A mini twitch

I joined Osvaldo Quintero this morning in order to make a quick twitch to Gamboa town (Colon province, central Panama, merely 40 minutes from home) where a huge flock of Lesser Scaups have been reported recently.  The site was easy... at the resort marina, in the waters of the mighty Chagres river, that ultimately made possible the construction of the interoceanic canal.

In fact, as soon as we got there, we found the birds (and birders/facebook friends too...) quite far away.

I counted at least 92 birds, the highest number of scaups that I have seen so far.  A group of females was closer to shore and allowed some photos.

We didn't see more duck species at the marina, but the river was full of Common Gallinules, including some individuals pretty close to us showing the red of their legs and the lobulated toes.

There where also some scattered American Coots among the gallinules... always a good sight in Panama (as the scaups).

We just spend 20 minutes at the marina... then, we moved to the Gamboa Ammo Dump ponds... but more on that in my next post!

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!

The "Paticuervo"

As many common birds in Panama, the Neotropic Cormorant is well-known by its local name: "paticuervo".  Everybody in Panama knows what a "paticuervo" is; however, the name cormorant is probably unknown.  Literally, "paticuervo" means Crow Duck... saying so, we know these birds aren't ducks, neither crows... but their aquatic habits and black plumage surely recall those birds.

In fact, the cormorants are related to a group of aquatic birds that includes boobies, gannets, frigatebirds, darters and others... and used to be closely related to the pelicans (notice that the gular patch of the cormorants recall the gular pouch of the pelicans).

These are abundant birds in Panama, specially around the Bay of Panama where I took all these photos.  In a good morning I can count 2000 birds flying along shoreline in few minutes.  These birds are found not only at the ocean, but also in rivers and lakes, sometimes very deep inland.

As you can see, they exhibit a wide variety of plumages, ranging from all black in adults, brownish in immatures and paler with whitish underparts (almost pure white in some individuals) in juveniles... but surely they are not olive, as its old name suggested (Olivaceous Cormorant).  Besides, this is the most widely distributed cormorant (by far) in the neotropics... so its actual name seems very adequate.

They are small-eyed birds... but if you are lucky enough to approach closely one of these birds, you will notice the beautiful deep-greenish eyes, as you can see in the next picture (in spite that the rest of the bird is out of focus).  Notice also how wet this bird looks... the cormorants don't have water-proof feathers... so they spent many time drying up.

So, in your next visit to Panama, keep an eye for the "paticuervo".

That's why we call it "rainforest"!

Two days ago, I went with Osvaldo Quintero to the foothills of eastern Panama province, along the El Llano-Cartí road that eventually reaches the Caribbean coast of the Guna Yala reservation.  We wanted specifically to bird the Ibe Igar trail, which we are not sure if it is in Panama province or in the Guna Yala reservation, in Nusagandi (probably along both).  The sun raise that we saw earlier in Panama City above the Pacific ocean didn't have nothing to do with what was waiting for us!  (ATTENTION: NO BIRDS PHOTOS IN THIS ENTRY... you still have time to read another thing).

Our first stop was at the kilometer 8 of the road, inside Panama province.  It was cloudy, and soon began to rain, so we didn't stay long... only enough to see a group of Brown-hooded Parrots, a Long-billed Hermit and a flock of 15 or more Tawny-crested Tanagers crossing the road.

El Llano-Cartí road at km 8

When we reached the entrance of the Ibe Igar trail, it was cloudy, but not raining... so we began to walk along the -VERY- muddy trail.  The first bird we saw was a noisy wren checking some tangles.  I was able to watch it for 5 seconds, enough to see it general brown coloration with marked wings and black-and-white face and throat: an Stripe-throated Wren... a lifer for me!!!  Then, the things started to go wrong.  We reached the first creek, only seeing a Chestnut-backed Antbird and a female Red-capped Manakin and started to hike in order to reach the second creek... but the slope was to slippery and muddy and we were having problems to keep the pace... Osvaldo broke his walking stick and slipped several times, I grabbed firmly an spiny trunk, and so on... then, a rainstorm struck us... and the former muddy trail became a creek... we were worried about this and started the return... no more birds in this trip.

The rain didn't stop... and we waited... instead, a dense fog covered the forest...and it was time to leave!

Well, not every time you get those 100+ species lists... but seeing the things in another way, 33% of live birds is not bad at all!

Holidays in El Caño

Most of the next photos already have been posted elsewhere (Facebook) by me or Gloriela; however, there is a story behind them.  November is Panama's month.  We celebrates our independence(s) day(s), flag day and other regional festivities concerning revolutionary exploits.  And my dad was honored by the 4th of November Committee in his natal town of El Caño (Coclé province in central Panamá) with the designation of standard-bearer for the festivities.  Notice that he appeared at the official sign announcing the festivities (yes, as "The Popular Cubilla").

All started the night of november 3rd (our separation of Colombia day) when he received the committee banner, accompanied by many members of the community along the streets of El Caño.

The next day (november 4th, our Flag day), he headed the parade, carrying proudly our tricolored flag delivered by the maximum authorities of the district.

Mom and Dad

The Flag day is the suitable occasion to dress with our typical suits.

My niece Analia, Gloriela and Gabrielle

Great day in El Caño, with "El Popular Cubilla"!!!

At the feeders!

As promised in my last entry, this post is about my birding day, last sunday, at the foothills of Cerro Azul, to the east of Panama City, with Osvaldo Quintero, Osvaldo Quintero Jr and the Cerro Azul's residents Leslie and Cindy Lieurance (The Petrels in Panama) and Claudia Ahrens.  Our intention was to look after a local speciality, the Black-eared Wood-Quail which Leslie videotaped at close range in the Calle Maipo trail entrance one week ago or so.

We walked all the trail, watching some forest interior birds and hearing at least two or three different coveys of wood-quails, but they were reluctant to show off for us... instead, we had a great time birding at the more open areas at the entrance of the trail and the main road, where mixed flocks with tanagers and warblers were the main stars.  The Fulvous-vented Euphonia offered a nice show... two adult males  were engaged in full courtship display.  The one I pictured above perched vertically with wings dropped making lots of noise!  Notice its fulvous vent... the female was more interested in eating juicy berries... she is so different to the male, but still distinctive!

After doing some exercise at the trail, we did what every smart birder would do: sit in front of feeders!  Both the Ahrens and the Lieurance keep feeders at their houses, and the diversity is awesome.  At the Ahrens, we checked a banana feeder where the first visitor was this male Hepatic Tanager.

Notice its dark lores and beak, which separates him of the similar looking Summer Tanager, which is a common winter visitor to Panama... this male was waiting its chance to grab a piece of banana.  Also note that the Summer Tanager is lighter red in general, compared with the Hepatic Tanager.

Soon, the action at the feeder became insane, with Bay-headed, Palm and Plain-colored Tanagers fighting for a space on it against Black-cheeked Woodpeckers, this female Green Honeycreeper and this young male Thick-billed Euphonia.

But the most aggressive bird at the feeder was the Clay-colored Thrush; however, in spite of the size difference, this male Red-legged Honeycreeper was not intimidated and took its part of the prize.  Notice that this male is in non-breeding plumage.

Curiously, at the Lieurance feeders, there were males Red-legged Honeycreepers in full or almost-full breeding plumage... they glow!

The Lieurance also have banana feeders, we checked the hanging feeder during the couple of minutes that we stayed, enjoying their hospitality... it is quite curious to see migrants Tennessee Warblers eating banana in the tropics... though it is not the first time!

Well, perhaps we didn't see the wood-quails... but what a great day we got!  Thank you Claudia, Leslie and Cindy! 

Today's hummingbirds of Cerro Azul

This post is an excuse to show you the nice collection of hummingbirds that visit he feeders at Cerro Azul, a gated community in the foothills east of Panama City.  Osvaldo Quintero, Osvaldo Quintero Jr., and myself visited the Ahrens' house, invited by Leslie and Cindy Lieurance (The Petrels in Panama), where Claudia received us for a while before we headed to a nearby trail to birdwatch (that story in another post).  I will show the hummingbirds in, more or less, taxonomic order.  All the photos were taken today at the Ahrens or Lieurance feeders (except for one, you'll see).

And the taxonomic list starts with a VERY beautiful hummingbird: the White-necked Jacobin is simply spectacular... and the most common hummingbird in both houses.

The hermits are not exactly colorful hummingbirds, but impressive in their own way.  This Stripe-throated Hermit is the smallest of the hummingbirds seen today, and this one in particular preferred the semi-hidden feeder below the table!

In the other extreme, the Green Hermit was the largest hummingbird we saw... it will fly right in front of you just for curiosity!

The stars at the Ahrens' feeders were the two (probably three) Brown Violetears present since some time ago.  This species is particularly rare and erratic in Panama, so having them visiting feeders is simply good news!

In the other hand, the star at the Lieurance's feeders was the single Long-billed Starthroat that waited patiently to drink among the numerous jacobins.  The shiny red throat is hard to see, and to photograph of course.

Among the panamanians hummingbirds, the Bronze-tailed Plumeleteer is unique due to those conspicuous red feet!

Usually, the male Violet-crowned Woodnymph looks quite dark, almost black, under normal light conditions... but this bird really glows with the adequate angle.

The Amazilias hummingbirds are a very distinctive group present in almost every feeder... and the most ubiquitous is the Rufous-tailed Hummingbird... this one was singing! (can you see the "rufous"?).

The Blue-chested Hummingbird only showed itself for two seconds... this photo is from Cerro Azul, but of a different trip.

In spite of the bad light, the Snowy-bellied Hummingbird is unmistakable due to its sharply demarcated white belly and metallic call.

And last, but not less important, the tiny Violet-capped Hummingbird is almost endemic to Panama, barely reaching Colombia and the single member of it genus Goldmania (named in honor of Mr. E. A. Goldman, who collected the type specimen in Cerro Azul, back in march of 1911).  Cerro Azul is certainly the easiest place in the world to see this bird.  This is a female, the glorious male didn't want photos!

Eleven species!  Not bad for a single day just sitting in front of well-kept feeders!