Jeffrey A. Gordon

The exit (or entrance) to the Panamá Canal, looking from Gatún Locks toward the Caribbean Sea

It’s time–finally–for me to finish with a few last images from mid-October’s press tour with the Panama La Verde group. When I left off, we had just had a whirlwind day in the Albrook-Gamboa area. We only had two more days, one to bird the Caribbean slope near Achiote and San Lorenzo and another on the slopes of Cerro Azul.

I apologize for the length of this post, but there are a goodly number of places and things I want to show you and yet I also feel it’s time to wind up the Panama posts for now. So, make sure your scrolling finger is properly stretched and limber, and let’s go!

We departed the Albrook Inn, which served as our Panama City headquarters for 3 nights (our arrival night and 2 more in mid-trip) well before light. It took close to 2 hours to reach Achiote Road, where we entered the forest on the Trogon Trail. We saw more in the way of trogons along the road shoulder, actually, but the trail proved good for finding antbirds, especially Chestnut-backed and Spotted, which many of us saw well. It also produced Spot-crowned Barbets, 2 caciques, and a handful of others.

My favorite moments from that walk involved two non-bird critters. One was a poison dart frog. The only photo I got of it isn’t even worth sharing, but still, seeing that little glossy black and neon green creature, which I was fortunate enough to be the first to spot, was a highlight. It was especially nice that many of my buddies in the group had never seen a dart frog of any species before-doing so is certainly one of the quintessential experiences of neotropical natural history and it was great to share it with them.

The other standout animal was a helicopter damselfly, pictured below.

Though the photo is OK, it most certainly does not convey the true impact of this marvelous insect. They’re huge, to begin with, bigger than most dragonflies. But their most spectacular trait is the odd flight style for which they are named. Watching one of these fairies float through the forest understory is truly enchanting. Someday–mark my words–I’ll get a video clip that will show some of their magic.

Our next stop was at San Lorenzo, an old Spanish fort at the mouth of the Chagres River. Much of the Chagres has been transmogrified into the Panama Canal.

The natural mouth of the Chagres no longer has much strategic value–the canal has usurped that position–but the forest and coastline all around it is vitally important for wildlife, environmental quality, and for tourism. Fortunately, it is in the process of official designation as a national park.

We ate our box lunches near the fort, sharing a good percentage with the friendly but excruciatingly skinny dogs that belonged to the caretakers. Then we buckled down for a long ride back into and around Panama City, reaching the cool heights of Cerro Azul in time for dinner.

We spent our final two nights in Panama there, birding the intervening day at a private reserve called Birder’s View and using the Hostal Casa de Campo as our base. Casa de Campo featured lovely grounds and good food–it also got lots of rain while we were there, a reminder that we were still in the thick of the green season.

But the rain always cleared quickly, allowing us to enjoy a selection of lovely tanagers right outside the dining room window.

Palm Tanagers (above, right) aren’t as colorful as we tend to think tanagers ought to be. Blue-gray Tanagers (above, left & below) are more spectacular.

In fact, the estimable Bill of the Birds has declared the Blue-gray to be his favorite tanager of all. He definitely has a case–but I suspect many of our group preferred the bolder Crimson-backed Tanager, below.

The habitat at Birder’s View was a bit more extensive, leading off into Chagres National Park, which is the watershed for the river whose mouth we were looking into just a few photos ago.

There was a lot to look at here, including a second chance at Spot-crowned Barbets, a bird I hadn’t gotten my fill of at Achiote. There were also tons of hummingbirds, including the Bronze-tailed Plumeleteer below. Don’t miss its cute little pink feet.

And the more subtle but lovely Green Hermit:

Are you starting to get a sense of how overwhelming, and how addictive, birding the tropics is? Can you see why I’m ready to go back, tomorrow, if possible? I hope so. I’m already working on planning a tour to Panama for 2010–watch the blog for more info as those plans crystallize.

In the meantime, I want to thank Yenia Mendoza at Recontour, S.A. and all the Panama La Verde members for bringing me back to Panama. I loved the trip and I look forward to seeing all of you again soon.

If you’re still in the mood for more Panama, check out the blogs of Bill Thompson III, John Riutta, and Mike Freiberg, all of whom were on the trip with me. Or, you can look back over my complete Panama 2008 series.

Thanks for reading and looking…may you all have the chance to bird Panama soon!

Tags: achiote, albrook, cerroazul, damselflies, hummingbirds, panama, panamalaverde, tanagers

A strange thing happens within birding circles–a rare bird can go from a point of pride to a source of a certain kind of shame. Up until this year, having seen a Cave Swallow in Delaware was a distinction that would have produced at least low-level envy among many in this community. Now, it’s rapidly reaching the point where not having seen Cave Swallows in Delaware is becoming remarkable, but not in a good way–it’s becoming at least a little embarrassing.

Where until recently, the comment might have been, “Man, you’ve seen Cave Swallow in Delaware!,” it’s now, “Dude! You haven’t seen Cave Swallow in Delaware?”

I’m happy to report I can now count myself among those who have seen, rather than missed, this increasingly frequent fall visitor to the Eastern Seaboard. Saturday morning, in an oddly warm, wet wind, we came upon a trio of Cave Swallows hawking insects over Prime Hook Beach. We leapfrogged them to the south, then had excellent views as they approached.

Photography conditions were difficult, but the mosaic above certainly establishes their identity. Below, a shot of the happy hunters (from L): Sally O’Byrne, Gary Robinson, Forrest Rowland, & Sue Gruver.

Of course, the annoyance of having missed a bird your buddies have already caught up with is a minor, even pleasurable one–a little spur to get you out there when you otherwise might not. And it is also, surely, an indication of a change in status of a species. I hope that if you haven’t crossed paths with one of these nifty little pioneers, that you soon will.

Tags: forrestrowland, garyrobinson, primehook, sallyobyrne, suegruver, swallows

Don’t know that I’ll become a weekly participant in Skywatch Friday, but it is Friday and I had what I thought was a cool picture of the sky, so here goes.

I took this picture November 1, just at sunrise, in the foothills of the Sierra Madre northwest of Ciudad Victoria, in the state of Tamaulipas, Mexico. Migrating Monarch butterflies were everywhere during our trip. Hiking up a path that morning, we came upon a roosting group and watched as they began circling up into the sky, rejoining the southbound stream. ¡Buen viaje!

Tags: skywatchfriday

Actually, Delaware in November isn’t a bad place to be at all, especially if you like birds. But we do have a few drizzly, chilly days this time of the year. I’m finally back in the First State after two weeks away.

I have some good news. Liz and I were officially released from Mexico, but only after waiting through two glacially slow lines at the consulate. Turns out that waiting in the lines was all that was necessary–at the end, we were told to not worry about it. Oh well.

More good news: I and the Bird #88 is up at Aimophila Adventures. My post about the DOS sparrow trip, flatteringly, leads the list. Thanks, Rick.

I’ll be back soon with more about Panama, Mexico, and Texas. In the meantime, stay warm and dry.

Tags: iandthebird, rickwright

Crossing the U.S. - Mexico border, Los Indios Free Trade Bridge

The picture above was taken when we were entering Mexico on Halloween morning, nearly two weeks ago. We returned to the U.S. on Election Day, in body, anyway. In the bureaucratic world, it turns out, we are still in Mexico. Or perhaps we are in some sense in two countries simultaneously, as we were officially granted entry into the U.S., too.

I like to think of myself as a fairly seasoned traveler, but that seasoning is no guarantee against bonehead mistakes. In our haste to return to Texas, Liz, Jim, & I completely forgot to stop and void out our vehicle pass and tourist cards before we left Mexico. In our own defense, this is surprisingly easy to do–much more so than it would be at an airport, where most countries won’t let you go anywhere without getting your tickets punched, passports stamped, and taxes paid. Still, it was a dumb, dumb oversight.

So it looks like a visit to a Mexican consulate may be in our immediate future. In the meantime, here are a couple of other shots from our Halloween Day:

 Guatemalan (=Forrer’s) Leafwing, Memphis forreri, NW of Ciudad Victoria, Tamaulipas, Mexico

Butterflies were the outstanding feature of this trip. We saw lots of great birds and other creatures, but the lepidopterans topped them all. 

Above, Liz–in her Halloween horns–and Marci scan a reservoir near the Hacienda Santa Engracia, where we spent the night. The Sierra Madre rise in the background. How much more popular would birding be if more of us dressed like this in the field, rather than in the dowdy duds so many of us seem to prefer?

I’ll let you know when and if the Mexican government decides to release us. In the meantime, life on the road continues to be good, though not without the occasional pothole.

Tags: butterflies, lizzie, marcifuller, mexico

I’m back from Mexico (as of Tuesday, so I got to watch the election returns!) and leading field trips at the 15th annual Rio Grande Valley Birding Festival. I’ve got some stories and photos from both sides of the border I’m anxious to share, plus I still want to wrap up the Panama press trip with one or two more posts.

For now, here’s a couple of shots of an exciting moment on yesterday’s trip to the Norias Division of King Ranch.

That’s me holding a Texas Indigo Snake, a most impressive creature. It was quite docile, making little attempt to bite once I’d gotten a hold of it. Below, you can get a little better sense of just how big this animal is.

photo © Bill Thompson III

I mean, I’m a big animal, too, and this snake was not too many inches shorter than me. It’s clearly longer than the tripod on the ground behind me, so I’m estimating it at around five and a half feet. 

photo © Bill Thompson III

Above, Sharon Lynn feels the cool glossy skin of the snake. Notice that it remained calm despite our shoes being wrapped with shockingly colorful swaths of duct tape. We donned this unusual accessory to help prevent grass burrs from attaching to our socks and shoelaces. It was helpful, if not 100% effective.

It did add a goofy, almost surreal touch to the day, though. It’s hard to take things too seriously when you’re dressed like this. That didn’t stop Robert Kirk of Princeton University Press (in center, facing left) from being cool, though–he looks like he’s in a cologne ad or something.

So that’s a little bit of what I’ve been up to. I hope your days are full of colorful characters, too.

Tags: duct tape, kingranch, rgvfestival, riograndevalley, sharonlynn, snakes, texas

Birders along the Rio Sabinas, Tamaulipas, Mexico, November 2007

They all went to Mexico
Buenas dias, got to go
Tengo que obedecer
Mi corazon

–Greg Brown, “They All Went to Mexico”

See you all in a couple of days–don’t forget to vote!

Tags: elcielo, mexico, tamaulipas

On the recent Panama press trip, all our days were full ones, but the one that stands out as the fullest was the one we spent along the canal’s east side in the Albrook/Gamboa/Pipeline Road area. It would have been tight to cover this much territory in four days–doing it in one was way, way too fast, but so, so much better than nothing.

We watched the sun bolt into the sky, as it does in the tropics, from the observation tower at the new Panama Rainforest Discovery Center. Click that link for a lovely aerial photo of the tower. In the photo above, Bill Thompson III is watching a treeful of toucans. Lisa White is praying for deliverance–heights aren’t her favorite thing. But she was a trooper, as she always is, and enjoyed the awesome view and fine birding. Below, the three of us, plus Yenia and two of the center staff pose for a quick portrait.

Though we saw some nifty things (Cinnamon Woodpecker, White-necked Puffbird, Blue Cotinga, lots of parrots) most of it was far enough away that photography was impractical, especially with a dozen or so excited birders clambering from one side of the deck to the other as each new discovery was announced. As pure birding, though, it was great. Photographic opportunities were more numerous around the visitor center, where there was yet another fine bank of hummingbird feeders.

A male Blue-chested Hummingbird chooses an appropriately colorful perch, alighting on a Heliconia flower, while a female of the same species appears content with less spectacular substrate. 

Both are eclipsed by the impossibly rich iridescence of the male Violet-crowned Woodnymph. If I had to choose, I might well pick the woodnymphs as the most beautiful of the hummingbirds. Fortunately, I don’t have to and there are dozens of species I’ve yet to see, so I’ll reserve judgement. Suffice it to say that this photo comes nowhere near doing justice to its beauty.

This one’s closer, but still falls way short. Check out that big, dark eye.

We were in and out of there as fast as hummingbirds, too, or so it seemed. We hit another few prime spots around Gamboa, returned to the Albrook Inn for lunch, and then went on to Parque Metropolitano. There, we saw a number of newly-arrived warblers, including a Mourning, in addition to Lance-tailed Manakins, White-bellied Antbird and Crimson-crested Woodpecker. We heard a Rosy Thrush-Tanager (yes, it lives up to its name, vocally and visually) but couldn’t spot it.

Above, Liz Payne, Lisa White, and Cristina Cervantes stroll back down the hill.

Bill & Mike do the same. Though the day was overly full, it was still kind of relaxing–a testament to our tour organizers. And we weren’t done–we worked in a visit to a crafts market and a dinner with some of the local tourism officials. Whoo! What a day.

Tags: canopytowers, hummingbirds, panama, panamalaverde, pipelineroad

We had a terrifically successful sparrow trip yesterday, tallying 14 species of Emberizids (the family that includes New World sparrows, as well as things like towhees, longspurs, juncoes & some of the buntings).

photo by Jim White

We began at Indian River Inlet, where the marsh was very, very good to us. We enjoyed soul-satisfying studies of both species of sharp-tailed sparrows, including the handsome Saltmarsh Sharp-tailed Sparrow below.

photo by Sharon Lynn

Notice his long bill, flattish head, strong streaking across the center of the breast, and rather ill-defined white belly. Now, compare the Nelson’s Sharp-tailed Sparrow below.

photo by Maurice V. Barnhill III

The bill is shorter, crown rounder, streaks fainter (especially in mid-breast), and the white belly is sharply demarcated.

photo by Jim White

We covered 4 main sites including the Fort Miles area of Cape Henlopen, above. The trespassing here was less egregious than it looks (I hope!). The road is open as a foot path in the other direction, so I interpret the gate and sign to mean “no driving down this road.” I hope that’s not too creative–I try not to flout the rules, especially with groups.

That gated road (or the designated footpath, depending which way you’re heading) leads to the top of a bunker that provides the finest panorama in southern Delaware, with vistas stretching over the Atlantic Ocean and Delaware Bay. Come to think of it, it’s pretty much the only panorama in southern Delaware.

photo by Jim White

At the other end of the state, the fields around the entrance to Brandywine Creek State Park have been especially sparrow-rich this fall. We enjoyed a half dozen species like the White-crowned above, while waiting for the star of the show: the Harris’s Sparrow that has been present since the second week of October. Below, our group (plus an unidentified free agent at front right) scans the undergrowth.

We didn’t have to wait too long for Mr. Harris.

photo by Jim White

He cooperated splendidly, coming well out into the open. My buddy Jim White was able to get some pretty nice shots of him, despite the sun being almost directly against us. Below, Jim (facing away) and Steve Collins are framed by the rich fall colors at Brandywine Creek.

It was certainly our most successful sparrow trip in the 10 years I’ve been running them–I think Steve’s smile is emblematic of the whole day.

Here’s a quick recap of the order of the day and the sparrows we saw (each species is mentioned only once, where we first saw it–for example the White-crowneds are listed under Prime Hook, though we also saw them at Brandywine Creek). Species seen in only one place are marked with an asterisk:

Indian River Inlet

1. Savannah Sparrow

2. Song Sparrow

3. Nelson’s Sharp-tailed Sparrow*

4. Saltmarsh Sharp-tailed Sparrow*

5. Seaside Sparrow*

Cape Henlopen State Park

6. Dark-eyed Junco*

7. Field Sparrow

8. White-throated Sparrow

Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuge

9. Swamp Sparrow

10. White-crowned Sparrow

11. Eastern Towhee*

Brandywine Creek State Park

12. Harris’s Sparrow*

13. Chipping Sparrow*

14. Lincoln’s Sparrow*

The Lincoln’s Sparrow was found by Steve at the very last moment. And yes, we did see House Sparrows, but no, they don’t count, as they’re not sparrows in the taxonomic sense used here.

We also had some nice non-sparrows, too, including Great Cormorant, Merlin, Rusty Blackbird, and all 3 eastern nuthatch species.

Thanks to all who turned out! I had a great day birding with you.

Tags: brandywinecreek, capehenlopen, DOS, fieldtrips, jimwhite, mikecollins, MVBIII, primehook, sharonlynn, sparrows

I’m just getting ready to walk out the door to lead a sparrow trip for the Delmarva Ornithological Society. Wish us luck–it’s shaping up to be a good year!

In the meantime, if I haven’t already overloaded you with Panama posts, there are 3 other fine bird bloggers who are posting about the trip–you might want to hop on over to their sites (if you don’t already) and check out their accounts. It’s like a crime-free, neotropical birding version of Rashomon! Sort of.

Above, you can test your skill at profiling bird bloggers. Here are the names of our group, with the bloggers hotlinked.

From left: Fernando (our driver, whose last name I didn’t get–sorry), me, Mike Freiberg, Cristina Cervantes, Bill Thompson III, Yenia Mendoza (tour operator), Liz Payne, Luis (our guide in central Panama–again, I missed the last name, and am thus a lousy journalist), Lisa White, John Riutta, and Kees Van Berkel.

Hmmm…if our group is any indication, the leading marker for bird bloggers is apparently biomass. 

Have a good Sunday and thanks for reading!

Tags: billthompson, johnriutta, lisawhite, mikefreiberg, panama, panamalaverde