Panama - Day 4: La Mesa & Cerro Gaital

Short-tailed hawk

     Another early breakfast on the open air dining patio before we head back up to La Mesa and Cerro Gaital.  This morning's overcast and somewhat misty morning made for some difficult photography, but the viewing was still more than acceptable as we traveled back up to La Mesa Road.  We found our best accipiter of the day in the form of this handsome Short-tailed hawk which soared overhead.  With the advantage of having several veteran hawk watchers among our group to augment the proficiency of our guides, we did quite well in finding and identifying hawks on our trip to add to our year lists and in many cases life-lists.  

Southern lapwing

   In the first light on the day, we spotted our first Southern lapwings probing the loose soil of the grasslands for their breakfast of insects and other invertebrates.  These lapwings are more than likely residents of this area of Panama and are great at cohabitation with the locals.  As such, these members of the plover family are doing quite well and are in fact expanding their range as deforestation takes place.

Spotted antvireo

     My best bird of the morning was the Spot-crowned antvireo. This bird is endemic to this region of Panama and is usually found within several feet of the ground.  Our guides heard the bird singing and then with careful scanning of the understory were able to pick it out in the dark shadows.  Once we all had good views of the bird, I enabled the on-camera flash in a successful attempt to grab enough light to make a decent exposure. It's spotted crown and pale eye were captured nicely and the image is a great reminder of our first sighting of this handsome species.

     As we headed back to the Lodge after a good morning of tropical birding,  the sun began to break out and we were anxious to see what new visitors to the fruit feeders we might encounter.  One of our first sightings when we returned was this Green honeycreeper.  My wife Sharon had spotted this handsome tanager several days earlier when she remained back to spend more time at the feeding station while most of us headed out into the field.  The honeycreeper's main staple is fruit and as such is a common visitor to the fine feast prepared for the Lodge's avian guests.

Green honeycreeper

     Another honeycreeper which was not as common although its range stretches all the way from Mexico to Brazil is the Red-legged honeycreeper.  While not being nearly as picky as its Green cousin, it does enjoy a nice banana as a part of its diet and was hence not a rarity at the feeder.  

Red-legged honeycreeper

     Naturally when you are in the tropics, one of the most sought-after families of birds are the hummingbirds.  With close to 60 species found in Panama, you have a good chance of finding something new at anytime and at any place.  Still, one never tires of seeing old friends like this Rufous-tailed hummer.  It was a very common visitor to the many nectar rich flowering bushes found on the grounds.  It was nice to see that they spent more time at the real thing than they did at the hummingbird feeder nearby.  Always great to catch an image where the bird is in its natural element rather than situated on the red plastic perch of a feeder.

Rufous-tailed hummingbird

Giant cowbird

   
     Our afternoon foray lead us to two new cowbird species - the Shiny cowbird and the Giant cowbird. This cowbird is much larger than our north American but is still a brood parasite like out Brown-headed cowbird.  The bird is most commonly distinguished from the similarly sized Great-tailed grackle by a conspicuous ruff around its neck which gives it the appearance of having a relatively smaller head.

     We gather together once again at 6:30 with a glass of wine and our check-list to review the day's sightings with John.  After yet another delightful dinner, we'll sit on the patio and enjoy the mild evening breeze before heading to bed to rest up for tomorrow's new adventure to Rio Indio.  Just another day in paradise.