Easter Holidays in Darien. Part III

After seeing two life birds the previous day, my expectatives were high for the last day (march 4) of the PAS fieldtrip to El Real, eastern Darien province. We were suppose to leave the place at 10:00 am, so we decided to have a short walk to the airstrip and surroundings before breakfast. Our guide (Isaac Pizarro) knew a place where Dusky-backed Jacamars have been reported, so we headed first in that way, finding a Ringed Kingfisher by the bridge close to town. We started birding the trail with a gallery forest, finding common species like Crimson-backed Tanager, Thick-billed Euphonias, Buff-throated Saltator and a Black-tailed Flycatcher. No signs of the jacamar, so Rosabel decided to play a recording of a long desired life bird for her (and for me): Gray-cheeked Nunlet. After few minutes, we heard an answer quite close to us. A little searching revealed a nunlet perched and singing very close to us, inside the vegetation, allowing great looks. I managed to get a poor photo, but anyway it was a very cute little bird (smaller than I though). Stil it was early, so we moved to the Mercadeo road finding part of the group by the airstrip and finding a Pied Water-Tyrant there too (not mentioned for Darien province in the birdguide). In the Mercadeo road, we first saw a pair of Gray-capped Flycatchers and Cinnamon Becards attending their nests, plus a Black-headed Tody-Flycatcher in the same tree. Then, we heard the characteristic call of the Yellow-breasted Flycatcher (a bird not even listed in the book) and soon we were having great views of this new addition to the Panama's bird list. My photo of the bird resulted overexposed, so I edited it... the bird is recognizable anyway. Now it was getting late, so we headed to the hotel after seeing a group of Spectacled Parrotlet and a very cooperative pair of Rufous-tailed Jacamars that responded to the playback. The trip through the river was uneventful (again), seeing lots of herons and ibises, but no Black-collared Hawks. Once again, a great trip to a great place... excellent birds and terrific companions... all what a birder needs!

Easter Holidays in Darien. Part II

After a great Good Friday birding at the Pirre ranger station in the Darien National Park, the morning of march 3rd was filled with a festive air. The plans for that day included a visit to a nearby forest, known as Uroseca in the morning, and to visit the town of Pinogana and environs during the evening. Again, the bushes in front of Doña Lola's produced a Pale-bellied Hermit in town, while the Black-throated Mangos worked the Inga flowers. We waited for the car to pick up us and eventually we where on route to Uroseca. We dropped from the car close to a water reservoir and started to walk through pastures, finding many open land birds including a noisy flock of Dickcissels, two Gray Hawks, Blue-and-black Grassquits, Red-breasted Blackbirds and flocks of Eastern Kingbirds all over the place. Once in the forest, the things changed: the birding became slower, with scattered birds around. A single Gray-headed Kite soared over our heads while a Rufous-breasted Hermit and a Blue-chested Hummingbird feed in a bunch of Heliconias. A pair of Mealy Amazon were taking advantage of some palm fruits and hundreds of Turkey Vultures plus Broad-winged and Swainson's Hawks were heading north in their migration. We were not seeing any eastern Panama specialty until we reached a clearing in the forest, surrounded by fruiting Cecropias and Melastomas. There, our luck changed. We saw both Masked and Black-crowned Tityras, Long-tailed Tyrants and a Sirystes singing (all of them really nice black and white birds). Then, a big mixed flock appeared with Plain-colored, Golden-hooded, Scarlet, Yellow-backed and Scarlet-browed Tanagers, the last one being a life bird for me. The beautiful black males with those fancy eyebrows and the contrasting yellow rump were simply amazing! We saw also Thick-billed and Yellow-crowned Euphonias, a group of at least 15 Blue Ground-Doves, Streak-crowned Woodcreeper and Black-chested Jays among others. It was hard to leave the place, but we already arranged with the driver to pick up us around noon to have lunch. Back in El Real, almost we all had a well-deserved deserved nap until the time scheduled for our visit to the town of Pinogana (20 minutes away). The town of Pinogana, at the shores of the Tuira river, looked very like El Real, with its narrow street and happy people. We walked a trail beyond the town, to a forest border, finding common birds plus a Sooty-headed Tyrannulet, first noted by its call and then, checking its field marks confirmed the id. Again, the Eastern Kingbirds were everywhere, feeding in some red berries along with Scarlet Tanagers and other migrants. Once in the border, we found a pair of Black-chested Jays attending a nest, an Orange-crowned Oriole and a Red-rumped Woodpecker, which was new for the trip. It was getting late and we started to walk back, along the road to El Real, finding a Laughing Falcon and hearing a Black Antshrike, both new for the trip list. Great birding day, including two life birds for me! I was just wondering what was waiting for us next day.

Explosion of life in Darien

These are only few pics of all sort of creatures found during my last trip to El Real, in the Darien province (eastern Panama). I'm not attempting to name all of them, since I have little experience or references to do that. Enjoy the pictures and if you know the identity of any of the following animals please let me know by the comments. Enjoy!Northern Tamandua (Tamandua mexicana) Spiny or Tree Rat? Green-and-black Poison Dart Frog (Dendrobates auratus) South American Common Toad (Rhinella margaritifera) ? adult male Yellow-headed Gecko (Gonatodes albogularis) Anole (Anolis -or Norops- sp.)Hmmm... not a single idea! (may be another anole?). The same for the next spineless friends, first some army ants, followed by a dragonfly (the only one that allowed photos) and finally, two great pics of a scorpion in the Pirre station.

Easter Holidays in Darien. Part I

Where in Panama can you find Spot-breasted Woodpeckers on TV antennas? El Real de Santa María is one of such places, surrounded by pristine habitat and lots of avian specialties of the eastern Darien lowlands. This is my second visit to this historical place, again with a Panama Audubon Society's trip, so well organized by Rosabel Miró and cols. I joined them in the last minute, so I went to El Real by my own, and after six hours in a bus and a ride with a family on a boat I met this year participants. It was late when I arrived to El Real, so all the others participants told me about the birds they found few hours before in El Mercadeo road, in route to the town, including a pair of these woodpeckers nesting in a telephone pole, among others. My room mate, Rafael Luck, showed me all the excellent photos he took during the short walk (that I missed), so I resigned myself to wait until the next day (Good Friday) to enjoy the birding around the town and tried to sleep, realizing that it was not an easy task considering the brutal heat of the place and the fact that the town gets noisy during the holidays. Early the next day, we went to Doña Lola's restaurant for breakfast, finding a Pale-bellied Hermit right in front of it, in a little bush. Everything was ready for the day, so we headed to Piji Basal... our destination was the Pirre rangers station at the Darien National Park. On route we saw many birds, including Plumbeous and Mississippi Kites, the first of many Roadside Hawks, Pied Puffbird, Spot-crowned Barbet, a pair of Muscovy Ducks and a Wood Stork flying, and so on... We did not reach Piji Basal because of the road conditions so we started to walk the trail to the station, finding almost immediately a beautiful male Green-crowned Woodnymph showing all its irridiscense. The birding was a little bit slow inside the forest, maybe because of the heat of the day. We heard many Chestnut-backed Antbirds in the way and found a lek of Golden-collared Manakins. We also found other wildlife (mammals, insects, frogs and reptiles), but I'll be posting about them in another entry. Other birds found in the way to the station include Olivaceous Flatbill, Ruddy-tailed and Sulphur-rumped Flycatchers, White-whiskered and Black-breasted Puffbirds, Black and Crested Oropendolas and a very quiet White-fronted Nunbird (nicely found by George Angehr). Notice the pale wing covert, typical of the pallescens race of eastern Panama. It took several hours to reach the rangers station, but once there we rested a bit before looking for birds again. We tried the Mirador trail, but the heat and the roughness of the trail prevented us from advancing. Anyway, we heard a Ruddy Pigeon, a Buff-throated Foliage-gleaner and an antswarm with Bicolored Antbirds and Plain-brown Woodcreepers. In the way down Rosabel found a gorgeous Semiplumbeous Hawk perched nearby and a mixed flock with Red-eyed Vireos, Scarlet and Yellow-rumped Tanagers and Chestnut-sided Warblers. We tried the orchard for some forest border birding, hearing at least two Red-throated Caracaras that only allowed great views later in the day. We started our return journey, and most members of the group (including me) decided to have a refreshing dive in the waters of the Peresenico river, accompanied by a Buff-rumped Warbler. The way back was uneventful, and we found scattered birds, including more oropendolas, Chestnut-mandibled Toucans, more caracaras and a life bird for me: a pair of White-headed Wrens working in the canopy while calling. The last stop in the road produced Collared Aracaris, more barbets, Limpkin, and an Orange-crowned Oriole for the delight of the group. It was too late when we arrived to El Real, so we decided to have our dinner at Doña Lola's and then returned to our hotel to make the list of the day. The plans for the next day included a visit to Uroseca and to Pinogana.

Fieldtrip to El Real, Darien. Part I

El Darien... the final frontier. I have been a more or less active birder since 15 years ago in Panama, and the biggest gap on my life list still is those birds only ocurring in the Darien lowlands (eastern Panama). Some years ago, I got interesting highland birds in Chucanti (barely western Darien) and spent few days in La Palma, which is the Darien's capital, watching a Harpy Eagle nest and Black Oropendolas, but nothing else (okay, i also got there my life -and only- Bicolored Hawk). That's why I was so excited by this trip. El Real is located in eastern Darien and is one of the birding hotspot of the province. Of course is not like Cana, on the Pirre range, but you can find lots of birds, with South America affinities, that are not present in central Panama. In fact, the latest additions to the panamenian avifauna have been sighted in this site (Large-billed Seed-Finch and Yellow-hooded Blackbird).

Last weekend, I joined 10 others members of the Panama Audubon Society in a journey to the heart of the Darien province, searching for everything what has to offer. The first stop in the route (still in Panama province) was to watch a pair of isabellinus American Kestrels. Then, at the Río Mono bridge we heard a Barred Puffbird and saw a soaring Hook-billed Kite. From there we took the improved Panamerican highway to Yaviza, where it ends. Yaviza is a busy town in the shores of the Chucunaque river. It's a gate to many other communities in eastern Darien, including El Real. We headed for El Real under a heavy rainfall. During the only chance that mother nature gave us, I spotted a big raptor perched on a branch... with a white head... an adult Black-collared Hawk!!!! After dipping on it in Río Mono, I almost materialize it with all my desire of seeing it!!! My first lifer of the trip and we haven't even arrived to El Real yet! Of course we saw other common birds: Common Black-Hawk, Cocoi Heron, White and Slaty-tailed Trogons, Ringed, Green and Amazon Kingfishers, Smooth-billed and Greater Anis and so on... the bird activity was good until we were hit again by the storm.

After navigating the Chucunaque, Tuira and Pirre rivers, we arrived to El Real trough the Uroseca river. Because of the low tide, this was a little creek by the moment we tried to land, making it a hard task. Finally we did it, and established ourselves in the hotel El Nazareno (only one in town). Basic accommodations and no running water, but what else you expect in this remote corner of the country.

Soon we were out searching for any feathered creature we can. The very first bird spotted at the airstrip was an adult male Yellow-hooded Blackbird!!! in the far end of a flooded field. It proved to be the only one for all the trip. Then, at the airstrip itself, we saw at least two adult males Large-billed Seed-Finches (my second lifer of the day), one of them singing. Some other noteworthy sightings were the Plain-breasted Ground-Doves all over the place (probably first report for the Darien province), a Lesser Yellow-headed Vulture (second report for the Darien province), Bran-colored Flycatcher and Gray-breasted Crakes heard. Then we moved to the cemetery road (aka Mercadeo road) finding a nice mixed flock that included Cinnamon and White-winged Becards, Orange-crowned Oriole, Spot-crowned Barbet, Yellow-margined Flycatcher, Streak-headed Woodcreeper and so on... More experienced birders in the group recognized the chattering calls of a group of Spectacled Parrotlets and we soon were watching these tiny birds feeding on a Cecropia tree (my third lifer of the day). While everyone was watching the parrotlets, a little bird behind us caught my attention. It was an adult male Lesser Goldfinch that disappeared too quickly (maybe first report for the Darien province). After a nice birding afternoon, we headed to Doña Lola's restaurant to have dinner while hearing "la escandalosa" - a Limpkin - and then back to our hotel in order to have some deserved rest.

Lifers of day one: 3 plus a Panama life bird!

Part II here.