More From Allen Chartier
After some delay I'm finally getting to the rest of the great stuff shared by Allen Chartier and his Michigan-based group (Diana Dugall, Stella Koshkarian, Jeff & Cheri Medlin, Mike Welch, and Sue Wright). My apologies to Allen for the lapsed time between his timely submission of his reports and my finally posting the highlights; a hard drive crash last week cost me lots of time and some precious data (remember to back up your data!). Mr. Chartier, you may recall, has been to Panamá before; he's the fellow who found what I believe was at the time North America's second Long-winged Harrier, the happy result of a harrowing experience at the airstrip at El Reál, Darién Province.
Allen photographed the Spot-crowned Barbet at right on Cerro Azul, in eastern Panamá Province, on 11/17/07. This species
is alternately rare and common throughout the area covered by this report (an easy find on Achiote Road, but a new discovery around the Canopy Lodge in El Valle), but I believe
is on the decline in the Cerro Azul area. A decent photo of this species is always worth sharing; in my experience, Spot-crowned Barbet is the most quixotic and arboreal of
the three members of the sub-family Capitoninae found in Panamá. A Green Ibis noted along Achiote Road on 11/23 was an excellent find; I cannot recall another
report from this part of Panamá, although it has been reported nationwide with increasing frequency in recent years, whether
due to increased observer awareness or a range expansion I cannot say. Allen gave a good description of the bird, which was found near the last bridge on Achiote Road before
the sign for Providencia. Also at Achiote Road (on the same date), a Cliff Swallow
was noteworthy as either a rarely-seen migrant or a wintering bird in an unusual locale. Six White-headed Wrens on Achiote were yet
another welcome sighting of this striking species at the easternmost edge of its range.
From the Canopy Tower area, besides his reports previously mentioned on this site, Allen collected some nice images of a couple of relatively common but incredibly tough to photograph species. Above at left is a handsome Black-capped Pygmy-Tyrant, which is, to the best of my knowledge, the world's smallest passerine, at under 3 inches in length. Picture a fast-moving and energetic ball of popcorn about 20 feet over your head, and you'll have some idea of the difficulty involved in even getting a decent binocular look at this species. Allen also collected good audio recordings of this bird, found along Pipeline Road. At right above is a good shot of a Forest Elaenia (found on Old Gamboa Road, a good spot for this flycatcher and others), another species that generally demands neck-stretching efforts to see; well-done, Allen!
On 11/24 Allen's group moved to the Canopy Lodge, and the reports got even more exciting. Allen spotted a Band-tailed Barbthroat near the Lodge on his first afternoon in El Valle, an unusual location for this species. Other good finds on the first day were a Barred Forest-Falcon (Tino Sanchez, Sue Wright) and a single wintering Golden-winged Warbler. The latter species is in a state of decline, perhaps largely due to increased hybridization with range-expanding Blue-winged Warblers, so any sightings are welcome. GWW is easier to find in winter in Panamá than on its breeding grounds in my native New York and elsewhere; Allen's group also found 2 at Cerro Gaital on 11/25, and 2 at Altos del Maria on 11/26. Two Ochraceous Wrens were spotted at Cerro Gaital on 11/25; this species is found quite regularly at this location, where it was virtually absent only a few years ago.
Perhaps the most intriguing report came on a trip to Altos del Maria, in western Panamá Province, on 11/26. A flock of 25 individuals of a species of parrotlet in the genus Touit were located, identified at the time as Blue-fronted Parrotlets Touit dilectissima. This is not the first report I've heard of this species from the area; Tino Sanchez belatedly shared news of a Touit sighting from Cerro Gaital in early May of 2007. If accurate, these would represent the first sightings of Blue-fronted Parrotlet west of the Cerro Azul/Jefe area, and a totally unexpected west-central sighting of a species that is not known to exist west of the greater Darién Highlands. Red-fronted Parrotlet Touit costaricensis, a species that has been found occasionally as far east as El Copé, was considered much more likely to stray to Gaital/Altos (and is on this site's "Hypothetical List" of potential species for the region). Tino is insistent that he saw the blue forecrowns on the May birds, but Allen admits that the specific identification in the latter instance was based largely on call; he did not record these vocalizations because of the difficulty of audio recording while leading a group (he's too nice- I would have made them clam up!). I'm putting out the call; any birders in the El Valle/Altos del Maria area who see a Touit species should move heaven and hell to collect either diagnostic images or audio, with whatever recording device they have at hand. A confirmed sighting of either species would represent an extralimital record, and is of extreme ornithological interest. Thank you to John Rowlett of Field Guides Inc. for communicating his thoughts on the matter, and to Allen Chartier for sharing as much detail as possible regarding this fascinating sighting and difficult i.d. challenge.
Oh, by the by, Allen et.al. also found 4 Snowcaps, 2 Rufous-browed Tyrannulets, 15 Ochraceous Wrens, and 2 Emerald Tanagers (among other good birds) at Altos on the same day, a good haul at any time!
The next day, 11/27, Allen et.al. had some more good luck in the El Chirú/ Juan Hombrón area, finding the male
Veraguan Mango pictured at right, a Panamanian endemic, on the road to Juan Hombrón (Allen credits Tino Sanchez for spotting the bird from their moving vehicle!). This
species has been found in the area for over a year now, but Allen's good photo represents the first concrete documentation of which I am aware of this eastward range expansion.
Black-throated Mango, the species with which Veraguan Mango would be most likely confused, has a distinctly black throat extending down the middle of the underparts, clearly not present on this bird.
Thanks for finally getting me a shot of the mango, Allen! The group also found 2 Aplomado Falcons at El Chirú
and an immature Mangrove Black-Hawk at Playa Juan Hombrón. Five Tree Swallows at Juan Hombrón were a nice report
of a species seldom-noted in Panamá. At the beach they found an excellent five species
of terns, including 10 Gull-billed Terns, a lifer for guide Tino (this species is quite local in Panamá).
But most interesting was Allen's report of at least 20 Elegant Terns and only 1 Royal Tern, exactly the opposite
of what I would have expected. I questioned Allen on the matter, and he responded by sharing the two photos below.
Royal Tern is a widespread species throughout much of Pacific coastal Panamá, but Elegant Tern is considered rare and largely pelagic in its habits during migration. Allen's excellent photos clearly show the distinctions between the species; the Royal Tern (at right) has a black eye that stands out from the face, and a stouter and shorter bill; the Elegant Tern(s), at left (with a single Sandwich Tern), have black feathering that blends into the eye and a more extensive black hindcrown (note that bill color, often cited as means of distinguishing the species, is useless in these photos). Allen suggested that Elegant Tern may be overlooked by birders who look for what they expect, rather than identifying what they see- he may be right, but I also think Elegant Tern may have been overlooked because of a lack of birder coverage of this part of Coclé Province. The coast in this region seems to harbor occasional pelagically-inclined species (note a sighting of Blue-footed Booby earlier this year), and may yield more gems when more carefully studied (a pelagic trip is in the works).
I had communicated with Allen Chartier regarding this trip in advance, and I am so grateful to him for reciprocating by submitting such detailed and outstanding reports, and for responding to my multiple requests for more details. Stay tuned! More good stuff is in the hopper...
