It is slow season!

It is slow season! Time to evaluate. The perfect moment to check our lives and bring it into perspective. Enjoy the video and plan your days for the rest of the year.

Bird by Bird you get to know the Caribbean...

When Birds Caribbean told me that “bird by bird I will get to know the Caribbean” I was totally unaware of the scale and extent of their promise!

Until then, the Caribbean to me was just rum, sun, beaches an and endless torrent of music in different tempos, languages and moods.

 

JAMAICAN TODY Check more pictures in this Flickr Album 

I had planned a visit to the Caribbean before but never got so close until 2 years ago when Caribbean Birding Trail (a project of Birds Caribbean) contacted Rick Morales to facilitate training birding guides in the Island of Grenada. Someway somehow Rick ended up contacting me to assist him on the training and there I was: in an island smaller than Coiba, Panama's largest island, but with so much more history and nature all packed in a mountain in the middle of the ocean!

JAMAICAN OWL Check more pictures in this Flickr Album 

This year we had the opportunity to train in Jamaica and my whole vision of the Caribbean got turned inside out and battered in a thick sauce of history, culture and flavors: exactly that component of the Caribbean that I did not understood until this trip.

Here are some pictures and videos of the Caribbean Birding Trail Guide Training in Jamaica. Enjoy them, share them, store them but don't forget: more than 700 islands are home to 178 endemic birds through the entire Caribbean Archipelago!

A little dance to celebrate Earth Day!

Birding: How to begin!

Yesterday I had a short conversation with my friend Antonio Mojica and realized that very often people are interested in birding but have no idea of where and how to begin birdwatching. So I decided to make a post on some resources that could help you begin this hobby/art/sport

1. GOOD EQUIPMENT: You must get a nice binocular. 8X42 are the preferred size. This video may help you understand better binoculars. Nice guide to birds of Panama. The Birds of Panama: A Field Guide by George Angher is the most up to date in the market. However if you have and old Guide to the birds of Panama by Ridgley guide book it is just a matter of updating the names on the list and you will have a great book. Also get A Bird-Finding Guide to Panama!

2. LEARN HOW TO IDENTIFY BIRDS As in many other hobbies, practicing is key to become a great birder. Panama Audubon Society offers an introductory tour every first Sunday of the month. They are very good to learn how to ID the common birds of our backyard. You can also make new friends with much more experience that would make the learning process easier. The Inside Birding series of videos are super handy on organizing the process we use to ID birds.

3. KEEP NOTES Sounds simple but it isn't. Keeping track of what and where you saw its not that easy. Fortunately there is eBird now! Great and easy way to organize your sightings, keep them updated and remember what you had seen and what you need to find! Good Luck birding!

How to get to the Azuero Parakeets Farm

Juan and Fany Velazquez open up their farm to visitors who pay $20 for the chance to watch one of Panamas must dificult endemic bird species: Azuero Parakeet. Here is a map on how to get there. If you need to confirm your visit call the Public Phone in the towns of Flores 333-0956 and ask for Juan Velazquez
2015 update: Fany and Juan moved to the town of Flores, minutes away from the farm. To find them, arrive to the town of Flores, find the school. In front of the school is a tiny grocery shop own by Miguel. Ask him the wherabouts of Fanny and Juan. This year the parrakeets are shy and deeper up in the forest.
Please forward any other details about the parrakeets if you find them.

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Ocellated Antbird at Pipeline Road, Soberania National Park. Panama