Synopsis

It was back to Panama for me. Our work wasn't done, so 6 months after our first visit to Panama, we had to pack up our gear and return. I knew this time we'd be visiting during the wet season, but still didn't know what exactly to expect. The drive out to the Azeuro Peninsula from the city was the same. However when we got closer to the more rural areas we noticed the pastures that were once brown with dried grass and cracked dirt was now lush with knee high grasses. The bare trees had leafed out and created a dense canopy. The wet season was a lot greener and of course wetter.

During our stay it rained almost every day, usually in the afternoons. The rain varied from sprinkles to a steady drip to a downpour, usually only lasting for a few hours at most. The downpours made me glad to have a roof and air conditioned room to hide in. There were a few thunderstorm. One particular one was so close the thunder clap rattled the windows. It was still hot and especially humid during the wet season. When you walk into an air conditioned room that is set at 25C and say "burr" you know it's hot outside. It was mostly overcast during the wet season, but if the sun should break through it quickly heated up even more.

Aside from the difference in greenery and weather, there was also a noticeable difference in the wildlife. In the dry season, the hermit and land crabs would come out in mass, now they seemed scarce instead the cane toads were more numerous at night. I also didn't see as many reptiles, likely due to the mostly cloudy and sometimes rainy days. As for birdlife, I wasn't too disappointed. Mixed flocks popped around and teased me with glimpses behind the leafed out trees. It was easier to see the birds in the dry season when I only had to look through the bare branches to find the unfamiliar caller. Now in the wet season many birds went unidentified, giving me only a brief view or only movement and a call note. It was definitely more challenging. I did see many more migrants this time. Each day the sky was swarming with swallows and a few swifts. Just outside of Panama City, I saw a huge kettle of about 1000 vultures circling then streaming off in one direction. In the forest near the lab, I saw migrating warblers, vireos, tanagers, and cuckoos. A nice addition to the typical flycatchers and tityras.

Despite the challenges of birding, I did see some interesting birds, including a wider variety of hummingbirds. Well there weren't drastically that many more hummingbird species, but there seemed to be more hummers perhaps because the plants were flowering and there was more food to support them. Often I saw the hummers chasing each other around. I saw one hummingbird taking a bath in the rain that had collected on a leaf. I watched a male Snowy-bellied Hummingbird flap its wings and wag its tail while giving a chirp call - probably a display. I was surprised to see a small group of Brown Noddies just off shore one day. The ocean air is usual void of bird life except for Magnificent Frigatebirds and Brown Pelicans, so it was surprising to see the noddies and a few Common Terns patrolling low over the waters surface.

It was a treat to see the same place during the two season. The differences were drastic in some aspects and in some it remained steady. I do however hope that my next visit to Panama will be to an entirely different region.

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Pictures (click on thumbnail)

Bird List

Gray-headed Chachalaca	Ortalis cinereiceps	Azeuro Pen
Crested Bobwhite	Colinus cristatus	Pedasi, Azeuro Pen
Magnificent Frigatebird	Fregata magnificens	Panama City,
Neotropic Cormorant	Phalacrocorax brasilianus	Azeuro Pen
Brown Pelican	Pelecanus occidentalis	Panama City
Bare-throated Tiger-Heron	Tigrisoma mexicanum	Azeuro Pen
Great Egret	Ardea alba	roadside
Snowy Egret	Egretta thula	roadside, Herrera
Tricolored Heron	Egretta tricolor	roadside, Herrera
Cattle Egret	Bubulcus ibis	roadside
Green Heron	Butorides virescens	Azeuro Pen
White Ibis	Eudocimus albus	Azeuro Pen
Glossy Ibis	Plegadis falcinellus	roadside, Herrera
Black Vulture	Coragyps atratus	roadside
Turkey Vulture	Cathartes aura	roadside
Osprey	Pandion haliaetus	Azeuro Pen
Common Black-Hawk	Buteogallus anthracinus	Azeuro Pen
Great Black-Hawk	Buteogallus urubitinga	Azeuro Pen
Savanna Hawk	Buteogallus meridionalis	roadside
Roadside Hawk	Buteo magnirostris	roadside
Broad-winged Hawk	Buteo platypterus	Azeuro Peninsula
Crested Caracara	Caracara cheriway	Pedasi, Azeuro Pen
Yellow-headed Caracara	Milvago chimachima	roadside
American Kestrel	Falco sparverius	Trans-American highway
Peregrine Falcon	Falco peregrinus	Azeuro Pen
Spotted Sandpiper	Actitis macularius	Azeuro Pen
Whimbrel	Numenius phaeopus	Playa Venao, Azeuro Pen
Laughing Gull	Leucophaeus atricilla	Azeuro Pen
Brown Noddy	Anous stolidus	Azeuro Pen
Common Tern	Sterna hirundo	Azeuro Pen
Rock Pigeon	Columba livia	roadside
Pale-vented Pigeon	Patagioenas cayennensis	Azeuro Pen
Mourning Dove	Zenaida macroura	roadside
Ruddy Ground-Dove	Columbina talpacoti	Panama City
White-tipped Dove	Leptotila verreauxi	Azeuro Pen
Parrot sp.		Azeuro Pen, Panama City
Squirrel Cuckoo	Piaya cayana	Azeuro Pen
Yellow-billed Cuckoo	Coccyzus americanus	Azeuro Pen
Black-billed Cuckoo	Coccyzus erythropthalmus	Azeuro Pen
Groove-billed Ani	Crotophaga sulcirostris	Azureo Pen
Common Pauraque	Nyctidromus albicollis	Azeuro Pen
Vaux's Swift	Chaetura vauxi	Azeuro Pen
Veraguan Mango	Anthracothorax veraguensis	Azeuro Pen
Garden Emerald	Chlorostilbon assimilis	Azeuro Pen
Violet-crowned Woodnymph	Thalurania colombica	Azeuro Pen
Snowy-bellied Hummingbird	Amazilia edward	Azureo Pen
Rufous-tailed Hummingbird	Amazilia tzacatl	Azureo Pen
Sapphire-throated Hummingbird	Lepidopyga coeruleogularis	Azureo Pen
Ringed Kingfisher	Megaceryle torquata	roadside
Red-crowned Woodpecker	Melanerpes rubricapillus	Azeuro Pen, Panama City
Crimson-crested Woodpecker	Campephilus melanoleucos	Azeuro Pen
Barred Antshrike	Thamnophilus doliatus	Azeuro Pen
Black-hooded Antshrike	Thamnophilus bridgesi	Azeuro Pen
Southern Beardless-Tyrannulet	Camptostoma obsoletum	Azeuro Pen
Mouse-colored Tyrannulet	Phaeomyias murina	Azeuro Pen
Yellow Tyrannulet	Capsiempis flaveola	Azeuro Pen
Yellow-crowned Tyrannulet	Tyrannulus elatus	Azeuro Pen
Greenish Elaenia	Myiopagis viridicata	Azeuro Pen
Yellow-bellied Elaenia	Elaenia flavogaster	Azeuro Pen
Northern Scrub-Flycatcher	Sublegatus arenarum	Azeuro Pen
Pale-eyed Pygmy-Tyrant	Atalotriccus pilaris	Azeuro Pen
Yellow-olive Flycatcher	Tolmomyias sulphurescens	Azeuro Pen
Eastern Wood-Pewee	Contopus virens	Azeuro Pen
Acadian Flycatcher	Empidonax virescens	Azeuro Penisula
Panama Flycatcher	Myiarchus panamensis	Azeuro Pen
Great Crested Flycatcher	Myiarchus crinitus	Azeuro Pen
Great Kiskadee	Pitangus sulphuratus	Panama City
Boat-billed Flycatcher	Megarynchus pitangua	Azeuro Pen
Social Flycatcher	Myiozetetes similis	Azeuro Pen
Streaked Flycatcher	Myiodynastes maculatus	Azeuro Pen
Sulphur-bellied Flycatcher	Myiodynastes luteiventris	Azeuro Pen
Tropical Kingbird	Tyrannus melancholicus	roadside,
Eastern Kingbird	Tyrannus tyrannus	Azeuro Pen
Fork-tailed Flycatcher	Tyrannus savana	Azeuro Pen, roadside
Lance-tailed Manakin	Chiroxiphia lanceolata	Azeuro Pen
Black-crowned Tityra	Tityra inquisitor	Azeuro Pen
Masked Tityra	Tityra semifasciata	Azeuro Pen
Cinnamon Becard	Pachyramphus cinnamomeus	Azeuro Pen
White-winged Becard	Pachyramphus polychopterus	Azeuro Pen
Yellow-throated Vireo	Vireo flavifrons	Azeuro Pen
Red-eyed Vireo	Vireo olivaceus	Azeuro Pen
Yellow-green Vireo	Vireo flavoviridis	Azeuro Pen
Scrub Greenlet	Hylophilus flavipes	Azeuro Pen
Lesser Greenlet	Hylophilus decurtatus	Azeuro Pen
Black-chested Jay	Cyanocorax affinis	Azeuro Pen
Southern Rough-winged Swallow	Stelgidopteryx ruficollis	roadside,
Bank Swallow	Riparia riparia	Azeuro Pen
Barn Swallow	Hirundo rustica	Azeuro Pen
Rufous-and-white Wren	Thryophilus rufalbus	Azeuro Pen
House Wren	Troglodytes aedon	Azeuro Pen
Tropical Gnatcatcher	Polioptila plumbea	Azeuro Pen
Swainson's Thrush	Catharus ustulatus	Azeuro Pen
Clay-colored Thrush	Turdus grayi	Panama City
Tropical Mockingbird	Mimus gilvus	Panama City
Northern Waterthrush	Parkesia noveboracensis	Azeuro Pen
Black-and-white Warbler	Mniotilta varia	Azeuro Pen
Prothonotary Warbler	Protonotaria citrea	Azeuro Pen
Tennessee Warbler	Oreothlypis peregrina	Azeuro Pen
Kentucky Warbler	Geothlypis formosa	Azeuro Pen
Bay-breasted Warbler	Setophaga castanea	Azeuro Pen
Blackburnian Warbler	Setophaga fusca	Azeuro Pen
Yellow Warbler	Setophaga petechia	Azeuro Pen
Canada Warbler	Cardellina canadensis	Azeuro Pen
Blue-gray Tanager	Thraupis episcopus	Azeuro Pen
Palm Tanager	Thraupis palmarum	Azeuro Pen
Red-legged Honeycreeper	Cyanerpes cyaneus	Azeuro Pen
Blue-black Grassquit	Volatinia jacarina	Azeuro Pen
Yellow-bellied Seedeater	Sporophila nigricollis	Azeuro Pen
Summer Tanager	Piranga rubra	Azeuro Pen
Scarlet Tanager	Piranga olivacea	Azeuro Pen
Eastern Meadowlark	Sturnella magna	Trans-American highway
Great-tailed Grackle	Quiscalus mexicanus	Panama City, roadside
Yellow-backed Oriole	Icterus chrysater	Azeuro Pen
Baltimore Oriole	Icterus galbula	Azeuro Pen
Crested Oropendola	Psarocolius decumanus	Azeuro Pen
Yellow-crowned Euphonia	Euphonia luteicapilla	Azeuro Pen
Thick-billed Euphonia	Euphonia laniirostris	Azeuro Pen
Critters
Mantled Howler Monkey
White-faced Cappuchin
Common Opossum
Nine-banded Armadillo
Fox?
Bat sp.
Varrigated Squirrel
American crocodile
Cane Toad
Rana sp.
Rainfrog
Tree Boa
House Gecko
Yellow-headed Gecko
Iguana
Whiptail

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