Xenornis

The two Whistling Herons that have taken residence at the pond in Playa Malibú ( first seen on July 15 by Euclides Campos ) have been visited by many a birder in the last few days.    First were Venicio Wilson and Maurice Posner, who went there on the morning of Wednesday, January 7. They found them on the fields north of the pond, where they also had a juvenile Tricolored Heron that may be the mysterious possible third Whistling Heron reported previously. The pond had Masked Duck and the Lesser Scaup reported previously, as well as many American Coots . On the morning of Friday, January 9, Delicia, Camilo and Darién Montañez tried yet again, this time successfully. The two birds were on the edges of the greener grass around the small pond on the NE of the big pond. The juvenile Tricolored was also there, so caveat emptor. The pond had a raft of 6 female Masked Ducks (out in the open, too), lots of Coots and two Lesser Scaup . That same afternoon had Rolando Jordán v...

Jacobo Ortega photographed this half dozen American Coots at the Gamboa marina this afternoon. Also present were around 70 Lesser Scaup.

 El pasado sábado 28 de enero, Osvaldo Quintero, Euclides Campos y mi persona nos dirigimos hacia Las Macanas. Entre otras cosas, encontramos un Mangrove Cuckoo , al menos seis Killdeers , ocho Caspian Terns , cuatro American Coots , cuatro Fulvous Whistling-Ducks entre los cientos de Guíchichis y una pareja (macho y hembra) de American Wigeons . Sin embargo, más importante, observamos un grupo de al menos 10 Long-billed Dowitchers  identificadas por la llamada, un "kick" enfático, nada musical que fue emitido por las aves mientras descansaban (alarmadas?), y también cuando volaron (en serie). También notamos su pecho de un gris bastante sólido y oscuro y la cola principalmente oscura, muy evidente al volar.  El mismo día, alrededor del mediodía, observamos en las salinas de Aguadulce, una fase blanca de Reddish Egret ... un inmaduro a juzgar por su pico completamente negro. Se encontraba más o menos a mitad de la calle que atraviesa las salinas, cerca de la misma, ...

Alfred Raab visited the fresh water pond near the ocean in Gorgona yesterday evening and found ten American Coots and a female Masked Duck . Turn left at Gorgona, which is after the large meadow on the right of the Pan-Am highway. Keep going straight for a few km's. Then you come a fork, take the left branch (it is almost straight). After the large (bankrupt?) development you will see the large pond on your left. The female masked duck was on the far side across the lake in the marsh. You need a good scope to see it.

Ariel Aguirre sends in this photo of an American Coot seen on the Chagres River in front of the Gamboa Marina restaurant on November 4. Last year was a good year for coots, with reports from all three Christmas counts. Whether this was a freak occurrence or represents a trend remains to be seen. Stay tuned.

Delicia and Darién Montañez spent the morning at the Volcán Lakes, looking for Gray-breasted Crake, Spot-crowned Euphonia and Rose-throated Becard. We heard the Crake, but every Euphonia turned out to be a Thick-billed, and every Becard a White-winged. The only noteworthy sighting was that of two American Coots that were browsing through the vegetation on the shores of the lake (with no chicks swimming nearby, in case you were wondering).

An American Coot was discovered by Rosabel on the far end of the lake just before Chiva Chiva Rd yesterday (sat, nov 29th). It was swimming along with a few Moorhens. The white bill was very conspicuous, and with the scope we were able to see the brownish frontal shield, too. Earlier that morning Camilo discovered a male Blue-winged Warblers on the bamboos along South Old Gamboa Rd. Then this morning we found a small group of Mouse-colored Tyrannulets at Parque Omar. Also seen there was a pair of Pearl Kites perched among the Grackles, close to the club house. A Capped Heron was seen on the canal by the mangroves at the far end of Costa del Este this morning, and a Cocoi was inside the Count Circle at Pma Viejo at dusk yesterday. The Ring-billed Gull at Paitilla was seen both saturday and sunday, with other gulls at a sandbank by Río Mataznillo. That's all for now. Make sure you get'em all!