Mixed bag of amazing records by Euclides Campos

MacGillivray's Warbler and Ruby-throated Hummingbird seen at Raton Comunity (Comarca Gnabe) on January 18. I saw two other MacGillivray's at Volcan Lakes and Hotel Dos Rios on February 10 and 11.


Bonaparte's Gull seen at Panama Viejo on February 10 and April 7 at Panama Viejo Mudflats.

A big group of Violet-green Swallows (over 50) were seen at Volcan Lakes on February 10. They were flying really low close to the water, field marks were really evident with its unique rump and face pattern. Some individual were seen through the scopes.

Melodious Blackbirds are around Hotel Dos Rios (Volcán) where two were seen on February 11.


Crimson-bellied Woodpecker showed up around the ground of Sierra Llorona Lodge on April 6. I think this is the second report of this rare woodpecker close to The Panama Canal, the first report is from Pipeline Road.


Next day was even better around the hotel grounds at Sierra Llorona, with a Crested Eagle perched on the top of a tree for more than 5 minutes giving us nice views. This is also a very rare resident but even harder to find along the adjacent forest along the Canal.


On March 2th I saw a Slender-billed Kite close to Rancho Frío, I took a video, not good enough but on April 12 I got excellent view of this very rare raptor for Panama.


I found this Double-banded Graytail building a nest at Pirre town on April 14.

Mangrove Cuckoo at Costa del Este

On March 14, Siu Mae photographed this Mangrove Cuckoo at Costa del Este's Felipe E. Motta Park.

Orange-crowned Orioles in Costa del Este

Siu Mae photographed a pair of Orange-crowned Orioles at Felipe E. Motta Park in Costa del Este on February 23.

Soras galore at Santa María, a report by Jacobo Ortega

Today our birding group observed 15 Soras in a rice field being harvested near El Rincón de Santa María. The field had a number of Savanna Hawks and Aplomado Falcons which caught 5 Soras (and a Yellow-breasted Crake) as they flew away from the harvesting equipment. We observed the  birds and activity for 35 minutes. The  birding group members were Pete and Sue McCalmont, member Rhode Island Audbon Society, Guy and Sandra Wapple, members Nature Saskatchewan and provincial editor CBC Bird Studies Canada, Marion Schlender, active birder, and Julie and Ron Jensen, life members of Nature Saskatchewan.

White-eyed Vireo at the Gamboa dock

Ioana Chiver reports a singing White-eyed Vireo around the STRI dock at Gamboa, on the way to Pipeline Road. She's seen the bird twice, most recently on Thursday, February 27.

MacGillivray's Warbler still at Parque Metropolitano

The MacGillivray's Warbler discovered by Osvaldo Quintero last weekend and re-photographed on Friday is still in the Metropolitan Park pond area. Jan Axel Cubilla found it again on Sunday afternoon:

I took advantage of a tiny gap in my agenda and went to the park around 1:00 pm. In spite of the hour and the heat of our dry season, the place was alive with tons of birds attending a flowering Erythrina tree. [...]
Then, I saw a bird skulking in the understore exactly where Osvaldo described. Soon I noticed it was a female Geothlypis (formerly Oporornis) warbler, but most importantly, in the dark of the forest, the broken arcs above and below the eyes were quite conspicuous.
The call was different to the sweet chip note I'm used to for Mourning Warbler: it was harsher and rougher, but still a chip note. The yellowish throat made me doubt... but then I saw that this is quite variable (and some photos in the web show this feature in immature males MacGillivray's Warblers). The broken eye-ring was definitively more prominent than those of the female and immature Mourning Warblers, and the gray surrounding the throat made a complete breast band above the yellow belly, all consistent with MacGillivray's Warbler... my life MacGillivray's Warbler!

Pied Water-Tyrant near Portobelo, a report by Jennifer Wolcott

Not the greatest picture (didn't have my Nikon with me), but I had a a definite ID of a Pied Water-Tyrant to the east of Portobelo, 200 meters east of Don Quixote Pizzeria in a very productive tree near a water hole or pond near the road. This is an expansion of the range for this bird [formerly known mainly from the eastern Pacific slope.]

MacGillivray's Warbler still at Metropolitan Nature Park

Osvaldo Quintero returned to the pond at Metropolitan Nature Park on February 8, and not only did he find the MacGillivray's Warbler again, but he got these two new photos.

MacGillivray's Warbler is a rare winter resident in the western highlands, and there are just a few records from the Canal Area.

MacGillivray's Warbler at Metropolitan Nature Park

Osvaldo Quintero photographed this MacGillivray's Warbler on Sunday, February 2 near the pond at Metropolitan Nature Park. He returned to the site this morning and may have photographed it again. More details to come.

Harpy Eagle in Los Santos

Tedd Tennis sends these photos of an adult Harpy Eagle taken in Búcaro, Los Santos (just west of Isla Cañas), on July 9th, 2013 at approximately 4pm:

I took this picture on my friend Jon Kryzmanich's property in Bucaro.  Jon was with me at the time and also got a very good look at the eagle.  Jon has about 70 hectares and we were walking the back of the property and came upon this bird sitting on a fence post.  We were very close when it flew off and the noise of its flight was so loud that I knew immediately that it wasn't a "normal" bird.  It flew into a nearby tree and Jon and I were able to get right below it.  It took off after about 10 minutes.  Unfortunately I only had a point and shoot camera so this is the best picture I got.

This is the first record of Harpy Eagle from the whole of the Pacific Slope of Panama west of Pacora, and it's not like they're common on the Costa Rica side, either: the closest population in the Osa Peninsula.