden-collared Manakin and a Fasciated Antshrike... oh my lord look at that male Blue-crowned Manakin... is that an Empidonax over there? Wow, the action was intense, so we stayed an hour more or less. Back in the Center, we saw a single Squirrel Cuckoo hunt and eat at least ten big and fat worms in less than 15 minutes... that was a really hungry cuckoo! It was getting hot and late, so we started to return to Panama City, seeing a Ruddy-breasted Seedeater having lunch (a tasty spike) next to our window. Nice mix of birds for a short trip!

Visiting Altos del Maria

I just came from Altos del María, a gated community in the foothills of western Panama province that have proved to be a good birding spot. Along with Osvaldo Quintero and Alfred Raab, an Altos' resident who kindly guided us through the area, we explored some nice areas with good access roads and good birds. Alfred was constantly saying that we were lucky because we found a sunny day without fog in the upper part of the housing development (La Rioca), where we walked La Coruña street finding a nice mixed flock right in the entrance, with Silver-throated Tanager and Common (very common) Bush-Tanagers, along with Rufous-capped Warblers (feeding youngs), Tufted Flycatcher, Thick-billed and White-vented Euphonias, at least two Yellow-billed Caciques and an Ochraceous Wren that Alfred immediately recognized by its Winter Wren-like call. A little farther we took a trail that leads to an observation tower, attracted by the frog-like call of two Purplish-backed Quail-Doves that eluded us despite our efforts... but bonus birds were the male Purple-throated Mountain-Gem and a shy Black Guan plus a spectacular view of the Cerro Trinidad in the distance. At the tower, we had a terrific view of the pacific lowlands, and of the forest at the foothills. It is possible to see both oceans in a clear day. We decided to visit some other sites before the fog covered everything. Among other species recorded were White Hawk, Pale-vented Thrush, a bright female Shiny Honeycreeper, Paltry and Southern Beardless Tyrannulets, Yellow-margined Flycatcher, Golden-hooded and Bay-headed Tanagers.

We start to return, stopping at the Styria gate (the "pyramid") from where you can see all the lower valley of El Maria, where the main community is. We found a big group of American Swallow-tailed Kites plus a Short-tailed Hawk soaring in a thermal. You don't very often see these birds at eye level, nor from above, so we enjoyed the sight for a few minutes. Then, we descended to the valley, to Alfred's place. Alfred have done a good job in his property, hanging feeders and making trails that hold many birds. Only in few minutes around noon we saw or heard Rosy Thrush-Tanager, Black-striped Sparrow, Plain, Rufous-breasted and Rufous-and-white Wrens, a nesting Streaked Saltator and Lance-tailed Manakins... all of them typical of drier forest (like the Metropolitan Natural Park here in the city) than the humid mossy-covered forest that we found in La Rioca (which lies over the 1100 meters above sea level and on the Continental Divide). After a quick lunch, we headed to El Valle road (that connects Altos del Maria with El Valle de Anton), but as soon we got to the forest, the rain and the fog showed up. This part of the valley was full of flowering Inga trees that are very good for small hummingbirds (we only saw Rufous-tailed Hummingbirds) Despite our waiting, the rain didn't stop, so we decided to head back to Panama City after a great day in the foothills. Alfred: thank you for everything, I hope to see you soon!

Birding El Cope N.P.

The General de División Omar Torrijos Herrera National Park is located above the picturesque town of El Cope (that's why is aka El Cope N.P.) in the central coclesian foothills and it harbors lots of western highlands species not found farther to the east. It protects one of the most beautiful montane cloud forest in Panama. The promise to find rare and elusive birds led me, Osvaldo Quintero and Hildegar Mendoza to this special place last sunday, blessed with an unusually good weather. After a 3-hours drive from Panama city, we met our local guide, Mr. Santana, at the rangers station and then we moved to the Visitor Center, where Rafael Luck and Euclides "Kilo" Campos were already waiting for us. They were returning from an intrepid one-day trip to Cobachón, following the instructions posted here (and yes, they saw the Azuero Parakeet). They had a surprise. While waiting for us, they walked the first part of the Snowcap (La Rica) trail finding several individuals of Bare-necked Umbrellabirds plus a Lattice-tailed Trogon!!! Wow... hoping not to miss the birds, we literally ran to the trail. Santana was the first to spot two short-crested Umbrellas' with no visible bare skin. They were feeding, one of them seemed curioser, allowing us to take some pictures (confirming our impression that it had white markings in the underparts... maybe a young bird?). After several minutes, a third bird appeared, this one being bigger and heavier with a partially hidden dull red bare skin in the throat, but a short crest. It fed in a more eminent way, shaking the branches wherefrom it was taking the fruits and even catching really BIG insects, striking them violently before swallowing them. Occasionally they vocalized, probably in response to our recording. We found a mixed flock, while watching the Umbrellabirds, composed by Tawny-crested, Black-and-yellow and Speckled Tanagers plus a group of three or four Yellow-throated Bush-Tanagers and a female Black-and-white Becard. Hildegar called my attention toward a tiny "baby" hummer that proved to be a female Snowcap, while Osvaldo was watching a Stripe-throated (Little) Hermit face-to-face. Farther in the trail we found another mixed flock, this time with Golden-olive Woodpecker, Carmiol's (Olive) Tanager, Tawny-capped Euphonia, Spot-crowned Antvireo, Slaty Antwrens, Tawny-faced Gnatwrens and Gray-breasted Wood-Wrens. Santana showed us a perched male Ruddy Quail-Dove that stayed for a couple of minutes. We started to return and then, someone flushed a reddish bird that landed a few meters away on a branch for a few seconds, enough to recognize it as a Chiriqui Quail-Dove, a bird only found at higher elevations, but seasonally common in that place according to Santana. You can see in the photo by Osvaldo (used with permission) the uniform reddish colour, the totally gray crown and the marked lores. The neck scalloping was more evident than the moustachial stripe in the field. Happy with the finding, we met again with Rafael and Kilo at the Visitor Center where we heard a Purplish-backed Quail-Dove, the third Quail-Dove of the day. Rafael and Kilo birded the Rana trail, finding a mixed flock of tanagers plus a Orange-bellied Trogon and a Striped Woodhaunter. We decided to walk the Helechos trail, a short loop trail behind the Visitor Center. Osvaldo had been lucky in this trail a year ago so he wanted to give it a chance. He played a recording of a Black-crowned Antpitta two or three times when suddenly it materialized only a few feet from me, responding with all its forces. A really spectacular bird as you can see in my photo. Also note the clay on the bill, maybe it was excavating a nest or looking for earthworms? Currently, taxonomic issues put this bird with the south american Gnateaters, all of them smaller than the Pittasoma. For me, it always will be an Antpitta. After a superb birding, we headed to the lowlands, to Penonome where we had our lunch. After some deliberations, we decided to go to El Gago, looking for some lowlands birds. As usual, we were lucky with the raptors, finding tons of Lesser Yellow-headed Vultures (a better name could be Multicolour-headed Vulture), Crested and Yellow-headed Caracaras, White-tailed and Pearl Kites, Roadside and Savanna Hawks, American Kestrels and two Aplomado Falcons. Others specialties were the Plain-breasted Ground-Doves, Mourning Doves and Crested Bobwhites along the road. A nice day with amazing creatures, great weather and even a life bird!

A Varied Weekend

My vacations have ended, but anyway I managed to have another free weekend. In order to spent it well, I joined Osvaldo Quintero and Rafael Luck in a birding trip to Cocle province last saturday, visiting new sites for Rafael's GPS. We headed to El Chirú, a place that holds some typical lowland species. At the first stop on the road we heard (and eventually saw) a Rufous-browed Peppershrike, the first of many Yellow-green Vireos, a cute Southern Beardless-Tyrannulet and many others. We decided to walk a side road with a plantation of Eucalyptus and other scattered trees in one side, and a open grassland at the other. Soon we heard a loud Bob, Bob-white!!! so we started to search in the surroundings for the hidden singer. After a few minutes we realized that a Crested Bobwhite was calling above us high on a tree (yes, on a tree!). A flock of Brown-throated Parakeets flew around the Eucalyptus, allowing us eventually to spot some couples. The place got hot quickly, so we started to walk back, not before exploring another side road that was seeming promising for raptors, but finding instead a mixed group of birds that included Lesser and Yellow-bellied Elaenias, Plain-breasted and Ruddy Ground-Doves, Panama, Social and Boat-billed Flycatchers, and a Pale-breasted Spinetail. Then, we drove to Juan Hombron, a little to the west and still in the lowlands close to the coast. The agricultural field proved to be very good for raptors. We found White-tailed Kite, Savanna Hawk, Crested and Yellow-headed Caracara and an American Kestrel of the isabellinus race. A bit dehydrated, we drove toward El Valle de Anton to have lunch and to drink some water. Renergized by the drinks and the fresh climate, we decided to bird the entrance to the Gaital Natural Monument... finding much of the same as in our last visit, plus a White-tailed Emerald and a group of Common Bush-Tanagers. We tried to visit Los Llanitos, but the rain ruined our last plan for the day, so we headed back to the city.

But this continues... Next day, very early in the mourning, I met the participants of the PAS fieldtrip to Cerro Azul. The plan of the day was to bird the Río Mono trail, making some stops along the way. In the first stop, we found a pair of Black Phoebes, an uncommon sight in this part of the country. Then, at a viewpoint, we saw a pair of Blue Dacnis from above. Before reaching the entrance of the trail, we found a nice mixed flock with Blue-gray, Palm, Crimson-backed, Bay-headed and Plain-colored Tanagers, Green and Red-legged Honeycreepers, a very cooperative Yellow Tyrannulet, a group of Scaled Pigeons and many more. The trail was steppy, slippery and quiet, through a beautiful forest where we found three different manakins (Red-capped, Blue-crowned and White-ruffed), Short-billed Pigeons, Speckled Tanagers, Wood-Wrens and Stripe-throated (aka Little) Hermits. The rain was threatening to fall above us, so we decide to visit Birder's View, where the Kaufmanns had some snacks and sodas already prepared. The rain forced us to go indoors because the temperature quickly dropped (contrasting with my previous day). It was time to relax, talk with friends and to view the photos captured during the day. When the rain stopped, we decided to make it a day, not before enjoying a Bay-headed Tanager and a White-ruffed Manakin feeding in a little bush right at the entrance of the house. So, it was a varied weekend, with so many habitats, weather, birds and friends.