Xenornis

El dia 14 de Marzo se observó esta Red-throated Caracara perchada y emitiendo su llamado continuamente en el sendero de las cabañas de Los Quetzales, arriba de Guadalupe. Mi altímetro marcaba aproximadamente 2200 msnm; el día era claro y despejado aprox 9 a.m. y la temperatura cerca de 14º. Abel de quetzal lodge se encontraba con nosotros como guía local. This is the first record of Red-throated Caracara in Chiriquí since the 1982 Ridgely records from Punta Burica, and the first time it's been seen at such a high elevation. It persists on the Bocas side, with a 1993 record from Río Teribe, but that's also well in the lowlands.

 On Sunday, March 27 2011 Alfred Raab was leading a group of 15 local and visiting birders up to the higher elevations of Altos del María. At 1000 m elevation we saw a male Elegant Euphonia . We also saw 2 Barred Forest-Falcons and a male Purple-throated Mountain-Gem .

The past March 17th 2011, leading a group around Fort Sherman at San Lorenzo National Park, we saw a couple of Palm Warblers on a road that goes from Shelter Bay Marina entering the former Post Theater and Church. This road goes to a set of barrack stile housing and in bethween there is a large loop with low grass land. There we saw two of them feeding very actively.

The Audubon Panama fieldtrip to Punta Chame of last Sunday, March 20, succeeded in finding the two American White Pelicans that have taken residence in the area. This photo, digiscoped through Venicio Wilson's scope, was sent in by Linda and Tony Ward.

I'm currently on a birding trip (well, almost - we brought our wives) in Panama, and today we found two American White Pelicans in one of the ponds on Punta Chame.  We forgot to get waypoints, but it should be pretty obvious where it is. The ponds were the big ones (with white sand around, and a drivable dyke up the middle) on the south side, about halfway down the point.  There were two, and they were not associating with the Brown Pelicans.

Osvaldo Quintero dug up the ten photos he took of the mystery 2008 warbler, and sent unprocessed versions to Panama Records Committee Chair George Angehr. His comments follow: Here are my comments on the 10 photos. Since these are originals, without modification of contrast or brightness, the differences between them can be attributed to differences in focus and lighting. 3882. Not much can be told from this photo due to focus and lighting. The undertail coverts appear to be whitish. 3886. Out of focus. This is the photo that appears most like a BTG. However, note that even in this one the eye line appears blackish, and much too dark for a normal BTG. The crown appears olive, but I think this is due to it being out of focus. There appears to be a blackish subauricular. The breast appears to have a yellow wash, the undertail coverts appear whitish. 3887. Severely out of focus. Front of breast appears to have a yellow wash, undertail coverts appear whitish. 3903. Too dark to evaluate. 3

On March 6, Osvaldo Quintero photographed this Worm-eating Warbler at the Metropolitan Nature Park's Mono Tití Road, about halfway up to the first lookout.

Panama Records Committee member His Former Fieldeditorshipness Dodge Engleman, an authority on all things bird and all things Panama, comments on some recent reports. On the Variegated Flycatcher : Great report! And much aided by the good photos. According to Birds of Northern SA by Restall, it matches better with the illustration of the northern races than the southern, migratory, races. On the 2008 warbler : That Black-throated Green (1) vs. Golden-cheeked (2) vs. Townsend’s (3) Warbler is very fascinating and I wish I could suspect some miscegenation has occurred. In one of the photos ( first photo ) the back looks like 1 or 3. In one ( third photo ) the crown looks like 1 or 3. In the other ( second photo ) it looks like 2! And although 1’s eye stripe can look black in some lights, it usually isn’t as black as it appears in the photos which makes one think of 2 or 3. And in all there is that hint of black under the eye that would be found in 3 (and in 1 if not black). Then what

The male Cape May Warbler  that has established a winter territory right around the Audubon Panama Office in Llanos de Curundu is still around: Ovidio Jaramillo and Juan Pablo Ríos were there before dusk on Monday (Feb 28) and had good looks at it.

This morning 3/3, Euclides Campos, Ovidio Jaramillo and Laura Reyes came up for a bird watching visit to Altos de Cerro Azul. Mid-morning (10-ish) we saw a much looked for adult male Rufous-crested Coquette . There is still one that has the look of a young male as well. Also seen by the group were Blackpoll Warbler , female Black-throated Blue Warbler , male Bay-breasted Warbler and not to be left out a male Blackburnian Warbler.

Suzanne Osier, an amateur birder currently living in Panama aboard her sailboat, photographed this Variegated Flycatcher in Fort Sherman on January 18, 2010. The bird was found at Kennedy Loop, the open area beyond the old cinema (or was it a church?) where the Lined Seedeater was seen that one time. Ex marks the spot: This bird's shape, long and lean, doesn't match the typical Streaked Flycatcher or Piratic Flycatcher, the common streaky flycatchers in the area. All the distinguishing marks for Variegated are visible in the photos: olive-brown back, rufous rump and tail edgings, bold white edgings on the wing coverts, pink base to the mandible, and mottled-streaked underparts.  Variegated Flycatcher ranges into Northeast South America, but its southern populations are migratory and are known to sometimes overshoot their winter destination. There are records from the United States and Canada, so it's not totally surprising to find one in Panama (especially at Fort Sherma