Birding in Peru for free!

Birding in Peru sounds great (I can tell after three different visits to that beautiful country)... but for free? Wow man, that sounds amazing! Gunnar has made it possible by giving away four trips to Manu and ten trips to Carpish/Satipo road in Central Peru in 2010. More than a bold advertising estrategy for his own tour company, the idea has a more conservationist real aim: to give local communities true and immediate benefits with the ecotourism. It is known that the best way to preserve a natural resource is involving the persons who use it, qualifying them for its sustainable use. I know by personal experience in Panama, Costa Rica and other places that ecotourism make more of tourist than logging and ranching, reason for which some land owners are converting theirs pastures to early growth forests... but, in the words of the former PAS Fieldnessship Dodge Engleman, wouldn't it be better to not convert the forest to cattle pasture in the first place rather than try to reestablish the forest? You need to show them the actual benefits of preserving their lands with tangible profits and, for that, you need a constant influx of tourists to support fixed scheduled trips to those areas where the local communities are involved and what better way of advertising these trips that offering some for free through the huge social media network available now? By following and sharing this link http://bit.ly/8s830C you will be running for the great prizes (remember to sign-up to the opt-in newsletter first). Well, good luck to all and start sharing and to spread the word. If you still are not convinced about this "social media experiment", these pics of my last trip to Central Peru should be enough to encourage you (notice my extremely happy expression in those in which I appear).

Punta Culebra Nature Center

Culebra point is a little peninsula in Naos island, at the Pacific entrance of the Panama Canal, that holds the Smithsonian's Punta Culebra Nature Center. The general area has experienced a great economic development in the last years, and now you can find there convention centers, restaurants, malls, marinas, resorts, discotheques, and so on... but somehow, this piece of nature still remains. To reach Naos (and the other two islands Perico and Flamenco), you have to drive the six kilometer long "Causeway", a two-lane road over a 1,250,000-cubic yard strip of rocks that were extracted from the Gaillard cut (Panama Canal's narrowest pass). At its entrance is being constructed The Bridge of Life project, the first building in Latin America designed by the world famous Frank Gehry, celebrating the emergence of the isthmus of Panama and its biodiversity. It is an impressive piece of art and I'm pretty sure that soon it will become one of the Panama's hallmarks, just like the others designs by Gehry (the Guggenheim Museum, the Walt Disney Concert Hall, the Weisman Art Museum, and so on...).

I went with Gloriela and a couple of friends yesterday evening to visit this lovely place. It is popular among the locals and visitors during the weekends, and we found lots of people jogging, bycicling, fishing or simple enjoying the marine breeze along the Causeway. After paying the symbolic entrance fee, we started to visit the several marine exhibitions all over the place. There are many interactive signs and legends about the history and importance of the site, about the marine resources and, of course, about the ecosystem and its inhabitants. Most part of the history of this site is concerning its former military importance, being a harbor, a quarantine station, camping site, a military base for defending the Canal and now, a Marine Exhibition and Research Center. The site is frequented by school kids that have the opportunity of experience touching sea stars, sea cucumbers, stingrays and sea urchins and the different habitats through all over the place, from coastal areas (mangroves, a sandy beach and rocky shores) and even a patch of tropical dry forest crossed by trails where you can find mammals, iguanas and birds (of course). Our own experience yesterday consisted in admiring the three curious sea turtles plus the sharks at the first pool and touching the sea cucumbers in the second one. At the extreme end of the peninsula are the sea life exhibitions, with wide acquariums showing the difference between the Pacific ocean and the Caribbean sea (trust me... they are VERY different). I'm not an scuba diver, so I have had few opportunities to appreciate the diversity of the marine creatures (only by snorkeling in Coral Key during our honeymoon at Bocas del Toro, and in Galeta Island in Colon). That is why I love this place: for giving me, and many others, the opportunity to appreciate the colourful fishes, the coral reefs, the lobsters and the morays without wetting a hair! In addition, the veranda behind the enclosure offers a magnificent sight of the Panama Canal entrance and of the Perico and Flamenco islands (with occasional Brown and Blue-footed Boobies flying by). We did not take the trails through the dry forest because we were short of time, but we have found in previous occasions Hoffman Two-toed Sloths, Racoons and Green Iguanas along with impressive hanging cacti. The place is the most reliable spot for Northern Scrub-Flycatcher (which I saw) close to the city, and also for Mangrove "Yellow" Warbler, Garden Emerald and Sapphire-throated Hummingbird (near-endemic to Panama). Well, a nice december evening away of the shopping madness in a very nice and quiet piece of paradise, learning about our marine ecosystems and seeing absolutely cool creatures.

Long-billed Curlew and more along the coast

Gloriela picked me up yesterday evening at work to head towards Panama Viejo and Costa del Este, taking advantage of the 16-feet high tide. The heavy traffic (typical of december days) slowed us down, but somehow we managed to reach Panama Viejo's mudflats just in time to watch a huge group of gulls and terns. Most of them were Franklin's Gulls (somewhat weird... usually they are outnumbered by the Laughings), with Gull-billed and Royal Terns also common. Then, a Whimbrel-like bird catched our attention. It was preening at the edge of the flock. We walked towards the bird, reaching the shore, but it remained too far away for my lens, but not for my binoculars. The long and downcurved bill was evident... confirming our initial suspicion: a Long-billed Curlew. For some years, a lone individual (maybe the same) have been wintering this part of the mudflats. In fact, my life curlew was some years ago in that precise site during a Christmas Bird Count... this time, it was a lifer for Gloriela. My poor pics at least show it most important field mark. After few minutes, it flew to the mangroves, showing then other important field mark: the cinnamon underwing coverts (similar to that of the Marbled Godwit). The flock flew too, so we decided to drive to Costa del Este, stopping at the mouth of the Matías Hernández river. From the sidewalk, we saw a group of birders at the beach so we joined them. The huge number of shorebirds and gulls was extraordinary though we did not find anything really rare. The flock was composed mainly by gulls (Franklins' and Laughings). with some tern and skimmers; but also lots of shorebirds (Godwits, Whimbrels, Willets, Lapwings, and so on...), cormorants and pelicans. We were not prepared for the sand and the sun (without hats, long sleeves or sunscreen, Gloriela dressing with high heels shoes!) so we started to return when the birders pointed us to the sky. A group of Wood Storks was circling high over us against the sky, contrasting with the modern skycrapers of the place. It was a nice way of saying goodbye to the place.

Welcome december

December is the best month of the year... at least that is what I think. Is not only because of my birthday (by the way, december 24th), but also because the mom's day, the holidays and, in general, all the joy and peace feeling all around, talking with old friends and relatives, the multiple Christmas celebrations at the work, the tasty food, the traditional eggnog, the saril drink and, of course, all the old Christmas salsa music. Here in Panama we do not have the general picture of snow-covered fields and a frozen environment... but the Christmas tree (usually a non-native pine) is an increasingly common tradition (as in many other countries). December is also the month of the Christmas Bird Counts, and the Panama Audubon Society is organizing the 40th edition of this event in Panama. Time to prepare ourselves and to give the best of us counting all the birds we can in 24 hours in any of the four established counting circles (three of them along the Panama Canal). Happy december and happy birding!

Independence weekend

Yesterday, november 28th, Panama celebrated its independence of Spain, back in 1821. We spent the weekend at Penonome, celebrating the independence too... but away of the parades. Despite the fact that this was mostly a kind of relaxing trip, somehow I convinced Gloriela to join me on a short trip to the Aguadulce Salinas (saltflats), 30 minutes away from Penonome. It was around noon, very hot, and with a not very high tide, but anyway she accepted. As expected, the saltflats were devoid of birds... but we still managed to get some species. In the road, on a wire, a lonely Pearl Kite was inspecting its territory, while a distant flock of peeps flew forming a dark cloud over the saltflats, moving from one side to another. A distant group of white dots in the horizon resulted to be Wood Storks resting... later on the day we saw them soaring in a thermal current. No spoonbills, nor stilts this time... maybe it was to hot for them. Only few sandpipers where at the edge of the ponds close to the road, with Least and Semipalmated Sandpipers getting closer... but also recording a flock of Western Sandpipers that quickly flew away. Well, not a great diversity, but entertaining anyway!

Still around... thorntails and others

On november 24 I went back to Cerro Azul, east of Panama city, this time with Osvaldo Quintero and Osvaldo Quintero Jr, in order to relocate the Green Thorntails that have been around since last saturday, first noticed by Rosabel Miró. Again, we arrived in the afternoon, around 4:00 pm. The activity around the tree with the white flowers at the parking lot was low, but soon we found the first hummingbirds but no thorntails. After five long minutes I saw it again (well, I saw its tail again), elegantly flying around the flowers and even perching in order to suck the nectar. This time, it was not so showy, nor so agressive, and was keeping a low profile, with long periods of time without seeing it at all. The female (only one this time) was shy also. Again, its preference for the canopy of the tree, and the poor light conditions (plus the fog) made difficult to photograph it... so this time I concentrate in the others species attending the same tree. Perhaps, the most interesting hummingbird of the group (apart of the thorntails, of course) was the Violet-capped Hummingbird. The female that I picture here may look extremely ordinary at first glance (please note the hint of dull reddish chestnut in the rectrices)... but this species is near-endemic to Panama, barely reaching extreme NW Colombia. The beautiful males are less often spotted than the females, specially around Rosabel's house in Cerro Azul, but are somewhat commoner at higher elevations (Cerro Jefe, Cerro Chucanti). If you don't see the deep reddish-chestnut tail, you can still recognize this beauty by its particular green irridiscence at the back, quite different from that of any other hummingbird in range. Even the history of this little friend is quite interesting, being described by E. W. Nelson as a monotypic species (Goldmania violiceps) and named in honor of Mr. Edward A. Goldman, who collected the type specimen from the higher slopes of Cerro Azul nearly a hundred years ago during one of his Smithsonian Biological Surveys in the Canal Zone and adjacent parts of Panama. By far, this is the easiest place to see this species in the world!! They are adaptable birds, and they do visit hummingbird feeders, unlike the next species that was also haunting around the thorntails' tree: the Violet-headed Hummingbird. It is readily identified by its small size and prominent white, tear-like post-ocular dot (its genus, Klais, literally means tears, referring to this particular mark) and usually they are kept visiting the flowers at low and medium-sized shrubs, avoiding the canopy of tall trees. A male was working at the lower flowers while a female appeared for few seconds behind us, visiting the Verbenas (Stachytarpheta) and being furiously banished by a Rufous-tailed Hummingbird. By the end of the evening we recorded nine hummingbirds species (we missed the Fairy), plus tons of tanager, honeycreepers and dacnises. I will not get tired of saying it... if all the backyard birding were like this!

Thorntails at Cerro Azul

I received an e-mail from my friend and former PAS president Rosabel Miró. While leaving her house in Cerro Azul yesterday's evening, she saw a male and two females Thorntails at a flowering tree in her parking lot. What surprised her was that they were not leaving the place, defending themselves from the others hummingbirds attending the banquet. The Green Thorntail is a beautiful hummingbird, but kind of erratic and unpredictable in Panama. It has been a target bird for me since many years ago, actively searching for it in such places like El Valle (Cocle province), El Montuoso (Herrera province), the western highlands, and so on. In one occasion, I was seeing an American Dipper in Fortuna (central Chiriqui province) while the guy just behind me was seeing a male Thorntail... I didn't saw it of course. I was pretty sure that my luck was about to change when I read the e-mail this morning. I picked up Gloriela in the airport (she was arriving from Nicaragua after a week attending a congress), have lunch and then we headed to the foothills of Cerro Azul. After an one-hour drive, we reached Rosabel's house at 4:15 pm, finding almost immediately the tree, when suddenly I saw a longish tail appearing among the flowers. It was raining, so we took our umbrellas and start searching. We didn't wait too much before finding a male Green Thorntail graciously flying around with its long tail elegantly cocked up!!!, a lifer for both of us. It was not alone, the tree was attracting many little and medium-sized hummingbirds, all of them fighting for the right to be there...but as Rosabel noted, the Thorntail was not getting scared easily, always coming back to the flowers, or to a distant perch (that's why my rather poor pics) despite the almost constant assaults of the Snowy-bellied, Violet-headed and Violet-capped Hummingbirds (specially the aggresives Snowy-bellieds). What a show, but it was not over. Then, a second and third bird appeared, this time an adult female and a female-plumaged individual with longish tail. They were not so aggresive as the male, visiting the flowers for few seconds and then perching on a very distant skinny stick against the sky, in backlight (again, sorry for the rather poor pic, but an awesome bird anyway... only for the record). Occasionally they made a kind of ritual display, facing eye-to-eye while elevating on the air, sometimes joined by the male. By this time the rain stopped, and we started to hear and see many others birds. Just behind us, a bush was covered in tanagers!, with Golden-hooded, Bay-headed and Blue-and-grays, but it was a Green Honeycreeper that stole the show. Its ultramarine green body contrasting with the black mask, and its photo-friendly behaviour was all what we needed to admire it for many minutes, while a pair of Fulvous-vented Euphonias tried to pass unnoticed... they were feeding low and in silence, but very close. We decided to visit the hummingbird feeders at the backyard, welcomed by an agressive Bronze-tailed Plumeleteer. The action was intense, with lots of hummingbirds trying to suck the last sip of nectar for the night. Besides the Plumeleteer, there were also White-necked Jacobins, Snowy-bellied and Rufous-tailed Hummingbirds, Green Hermit and, occasionally, a female Violet-capped Hummingbird. In the way to the parking lot, I pointed a female Purple-crowned Fairy to Gloriela... realizing that it was a lifer for her according to the big WOW that she expressed. The bird is worth admiring, with its immaculate white underparts and the long tail (longer in females). It was our 10th species of hummingbird for the evening. Back in the parking lot, we were still amazed with the Thorntails, we watched them until it was too dark to see anything. Well, nice collection of birds, plus several lifers for both of us, in only 1.5 hours of backyard birding in Cerro Azul (I need a backyard like that one). Thanks Rosabel!

Gulling after work in Costa del Este

And who can resist to stop after having this sight? I passed by Costa del Este this evening in order to check the flock of gulls (and shorebirds) that rest at the mouth of the Matías Hernández river with the high tide. I wanted to have a closer look despite my completely inappropriate office shoes and the clouds of chiggers in the beach. As usual, it was mostly composed by hundreds of Laughing Gulls, but a more careful scrutiny revealed a few Franklin's Gulls of different ages and at least two Black Skimmers . A decidedly smaller and slimmer gull catched my attention. It was easy to find among the hundreds of Laughings by size alone. It was browner above and whiter below than any juvenile plumaged bird around, with a thinner bill and a general more delicate shape. Unfortunately, it didn't show the wings or the tail. I'm still guessing its identity (maybe a juvenile Franklin's or simply a little aberrant Laughing?). Take a look and share your thoughts.

There were also a good number of shorebirds, in the form of Marbled Godwits, Willets, Short-billed Dowitchers, Whimbrels and few Black-necked Stilts. It was notable the abscence of sandpipers, like it has seen during all the season, with only Spotted Sandpipers along the shore. A group of noisy Southern Lapwings distracted me for a while, whereas a dark cloud in the distance turned out to be a flock of Black-bellied Plovers in synchronized flight that settled too far away for my camera. And thus the sun started to fall down over the horizon, indicating in that way that it was time to go away... away of the chiggers.

Back to the highlands. Part II

The morning of sunday, november 15th, was cold but clear, excellent to photograph the small feathered creatures that already were visiting the flowers and feeders in the surroundings of the hotel Los Quetzales in Guadalupe. Before breakfast, I enjoyed walking the grounds, feeling the fresh and chilly air, admiring the great variety of flowers and, of course, its tiny visitors in the form of hummingbirds, warblers, tanagers and flowerpiercers. A group of Violet Sabrewings, both males and females, got hold of one of the feeders, leaving to the other hummers few opportunities to approach, except for a male Magnificent Hummingbird that was imposing itself for its size. Each time the White-throated Mountain-Gem tried to approach to the feeder was chased away, the same for the Green Violetear. A female Scintillant Hummingbird was feeding shyly in the flowers, far from the feeders and its troubled users. When Gloriela joined me to have breakfast, a confirmed-by-the-experts female Ruby-throated Hummingbird appeared in the same flowers, a nice addition to my year list (and a kind of a lifer because I only had seen males Ruby-throateds before -lucky me!). We ate our tasty breakfast in the hotel´s restaurant (fresh fruits, toasted bread with homemade jelly and cereal), with a very appreciated hot coffee. Soon we were ready for the long walk through a rocky road to the cabins inside the La Amistad International Park. It first passes through agricultural land, but then enters into the forest, while ascending. We found nobody in the trails, nor in the cabins (it was sunday anyway), so we had it for ourselves. We took the "Quebrada Las Minas" trail, looking for bamboo, which we found along the muddy trail in several occasions, but the birds remained elusive... except for a scared Black Guan that provided us prolonged views. We reached the waterfall marking the end of the trail having seen only a couple of hummers and Black-billed Nightingale-Thrushes, but the site was amazing, appropriate for a couple of photos (using the timer). In the way back, and close to the cabins, we found a mixed flock with Black-cheeked & Flame-throated Warblers, Collared Whitestar, Ruddy Treerunner, Buffy Tuftedcheek, Tufted Flycatcher and Black-faced Solitaires. We also heard a Golden-browed Chlorophonia that stayed in the canopy. The hummingbird feeders at the cabins were in full action, with tons of the same hummers attending at the hotel. Quite reluctant, we left the place to pack our things in the hotel and to say bye to the western highlands. A 7 hours-drive was separating us from the city, stopping only to have dinner and in Penonome to pick up Gloriela's parents.

P.D.: if you missed the first part of "Back to the highlands", you can read it here. Happy birding!

Back to the highlands

Yeap, we did it again this weekend, all the way directly to the western highlands in Chiriqui province. The area is so picturesque and has so many special (and near-endemic) birds that deserves many visits. We reached the Concepcion-Volcan road quite early, so we got an opportunity to birdwatch some areas on the way up, including the Macho de Monte river in Cuesta de Piedra. We found a nice assortment of tanagers (Blue-gray, Cherrie's, Silver-throated, Bay-headed and Golden-hooded) mixed with Thick-billed Euphonias and Variable Seedeater. A ruddy bird working on a mussy branch was a Buff-throated Foliage-Gleaner, our first (but not last) surprise for the site. An active Buff-rumped Warbler was inspecting the creek, while a sudden movement inside a bunch of dead leaves on a tree (yes, on a tree) resulted in a Riverside Wren, a lifer for me!!! It was more dark than I expected, but beautiful anyway. It stayed for five seconds, sang a little bit and then flew away to be seen nevermore, in spite of our efforts to relocate it. We kept going and by noon we were resting at our hotel room in Los Quetzales Lodge & Spa, in the lovely town of Guadalupe, beyond Cerro Punta. The lodge is surrounded in flowers, located close to a stream, and with hummingbird and fruit feeders in its grounds, so it is a very good place for birders despite is right in town. Before lunch I already had photographed some Flowerpiercers and hummingbirds chasing each other. Seeing an entrusted male Tennessee Warbler eating bananas in the tropics reminds me that all these birds belongs to the world, not to a single contry or a region. I wanted to visit the cabins, inside the La Amistad International Park, but Gloriela pointed out to me the cloudy slopes over the town, indicative of heavy rain in the area. During the lunch, we decided to visit the cabins next day and to pass by the Volcan lakes (Lagunas de Volcán) instead. Few minutes later, we were at the airstrip, walking the road to the lakes. Somehow, we forgot that in Panama usually rains during the evening, and this day was not the exception. A cool drizzle covered us, refreshing our spirits (we left the umbrellas in Panama city!) but chasing away the birds according to a local guide, Charlie, that was birding in the area. Anyway, we found a mixed flock with Silver-throated & Cherrie's Tanagers, Red-faced Spinetail, Mountain Elaenia, Slate-throated Whitestarts and a female American Redstart. We missed the Collared Trogon and Fiery-billed Aracaris watched by Charlie a couple of minutes before, but found four American Coots at the lakes. All wet, but happy, we enjoyed a chicken dinner in a restaurant at Volcan with live band... then, a well deserved dream in our hotel room preparing ourselves for the next day.