Xenornis

Rafael Lau and Genover Santamaría had a Peg-billed Finch at the seeding bamboo along the first part of El Respingo road on February 5. He also filmed it: On related news, Euclides Campos found Peg-billed Finch and Barred Parakeet on the bamboo at the entrance to Los Quetzales Trail on February 6.

Euclides Campos found Gray-throated Leaftosser at two different sites in Fortuna on April 1. This is the easternmost record of this rarely-reported species, which has been previously found at similar elevations further west. Other notable sightings included Black-banded Woodcreeper, Scaly-throated Foliage-Gleaner, Highland Tinamou, Sooty-capped Finch, Chiriqui Quail-Dove, Barred Parakeet and Ruddy Woodcreeper.

The highlight of the Audubon Panama fieldtrip to Santa Fe, attended this year by Rosabel and Karl Kaufmann, Vivian Díaz, Olmedo Miró and Darién Montañez, was repeated encounters with flocks of Barred Parakeets , approximately 25 individuals each time. The first sighting was on Saturday, July 17 at about noon, as we began walking the 3 Cascadas Trail. The first section of trail now passes through a grove of young melastome trees that were all loaded with ripe berries and parakeets. After a few seconds they grew nervous and flew into a taller tree, and then flew off into the distance. That afternoon we ran into more (perhaps the same flock), again on berried melastomes on the road to the left past the Alto de Piedra school. On Sunday midmorning the parakeets were again at the beginning of 3 Cascadas Trail. Other notable birds seen included a few Crimson-collared Tanagers , a male Snowcap harassing a Double-toothed Kite, male and female Green Thorntails at blooming Inga trees, Black-he...

All week we will be on location in Cerro Punta an environs investigating the reports of seeding bamboo and hoping to run into those pesky seeding bamboo followers: Peg-billed Finch, Barred Parakeet, and Maroon-chested Ground-Dove. Since blogger's iPhone interface sucks (i.e. It doesn't have one), we will be posting mostly on Twitter. @xenornis. Go ahead, follow us. But here's what we have so far: yesterday morning I walked up to the grounds of Los Quetzales cabins and found two big patches of bamboo. The first one was completely devoid of birds, but the second had a flock of at least four Peg-billed Finches, foraging and calling. No adult males were seen, just female-plumaged birds. Also seen were Green-fronted Lancebill and Scaly-throated Foliage-Gleaner (shamebird no more). Today I went with Jan Axel Cubilla and Gloriela Archbold to PILA Las Nubes, where we found lots of bamboo but no bamboo followers. After lunch, and after Jan Axel and Gloriela had headed back to ci...

Euclides Campos spent a couple of days birding La Amistad International Park. The highlight for October 7 was a pair of Green-fronted Lancebills seen at El Retoño trail. Things turned for the best on October 8, with Ochraceous Pewee, a male Peg-billed Finch (feeding on the seeding bamboo two meters overhead), and a few Slaty Finches. Also recorded were Ornate Hawk-Eagle and a few Purple-throated Mountain-Gems and Barred Parakeets.

The best find in August was a Grayish Saltator found on the grounds of Villa Marita in Boquete on 8/13. I was hanging out waiting for a ride when I spotted this bird (there may have been two on the grounds) - I was quite surprised, and chased it for well over an hour before I finally collected a little evidence; a still from video is attached. I believe this is a first record for Chiriquí; given the location, I suspect this bird(s) came from the Pacific slope of Costa Rica, rather than crossing the Continental Divide from Bocas. Another highlight of the day was a Pearl Kite seen quite well from the bus on the way in. On 8/9, on the grounds of the Canopy Lodge in El Valle, I found Black-throated Mango (unexpected at the elevation), Rufous-vented Ground-Cuckoo, Sepia-capped Flycatcher, and Eye-ringed Flatbill. On 8/14 I found Yellow-margined Flycatcher and Wedge-tailed Grass-Finch on private property north of La Estrella, east of Boquete. On 8/16, at Finca Lérida above Boquete, h...