Petrels In Panamá

Guillermo

2012-02-10T11:17:00.000-05:00

Dennis Zechiel

The title of this post takes a long time getting there, but Bill is in the name of our recent yard resident. Ten months ago I asked Dennis, our good friend and neighbor, to help me suspend a tray feeder. I tied off a clothesline high and between some pine trees while standing on his long extension ladder. I wanted to lure some more reticent members of our community to savor the delights of ripe bananas.

Ramphastos sulfuratus

This past week we finally saw the Keel-billed Toucan that has been calling for weeks in our neighborhood. He is a wary one. It would appear that by size alone he could dominate, but instead, there are many minutes of watchful waiting until the tray is clear of competition before he makes a move. Now I hope the other customers leave some scraps for the new visitor. And of course, I pile on extra to help.

Along with the wait, there is a long period of croaking as he sizes up the situation, as the video shows. And I consider him a "he" based on the racket. He could only be advertising the bounty for a suitable mate.

New Yard Bird

2012-01-12T12:37:00.000-05:00

When Cindy and I drive up and down the hill here on errands, we often see small flocks of Ruddy Ground-Doves milling about in the road near the chicken fincas. But, they occur only down lower, at the guard station and below. We have been hoping to spy one of these cute things in our yard, which is just a few hundred feet higher. Note: As Bob Behrstock says, they are high on the Cuteness Scale.

After two years of waiting and hoping, we have our first! He likes the cracked corn I diligently scatter in the driveway and yard for the grassquits, seedeaters and other doves. Now, we hope he encourages some friends to join him in his foraging.

The video leads off with the Ruddy and then presents other recent yard birds and critters. In quick succession, there are Long-billed Starthroat, Lineated Woodpecker, Keel-billed Toucan, a furry thingy (I probably accidentally touched something similar last month and my left mitt swelled up large enough to catch a softball), and a sloth of the three-toed variety.

Panama Audubon Photos

2011-12-21T15:26:00.003-05:00

Panama Audubon hosts a Christmas pot-luck dinner every December where the upcoming bird counts for the season are described. Cindy and I are in our third year of enjoying the Christmas Bird Counts here in Panama.

We've already completed the Pacific Count which must have been the best ever, at least for us. Our assignment was to walk the Old Gamboa Road to the north, which has been off-limts due to the canal operations. With our authorization letter in my pocket we walked the forested road to more open habitat.

There were a couple of houses and some barking dogs which didn't mind us as we counted birds. There was nothing rare to report, but it was an excellent, mild day (it had rained the entire night before) and we finished with 93 species. Our companions were Alfred Raab from Altos del Maria and Paul Roth (search for his name in this article) from Switzerland. They are both top-notch birders and the four of us made an efficient team. This area of Old Gamboa Road holds a lot of allure for us and we hope to return.

Back at the pot-luck dinner earlier in the week, this year's winners of the annual photo contest were introduced. As you would guess, they are all active birders and talented field photographers. The winners are:
1st Place - Jan Axel found a Cinnamon Woodpecker foraging on a fallen truck and got the image.
2nd Place - Ralph Dessau captured a Scintillant Hummingbird on a nest.
3rd Place - Rafael Luck stopped the wing stretch of a Royal Tern.
Honorable Mention - Celeste Paiva took a short pause with a Volcano Hummingbird.

All are wonderful photos and we want to see more. In fact, I am lobbying for there to be a gallery showing of all the submitted photos for the year. That would make for a fine evening!

The video below gives a "taste" of the dinner and the awards.

-

Poisonous Ants

2011-11-21T16:49:00.004-05:00

Warning!

Cindy and I don't get to Pipeline Road as much as we said we wanted to and vowed that we would. Our yard in Los Altos de Cerro Azul is too enjoyable. But, we made a date on a day trip to the city. The afternoon was for errands and recycling, and the morning was for BIRDS!

At the ammo ponds, Smooth-billed Anis were a welcoming sight. As always, we heard the descending, rattling chuuurrr call of the White-throated Crake. Near the entrance to Pipeline we spotted Nando, the former caretaker of Birder's View, now a guide for Canopy Tower. He was guiding two women from New Mexico and they were looking at a White-tailed Trogon.

For something different, we didn't drive all the way to the closed gate on Pipeline Road, but stopped at the always-open entrance gate and walked the first two kilometers. There is always plenty to see in this stretch. Several Western-Slaty Antshrikes made their usual appearance - they're always very cooperative. And I was able to audio record the "caw" call we hear them also make in our yard. Today was filled with common birds, but still held some surprises, including the hand lettered sign seen above.

We assume the sign poster was concerned about Bullet Ants. There were none visible for us that day. A column of leaf cutters was at work a short distance down the road. The "soldiers" had large mandibles and very light-colored heads. I couldn't resist trying to video their activities. The speed of the little critters is very impressive and, as you will see, makes it very difficult to keep them in the frame.

TV

2011-11-09T08:29:00.003-05:00

Turkey Vultures

Birders keep a lot of checklists. We put little check marks next to bird names in a huge variety, such as life lists, yard lists and bucket lists. Well, perhaps we don't all have bucket lists, but there are birds we are dying to see. One of those wouldn't normally be the Turkey Vulture. But, after a day trip to Lake Bayano I feel like starting a bucket list and putting a big check next to TV migration.

One of four species of vultures in Panama, large numbers of TVs move through Panama in October and November and again in February to April. The birds are concentrated in an area of the country that can be as narrow as 36 miles. On the 27th of October 2011, the hawk watch on Ancon Hill in Panama City logged a new one-day record of 893,783 raptors!

We have seen Turkey Vultures in California, of course, and they are a feature of the Kern River Valley AUTUMN NATURE & VULTURE FESTIVAL. One of many facts I've learned is that a group of Turkey Vultures roosting is called a Wake.

The birds over Lake Bayano weren't waiting around to have a name put on them. They were making time! The video shows them climbing up the thermals and heading towards South America. A very few Swainson's Hawks were sprinkled in the flocks.

The best intro to the video would be by Robert Ridgely in A Guide to Birds of Panama. "A masterful flyer, soaring for long periods without a flap, tilting from side to side to take advantage of every favorable air current....large (sometimes tremendous) flocks of migrants breeding in north pass overhead, providing the observer who is in the right place at the right time with a breathtaking spectacle..."

Sick.

2011-11-07T17:09:00.000-05:00

White-tipped Sicklebill is a much sought after species here in Cerro Azul, although it also inhabits other areas of Panamá, Costa Rica and northern parts of South America. So, it's not one of the 12 or so endemic species in Panama, but still a prize.

A few days ago, with our North American amigo Jorge, we visited a local heliconia grove with the hope of seeing a sicklebill. We've seen them several times at this location. Sometimes it's just a fly-by, and it always feels like a bonus if one of them hovers for even a few seconds at a flower or in front of our faces to check us out. This time, a sicklebill was sitting for several minutes on a vine just a few feet off the ground, no more than 20 feet from us. I managed some video in the shadows. Pollen is visible on the bird's crown. We watched it resting and preening, until a tree limb fell noisily behind us and the bird took flight. This interlude made our day and was a delight.

2011 Big Sit

2011-10-23T18:08:00.001-04:00

Weather Wreaks Havoc

Cindy and I are not usually concerned about the weather affecting our activities. Our nonchalance could be explained because we haven’t been overly troubled by it, ever. Except for the blinding snow storm on a car trip to make the Denver airport and, it turns out, the last flight out. But, we made it. Weather has now made an impression.

The Bird Watcher’s Digest Big Sit was held on Oct 9, 2011. And that’s right in the middle of the rainy season in the Republic of Panamá. Last year we managed 49 species and we were hoping to better that this year. But, the weather had it’s way. The day started out sloppy and it stayed that way, with overcast skies, fog, wind, and rain. Not conducive to adding anything new.

Even seeing some of the common species proved difficult. Bay-headed Tanagers didn’t make an appearance at our well-stocked feeders. The only bird in flight against the gray skies was a Turkey Vulture. That was a very sore point for me, since I was hoping to see some migrant raptors. But, don't get me wrong, some fine birds did make a pass through the yard, including the endemic Stripe-cheeked Woodpecker, seen in the video below. We also managed 6 species of wood-warblers, and one each of grosbeak and oriole.

Our confining 17-foot diameter circle was positioned to gain a look skyward, as well as to various strategically placed bananas and a couple of catastrophic seed spills. The observer must be inside the circle while seeing a bird for it to count. We took that to mean that only one foot need be inside the border. This lead to some helpful leaning, this way and that. I am reminded of the Hays Code where the unfortunate actors were required to contort their bodies while in bed and keep one foot on the floor. But, interestingly during the Big Sit, if you see a bird from within the circle you can leave it to clinch the ID. And I suppose that includes hearing a bird and leaving the circle to get the identification.

The video contains a few of the birds seen during our Big Sit. If you enjoy identifying on your own, the video captions with the bird names can be switched off and on by clicking on the red/white box in the bottom frame.

The final species list is shown below the video as a report from eBird.

Casita Naranja
Oct 9, 2011 5:45 AM - 5:45 PM
Protocol: Stationary
Comments: 65-67 degrees F, breezy, intermittent drizzle, occasional light rain, fog drifting in & out, heavy cloud cover with no sun or blue skies all day
43 species

Turkey Vulture 1

White-tipped Dove 2

Squirrel Cuckoo 1 Heard only

White-necked Jacobin 3

Long-billed Starthroat 1

Blue-chested Hummingbird 1

Snowy-bellied Hummingbird 5

Rufous-tailed Hummingbird 9

Keel-billed Toucan 1 Heard only

Black-cheeked Woodpecker 3

Red-crowned Woodpecker 2

Stripe-cheeked Woodpecker 1

Cocoa Woodcreeper 1

Western Slaty-Antshrike 2 Heard only

Yellow-bellied Elaenia 1 Heard only

Dusky-capped Flycatcher 1

Red-eyed Vireo 2

Plain Wren 2

House Wren 1

White-breasted Wood-Wren 1 Heard only

Swainson's Thrush 1

Clay-colored Thrush 3

Black-and-white Warbler 2

Tennessee Warbler 7

American Redstart 1

Blackburnian Warbler 3

Black-throated Green Warbler 1

Canada Warbler 1

Bananaquit 3

Crimson-backed Tanager 5

Blue-gray Tanager 4

Palm Tanager 9

Plain-colored Tanager 4 Begging juv.

Golden-hooded Tanager 3

Red-legged Honeycreeper 23

Variable Seedeater 4

Yellow-bellied Seedeater 8

Black-striped Sparrow 1 Heard only

Hepatic Tanager 5

Summer Tanager 1

Rose-breasted Grosbeak 1

Baltimore Oriole 1

Thick-billed Euphonia 14

This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (http://ebird.org/content/panama)

Vulture Lounge

2011-10-08T20:12:00.001-04:00

Black Vulture

Close to the entrance to Pipeline Road is another road running along the Panama Canal. A locked gate restricts access to the road, but a small area near the gate provides interesting birding. The area is always thick with mosquitoes. Warblers come for the mosquitoes, so we come for the warblers.

One slow afternoon in the dry season, we thought to stop and see what was hopping. Craning our necks, we saw a few of the common birds high in the canopy, including Rufous-capped, Black-throated Green, Chestnut-sided, Blue-winged and Bay-breasted Warblers. Then looking lower, we found a small party of Black Vultures lounging about an old concrete bunker. They seemed content and undisturbed by our presence. I moved with speed to the car and the video camera. The video below is the result of our short, peaceful interlude. We left the birds to continue their rest.

Yard Color

2011-09-26T20:59:00.000-04:00

Palm Tanager

Colors are used by many film directors to convey moods and to say something about characters and situations. The people who manipulate the machines to match the director's vision are, in many cases, artists. Their media are the electronic pixels and zeroes and ones of computer technology. All of that is hidden behind the graphic software programs which share some common features.

Thick-billed Euphonia &
Rufous-tailed Hummingbird

The first pass of correction balances the colors and sets a base look for the picture. Then there is something called secondary color correction that can be used to enhance and diminish specific colors. You've probably seen this effect many times in commercials and motion pictures. Check out this commercial for Ford Ranger to get the idea.

Hepatic Tanager

My background has been to convey a scene as it was reproduced by the camera and altering reality further was never my goal. But, I enjoyed trying this out on some of the colorful birds visiting the yard. The unmanipulated stills here are from the video as it was shot. The video below will show my attempt to accentuate the colors of the birds and minimize the background. The tiny artist in me appreciates how the colors pop off the screen.

Yo Reciclo

2011-09-19T17:29:00.000-04:00

I Recycle.

This past week, I delivered a final video to my pal Roba Morena. You may remember he is organizing monthly recycling events in Panama City. This is a BIG deal. There is a lot of demand, which is obvious when I attend the events.

Anyway, Roba will use this short presentation to explain to corporate sponsors what happens on these Saturdays. There is a lot more going on than just recycling. You'll get a taste by watching the video. It's in Spanish, but then what isn't down here?

Photos by Behrstock

2011-06-15T19:55:00.006-04:00

Karen & Bob

Our friends Karen LeMay and Bob Behrstock recently spent a few days with us. It was great fun to catch up on their activities in Arizona, USofA. We hit some of the hotspots for birds during their visit, too. Bob sent along some pictures he captured from our terrace of some common birds that bring so much color and energy to our yard.

Bananaquits have been leading a youngster up to the banana feeders, demonstrating how to hang on and get a morsel.

Bananaquit

The national bird of several countries must have a nest close by since they stuff their bills full and overflowing before flying up and out of sight above the roof.

Clay-colored Thrush

The tiger-heron was lounging in the river a bit down the road.

Fasciated Tiger-Heron

Not every day, but frequently, we hear the calls of the Stripe-cheeked Woodpecker, a very desirable record up here where they can be seen somewhat regularly.

Stripe-cheeked Woodpecker

These hummers own the yard and several of the feeders. Now as other species are increasing, they are beginning to loose their tight grip.

Rufous-tailed Hummingbird

Tortí Tidbits

2011-05-31T21:31:00.000-04:00

We recently drove east to Tortí for some birding with friends. Tortí is within the province of Panamá, about 2 hours from our house. Much (most?) of the forest has been cleared for grazing in this lowland habitat with rich, black, sticky soil. One of our companions, Venicio (Beny) Wilson, has been there on a few previous excursions, so he knew several excellent places to find some local specialties.

Marco was able to shoot video of several of those specialties - see the video below for two:

Snake Snacktivity

2011-05-27T21:15:00.000-04:00

The saga continues. We last left the Boa Constrictor on his pine branch the evening of May 17th, when he went to bed hungry.

The following morning he was gone from that pine branch - but Marco and I easily spotted him a few feet higher, on a branch that was not nearly so exposed. We both thought it was a much better place for him to lurk.

After breakfast, I was inside near the kitchen sink when I heard a noisy outburst from the Red-legged Honeycreepers and Blue-gray Tanagers. I yelled to Marco, "They've found him!" We both went out onto the terrace, and sure enough - a flock of little birds was clustered around the snake, they were all chattering and scolding excitedly, flying and fluttering about. As we stood there watching the scene, worrying aloud about the young Bananaquit, who was again doing fly-bys and even landing within centimeters of certain doom, a Snowy-bellied Hummingbird landed right on the snake. It was a tremendously shocking moment - to actually be eyewitnesses to the grab was not something we expected. In a millisecond, the hummer was tightly within a coil and there was no hope for it.

For those of you who might be interested in witnessing such an event, see below. Marco had the camera rolling (I know - you've probably already jumped ahead and looked at the video.) It's illuminating to see the action in slow motion. I thought the hummer had landed well toward the rear of the snake, but the video clearly shows that the touchdown was just behind the snake's head. So much for eyewitness accounts.

Dogged Serpent

2011-05-23T20:12:00.000-04:00

The Boa is back! It was here last month, too, but the incident was a bit sad and I decided not to dedicate an entire post to it. Briefly, though, here is what happened: Early on the morning of April 28th, I was alerted to the nearby presence of one of the two Boa Constrictors who haunt the pine trees in our yard. A good-sized flock of little feeder birds, along with the Chief Sentinel and Town Crier (both titles earned and owned by the local male Hepatic Tanager), were clustered around a pine branch, scolding and chattering. I quickly spotted a Boa, the smaller of the two regulars, coiled around a bird. All I could see of the bird was a tail, part of the yellow underparts, and pinkish-orange feet, but these details were enough for me to suspect that the prey this time was a Rufous-capped Warbler.

I had been observing the scene for about 5 minutes when the snake executed a "loosen and recoil" maneuver, during which the snake usually repositions the prey and tightens the grip on it, and/or moves it into a position where he can begin to swallow it. This time, however, the Boa dropped the bird! If I had made a dedicated blog post about the incident, the title would have been "Butterfingered Boa", which is what our friend Jorge called the snake when I told him about it that day.

The bird fell to the ground in a spot where I could easily retrieve it, which I did, and sure enough - it was a Rufous-capped Warbler, a young of the year. I was sad because it seemed like a waste of a perfectly good warbler, although I realize the invertebrates would have done their work on it. I left the bird on the terrace so Marco could see it; he was out picking up Gonzalo for some gardening. Then we left the bird on the terrace railing for several days until finally something ate it, leaving only the rectrices and a few fluffy flank feathers scattered on the ramp.

The Boa remained on the same branch, in almost the same position, through May 5th. It never did appear to be lumpy during that time, so we don't think it caught anything.

Our friend Dennis helped Marco put up a clothesline about two months ago, not for clothes, but for another Cerro Azul Bird Feeding System®. They strung it from a pine tree near the terrace to a pine well down the hill toward the creek. It has pulleys so we can reel it in and out, with three feeders hanging from it: a small hummer feeder, a standard suet feeder stocked with bananas, and a shallow plastic basket also stocked with bananas.

Our hope is that by placing the feeders way out there, some of the more wary species (who don't like coming to the feeders near the house) will be brave enough to make an appearance at them.

This month's incident began before breakfast on May 16th. We heard the birds being all excited, and saw them gathered on the clothesline. We both gave the birds and the area a quick glance , but didn't detect the cause for their alarm. A few minutes later, while we were enjoying breakfast on the terrace, Marco noticed that the smaller Boa was toward the far end of the clothesline, stretched lengthwise along it, within inches of the suet feeder. We interrupted the meal while Marco spent a few minutes maneuvering the clothesline back and forth, shaking it, removing and replacing feeders. Eventually, the Boa gave up its grip and fell to the ground. All was then calm, and we and the birds had our breakfasts.

The next morning when we opened the kitchen door we saw that the Boa had returned - not to the clothesline this time, but to a small stub branch that comes off the trunk a couple feet below the pulley. It would be interesting to know how long it took him to climb up that pine trunk and settle on the new perch.

The Boa stayed in position all day - the birds knew he was there, and they would occasionally remember or rediscover him, flitting around the branch to investigate. The young Bananaquits make us especially nervous - their curiosity is so extreme that they get waaaay too close to the snake for our comfort.

Marco has assembled some footage of the day, a time-lapse series that shows a few of the birds as they keep a watch on the Boa:

To be continued . . . . . . .

Cutest Kite

2011-05-12T11:45:00.000-04:00

West of Panamá City as we were driving toward the Chiriqui several weeks ago, we decided to keep a sharp eye out for Pearl Kites (Gampsonyx swainsonii). We had seen only 2 of them ever, first in Trinidad and then in Panamá on our 2008 visit. In A Guide to the Birds of Colombia by Hilty & Brown, they refer to the Pearl Kite as "Pygmy-sized" and that it is.

Deforestation in northern Colombia has permitted the species to range into Panamá during recent decades, where it has begun colonizing. Still, it's not a common species, and the cuteness factor makes seeing them a special treat for us. We saw three along the way. Marco shot some video of one perched on a cable right next to the Interamerican Highway. This individual does not have its rufous leggings yet, and the rectrices are still growing in. But it was out there hunting for its own meals.

Buzz

2011-04-30T04:49:00.001-04:00

No, it's not time for another visit to the barbershop. This post is about one of the several Rufous-tailed Hummingbirds (Amazilia tzacatl) who attempt to dominate all the feeders in our yard. Ridgely, in "A Guide to the Birds of Panama" describes the species as, "Perhaps even more active and pugnacious than most other members of its family." He nails it. We have so many of the obstreperous little fellows that it's difficult to determine who's who. They all want to rule, and there are more than one who stake out a twig or wire from where they keep a watch on all the feeders within their view. When anybody else flies in for a sip at any of those feeders, the watcher makes a beeline for the sipper and tries to dispel him or her. There is a pecking order - sometimes the sipper is routed, and sometimes not. The Bronze-tailed Plumeleteer stands his ground in all dust-ups, as do most of the White-necked Jacobins most of the time. The little Blue-chested Hummingbirds always surrender and fly off, squealing as they go. The tiny Stripe-throated Hermit goes low, sometimes hiding behind our shoulders or even below a chair, or in the terrace bathroom. It waits just a few seconds for the attacker to be distracted by someone else, then sneaks back to the feeder and has a drink.

The past few days, one of the guardian Rufous-tailed Hummers has made a peculiar buzzing sound when he flies. The sound is due to extreme molt of the tail and wing feathers. It couldn't be considered catastrophic molt, such as penguins and elephant seals undergo, but Buzz is not in his best-ever shape. His tailfeathers are varied lengths, the lengths are not bilaterally symmetrical, and it seems that his wings barely have enough feathers to get or keep him airborne. Have a look and a listen at his condition in Marco's video below. Since we have recently been able to pick out his particular flight sound, we've been impressed by the number of attacks and warning flights he makes in his frequent attempts to rule his little patch.

View From the Barber Shop

2011-04-26T18:38:00.000-04:00

When Marco gets his hair cut, he never knows what he might see during the snipping process. Sometimes it's just a nice view of the wooded hillside across the creek. Sometimes it's a few birds at the feeder. On a recent day, it was a Squirrel Cuckoo enjoying the morning sun. The barber and the cuckoo both waited for Marco to set up the camera so video would be available for this post. Watch for the brief appearance of a Lineated Woodpecker in the background.

¡Recicla!

2011-04-22T15:22:00.000-04:00

Yeah, the title is the Spanish word for recycle. The 3 Rs here are:

- Reutiliza -

- Reduce -

- Recicla -

Enough Spanish.

Last weekend I attended the second monthly recycling event hosted by Roba Morena. He is a musician, artist, and clean environment proponent. Roba is also a friend of mine since we worked together on a video last year for the annual beach cleanup at Costa del Este in Panamá City. Because my Spanish wasn't up to the task of interviewing the beach cleaners, Roba elicited exciting comments from participants. Also, he brought his unique brand to the hosting duties, making for an entertaining program. We hope the DVD will be scheduled in Panamá Audubon's upcoming school education programs.

This most recent event featured more than recycling, which is a testament to Roba's power to influence the people around him. Many companies and organizations take part to inform and entertain the public about the ecosystem and our place in it. There were booths and exhibits showcasing animal adoption, organic food, clean printing and many others to boot. And this is in addition to the regular recycling event, accepting plastics, glass, aluminum, paper, toxics, etc.

Below is a mere highlight of the recycling and education day.

Bathing Beauties

2011-04-18T01:19:00.000-04:00

There are few things cuter than a bird taking a bath, whether the bird is a Cooper's Hawk standing in the middle of a stream soaking his feet and fluffing now and then, or a Rufous-tailed Hummingbird sitting on a twig with his bill pointing up into a rainstorm.

The dry season here in Panamá is coming to a close, but we still have many days without a drop of rain. On the dry days, whenever we water plants in the yard, the birds seem joyful about their bath time, so we make a point of drenching the large leaves of the Dracaena ("corn plant") and banana trees for the bathers. Marco's video below shows some Red-legged Honeycreepers using leaves on a banana tree as water slides:

Old Friends and New

2011-04-15T16:06:00.001-04:00

In February we met up with our old friends Keith Hansen and Patricia Briceño (from Bolinas CA, U.S.A.) while they were on a tour of Panamá with their friends Bob and Doreen Schiro (from San Geronimo CA.) The four of them stayed their first few nights at Ivan's B&B in Gamboa. Marco and I stayed one night at our friend Guido Berguido's guest house in Gamboa - just a 2-minute stroll from Ivan's - so we could enjoy a relaxing and delicious dinner together at Ivan's before rising early the next morning for a long walk on Pipeline Road.

We were waaay too busy birding for Marco to shoot much video, but he did get a few seconds (below) from our Pipeline adventure. Isn´t it just perfect how Keith appears on the scene emerging from deep within the jungle?

Finca Hartmann

2011-04-05T12:45:00.001-04:00

Ratibor Hartmann, Cindy & Dinorah

On our way to Costa Rica a few weeks ago we made a short detour to Finca Hartmann, in the Chiriqui province of Panamá. We had not been there since our first visit to Panamá in December 2008, and have wanted to return ever since. On that first visit, we met Aliss and her parents Ratibor and Dinorah. Aliss was not present during our recent visit, but her parents were.

We arrived in mid-morning, not the most productive time for birding this location. But Dinorah said we were welcome to take a walk around the property if we wanted, and she would make coffee and hojaldres for us when we returned. Three of their several friendly and enthusiastic dogs accompanied us along the trails through the forest and amongst the coffee trees. Marco shot some video of the property as we walked, and also of some beautiful birds and beans.

In the mid-20th century, Ratibor and his brother, Armagedón Hartmann, worked as guides for Alexander Wetmore during his annual scientific expeditions to Panamá. As we drove up, Ratibor was sitting on his porch with a 3-foot high stack of nature books at his side. One can only try to imagine the contribution he has made to ornithology. He and Dinorah were thoroughly engaging and pleased to describe the work that has been done on their land to create their shade-grown coffee. We hope to return soon for more of the delicious coffee and hojaldres, and of course to spend more time birding.

Two Toes Are Enough

2011-03-18T21:49:00.003-04:00

Suzanne and grandson Eric

Our excellent friend Suzanne Cogen, from Occidental CA, visited us at Casita Naranja a few weeks ago. During her stay, we ranged around Cerro Azul and the Panamá City area showing her some of the birds and any other wildlife that happened along the way.

Rufous-crested Coquette

She also went with us to the house of our pals Bill and Claudia one afternoon, where a female Rufous-crested Coquette was coming to one of their feeders.

Rainforest Discovery Center

See Suzanne's photos of a few highlights below.

Panamá City

While relaxing on the terrace, Suzanne was often distracted by some of the birds at our feeders.

Blue-gray Tanagers

Golden-hooded Tanager

Two-toed Sloth

We also went to the visitor's center of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute on the Amador causeway, where a family of Hoffmann's Two-toed Sloths (Choloepus hoffmanni) was lounging in a tree in the middle of a busy walkway, within arm's-reach of the passers-by. Marco shot some footage of one of the sloths as it scratched and groomed its long blonde fur. Having tourists walk by so close must not have seemed like a threat to this animal. According to the text in "A Field Guide to the Mammals of Central America and Southeast Mexico" by Fiona A. Reed, "If the vines around it are disturbed while it rests, it will advance and slash with the forelimbs or attempt to bite savagely." Admittedly, nobody disturbed the vines or limbs around it, but if the smile on its face was any indication, none of us were in any danger.

Los Carnavales in Cerro Azul

2011-03-13T08:17:00.000-04:00

We had been warned by those who claim to know these things that Cerro Azul is not exempt from the riotous celebrations of Carnaval. According to Wikipedia, the Panamá Carnaval celebration is the second largest in the world. Business essentially shuts down throughout the Republic from Friday through Tuesday as people make their preparations and then engage in drinking, eating, dancing and playing music at ear-splitting volumes.

Las Tablas, in the Los Santos province, is traditionally the most popular destination during Carnaval. Panamá City is also host to a major party, with numerous bands performing along the Cinta Costera.

But we were also told that property owners who almost never venture up here stream into Cerro Azul with tents and set up camps on their vacant lots, complete with boom boxes and car stereos. We were admonished to use extreme caution on the roads here - that the celebrants had no respect for the center line and don't know how to drive in any case. So we laid in our supplies, then battened down our hatches starting on Friday March 4th. We had plenty of food, a new package of ear plugs, and a generous supply of beverages so we could have a celebration of our own if the mood struck. We were prepared to stay close to home for the duration. Friday night and Saturday night we slept like babes. There was no music or shouting from any nearby sector. Sunday afternoon we heard a short, subdued volley of fireworks around 5 PM. We thought it might signify the beginning of something rowdier that would last until the wee hours. But we heard nothing else that night other than the Tropical Screech-Owl.

Then on Monday afternoon, the silence was broken. The Club, which is not far from us, had hired a DJ who played music using gazillion-amp speakers for a few hours. Fortunately, while we could clearly hear the beat, it was not bothersome. Our friend Picasso, who owns and runs Ginger House, a wonderful little B&B upslope from the Club, found it deafening; she said it sounded like a band was in her house. Tuesday afternoon was a repeat at the Club. But both afternoons, the music lasted only until about 5:00 PM.

Marco's curiosity sent him over to check out the scene at the Club. He enjoyed a Seco & cola served in a polystyrene cup ($3.00, which is about the cost of a whole bottle of Seco) while observing the families frolicking around and in the pool. He said he was the only gringo present. He tried not to be too obvious while shooting the video below:

Yard 'Lisk

2011-03-09T20:23:00.000-05:00

Last week we had a new critter in the yard, or more accurately it was the first time we observed one of them in our yard. As I walked by the open kitchen door, I saw something dash past. It was a good-sized Common Basilisk (Basiliscus basiliscus), probably about 2 feet in length, and it paused on the path just beyond the terrace. I alerted Marco, who went right out with his camera and caught a few seconds of video of the beast. Marco looked down at the camera to get another shot, and when he looked back, the Basilisk was gone. He saw it barreling down the hill toward the creek. Basilisks have been clocked running at up to 7 miles per hour.

The Basilisk returned about an hour later, and while I cannot prove it, I think he was eyeing the birds coming and going at the feeders. When a chunk of banana falls out of the suet feeders, one or more birds always flies to the ground (adjacent to the path where I saw the Basilisk) to grab it. If I hadn't been disturbing the peace by working in the kitchen, the Basilisk might have been able to grab a nice meal.

Second Visit to The Wilson

2011-03-04T19:09:00.000-05:00

We returned to the Wilson Botanical Garden in Costa Rica early this year. Although we don't much want to leave home these days, we enjoyed ourselves at the Wilson. Last year's visit was during the rainy season. The weather this time was sunny, dry and quite warm. Ariadna again took us out for a morning field trip, sharing some of her extensive knowledge about the local flora and fauna. And Marco had his camera at the ready so we can share with you some beauty shots - of the area and of the local wildlife. The video of most of the birds was from the balcony of our room.

A Little Ant Swarm

2011-02-27T20:20:00.000-05:00

Bicolored Antbird

On our first try for the Blue Cotingas in Cerro Azul, late one afternoon in January, we didn't find them. But we did find a small ant swarm with some followers.

Our first clue that an ant swarm was in the vicinity was the excited calls of the Bicolored Antbirds. We have never seen an ant swarm in Panamá that was not accompanied by several individuals of this species. Ridgely, in "A Guide to the Birds of Panamá" says that the Bicolored Antbird (Gymnopithys leucaspis) is "An inveterate follower of army ants and rarely seen away from them; in such assemblages, it is usually the most numerous of the several attendant species."

My second clue about the ant swarm was being bitten on the tops of my feet by a couple of ants. I was standing at the edge of the road in my flip flops, and the ants were coming out of the forest to cross the road right across my feet. After a few seconds of foot-stomping, I returned to the truck and put on some shoes and socks. Fortunately, the bites of these army ants produced a mild stinging sensation for only about five minutes, and that was the last of the effects (except that I now look down at my feet a little more often when I'm standing still for any length of time.)

Marco shot some video of the more cooperative individuals with this swarm:

Snake Charmers

2011-02-15T20:50:00.000-05:00

Mexican Vine Snake

Our good friend and neighbor Dennis brought another snake to show us a few weeks ago. All three of us have been keeping our eyes peeled for Vine Snakes on vines and branches around here whenever and wherever we take a walk. No luck. But on this particular day, Dennis found a Vine Snake in the middle of the road just up from our house. It was a beautiful and delicate-looking little thing, about 4 feet long and pencil-thin, with a bright chartreuse throat and a curious eye. It was quite docile. At no time while we were handling it did it even open its mouth or struggle to escape, nor did it engage in the common snake strategy of releasing a foul-smelling secretion from its vent. It just kept watching us.

We think this is a Mexican Vine Snake, aka/Brown Vine Snake (Oxybelis aeneus). Dennis shared the following information from his field guide with us:

Here is what Gunther Kohler (Reptiles of Central America) says:
"...They are rear-fanged snakes, with mild venom that does not pose a serious threat to humans, but can lead to localized swelling and itching. Large specimens need to be handled with particular caution. When a vine snake is handled, it will react with a threatening gape, exposing the blue-black interior of is mouth; it will also bite without any warning. As a defensive reaction, this colubrid will continuously hold its outstretched tongue rigid with the two tips of the tongue pressed together. The precise adaptive advantage conferred by this unusual behavior remains a mystery to scientists.... "

Based on the docile behavior of this animal, which was contrary to information we were able to find for the species, we figure we were snake charmers for the few fascinating minutes that we spent with it. We were charmed as well. See Marco's video below:

Panamá Audubon February Meet

2011-02-13T09:07:00.000-05:00

The monthly meeting of Panamá Audubon promised to be full of valuable information and good times. Many of the birders Cindy and I have met in the field were in attendance. And several were presenters in the evening program.

We attended earlier Christmas Bird Count organizing meetings. But, this was the first more normal program for us. We drove down with our friends Bill & Claudia Ahrens. It is a long drive from our home to the city, so that is the reason for our sparse attendance record.

The venue is the meeting room at Metropolitan Park headquarters building. A large open room with rows of chairs gave good views of the computer projection for the different segments.

Karl Kaufmann was up first with his effort of establishing eBird Panamá. This is the Cornell Lab of Ornithology database project of bird records. It will store personal lists, as well, which looks to be very valuable. Cloud computing of your information can give a bit of safety from personal disk crashes. Plus, your sightings are added to the public record. With enough time, this database can be used by scientists for on-going research.

Darién Montañez is the creative force behind the rare bird website, Xenornis. He scrolled through the new sightings on the page. And, most excitingly, told of the Cape May Warbler first found by Rosabel Miró. Prior to the night's meeting, they had seen it again at the Panamá Audubon office. This is quite a rarity in Panamá and was a life bird for Darién.

Jan Axel is a dedicated birder with an active blog detailing his exploits. He was the inspiration for last year's "600 Club", motivating birders to get out and try to see 600 birds in one year in Panamá. Even with 978 birds on the country's list, still not an easy task. Bill & Claudia worked throughout the year, with the difference that they BOTH had to see the bird. And they made it. They got coveted 600 Club patches and certificates.

Finally, there was a book signing by George Angher of his new "Birds of Panamá" field guide. His powerpoint outlined the differences with the earlier book we all use, while describing the layout of the new book. The impetus for the project was from a Costa Rican publisher with a guide for that country. Many of the illustrations could be used in a Panama guide. The artist for both books is Robert Dean and his work is fantastic. Plus the layout in the new guide is very convenient with art, text and maps side by side. Asked how long the writing took, George said it was three years of 3-day weekends, plus 33 years of experience! We are very pleased to have our copy and to take advantage of his hard work.

The video below will give just a flavor of the event.

Stopover in Volcan

2011-02-06T18:12:00.001-05:00

Rufous-collared Sparrow

On a recent journey to Costa Rica, we stayed over in Volcan while we enjoyed a little birding in the Western Highlands of Panama.

We spent the night at Cabanas Reis, on the outskirts of Volcan. The owner, Marisol Miranda, was friendly and helpful and has done a lot of nice work with the rooms and grounds. The location was quiet, the rooms were clean and comfortable, there was free wifi, and the shower had hot water. A large field next door was full of singing Rufous-collared Sparrows, a species seen in Panama only in the Western Highlands.

The cabana was a two minute walk from Dalys's Restaurante, where we ate dinner and breakfast. It's an unusual restaurant with a mix of gringo and Panamanian influences and even some Irish. The menu is large in both size (see Marco's video below) and the variety of offerings.

Ruth and Peter have made this diner a hub of the community, hosting movie nights, Italian nights, rock 'n roll nights, accepting air freight deliveries for residents of Volcan, using some of their space for a book exchange and a video exchange. In addition to all the food on the menu, they sell baked goods, coffee beans, coconut oil, plants, and a number of other specialty items.

They plan to open a B&B near the restaurante. Keep on eye on their website for updates and more info soon.

Ciénega de Las Macanas

2011-01-25T20:06:00.000-05:00

We recently enjoyed our first visit to Las Macanas Marsh, in the Herrera Province of the Republic of Panamá. This marsh is a hotspot during migration, when waders stop on their way north and south. We visited in January, a quiet time, when large flocks of Black-bellied Whistling Ducks are whistling at each other and young Wattled Jacanas are not yet looking much like their parents. Some of the adult jacanas we saw did not look "pure" - they were apparent hybrids between Northern Jacana and Wattled Jacana. The center of their backs was rufous, although the rest of their plumage was black. The arrangement of the facial shield elements is an important distinction. It's a subject discussed in more detail by Matthew Miller and includes an update.

On the road back toward the highway, we saw several caracaras and vultures working the rangeland. We watched a Lesser Yellow-headed Vulture (Cathartes burrovianus) soar low, then land and walk around in a field, looking for goodies. And a beautiful Crested Caracara (Polyborus plancas) perched low in a tree, his crop full enough to protrude through the feathers of his breast.

It was a pleasant detour, away from the highway and the crowds. Below is some of Marco's video of the peaceful scene.

Hibiscus Appreciation Day

2011-01-23T05:41:00.000-05:00

Since our first visit to Panama, I have been completely and irrevocably smitten with Hibiscus, a genus of flowering tropical plants in the Mallow family. They are represented here by a wide and wonderful variety of sizes, colors and forms, and to me they always say, "Tropics!" even though some species grow in the warmer temperate zones.

Our yard started out barren of anything colorful other than a few Novia (Impatiens) and begonias, and I have made it my mission to color it up. Thanks to massive assistance from Marco, Gonzalo and Arturo, the yard is now a riot of color.

The Novia and begonias help provide quick, easy color, but it's the palms, gingers, heliconias, marantas and hibiscus that please me the most. About a year ago I began taking hibiscus cuttings from hedges in the development and stuck the twigs in the ground. I also bought one small potted hibiscus. They have all begun paying off with gorgeous blossoms. The largest flower so far is pictured below - it's about 5 inches across. It bloomed just a few days ago and I was wildly excited.

Here at Casita Naranja, any day that a hibiscus is in bloom is Hibiscus Appreciation Day.

His Blueness

2011-01-21T18:39:00.002-05:00

About a week ago we heard that a pair of Blue Cotingas (Cotinga nattererii) was being seen in Cerro Azul. We were both excited and disturbed. We were excited because we had seen this species only once previously - on our first visit to Panama in December 2008 - a pair in Summit Park. That pair was high in a very distant tree, and we have wanted better views of these beautiful birds ever since. We were disturbed because we heard about the Cerro Azul pair in the evening, and we already had commitments in town the next day, which meant we could not try for them until at least the following afternoon.

We did try that afternoon when we got back to Cerro Azul, but it was almost dark and we saw no cotingas. The next morning we tried again, and saw a female. A day or two later we tried again and saw a female. This week, on our fourth try, we hit the jackpot - we saw three males, all in brilliant, shining plumage, and they were in a closer tree than the female had been. The males were interacting with each other, seeming rivals. Was it rivalry for the female we had seen, or for the fruits on the trees in the area?

We thought we heard them calling, a trilling chittering chirpy sound. Then we got home, checked XenoCanto and read the field guides. XenoCanto has no sound recordings for the Blue Cotinga. Ridgely, in "A Guide to the Birds of Panama", says, "Cotingas of this genus apparently make no vocal sounds, but wings of males (in display?) are sometimes heard to whirr or rattle in flight." Other sources that we have consulted concur, some with question marks and some unequivocally. Yesterday we went back to try to see their mouths open as we heard the sounds, but failed. We saw only one male and one female, and when we did hear the sounds, the male was always in flight.

Marco was able to shoot video of both the male and the female, and it includes some puzzling behavior. A little less than one minute into the video of the male, the bird coughs/gags up what looks like the pit of a fruit, and he then suspends it from the branch of the tree. When we were there, we both noticed several of these pale oval objects suspended from the branch by thin strands, but at the time, we did not know what they were.

Marco was not keen on sharing his video of the female; the light was bad and she was in a distant tree. But since she also exhibited the same behavior, I convinced Marco to include video of her in this post.

We have seen many species of birds (owls, kingfishers, flycatchers and others) cough up pellets. But until now, we had not observed a bird to suspend the pellet (in this case, probably a seed or pit of a fruit) from a branch.

Not Suitable for a Field Guide Painting?

2011-01-10T18:32:00.001-05:00

Rufous tail of ♀ Violet-capped Hummingbird

Neither Ridgely & Gwynne (in A Guide to the Birds of Panama) nor Hilty & Brown (in A Guide to the Birds of Colombia) illustrate the female Violet-capped Hummingbird (Goldmania violiceps), even though the species is "Fairly common to locally common in humid forest foothills" in "Central Panama to extreme northwestern Colombia." according to Ridgely. Yes, both guides have paintings of the male, but the female looks not that similar. Sure, they describe her in the text, but when one is trying to figure out the identity of yet another small green & white female-plumaged hummer, one typically goes to the plates, not the text. We have found the hummingbirds to be a particular challenge down here, and we need all the help we can get.

This time, we showed Marco's video (below) and a still capture (above) to our friend Darien Montanez, who reeled us in and set us straight.

We still see her coming to the feeders once in a while. She has to sneak in while the Rufous-tailed boys are off chasing each other.

Slick!

2010-12-31T20:42:00.000-05:00

Once the terrace was completed, we realized there was one teeny addition that would have a huge impact on our quality of life. The railing across the balusters is a generous 9" wide, so we set drinks on it, peel bananas and slice oranges and refill feeders on it, stand on it, the birds sit and make messes on it, the squirrels (cussed little critters) run around on it, the Woolly Opossums traipse across it, the monkeys jump on it - it's a regular highway of activity and a work area to boot. The white paint that the crew applied remained white for about a day. The stains quickly became unsightly, the paint began peeling due to frequent precipitation, and I made it worse by spraying it with water in semi-successful attempts to clean things up.

So we contacted Oscar, who returned in mid-December (with an assistant) to tile the top surface of the railing. It looks fantastic! Marco commented this afternoon that it was the best thing about this whole place. Truly, it is a dream to simply aim the hose at whatever falls on the railing, give it a quick blast, and once again it looks like new. The birds struggle to get traction on it, but that doesn't stop them from continuing to consider it part of their world. Check Marco's video, shot on a rainy day when the birds were bedraggled, disheveled and focused on getting their share of the White Plate Special:

Drainage

2010-12-30T19:07:00.000-05:00

We thought summer had arrived a couple of weeks ago, but it was just a tease. Around December 14th the daily rainfall decreased dramatically, and we even had a few sunny days. But many of them were heavily overcast and windy. The 26th, when we did our second Christmas Bird Count, it was another downpour. There was even more rainfall the next two days, along with continued chilly and windy conditions. Many parts of the country had disastrous flooding and mudslides, with some people losing their homes and unfortunately, a few lost their lives.

We are lucky that we have had no damage, and we can sit inside our house or on our covered terrace, safe and dry, and watch the storms rage. Marco shot some video of what it's like here during some of the downpours. It's impressive and exciting. We wonder how long it would take to fill a 1000-gallon rain barrel with what comes shooting out of just one downspout.

Woolly and the Bats

2010-12-24T20:43:00.000-05:00

Central American Woolly Opossum

One night Marco left a terrace light on just outside the kitchen door when he came back inside. A few minutes later, we noticed that a lot of bats were careening up and down the length of the side terrace, back and forth, veering wildly and flitting every which way for insects. We have plenty of insects around here, and at night, we see a lot of moths outside the kitchen door. We had been leaving a bit of banana in a feeder out at night for the moths, but that night we forgot and left several bananas in several feeders. The bats were also feasting on the bananas left in the bird feeders. Some of the bats hang on the feeders, licking at the bananas for 3 or 4 seconds, while others perform touch-and-go maneuvers. Due to the rapid movements of the bats, combined with the low light levels, we do not have video of them.

But there was someone else interested in the bananas - a Central American Woolly Opossum (Caluromys derbianus). We thought we had one of these a few months back, but it turned out to be a Common Opossum. The faulty ID was made before we received the excellent and invaluable "A Field Guide to the Mammals of Central America and Southeast Mexico", written and beautifully illustrated by Fiona A. Reid. This Woolly is for real - long, woolly fur, large pinkish (and very expressive) ears, dark median line on forehead. The very long tail is thickly furred for half its length, the naked midsection has dark brown freckles and splotches, and the rest of the (also naked) tail is entirely bright white. The combination of parts and markings make it quite a cute little beast. Once I walked outside with the intention of shooing a Woolly away from one of the feeders that the bats were using. (The opossum had already emptied two other feeders that night.) I moved slowly toward it, expecting it to make an exit, but it held its ground. It did stop feeding and looked intently at me, waving its big ears back and forth. Then it resumed licking the bananas. I was about a foot away from it. The fur does look woolly and remarkably thick. I probably could have touched it, or even brushed it, but I resisted.

Marco shot some video of one of the Woollies. We now have a minimum of three who have visited the feeders. Two of them do not have a nick in their ears, as does the one in the video (named Nick.)

One night I saw a Woolly lunge at a bat who came in for a nibble at the feeder where it was feasting. We have not seen Nick lately, but there are still two regulars who compete for the bananas. Sometimes they tangle and a chase ensues, complete with nipping, squealing and squeaking. They sound a little like a Blue-gray Tanager.

Rain, Rain, Go Away

2010-12-21T19:31:00.000-05:00

The rain gauge has moved from inside storage to an open-air spot in the front by the truck port. Yeah, it works better outside.

Just in time, since we recently had a couple days of non-stop rain. November was a little dry even though it is supposed to be the rainiest month. One neighbor told us the 10+ inches we got early this month (in a 24-hour period) is double the amount for any day since they've lived here (3 years.)

Another neighbor keeps an online tally of daily rainfall. We have just begun keeping our records and have patterned them after his. My spreadsheet will be online for anyone to take a look at. It's a bit spotty on coverage to start. The electronic device blew several gaskets along the way. Then the latest (low-tech) model was waiting for construction to be completed. Starting in December, our records should be more consistent and provide some interesting comparisons with those of our neighbors.

Overcast, Drizzly & Shining

2010-12-17T19:47:00.001-05:00

Shining Honeycreeper

We have had (endured, at times) days and days of cold, wet weather this month. Wet is no problem, but we're having more trouble with the cold. The "dry" season has definitely not begun, although it usually does so in early to mid-December. But since most of November was much dryer than normal, I'm happy that my new plantings are beneficiaries of this month's continuing rain.

One day last week we woke up to yet another dark day. But late in the morning, we had a special visitor - a Shining Honeycreeper (Cyanerpes lucidus). For months we have been hoping this species would visit our yard, so we are quite pleased. This makes 3 species of honeycreepers at the feeders so far. It has returned to sip sugar water 5 or 6 times that we have noticed, though we were not watching the feeders most of the time. Marco shot some footage:

Brown Violet-ear

2010-12-13T20:39:00.001-05:00

Brown Violet-ear

As noted by Jan Axel on his blog, the rare (in Panama) Brown Violet-ear (Colibri delphinae) has been a regular at Toucan Villa (aka/Rachelle and Smitty's place) for a few days this December. We drove up to give it a try and were graciously invited by Smitty to watch for it from their comfortable, covered terrace. Smitty works hard (as do many of us) at keeping the wildlife on his lot happy, and he enjoys remarkable success attracting hummingbirds and others in spectacular numbers. While we watched for the target hummer, it was impossible not to be distracted by the dozens of other hummers, the tanagers, honeycreepers, thrushes, seedeaters, grassquits, the motmot, and more.

Ridgely ungenerously describes the Brown Violet-ear as being a "drab" hummingbird, but we'd like to give the species a little more credit. Although the day was (yet again) dark and rainy, Marco got footage that shows the pertinent field marks and the subtle beauty of this hummingbird, with its warm brown and beige tones, accented by splashes of iridescence on the gorget, and those flashy violet ears.

Finding Clarity

2010-12-08T13:17:00.025-05:00

When we first began, we had mixed results in our attempts to attract hordes of hummingbirds to the yard. We had a few Rufous-tailed Hummingbirds, nothing more. The numbers of this species built a little, and we had an occasional Stripe-throated Hermit try to sneak in for a few sips. One Rufous-tailed was quite a bully, and he managed to intimidate the little guy and most of the other Rufous-taileds as well. We also had a Snowy-bellied, a Blue-chested once in a while, a couple of infrequent and irregular Long-billed Starthroats. And yet a friend who lives only about one-quarter of a kilometer as the hummer flies was getting swarms of hummingbirds, including at least 7 White-necked Jacobins. What was he doing that we were not? All his feeders were larger - could that be it? He was using the same proportions of sugar to water as we were - we confirmed that.

One day, I ran out of sugar and we bought some turbinado sugar from a little shop not far down the hill. Our hummer traffic plummeted - even the Rufous-taileds lost interest. The sugar we had started with (I just grabbed the first 5-pound bag of sugar I saw in the supermarket) produced sugar-water that was not quite clear; it had a slight beige hue. The turbinado mix was a notably darker tan. And apparently not very tasty. So the next sugar I bought, completely by accident, was a different brand than my original. It dissolved to make very clear sugar-water, and the hummingbirds voted with their tongues - they gave a five-star rating to Santa Rosa white. They drank toasts to us, fought with each other over it, glugged it down by the bucket-load, attempted to defend as many feeders as they could from all other hummers, and in every way, they have voiced their approval. The yard is alive with a chittering, chattering, squeaking, whirring, buzzing, quarreling mass of tiny feathered warriors.

If Marco leaves a feeder on the floor so the juice can warm up (he doesn't want to traumatize their tummies with ice-cold juice directly from the refrigerator), they will go down to the ground to get a sip. They dive into the outdoor sinks to make sure there's not a stray feeder in there. They detour a few feet into the kitchen to investigate the counter and sink area for any red items. We're now getting several White-necked Jacobins, an occasional Long-billed Starthroat, two Blue-chested Hummingbirds, a Violet-capped Hummingbird, two Snowy-bellied Hummingbirds, and the regular mob of Rufous-taileds. (For a few weeks, we had a White-vented Plumeleteer. Then the Boa ate it.)

This is a mob of Rufous-taileds in the video. There are only 4 flowers on the feeder. Sometimes the fifth bird has to take a number. Extra points if you can find anything but a Rufous-tailed. We can't.

"Revolve" by hisboyelroy is licensed under a Noncommercial Sampling Plus

A Most Delicate Berry Eater

2010-11-29T20:08:00.001-05:00

Our friends Rosabel and Karl have many native trees and bushes on their property, among which is Ortiga, which translates as "nettle." Ortiga is a Spanish name given to numerous plants with irritating hairs, most of them in the stinging nettle family, Urticaceae. The Ortiga tree near their house appears to be Urera baccifera, and the birds are wild for the tiny, pale pink fruits that began to appear on it in late October. Among the species we have seen feeding on these fruits are Tawny-capped and Fulvous-vented Euphonia, Blue-gray Tanager, Palm Tanager, Plain-colored Tanager, Emerald Tanager, Speckled Tanager, Golden-hooded Tanager, Bay-headed Tanager, Crimson-backed Tanager, Summer Tanager, Hepatic Tanager, Clay-colored Thrush, Red-legged Honeycreeper and Green Honeycreeper.

Jan Axel's blog mentions an even bigger bonanza of birds that he and some friends saw in the Ortiga and Ortiguillo earlier this month, and he captured some great shots of many of them.

Marco concentrated his video efforts (see below) on just one bird for this blog post - the female Yellow-eared Toucanet (Selenidera spectabilis.) As Jan Axel observed, she was not even a little bit shy. She was "confiding", as birders like to say about birds that allow prolonged observation from very nearby. We were enthralled watching her meticulously and delicately pick the small fruits off the Ortiga with her sizable bill.

Pointy-headed Sprite

2010-11-25T20:41:00.000-05:00

Violet-headed Hummingbird

Another post featuring a hummingbird - this time, just one hummer. A Violet-headed Hummingbird (Klais guimeti) has set up shop in the yard of our friends Rosabel and Carl. While we were there, it was feeding exclusively at the flowers of several low-growing Verbena bushes. We were completely won over by the little fellow - who wouldn't be?! Marco was able to capture great recordings of the vocalizations, as well as nice video showing the short, pointy crest:

Pelagic!

2010-11-21T19:48:00.001-05:00

During another trip to California (the state of, in the U.S.A.), we were fortunate to spend a glorious day at sea with some of our favorite people in the world. The swells were mountainous at times, but far apart, and the wind did not come up until the afternoon. It was a comfortable ride. We motored from the harbor in Bodega Bay, CA toward the Bodega Canyon and to the Cordell Bank. The Cordell Bank is a mountain range beneath the ocean, approximately 25 miles offshore, and it has an abundance of wildlife around and above it. There were seabirds and marine mammals around us from beginning to end - it was the kind of day every true pelagic enthusiast loves. Below is a report of the day, written by our pal Rich Stallcup. Marco had his video-camera at the ready and documented a few salient scenes and species of the trip, including a look at the array of chum available. He was able to shoot some excellent seabird footage in spite of the swells and low light levels. Not all the species on Rich's list are in Marco's video. And be prepared for a long wait to download if you are on a slow connection. (Marco wanted to edit the video down to 3 minutes or so, but I talked him out of it.)

Subject: [NBB] 10/3/10 Cordell Bank trip

GOOD MORNING!Yesterday I accompanied a group of 35 friends and colleagues on apelagic trip to and beyond CORDELL BANK achieving 1000 fathoms.The "weather" started out more promising than any of us (who had beentracking) expected but it did deteriorate the farther and deeper we wentuntil there were towering swells and deep troughs. It was good that theduration between mountainous waves was 13 seconds.The seabirds and marine mammals were most excellent and there was NOlet-up in the action or obvious mal-de mer.Here is the list, conservatively estimated or carefully counted by me.An * means only a few of us were involved. Otherwise, most everyonewas seeing and being inspired and humbled by the majesty of it all.

Black-footed Albatross-11
Northern Fulmar-20
Pink-footed Shearwater-300
Flesh-footed Shearwater-4
Buller's Shearwater-430
Sooty Shearwater-35
Short-tailed Shearwater-5
Wilson's Storm-petrel-1*
Fork-tailed Storm-petrel-1
Leach's Storm-petrel-1
Ashy Storm-petrel-25
Black Storm-petrel-9
Red Phalarope-30
Red-necked Phalarope-8
Pomarine Jaeger-22
Parasitic Jaeger-11
Long-tailed Jaeger-2
South Polar Skua-3
Sabine's Gull -2200 !! (there was one swirling flock flushed by the loud exhalation of a Blue Whale)
Common Tern-2
Arctic Tern-6
Elegant Tern-18
Common Murre-940 (many well offshore)
Pigeon Guillemot-3 (near Bodega Head)
Marbled Murrelet-4 (off Pinnacles Beach)
Cassin's Auklet-20
Rhinoceros Auklet-95
Blue Whale-14
Humpback Whale-12
Gray Whale-1
Meslopodon (sp.?)-1*
Harbor Porpoise-3
Dall's Porpoise-10
Pacific White-sided Dolphin-4
Minke Whale-2*

The only lost migrants were a Long-billed Dowitcher , an after-hatch year "Audubon's" Warbler(identified this morning from Gil's digital photo) and a Wilson's Warbler.
Peace, love and GO GIANTS RICH

Terrace Revisited and Completed

2010-11-16T19:07:00.000-05:00

We've been writing a lot about the terrace for many months now. Getting it built has been a major focus of our lives since mid-July. It has been mostly done for a few weeks now, and as of late last month, only a little painting of foundations, balusters, rails and driveway remains to be done. The rain has thwarted the crew during more than one attempt to complete the painting. Not that it rains buckets every day - but so far, it has rained buckets and barrels on the days they've painted the areas mentioned above, thereby washing away gallons of newly applied paint. So we wait. But meanwhile, we are luxuriating in life on the terrace.

The other night we hosted our contractor, Adam Haney, and his wife Katiana for champagne and dinner.

It was a fun celebration of a job well-done and well-appreciated.

Starring the Starthroat

2010-11-09T09:28:00.000-05:00

We enjoyed seeing at least two Long-billed Starthroats (Heliomaster longirostris) at our feeders a while back (see previous blog post), but the one featured in Marco's video below gets top billing. Maybe he is the now-grown-up male we saw previously. He visited us for four days running (3 through 6 November 2010); the video is from 6 November. We were gone all day the 7th and a good part of the 8th, so we don't know about those days.

Extra points for identifying the other two birds in the video...

Crake in the Mist

2010-11-08T16:31:00.003-05:00

On November 7th we left the house early with our pals Bill & Claudia, headed for Pipeline Road. Coffee in Albrook was our first destination, followed by a short stop the Summit Ponds, and then the Ammo Ponds, where we all enjoyed wonderful views of a White-throated Crake (Laterallus albigularis.) When I first saw it, I thought it was a mouse or other small rodent - all I could see was its back as it moved through the vegetation on a patch of mud at the edge of a puddle in the marsh.

As noted by Ridgely in his always excellent text ("A Guide to the Birds of Panama"), it is "The most numerous small rail in Panama, though it is usually secretive and hard to more than glimpse." We all hear it far more often than we see it, and when we see it, it's usually a rather unsatisfying glimpse. So Marco's video is pleasing, and not the usual crake experience. It was early morning, misty and beginning to rain when we were there.

Tricky Tanager

2010-11-05T18:49:00.000-04:00

The tanager starring in Marco's video (below) has been a regular at the feeders for about three weeks. At first glance it appears to be a Palm Tanager, but the plumage is dull gray with only a few hints of the iridescent olive-green that Palms show. It is more the color of a Plain-colored Tanager, but much larger than a Plain-colored and even a bit larger than a Palm. It shows none of the blue tones of a Blue-gray Tanager. It most frequently comes to the feeders with the Plain-colored Tanagers, but always appears to be a little lost and not really a member of the pack. There are numerous accounts and photos on the web of hybrids between Blue-gray and Palm Tanagers, but all the photos of them show blue coloration in the plumage.

This is probably a Palm x Blue-gray hybrid, the obvious choice. But we're not comfortable with that based on what we've seen elsewhere. Particularly, non-phaeomelanin schizochroism under Abnormal Plumages at:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plumage

Happy Halloween !

2010-10-31T18:03:00.000-04:00

Also, on our drive to Portobelo for lunch we saw one witch at the restaurant. And no, she wasn't the waitress!

How It Was Done

2010-10-30T22:00:00.000-04:00

The crew is gone now. I sort of miss them - but it is nice to have the place all to ourselves again, and the birds seem quite excited to be rid of the many disturbances that prevented them from chowing down at the feeders all day long. We are enjoying our new terrace even more than we could have imagined. For the past week, we have been putting things back in place, getting everything set up just as we want it, planting some trees and greenery in the formerly devastated areas of the yard, building a trail, and moving some feeders around. Next month we'll share video of the finished scene. Meanwhile, here is some footage that Marco shot while the crew was pouring the rails on the balusters.

Rufous Motmot Trains Cindy

2010-10-27T21:27:00.000-04:00

A Rufous Motmot frequents the yard and comes quite close where Cindy has been able to throw pieces of banana as a treat. The bird sits quietly, keeps an eye out, and pounces when a morsel is offered. Usually only one bite is sufficient. Cindy is learning fast.

Magnolia Warbler

2010-10-26T21:03:00.000-04:00

On the 2nd of October 2010 we saw this little beauty in the U.S.A. during a visit to Bodega Bay, California. It was so cooperative while the camera was rolling, we decided it deserved its own post.

Pectoral Sandpipers

2010-10-21T11:05:00.000-04:00

During fall migration, Panama is treated to thousands, or more probably millions, of birds traveling on the way to their winter habitats. One of the best represented groups of travelers is shorebirds.

A local construction site for a residential/golf course development contains a couple of depressions holding shallow water. Which looks like perfect mudflat and there can be flocks of birds proving it. Cindy and I have stopped by a few times and seen individuals of different herons and sandpipers. The video shows a good sampling of those we've seen including two confiding Pectoral Sandpipers.

Hungry Sloth

2010-10-13T07:05:00.000-04:00

The day before we left Panama for a visit with friends in California, our Cerro Azul friends Bill and Claudia stopped by the casita to wish us safe and happy travels. As we stood on the terrace chatting, Claudia casually said, "You have a sloth." Sure enough - a Three-toed Sloth was in the Higueron tree not more than 10 feet from the terrace, hungrily munching on the fresh, new leaves. Marco's video shows what a cute and cuddly animal this is (if you don't mind the algae growing on and the bugs in its fur.)

Sit Sightings

2010-10-11T20:25:00.001-04:00

On Sunday, October 10, 2010, we participated for our first time in The Big Sit.

It turned out to be a pretty good day to stay home and watch the activity in the yard. We had a strong start (Canada Warbler, Blue-winged Warbler, Golden-winged Warbler and Bay-breasted Warbler!), slowed during the morning, and languished throughout the afternoon. Although it could hardly be considered bad, the weather was not cooperative for high bird activity. It started with rain, continued with overcast, clouds, fog, and a few more rain showers through the day. We did have occasional patches of blue sky and several periods consisting of a few minutes of sun.

But we had a good time - this is the first full day we have ever stayed home and done nothing but keep an eye on the wildlife activity in the yard. So many chores and projects beckon during the usual day at the casita.

Marco shot video to document some of our sightings:

In order:

Crimson-backed Tanager

Baltimore Oriole (we had seven of them with us all day)

Palm Tanager

Blue-gray Tanager

Thick-billed Euphonia

Cocoa Woodcreeper

Clay-colored Thrush

Black-cheeked Woodpecker

Rufous Motmot

Bananaquit

Hepatic Tanager (it's Psycho Daddy!)

Summer Tanager

White-tipped Dove

Blue-chested Hummingbird

Tennessee Warbler

Rufous-tailed Hummingbird

Lineated Woodpecker (notice how he has to continuously renew his grip on the slick Cecropia trunk)

White-necked Jacobin

Who's Your Psycho Daddy?

2010-09-15T21:08:00.000-04:00

He's not our Psycho Daddy, but we have one in our yard. He's a Hepatic Tanager who earned his nickname by attacking his own evil image wherever he could find it "in" our house. This all began in May with his attacks on the mirror we put up over the outdoor laundry sink. We covered the mirror. So he went to the front windows. We tried opening the sheer curtains, closing the sheer curtains, but of course neither strategy worked. It was the reflection on the outside of the window where he could still see that bad guy. Unsightly as it was, we taped a black plastic garbage bag over the outside of the window. (Can anybody tell me why not a single one of our visitors ever asked us why we had a garbage bag taped over our front window?) He went to the other front window, but I didn't care so much if he bashed his head against that one, since he was no longer perching on and soiling terrace furniture nor making a mess on the terrace floor. After a few weeks, we noticed a chick following him and his mate around at the banana feeders. We took the garbage bag down - he seemed cool, so we took the covering off the mirror. All was calm for a couple of weeks, but then he resumed his efforts with gusto: come in for a snack at the feeders, go to the laundry sink and perch there in between fluttering jumps a couple of feet up to the mirror, peck the hell out of his reflection, have a few more bites of bananas, go to the front window and mount another assault.

He had his routine and so did we. We covered the mirror and window for a second and then a third time and waited for him and his mate to raise another chick, which they did. We uncovered things during the calm periods. There has been a lot of construction activity on the front and side terrace lately, and now there is a roof over the side terrace where the laundry sink is located. We wondered if he would be intimidated by the new structure, but we need not have worried. He continues to feel completely at home here, roof or no roof, and has found opportunities for occasional attacks between disruptions by the crew.

To his credit (and with the help of his level-headed and hard-working mate; she's the one who usually feeds the begging chicks, although we have seen P. Daddy pitch in occasionally) he has been a highly successful father over the past 4 months. And he has kept all other male Hepatic intruders out of the yard. But he just can't seem to get rid of the one who lives inside the house.

If you would like to see the well-honed technique, here is Marco's footage of P. Daddy in action. Note that only a corner of the mirror is exposed, but that's all he needs.

Tino Sanchez: Bird Guide & Bird Artist Extraordinaire

2010-09-10T02:35:00.000-04:00

Paintings by Tino Sanchez

While we were at the Canopy Lodge, we were fortunate to be guided on two of the mornings by Tino Sanchez.

We have known Tino since August of 2009. We were initially impressed by his knowledge and abilities with the birds, but now there's more. He is also a talented artist. He gave us a look at some of his work, and we think he should have a gallery of his own. Most of what we saw was bird art. He uses watercolors, then finishes with colored pencils.

Some of his paintings are displayed in the common area of the Lodge, and he created the Tody Motmot image on the t-shirts sold there. Next time you are at the Lodge, ask to see his work - you will be glad you did. Or, you can contact him through the general e-mail address at the Canopy Lodge.

Protection for the Hilux

2010-09-09T02:48:00.000-04:00

Truckport

The truckport has a roof! It's not completed yet, but it provides shelter from the rain. It's a lot more than we expected, unlike the terrace roof, which is exactly as we envisioned. Adam, the contractor, decided to make the truckport with the same type of peaked roof as on the casita. It has style and we like it. It also has mucho headroom.

Raising the Roof

2010-09-07T02:36:00.000-04:00

Side Terrace

When the crew put the first sheets of zinc roofing on the side terrace, their timing could not have been more perfect - they screwed them in at the end of their workday, just as a moderate rain began to fall. It was heaven to walk out from the kitchen during a steady rain and not get drenched. This is what we've been waiting for!

Underside with carriolas

Another Canopy Lodge Adventure

2010-09-06T15:00:00.000-04:00

Canopy Lodge

While returning home from Costa Rica, we decided to treat ourselves to three nights at the Canopy Lodge.

It was our third stay at this marvelous establishment. Our first visit was in December 2008, the second was in late August 2009. Each visit is different in some ways, such as meeting and going out with a new (to us) guide, seeing some different birds even if it is about the same time of year, and experiencing the always-variable weather. But one thing is exactly the same every time - the continuing excellence throughout the operation. From the talents of the guides to the unobtrusive attentiveness of everybody on the staff to the delicious and beautifully-presented food and well-appointed rooms, the Lodge is a class act.

The first morning we went into the field with guide Tino Sanchez. We met Tino last year, and he's better than ever. First he took us on a walk along the road outside the Lodge gate, where some of the highlights were a cute male Green Thorntail, a molting Violet-crowned Woodnymph, and a Sepia-capped Flycatcher. Then we walked up above the Canopy Adventure, where we found two cooperative Tody Motmots; we heard two others nearby. We also enjoyed great cooperation from a Scaly-breasted Wren, not a common occurrence.

In the afternoon we went out with Danilo Rodriguez, a pal since 2008 and another superb guide. Danilo has been associated with Raul since the Lodge's inception. The weather was soupy, but we walked around enjoying the tropical clime, renewing our friendship with Danilo, and seeing some birds, including a soggy Tropical Screech-Owl and a drippy Ruddy Quail-Dove on a nest.

The following day, we went out with Eliacer, Danilo's younger brother. It was our first time in the field with him and a complete pleasure - he is another of the impressively talented guides at the Lodge. Like Tino and Danilo, he recognizes all the calls and songs of the local birds and can imitate them perfectly. In the morning we went up to La Mesa and found a Black-headed Saltator as well as the beginning of what turned out to be quite a bonanza of Blue-throated Toucanets. Throughout the day, we continued to see more toucanets at several locations, with a final total of 8, all at close range for careful observation and enjoyment. Mid-afternoon we walked a trail partway up one flank of Cerro Gaital. Near the start, we encountered a Green-crowned Brilliant, another lifer for us. But the "best" bird of the trip was yet to come. By about 4:30 PM, we had been walking for over an hour in drizzle and rain, with not very much light in the sky - conditions were challenging. We admit to wondering why Eliacer had kept going up the mountain. Then he spotted something moving in the trail ahead. We slowly crept up on it, and discovered that it was a Scaled Antpitta! Eliacer, a little breathless from the excitement of such a find, deemed it a Rad Bird, which we took to mean it's a kick-ass bird. Marco is not pleased with the video he shot, but considering the conditions, I think it will do just fine:

After descending Cerro Gaital to the vehicle, we made one last stop before returning to the Lodge for cocktails and a hot meal. On the first morning of our visit, Tino had told us about a night roost of a White-tipped Sicklebill. Eliacer took us to the spot, below the El Macho waterfall, and Marco spotted the little bird sitting on a twig just a few feet in front of us. It was a very satisfying way to end a great day of birding.

On our final morning, Tino took us out again, to a nice trail along a watercress "farm" in a rushing creek. Tino found some White-thighed Swallows for our life list, we watched a family of Long-tailed Tyrants, and enjoyed the many other birds and butterflies, themselves out enjoying the sunny morning.

Sparrow Lovers Listen Up!

2010-09-02T02:30:00.000-04:00

During our visit at the Canopy Lodge last month, Marco was fortunate to have an extended connection with a Black-striped Sparrow (Arremonops conirostris.) I convinced him that this fellow was worthy of a blog post all his own.

Sparrows are difficult to come by down here. Near our former home in California (U.S.A.), we had many species and big mixed flocks of them to sort through in the winter. Here, although we have a number of finches, grassquits, seedeaters, seed-finches, and brush-finches, the field guide lists only seven birds with the word "Sparrow" in their names. Two of those are accidental and one is casual. The Black-striped Sparrow is the only one we regularly see.

As is so often the case, Robert Ridgely's appreciation for the avifauna shines through in his species account of this sparrow: "Though not brightly colored, this neat dapper bird can be easily recognized by its black-striped gray head with contrasting olive back." (A Guide to the Birds of Panama by Ridgely & Gwynn)

Marco let the camera roll for an extended take and that is what we see here: one shot that allows us to delve into the simple vocalization and hear how it changes in time. With three notes, the Black-striped Sparrow varies the song and does morph into the phrase that sounds like a "bouncing ball."

The inspiration for this example comes from Music of Nature, a site chanced upon while surfing the internet. This is a nature-driven presentation from the real world, not a fast-cut hyper narrative to fill the minutes until the next titillating exploitation.

Enjoy the music for both eyes and ears:

Boa with a Bird Habit

2010-08-31T13:03:00.001-04:00

It has happened for the third time in less than two months. On Saturday, August 28, we spotted a Boa constrictor in the process of swallowing a bird. As always, we were alerted to the incident by a bird - not the bird who was caught, but by one of our local Hepatic Tanagers. He really lets loose with the audio when this happens, and I noticed that he was going full strength as I was rinsing the breakfast dishes. When I finished, he was still scolding excitedly, along with approximately 40 other birds perched and hovering near the scene. They were agitated, flitty and chipping incessantly.

We grabbed our bins and scanned the branches in the area where the birds were directing their attention, and sure enough, there was the Boa constrictor, his jaws clenched around the neck area of a bird; the head, tail, and body were still to be swallowed but were all neatly wrapped in the coils of the serpent. Every so often, a hummer would dive at the Boa. We set up the scope for a bigger view, and invited the guys on the crew to have a look. They expressed great interest in it, and one of them (Eugenio) was the first to put a name to the victim - Azulejo, the local name for Blue-gray Tanager. We left the scope trained on the serpent, and throughout the day each of the four guys returned to the scope several times to check the Boa's progress, which was understandably slow with a bird of this size.

I am about to publish this post on the afternoon of Tuesday, August 31, and the Boa has moved only a few feet since the big meal - up one branch and out a little farther from the trunk. It still looks notably lumpy.

When a similar incident happened last week, the victim was a White-vented Plumeleteer. He had been a steady customer at our feeders, and we have not seen another of this species in the yard since.

We are convinced that we have two Boas coming to our snake-feeder. One is medium-sized and has taken a Crimson-backed Tanager (on July 9th) and the Blue-gray Tanager. The one who took the Plumeleteer was a smaller individual.

Speaking of snake-feeders, we also have a cute Common Cane Rat coming to the seed that Marco throws out for the seedeaters, grassquits, doves and squirrels. Marco predicts that one of the big Racers we saw will make short work of it.

Marco's video shows one of the repositioning sequences.

The Carriolas Effect

2010-08-30T08:07:00.001-04:00

David lifting carriola in front of carport

Things feel like they are moving faster now on our project. It's actually two projects - the terraces (side & back) and the truckport. Holes had to be dug, blocks & rebar placed, floors & driveway & steps poured, columns built. The crew (Oscar, Mauro, Eugenio and Alquilino started the project, then after about 3 weeks, Alquilino disappeared and was replaced by David) is so hard-working and reliable we can hardly believe it. Still, it took several weeks for all the prep to be done.

View from carport

In Marco's shots, you can see the columns already standing, and the crew lifting the beams (called carriolas) up and welding (that's Oscar) them in place.

White dress shirt required for welding!

And there is still much to do - put on the roof, pour the ramps, apply an outer layer of cement to smooth the columns and foundations (called parging), install the balusters and make the railing across them, finish the half-bath, paint everything, install the lights, lay the tiles. What have I forgotten?

El Cantar Trail

2010-08-28T16:30:00.014-04:00

El Cantar Trail

This week we took a morning walk on the El Cantar trail. As usual, it wasn't particularly birdy, but we really like the forest there. It is thick and overgrown and tropical, full of bromeliads and palms and other plants that seem exotic to us. Our best sightings were a group of very cute fledgling Scale-crested Pygmy-Tyrants (they were too close for video), and an active family of Red-throated Ant-Tanagers. Marco got some nice video of one of the fledglings as it snapped up and ate a few flies, completely without parental assistance.

El Cantar Trail

This was also a day when we noticed tens of thousands of migrating dragonflies overhead. In Marco's video below, the stunningly beautiful Emerald Tanager is from another day on the Xenornis trail. We think the first butterfly is a Diasia Clearwing (Ithomia diasia.) The second butterfly is commonly called a Banded Peacock (Anartia fatima.)

Park Limit

2010-08-27T09:03:00.000-04:00

One morning last week as we were driving down to town, I noticed something odd about one of the "Parque" signs alongside the road. We were traveling too fast for me to be sure what it was, but some sort of dark mass appeared to have grown across most of the sign since we were last by it. I suspected insects or fungus, so I vowed to try to remember to look for the sign on our way back.

Fortunately, I remembered to look for the sign that afternoon, and the mass was still across the sign, so Marco stopped in the road so we could have a look through bins. We decided it was a congregation of termites, but we can't figure out what they were doing there or why they chose the sign for the activity. They were also teeming all over some vegetation beneath the sign. We wondered if they were eating something, but could not determine either way. So there is nothing illuminating in this post, only an observation of a curious sight.

Pure Enjoyment

2010-08-20T16:13:00.000-04:00

A few days ago when we had yet another huge rainstorm (it's that time of year), and it had been pouring for about an hour, I glanced outside to see four hummingbirds sitting on the wires near the feeders. When I looked through bins, I could see that they (all Rufous-tailed Hummingbirds) were taking long, luxurious showers. It was extremely cute - Marco's video gives you the picture:

Wilson Botanical Garden

2010-08-19T10:00:00.000-04:00

Since we had to leave Panama for a few days because of our tourist status, we decided to spend two days at the Wilson Botanical Garden near San Vito, Costa Rica. Robert and Catherine Wilson collected tropical plants from the world over (after a failed attempt to get their tropical plant export business off the ground), and their Garden is heaven for anyone who is tropical plant-enthused. My head was nearly spinning as we walked around there - although I tried, it was impossible to take it all in, plus keep birding, look at the butterflies, and avoid tripping over the baby Agoutis. Palms, cycads, cacti, bromeliads, gingers, begonias, orchids - it was total overload. I've been doing some landscaping in our yard, and I wanted to take one of each from this magnificent Garden home with me. But I knew Customs would not approve.

One field trip within the grounds was included as part of the price of the room. Our guide was an impressive young woman named Ariadna (again, sorry - we did not get her last name.) We asked if she had a special area of interest, and she said she considers herself a generalist. She really knows her stuff - she can identify all the birds by sight and sound, give short (and probably long - there wasn't time) interesting talks on biodiversity, the history of the Wilsons and their Garden, she knows the trees and other plants, what the Agoutis like to eat, she explained the losses incurred when a rainforest tree is felled (it's a whole universe up there, not just a hunk of timber), and additionally, she is a fun, energetic, positive, interesting human being.

Here is a slide show of a few plants that Marco shot:

Las Mariposas

2010-08-16T15:45:00.011-04:00

Confused Amberwing (Methona confusa)
Photo copyright Scott Hein

We know the names of a few butterflies back in the U.S. of A., but did not make much of a study of these attractive and fascinating creatures. Here in the Republic of Panama, we have seen so many flying about lately that we feel compelled to make a serious effort to learn at least some of the common ones. There is no field guide to the butterflies of Panama or for this area of Central America, although Kim Garwood and Richard Lehman are currently working on a two-volume set, "Butterflies of Central America" - we can hardly wait! So we are using the two-volume set, "The Butterfles of Costa Rica", by Philip J. DeVries. We hear that both volumes are out of print and somewhat to very difficult to obtain. We were fortunate to procure a copy of Volume 1 through our friend Janet, who volunteers at the PRBO (Point Reyes Bird Observatory) library. While on a recent visit to Costa Rica, we bought Volume 2 of the DeVries at the Wilson Botanical Garden bookstore. Now we are running out of excuses for complete ignorance.

During our stay at the Wilson, we took a couple of baby steps toward butterfly ID. One of the other guests was a scientist named Chris (sorry - did not get his last name) who was conducting a study to determine what plants are pollinated by butterflies. He theorizes that there may not be that many, if we understood correctly. And two of the other guests (Nancy Gallaugher and Larry Simkins, from Gilbert, Arizona) were serious and well-versed butterfliers, as well as experienced birders.

One morning we heard Larry shouting for Nancy to bring the camera. He was standing in the street in front of our room looking at a male Blue-frosted Banner (Catonephele numilia), known also as a Stoplight Catone in the Glassberg "A Swift Guide to the Butterflies of Mexico and Central America", the book Larry was carrying. We ran out to have a look, and Marco got some good footage of this beautiful butterfly.

After the Costa Rica adventure, we stayed 3 nights at the Canopy Lodge (more blog posts on that forthcoming), where Tino Sanchez, one of their excellent guides, helped us take a few more butterfly ID baby steps. He also found a few lifers and many old friends for our bird list.

Below are the butterflies caught on video by Marco; first is the one at the Wilson, followed by those in El Valle near the Canopy Lodge.

We believe the IDs are:1- Blue-frosted Banner or Stoplight Catone (Catonephele numilia)2- Zebra Longwing (Heliconius charitonius)3- Clara's Crescent (Eresia clara)4- Sisamnus Dartwhite (Catasticta sisamnus)5- Ardys Crescent (Anthanassa ardys)6- Three-banded Crescent (Eresia eutropia)7- Sara Longwing (Heliconius sara)
Help us out if you know these things and have some better ideas!

Pot-bellied Potoo

2010-08-02T10:45:00.009-04:00

Panama Audubon tours Parque Metropolitano

Common Potoo & chick

Yesterday morning, we joined a small group from Panama Audubon for a short field trip in Metropolitan Park in Panama City. A stake-out Common Potoo has been there, roosting in the same area for weeks, so of course we stopped to say hello. Marco commented on the pot-bellied appearance of the bird, so I took another look at it. I quickly realized that this was not a pot belly at all - it was a fuzzy baby! Marco got a shot through bins with the Flip camera. The mom potoo looks a bit ragged, the result of keeping the little one warm and dry through a night and morning of rain, but everyone was quite charmed by the fluffy chick.

Projects

2010-07-30T21:15:00.000-04:00

Mostly hand labor with a few power tools

Projects - it seems that everyone in Panama has them. I'm referring to construction projects. No matter where you walk, ride or drive, you see evidence of projects.

On-going project...for weeks

Bags of cement, stacks of concrete blocks, piles of rocks and gravel, mounds of sand, boxes of tiles, bundles of rebar, pallets of bricks - materials are stacked in the yards of such a high percentage of houses and condos that you'd think nobody has a finished residence to live in. Trucks filled with sand and dirt, trucks with cement mixers mixing as they roar down the highway, flatbeds full of lumber and steel and roofing materials - they're delivering in every neighborhood of the city and in the countryside. The number of vendors of construction materials is staggering. We see everything from small specialized stores selling only paint or hardware, to large warehouse-type stores that have everything you might need to build and outfit the house, from when you first stick a shovel in the ground to when you are ready to cook your first meal and serve it on a perfectly set table.

Just a small project

Maybe it's the low cost of manual labor. Maybe it's the tropical climate (heat, humidity, bugs, frequent torrential rainstorms, mold & mildew) taking a toll - when you finish one project, you discover another one that needs to be done.

Many want a view

Whatever the reasons for other projects, the reasons for ours include expanding our living space with a covered terrace along two more sides of the house, and a carport (known as a garage in this part of the world.)

Red-crowned Fledgling

2010-07-24T06:43:00.000-04:00

The "baby woody" that we wrote about fledged a few days after we made that post. We continue to see this young Red-crowned Woodpecker follow its parents around the yard, churring as it begs to be fed. Yesterday I saw the youngster peck a few flakes of bark off a nearby pine tree while it waited for another food delivery. Marco shot some footage of the kid:

Pre-Construction Destruction

2010-07-18T20:27:00.000-04:00

Earlier this month we received our permit from ANAM to cut down the four pine trees that stood in the way of our future terrace. A few days after that, during a very heavy rain storm, our contractor arrived with a chainsaw and a two-man crew. Two men and one chainsaw made short work of the four trees. All the trees fell where they were meant to fall, without landing on the house or any of the flowers and bushes we have planted.

The yard looks a lot different now. Marco had to re-string several lines and wires for birdfeeders. This is, of course, only the beginning. Once the construction commences, chaos will reign for a few weeks. We hope it does not drag out to more than a few.

Must Be the Season of the Snake

2010-07-16T13:36:00.000-04:00

Last Friday morning we were readying ourselves to head down the hill and run a bunch of errands in town. At about 8:30 we heard a big ruckus across the creek, in what we call the "wild section" - it's a hillside on the east side of our property, a little finger of the Chagres National Park extending into the development, with many native trees and the creek at the bottom. Some of the native trees there are usually either blooming or fruiting, attracting quite an interesting variety of wildlife. On this particular morning, approximately 25 birds were chipping and scolding in one area of the wild section, very agitated by something. It took a few minutes, but Marco finally espied a serpent (our third for the week!) that had captured a bird. It was immediately apparent that the serpent was a Boa constrictor, since it had the recognizable pattern on its back and had coiled itself around its prey, slowly tightening its grip. At first we thought the bird was a large one, and since it was in a rather unusual posture in the "clutches" of the snake, we had a little trouble with the ID. It turned out that the boa was rather small, and the bird wasn't so big after all - it was a member of the Crimson-backed Tanager family that had been partaking at our feeders. One of the chicks that had fledged about 10 days prior was now breakfast for a boa.

Marco set up his camera and captured some interesting footage of the boa as it slowly suffocated the young tanager and continued the process of constriction, repositioning, and swallowing.

Our departure was delayed by over an hour, but you just can't walk away from experiences like this.

Another Beautiful Serpent

2010-07-13T08:38:00.004-04:00

One recent afternoon I went outside to shoo the Psycho Tanager off the front terrace (long story, but we have a Hepatic Tanager who attacks his own evil image in our windows, and we cannot persuade him to stop without completely covering the windows, but we're not willing to live in the dark, etc.) When I turned on my heel to come back inside, I noticed out of the corner of my eye that something was different about the foliage in front of the living room window. A black and yellow snake, approximately 4 to 4.5 feet in length, was draped about 4 feet off the ground, suspended between two bushes. Marco was out on an errand and had taken the little Flip camera with him. (I called him to confirm this when I was unable to find the camera.) He said the "real" camera (his video camera) was here, so I fumbled around with it and the tripod and got a bit of footage before Marco roared up in the truck. (Most of the footage in the video below is Marco's.)

We think it is a Yellow-bellied Racer (Liophis epinephelus.) It was a lot slower and calmer than the Salmon-bellied Racer we saw a few days before. This snake allowed me to place the tripod within 2 feet of it - it did not even flinch, let alone make any threatening moves toward me. Like the Salmon-bellied, this one went around the side of the house and raised up in an attempt to climb into the planter box. Unlike the other snake, this one seemed interested in going inside the house. First it raised up and looked intently through the living room window (behind the bushes where I initially found it.) It did this a couple of times. Then it continued onto the front terrace and toward the front door. I am certain it would have entered the house if I had not closed the door.

Until we saw the Salmon-bellied and this Yellow-bellied Racer, I did not think a lot about snakes. Marco says he maintains a level of alertness for them whenever he's working in the yard. I know we're in the tropics and they're around. But now, having these two appear so close to the casita, I have become more watchful. Even in the house I find myself looking in corners and checking beneath furniture. Life will never be the same, or at least not until a few weeks pass without seeing a serpent.

Baby Woody

2010-07-12T06:30:00.000-04:00

A pair of Red-crowned Woodpeckers built a nest in a Cecropia tree in our yard. We've been hearing a lot of churring coming from it for over a week, and just in the last few days we have been able to see a little head peeking out. We wondered if a steady diet of ripe bananas would stunt the chick's growth, since both parents spend a lot of time helping the tanagers, euphonias and honeycreepers empty the banana feeders. Upon closer observation, we discovered that the parents are making frequent deliveries of high-protein snacks such as insects and other invertebrates.

Our Only Endemic in the Yard - So Far

2010-07-10T16:30:00.001-04:00

This is only the 4th time that we have seen a Stripe-cheeked Woodpecker in our yard. We haven't seen one here (or anywhere else) since January 2010, and this was the most cooperative one yet. I was outside reloading the banana feeders when I spotted it - Marco was inside on the phone conducting some business, and I whispered through the window screen that this beautiful endemic was back. We were both amazed when it returned a few minutes later, after the phone call was completed, and Marco was able to get this excellent video:

The Cutest Thing Yet

2010-07-08T08:00:00.001-04:00

Last week when we arrived home from a dinner party at about 10:30 PM, I noticed that something had made a small mess on the tiles of the front terrace. I looked up, and hanging from the wall near the ceiling of the terrace, its tiny claws hooked onto a peeling shard of paint, was a cute little bat. With white stripes on the face, a short but not "puggy" snout, medium-sized rounded ears and large dark eyes, it was beyond attractive - it was endearing and totally adorable. Marco shot some video of it, and about a half hour later when we checked to see if it was still there, it was gone.

The next morning, as soon as I got out of bed, I checked to see if it had returned, and it was there with another one. Marco got daytime video of them. We're pretty sure it was a mother and her offspring. One was smaller and had slightly darker-colored fur than the other. The day turned out to be drizzly & rainy, windy and notably cooler than usual. Several times, we saw the smaller bat huddled right next to the larger one, and a couple times, the little one was perched in the middle of the larger one's back. The little one slept a lot throughout the day, but I could never catch the larger one sleeping. She always had her big eyes open and watching me when I went to check - I could not sneak up on them. I felt guilty for making noise, and kept tiptoeing around, trying my best not to disturb their rest. But my efforts were probably wasted, since the bats chose a roosting spot directly below a nest of noisy House Wrens. (The zinc roof separated them.) The young wrens were fed by their industrious parents numerous times throughout that day, each time making a high-volume fuss. Despite the rambunctious wrens, the two Salvin's Big-eyed Bats (Chiroderma salvini) spent the day roosting there. (Although I've been referring to them as "little bats" throughout this post, the field guide describes them as large. My extremely limited experience with bats is apparent.) They departed sometime after darkness fell, and we have not seen them since.

Crowd Pleasers

2010-07-07T10:28:00.000-04:00

Herewith is a video compilation of a few birds we saw last week in Los Altos de Cerro Azul during a couple of short (2-3 hours each) excursions not far from the casita. We think they are all crowd pleasers even though some are quite common here and we see them most times when we go into the field for half a day or more (Chestnut-mandibled Toucan, Red-capped Manakin & Rufous Motmot.) The Yellow-eared Toucanet and Brown-hooded Parrots are less common and always a happy surprise when we come across them. Also included is a scenic waterfall, one of several up here.

Pipeline Road & Metropolitan Park

2010-07-02T21:26:00.007-04:00

Our pal Oscar Johnson from Santa Barbara CA was in Panama a few days ago, so we took a little time off from household chores and went birding with him and his friend Ayla Reith, who currently lives and works in Panama City.

The first day we went to Pipeline Road and the Ammo Ponds. Highlights captured by Marco included Mantled Howler Monkeys, Black-breasted Puffbird, Spotted Antbird, a baby Green Iguana, Northern Tamandua (Tamandua mexicana), Rufous Motmot, Rufescent Tiger-Heron, Greater Ani and Anhinga.

The next day we went to Parque Metropolitano in Panama City. Marco's video highlights from here include a hummingbird building a nest, a Geoffroy's Tamarin carrying a baby on her back, a Hoffman's Two-toed Sloth and a Rufous Motmot.

Serpent

2010-07-02T18:59:00.011-04:00

The other day when we came home from birding with some friends, we found a serpent curled amongst the pillows of the loveseat on our front terrace. The beautiful creature was glossy black above and orange below, about 4.5 to 5 feet in length. It did not appreciate being disturbed from the comfy lair, and hurried around the side of the house, where it raised about 2/3 of its body up (like a cobra), appearing as though it wanted to get up into a planter box that is about 5 feet off the ground. Marco stepped toward it to get a better shot, it lunged at him, then raced across the lawn toward the cover of a flower bed, and thence down the hill toward the creek. A couple of hours later, it returned, cruised along the side yard, exploring here & there, checking beneath storage shelves at the back of the house, and eventually headed into the vacant lot next to us.

We have no field guides for herps of the region, although a nearby neighbor loaned us his (Reptiles of Central America by Gunther Kohler), and we think it is a Salmon-bellied Racer (Dryadophis melanolomus). The range map does not match, but we suspect a lot remains to be discovered in Panama.

Marco got some excellent video of it:

UPDATE: Marco sent a query to the author, Gunther Kohler, who replied that the scientific name has changed to Mastigodryas melanolomus. It is a Salmon-bellied Racer.

Roof Cleaning

2010-06-27T18:37:00.000-04:00

Marco decided the metal roof needs to be repainted. We want to keep it in top condition to avoid leaks inside. So far, we've had no leaks, and there are no telltale signs that anybody ever had any leaks in this house.

First step is to clean the roof. Arturo's son Darinelo came by early one morning at the end of May and said he was ready to start. Marco drove him to where he could borrow a high-pressure washer. (When the workers show up to work, they almost never have any tools, supplies, equipment. Arturo is an exception - he owns his own whipper.) If Marco doesn't have the appropriate piece of equipment or the worker has not arranged for a place to rent/borrow it, Marco drives partway down the hill to the local Comasa store, a vendor of construction materials, gardening supplies, tools, hardware, limited groceries, beverages, ice cream, bird feeders and so forth - and buys it.

So Darinelo climbed up onto the roof with the high-pressure washer hooked to our garden hose and began the process. It was simple and noisy - just water, no bleach or soap or other cleansers - but it took a few hours. The water coming off was filthy, as you can see in Marco's video.

Darinelo said he will be back to paint after we have 2 days without any rain, and of course the day he returns must also be rain-free. This weather sequence did happen just a couple days after he cleaned the roof, but one of those days fell on a Sunday, and almost none of the workers come up on Sundays. Last week we did have 2 rain-free days, but they were followed by a very rainy day. Maybe in March.

No Bribes, No Fines

2010-06-22T08:05:00.000-04:00

It was a good day. We accomplished a lot of chores with a bit of sightseeing rolled in. But, the most educational time was during a traffic stop at Plaza Cinco de Mayo.

The long story begins weeks ago with me exchanging my wallet for a rubber band to keep credit cards and money in my front pants pocket. No, it begins before that, doing Panama research, reading about the vagaries of life in this country and vowing to not get sucked into bribing people, especially the cops. Flash forward to yesterday as I made an illegal left-hand turn Well, if there was a No Left Turn sign, I didn't see it. Someday, I'll return to the scene of the crime and confirm. (Yes, checking later, there is a sign, seen here at the upper left.)

Just about mid-turn, it did feel a bit awkward sitting there in the middle of the intersection waiting for on-coming traffic to part. The traffic cop felt it was more than a bit awkward. He motioned for me to complete the turn and pull over. He unhurriedly walked up and spoke several paragraphs to which I had to reply, "No comprendo mucho Espanol." Hand gestures and our mutual few words of each other's language prompted me to reach for my California license. I included our residence card for Los Altos de Cerro Azul, wondering if that would buy me anything. When the cards came out of my pocket, he must have seen the bills wrapped around them.

He asked how long we have lived here ("tres meses" - three months) and then asked for my passport. He confirmed our last entry into the country and that we were legal on a tourist visa. Several times he used the word, "multa" and asked if I understood. I didn't. After several moments he motioned for me to get out of the truck. I gave Cindy my money and other cards, then joined two cops at the rear of the vehicle.

The cop then gave me a good talking-to and said "multa", pointing at the ticket book the second cop was holding. Now I got it and asked how much it would cost. He said $100 and I acted faint. Then he added that this was Panama! He wanted to know if I wanted a "multa?" I said no. A minute passed and he said it would be "bueno" if I gave him $20 then and there. It was tempting. One Andrew Jackson in place of 5 wouldn't be a bad trade. But, my puritan naiveté kicked in and I said no thanks, I'll take the ticket.

At that point it got as quiet as it could at the busiest corner of Cinco de Mayo. Then the cop received an "urgent" cell phone call, for which he walked down the street, leaving his young associate holding the ticket book with me. The young cop took a stab at the no-left turn lecture and I was attentive. Meanwhile, the first cop walked further away to I don't know what. After several more incomprehensible Spanish sentences the young officer made a gesture which I took to mean I was free to go. Which I did, with thanks all around and a smile on my face.

The video shows a time compressed trip from the no-left turn sign at Cinco de Mayo to the Novey at Albrook Mall. This was on a Sunday afternoon in light traffic which bears only little resemblance to our original trip and without my infamous left turn.

Not a Crouching Tiger

2010-06-06T16:01:00.001-04:00

This one is a bobbing and weaving tiger. Specifically, it is a Fasciated Tiger-Heron. Our birding pal, Claudia Aherns, called this morning with news of the bird, which they saw along the river on their way down the hill. Cindy and I made a beeline for the car with camera in hand for what would be a life bird.

Cindy found the it at the designated spot and and I started rolling. Standing in the middle of the river, the Fasicated Tiger-Heron was actively hunting prey. One of it's lunges was captured on video and you can see it swallowing several times.

I certainly enjoyed seeing it walk and hop among the rocks in the Rio Jefe. It only used it's wings to actively fly, so it must have very nimble ankles to make such long jumps.

The Devil's Artwork

2010-06-03T21:30:00.000-04:00

We've already mentioned the Diablo Rojos - the refurbished school buses from the U.S.A. that have been re-purposed as public transportation here in Panama. Soon (so they say) they will be a thing of the past, since the implementation of the Metro Bus system is now underway. No longer will these colorful (and in many cases, very poorly maintained and unsafe) old vehicles be roaring up and down the streets and byways, belching clouds of diesel smoke, cutting off anyone in their path.

We thought it was worthwhile to get some shots of the creatively decorated exteriors of the Diablos.

My favorites are the ones with shark fins or wings on the top and plenty of lights around the license plate frames and on the grills.

Our friend Jorge noted during his visit that cartoon characters seem to have made quite an impression on the driver/owners. True, it's rare to see a Diablo without at least one cartoon character painted on the back or side.

Pop singers (almost none of whom we've heard of) are another popular theme.

Political figures (none that we've noticed are current office-holders) are perennial favorites . . .

. . . as are religious themes.

And family members (presumably) of the driver/owners are popular as well.

We'll miss the street artistry of the Diablo Rojos when they're gone - but not the spewing Devil Fumes.

Ebanisteria Enrique, S.A.

2010-05-23T20:01:00.000-04:00

Enrique, the master furniture maker introduced to us by our friend Carlos Bethancourt of the Canopy Tower, delivered our new bookcase a few days ago. This beautiful one-of-a-kind corner unit bookcase appears to be built-in and we are very pleased with the results. We are surprised at how many books we managed to haul down here, and also at how nearly full the shelves are. (We have a lot more books besides the ones in this bookcase.) Perhaps we should order another one.

Rufous-crested Coquette

2010-05-21T21:15:00.000-04:00

Yesterday afternoon, our friends Bill and Claudia alerted us to the presence of a male Rufous-crested Coquette (Lophornis delattrei) foraging in their yard. It was toward the end of the day and Marco's cellphone was misbehaving as it often does, so we did not receive the message in time to rush over to their house before dark. They were kind enough to phone us this afternoon when a female of the species showed up. We were just about to head out on an errand, so the errand got delayed and we drove directly to their house. After about 10 minutes, the little gal made her first of several appearances during the 90-or-so minutes we stayed. She returned each time to a verbena bush and methodically worked her way around each little cluster of flowers. When the local Rufous-tailed Hummingbirds tried to chase her off, she held her ground, usually turning to face them down, and promptly returned to finish her feeding session at the verbena. Marco got some nice video of her:

Short Vacation in California

2010-05-18T23:20:00.000-04:00

We spent a mid-May week in California, U.S.A. The trip fulfilled our every-90-days departure from Panama to renew our tourist visas and allowed us to pick up more of our stuff and bring it back to Panama, we took care of a little business in San Francisco, and best of all, we got to see some of our California pals. Friends in Kensington and Occidental hosted us in their homes, and we also reconnected with many other friends there and in Marin County. It was a great trip!

While in Kensington we took a late morning walk with our friend Jorge on an East Bay Municipal Utilities District property, where we heard the rich and glorious spring birdsong typical of this mixed redwoods & oak woodland with grasslands along the edge.

It was quite a treat for us to recognize each bird sound and song we heard and to know by name nearly all the trees, flowers and bushes we saw. (This is unfortunately not the case in Panama - we are at the bottom end of the learning curve on our home turf.) We enjoyed listening to Warbling Vireos, Wilson's Warblers, Orange-crowned Warblers, Brown Creepers, Acorn Woodpeckers, Red-shouldered Hawks, White-breasted Nuthatches, Ash-throated Flycatchers and all the other species common to the area during the breeding season. How many do you recognize?

We also saw the little beauty in Jorge's photo and Marco's video:

a Ringneck Snake (Diadophus punctatus.)

Photo by George Griffeth

Road Trip! (Chapter 2: Driving the Backroads)

2010-05-06T17:32:00.001-04:00

After visiting the mercado in Penonome and making a few purchases, we drove into the countryside. The elevation is slightly higher, and the verdant terrain is remarkably scenic.

We saw a few cattle ranches, a few farms, a good number of small villages, and a lot of peaceful-looking little habitations with a half-acre to several acres of land surrounding them. Typical for much of Latin America, one must drive slowly and be alert for dogs, chickens, and pedestrians in and alongside the country roads.

Several times (maybe 5) Arturo or Saturnino told Marco to stop and pull over to the side of the road, or pull into a dirt driveway, where one or both of them knew the residents. After exchanging the usual pleasantries, Arturo and Saturnino would walk off into the forest out of sight to harvest a large stalk or two of bananas. David, Marco and I were instructed to look at the pajaros while waiting for them to return.

We picked up a few pedestrians along the way, most of them known to Arturo and Saturnino. We slowed to chat many times at various houses and shops - this adventure was not one that involved rushing. Chatting and exchanging pleasantries at some length seems to be a way of life here - nearly everyone has time for it. Impromptu visits to a friend's house is also standard. They almost always invite you in (at least onto the terrace) to sit down and usually offer beverages and snacks. We have easily adapted to this friendly custom.

Our last stop was at a finca where Saturnino's elderly sister lives with other family members. One of the structures there had a penca, or palm-thatched roof, typical of the Cocle province, we were told by Berta. The thatching is intricate and beautiful as well as functional in offering protection from rain and sun.
After conversation and a short rest beneath the penca, the guys loaded up still more bananas into the back of our truck. These fruits are thick-skinned and squarish in cross section. We wonder if they are plantains, although the plantains sold in the markets are much longer and slimmer. Elia, who is Panamanian and one of our Cerro Azul neighbors, calls them "Chinese Plantains." In any case, the birds love them just as much as bananas (guineos), and they have had an abundant feast this week.

Road Trip! (Chapter 1: Sombrero Quest)

2010-05-05T20:43:00.000-04:00

On May 1st, we drove to Penonome with Arturo, his son David, and Arturo's wife's father Saturnino. Arturo's wife, Marizin, could not join us because she had to work.

Among our goals on this adventure were to see Marizin's sister and a few other family members, to find a sombrero for Marco, to get a bunch of bunches of bananas, to buy some plants for the yard, and just to take a road trip. (We had planned to do this last month, but car troubles delayed things.)

We picked up Arturo and David at 6:00 AM and then scooped up Saturnino about 6:30. A not-so-quick stop (it's a very popular place, even at 7:30 on a Saturday morning) at Quesos Chela (on the west side of Capira) for coffees, colas, Pringles and scrumptious cheese empanadas saw us through to Penonome. Saturnino directed us through the traffic- and pedestrian-choked streets of the village to the mercado. We're not sure if it's typical only of Saturdays, but the joint was totally jumpin'. Everything from pig tails still attached to the rear end of the pig, to local woven crafts, to 50# sacks of red beans, to rooty vegetables that we still don't know the names of - all this and more were available in the bustling mercado. Saturnino walked purposefully through the lower level and upstairs to a hat vendor. Marco tried on several "Panama" hats at the first stall, most of which perched high on his large head. One of the hats fit, but it was scratchy and didn't feel good to him. Arturo bought a new hat at this stall. Then Arturo and Saturnino wandered to another stall, and I noticed that there were more hats there. Marco found the hat of his dreams at this stall, one that fit and was not scratchy. First goal accomplished.

The rest of our day was spent going to several fincas and accomplishing the other goals of the trip. To be continued . . . . .

Panama Audubon

2010-05-03T21:24:00.000-04:00

We joined Panama Audubon in April. An announcement of a shorebirding trip to Costa del Este arrived by e-mail, so we went along for the fun. The tide was very good for mudflat birding, but the highlights were gulls, not shorebirds. A large gull kept us all speculating and discussing through the trip. Later, Darién Montañez consulted Howell & Dunn and concluded it was an immature Kelp Gull. The video was shot through my scope and later stabilized with software. Sharp-eyed viewers will see another rare gull at the end. A Ring-billed Gull is standing on the left.

Passers-by stopped to see what all the fuss was about.

Rosabel Miro, Executive Director of Panama Audubon, was able to keep them thoroughly engaged and motivate the youngsters with views of all the birds.

They really enjoyed the Black Skimmers.

Sudden Change

2010-05-02T21:55:00.000-04:00

Without transition, the rainy season has arrived in a big way. February and early March were wetter than usual, but most of March and almost all of April were breezy, dry and warm. Then on Saturday we had a real rain storm. It did not last long, but it was a lot different than the little spritzes we have gotten lately. Sunday we had another substantial rain (we recorded about 1.5 inches.) Today at about 11 AM we had returned from a hike with our friends Claudia and Bill. The rain began about 11:30 and has kept going for hours. It has rained buckets and barrels - it's impressive. On the plus side, I'm glad we won't have to keep watering some of the plants in the yard. On the not so plus side, now it begins - the season of mud, mildew and mold.

Blue-headed Parrot

2010-04-28T20:58:00.001-04:00

There are 22 species of parrots (psittacidea) in Panama. The Blue-headed is small with a high pitched voice. Cindy and I finally enjoyed excellent views of a couple the other day during a morning walk. Fortunately, the two flew overhead, then landed in a tall tree next to the road. We got extended looks at these birds with their blue heads. These stills are from a video shot through binoculars.

Traffic

2010-04-25T10:55:00.001-04:00

Driving in Panama takes some getting used to. I must be getting it because Cindy called me a Panamanian driver the other day. What? Pulling out in front of oncoming traffic against a red light and sitting in the middle of the intersection so I can get a jump on it when the light turns green makes me Panamanian? I'm just going with the flow. The tempo is a bit different, that's all. You have to know when to go fast and when to slow down.

One time to slow down is after a fender-bender. When an accident occurs the general rule is ‘don’t move your vehicle’. The reason for this is that Panama is a fault country – that is, someone must be declared responsible for the accident. Therefore, until the Transito police arrive, the vehicles involved in the accident must remain in their final positions. If you move your vehicle prior to the Transito’s arrival, you will be deemed responsible for the accident regardless of the facts. It may take several hours for the Transito to arrive on the scene.

Meanwhile, drivers will do any at all to get around an obstruction, including driving on the shoulder. The shoulder is actually a pretty popular lane during commute hours or any other time. Drivers will use it when there is no traffic jam, for a variety of reasons, even if all they think is that you are driving too slowly for them. Others get into the left (fast) lane on the freeway and stay there.

Use of the horn is obligatory. A short toot, is "Hi, how are you?" Several long beeps can show irritation. A long blast is an expletive. Some of the Diablo Rojos have special truck and emergency sirens to help them get through tough spots.

Another usual sight is the "sea of yellow". All taxis must now be painted yellow. There are times during rush hour when it seems that 90% of the cars you see are yellow. It is surprising how many different shades of yellow there are, but even more surprising is the number of chartreuse, green, mustard and other colors of paint are used on the taxis.

Starthroat

2010-04-22T20:06:00.000-04:00

We have nine hummingbird feeders in our yard here in Los Altos de Cerro Azul. One Rufous-tailed Hummingbird thinks he owns all of them. If we keep adding more feeders perhaps there will eventually be so many he can't guard them all.

For the past week or so a Long-billed Starthroat has been making very fast sallies through the yard, occasionally getting enough time to take a drink. We saw one in the yard well over a month ago and a few times since, but the visits were very irregular and our looks at it were never long enough. Two days ago I noticed one of the birds (we think there may be two!) visit at 1 pm; yesterday one came at 1:03 pm. Today I set up the Flip HD camera and let it roll. After about 15 minutes I saw a fast object fly in and the Rufous-tailed chase it off. My hopes were high as I fast-forwarded through the footage. Sure enough; a Long-billed Starthroat had come in to take a drink, but got chased off. The video shows the action at normal speed and then slowed down.

Our birding pals up here, Bill and Claudia Ahrens, added Long-billed Starthroat to their yard list just yesterday.

The Finished Ceiling

2010-04-16T14:52:00.000-04:00

It finally happened - the crew installed the last two fans, cleaned a few grimy fingerprints off the ceiling, and finished the project on Wednesday morning. What was predicted to take "a week or two" ended up taking 34 days from beginning to end not counting the first three days when the project did not even get off the ground due to "the first day of school." That's not an accurate count of actual work days, since it includes Sundays, Good Friday, a delay of about a week when we could not find enough molding for the ceiling corners, several days when nobody showed up at all, a couple days when they had "car trouble" and were either late or did not show up, a few days when the contractor (upon whom the crew often depended for a ride to our place) was ill or had someone else pulling harder at him than we did.

But now it's done and we've put behind us all the delays and frustrations during the process. We really like the finished ceiling - it follows the roof line, so we still have very high vaulted ceilings, the feeling of openness, it's brighter now due to the new white paint, and the fans are a nice addition.

We probably will not often need the fans for cooling, but maybe they will help disperse the humidity during the wet season.

Insects, Arachnids and Other Critters

2010-04-12T12:16:00.000-04:00

While tending to the yard, I have noticed some very large insects. Usually it's a surprise to discover them - they don't fly in or crawl up to where I am working. They were there all along, and I finally realize that they are not a twig or leaf that I was trying to pick up or brush aside, that type of thing. One that Les got video of was a huge and beautiful grasshopper. It appeared in the front garden after some work on the awning.

The insect in the photo with the bananas appeared to be a weevil. It had the typical weevil snout. We called it a Banana Weevil, although it does not look like any of the photos I could find on the web.

Another impressive creature was this Walking Stick. I was pulling pine needles and twigs from a flower bed, and when I tugged at a thick twig, it resisted. I shouted for Les to come out and bring the camera. When I tried to dress up the shot a little by placing the beast on something bright green, his strong grip on the bark prevented me from doing so. Maybe I could have pulled him off the tree, but I was afraid of leaving one or more of his legs behind.

And then there are the furry little things - they look like tiny dust mops, in either reddish brown or gray. The fur appears to be quite long. We guess they are a type of caterpillar, but we don't know. If anybody out there does, fill us in, please! We saw these furry things only one day, when there were several around, and we have seen none since.

More Than a Gardener

2010-04-06T22:06:00.000-04:00

Arturo, the gardener I wrote so glowingly about, abandoned us for a few weeks last month. It turns out that he has been working 6 days per week on Casa Piedra, the rock/stone house. Casa Piedra is one that we looked at before settling on Casita Naranja. Somebody bought Casa Piedra and has poured mucho buckos into it - they practically gutted the interior and have refinished it with beautiful hardwood, extended the terraces and the kitchen, built a guest house, put on a new roof, added a new driveway and covered carport, shored up the balcony, built a new fence, and will soon landscape the double lot. Arturo has helped the new owners with the fence, cement work, roof, and I don't know what all else.

Les was driving by one day and spotted Arturo in the yard of Casa Piedra. Arturo said he would stop by on Sunday of that week, his only day off. He did come by, explained about the phones not working up there and how he didn't have much time for anything else, but he did some gardening for us later that week, and then offered to fix the sagging awning over one of our front windows. (You might have noticed it if you have seen photos or video of our house - it even had a flower growing out of it.) It has been falling off since before we first saw the casita, and Les had braced it up with a tree trunk and a board so it wouldn't crash to the ground.

So last week, Les picked up Arturo, his son Alexis, and another helper named Tonio at 3 PM from Casa Piedra. They set to work ripping off the old awning, and then Tonio welded together some beams and they built a frame. The next day they put a roof on the awning and painted it. Looks pretty good!

Ceiling Unfinished

2010-04-04T21:45:00.000-04:00

It is still not done! Nearly a month since they started it, we are still waiting. We expected it to drag on a while, but not this long.

Fortunately, the worst of the dusty, noisy, filthy steps are completed. The daily sweeping up and wiping up of huge amounts of cement dust and grit was a trial, and it's good to be past at least that part of the process.

We had to wait quite a long time for the contractor to find enough of the trim strips (they cover the seams where the cement boards meet each other and the walls) for the whole ceiling. But finally, on the Saturday before Easter, he found the quantity required.

Now they will be glued in place. It will undoubtedly be another mess to deal with, but at least the glue does not fly through the air and into every nook and cranny and land on every surface including the walls and even drift in through the louvers in the closet doors.

The great news is that the geckos are having serious difficulty making a living in here. That makes me happy! I still hear them chuckling at night, but now I chuckle back instead of cursing aloud at them, since the sounds are not coming from within the house. For a week or two I could still see a couple on the kitchen ceiling, and hear one in the bathroom. I swear they were looking rather skinny during their last days indoors, but now even those individuals are sealed out. I haven't had to clean up after them for quite a few days.

Footage of the video Les shot shows the cement board in place on the living room ceiling, but with no trim strips yet. Bonus views of a Rufous-tailed Hummingbird are also included. It eventually made its way out the open window to the left. It took a while for it to find the window, which takes up almost half the wall, but the hummers always want to stay high when they come in.

Now if we could just get our life back, without workers underfoot every day creating new disruptions and messes for us to clean up.

To be continued . . . . .

Getting a Ceiling

2010-03-13T08:54:00.000-05:00

Work has finally begun on our ceiling!

In Panama, most houses have a zinc metal roof. It is common that the roof is also the ceiling - it just depends which surface you're looking at. You will see in the shots Les has taken that the metal beams are excellent real estate for bugs and geckos to make a comfortable living. I wish them well, but do not appreciate the mess they make. Assorted insect wings and legs drifting down, along with the inevitable gecko droppings, make for increased demands on the housekeeper. The housekeeper would rather be birding than cleaning up after the indoor wildlife. During the frequent, pounding rainstorms, the noise level inside the house is extreme. Unless we are in the same room, we cannot hear each other speak during these deluges. Also, the cones and twigs from the pine trees, and even the needles to a lesser extent, make a surprising amount of noise when the wind blows them onto the metal roof. For all these reasons as well as the aesthetics, finishing off the ceiling has been a priority for us since before the house was even ours.

The contractor we chose, Adam Haney, has been busier than a cat on a hot zinc roof since we met him last November. He is originally from Canada, so he speaks English, which is of major importance to us right now. Adam lives in Cerro Azul full time, and in January he married Katiana, a native Panamanian. He managed to fit our project into his schedule in March - not as soon as we would have preferred, but it was the best he could do.

In this humid climate, drywall is an option, but a very bad one. We saw one house where the ceiling had been finished with drywall, and each 4' x 8' section had begun to sag with the moisture they had absorbed. The sagging made for a very artistic and attractive appearance, with the slight curving undulations all the way across the ceiling. However - Adam told us that there was undoubtedly nasty black mold growing on the inside, and it would eventually begin falling down, and would be a huge and disgusting mess to clean up before doing things the right way.

So the preferred material is cement board, and the brand we see around is Plycem. It stands up to the humidity, unlike drywall.

After he took measurements of the ceiling, and after a few days of not being able to find a crew to do the work (for 3 days running, the excuse they all used was that it was the first day of school), Adam brought a couple of guys over on March 11th to begin the job. As Les commented, we are all at the mercy of men who do not want to work. We hear that offering higher wages, bonuses, or anything else is of no use - it does not get the desired results.

First step was cleaning the mold and mildew off. One worker used a spray bottle of chlorine bleach to do this. He wore no goggles, mouth, nose or head protection; he just stood on a ladder and started spraying. Mist and drops went everywhere, and even hours after he was done for the day, there were drips falling onto the tile floors or anything else below the beams where the bleach collects. I was not watching the process, but Les said the worker did not wipe the bleach off the ceiling. He would spray a section, climb down, move the ladder, and repeat. I mopped & wiped it up when he left, but there was more to clean up the next morning. The bleaching guy did not show up on Day 2, so we still have only about 50% of the ceiling cleaned. The other guy, Angel, cuts short aluminum pieces to fit between the beams and longer sections to go along the edges of the rooms, where they will attach the cement board. He also sawed several rectangular vent holes through the concrete walls where they meet the zinc ceiling. That process throws up the major dust, also chunks of concrete from pea-sized to almost quail egg-sized. He will have to cut more of these vent holes, so the worst is far from over, although it has begun.

To be continued . . . . .

Ferhisse

2010-03-12T09:53:00.000-05:00

Restaurants of all stripes are abundant in Panama City, from small cafes that serve simple, typical Panamanian fare to large and expensive restaurants catering to upscale customers. Via Argentina is famous as an area where numerous restaurants serving a variety of ethnic fare can be found.

But up here in Los Altos de Cerro Azul, there is only the Club, which is fine, but a bit expensive for our budget, and it closes at 4:00 PM.

The closest restaurant outside the development is a small joint known as Las Nubes, and we were regular customers there until they closed.

The sign scrawled on a sheet of paper taped to the door says they are remodeling, but the sign went up in mid-January and we see no signs of progress other than one large appliance that has appeared inside. There was no printed menu at Las Nubes - you just walk in and ask what they have that day. It was usually two or three of the following: beef, chicken, fish, pork, served with lentils or beans, always white rice and a small tasty salad, and sometimes soup. The cost ranged from $2.25 to $2.75 per person. We really liked this place and hope they will reopen soon.

A little further down the hill is La Posada de Ferhisse, which has a restaurant, a mini-super, and cabanas for rent. They also have a nice, very well-maintained swimming pool.

The dining area is open-air, covered, and looks out over the pool, with beautiful views of the green hills beyond.

The owner is a welcoming and sociable sort - we have never been there when he was not present. They do a big business on weekends and holidays, but weekdays at the restaurant are often quiet. The menu does not vary, but it offers several dishes that we like well enough to order frequently. Fabio, the chef, makes a delicious baked chicken and smashed cod. (The smashed cod is delivered by Fabio at the end of the video above.)

Puttering

2010-03-10T21:25:00.000-05:00

As most of the regular followers of this blog know, the casita is the first house we have ever owned. So far, it has been an enjoyable experience. We love staying home, puttering, organizing, watching the birds at the feeders and elsewhere in the yard, and making improvements around the house and yard. Another factor relating to this is that we retired at the end of June 2009, but the next 6+ months were full of decisions, research, exploration, health crises and deaths in our immediate families, more decisions, wrangling, meetings, wire transfers, many more meetings, establishing accounts in a foreign country, frequent air travel, rental vehicles, selling most of our possessions and giving away the rest, packing up and closing down our apartment of 28 years, saying farewell to our friends and full-time life in California, and a multitude of other large and small tasks related to relocating to another country.

It didn't feel much like retirement during this time, although we sure could not have accomplished what we did if we had to go to the office much.

Now, we are finally starting to enjoy retirement. It feels real, and it feels great.

Our days are often not particularly exciting, nothing like the birding trips we have taken in the past, but the days spent at home are sublimely satisfying. We walk around with smiles on our faces (usually) as we accomplish the many activities of daily living. Just to give you an idea of what that entails, here are a few recent activities and episodes.

Les has been building window screens. I wanted to hire someone to do this, but the guy who was recommended to us could not manage to find the time to come over, take measurements and give us an estimate. Les decided he did not want to wait any longer, so he went to the hardware store and bought fiberglass screen, 12-foot aluminum framing material, several feet of the rubbery stuff that keeps the screen in the channels of the aluminum frame, a hacksaw and a mitre box, along with all the screws and other hardware. After a short learning curve (one torn screen), he's been the screen guy. Four down and several to go.

** Update since I started this post: Les is the very happy owner of a spiffy new Black & Decker table saw. Nothing can stop him now!

When he's not building screens or securing the perimeter of the lot, Les is the one who does the maintenance on the six hummingbird feeders (putting them up and taking them down each day, cleaning them.) I cook up the sugar-water. The woodpeckers are turning out to be pretty hard on the hummingbird feeders. They peck off the bee guards on the ports. And somebody, I'm not sure if it was a woodpecker or a coati (the coati is my prime suspect), managed to knock off the whole lower (red) section of one of the hummer feeders, leaving only the clear reservoir. The red part is at the bottom of the hill.

We have five suet feeders that we use as banana feeders. The Plain-colored, Palm and Blue-gray Tanagers, Thick-billed Euphonias, Red-legged Honeycreepers and Tennessee Warblers have been regulars at the banana feeders since we first hung them up last fall. A Crimson-backed Tanager has come into the yard several times, observing the frenzied activity and eyeing the banana feeders, but he hasn't yet tried to get a bite. The Clay-colored Robins have also decided it's worth the energy required to hover long enough to grab a beak-full of banana. They're too big & heavy to hang on the side or bottom of the cage and feed at leisure like the little birds do.

Lately, the Red-crowned and Black-cheeked Woodpeckers are also eating the bananas. They look very cute curled around the little suet cages.

Les also puts out sunflower seeds, cracked corn and millet for the Yellow-faced Grassquits and the White-tipped Doves.

While I was outside watering a few days ago, I noticed a praying mantis (about 4 inches in length) on one of the hummingbird feeders. (We have read several accounts over the years of mantids lurking on hummer feeders, then grabbing and devouring a hummingbird, but even though we have seen the photo documentation, it's so hard to believe.) A few minutes later, I noticed that a Rufous-tailed Hummingbird was feeding at this feeder, and seemed very nervous, and kept to the side opposite the mantid. A few minutes after that, the hummer was back, and I saw the mantid lunge for the hummer with both front claws. That did it! I relocated the praying mantis to another spot, on the ground, far from any hummingbird feeder.

Last week we began hearing begging baby birds. It turned out to be a nest of Plain-colored Tanagers in a pine tree just outside the kitchen door. The nest is heavily obscured by pine needles, but we can occasionally see the bright orange bill of one of the chicks. We still can't tell how many chicks there are - only one has been visible at any time, so maybe that's all there is.

While working around the yard, we occasionally add a yard bird. Long-billed Starthroat was one a few weeks ago. It has been an irregular and infrequent visitor since that first time. The Rufous-tailed Hummer always chases it off. Swallow-tailed Kite was new for the yard on March 2nd. And Les heard a Masked Tityra this morning while he was getting set to cut another window screen frame - a male and female hung around in the yard trees for about an hour.

We won't be smiling as much or having as much fun for the next week or so - ceiling finishing starts in earnest tomorrow. We will be dealing with noise, disruption, major dust, and complete disarray.