Xenornis

Euclides Campos, leading a group of Canadians, found this dark-phase adult Red-footed Booby at Swan Key on January 29th. Even behind its branch, the red feet are visible, as is the blue-gray bill tip and white tail. We arrived at the island around 9 a.m. where the usual suspects were present, Brown Boobies and Red-billed Tropicbirds, but while scanning the rocky formation I spotted the bird. Photos of the Red-footed Booby are courtesy of the tour leader Rand Rudland. Red-footed Boobies are apparently regular off the Caribbean coast of Panama, with a few sightings from the mainland (see November 2007 report from Donoso) but this is the first report I'm aware of from Swan Key, definitely a heavily-birded site by Panama standards.

Olmedo Miró forwarded these three photos of the South Polar Skua that has apparently taken residence at Isla Colón. These were taken by Pat Wade, perhaps today.

George Angehr forwarded Andrew Kratter's report of South Polar Skua seen June 2 on Isla Colón: South Polar Skua (Stercorarius mackormickii) 3 June 2008 Panama: prov. Bocas del Toro; Isla Colon; Bocas town & STRI dock Observer: Andrew Kratter Florida Museum of Natural History Box 117800 University of Florida Gainesville, FL 32611 kratter@flmnh.ufl.edu This bird was first seen flying low over the water at 0900 off the STRI facility in Bahia Almirante. I did not have binoculars at the time, and I blew it off as a dark juvenile Pomarine Jaeger (S. pomarinus), not really considering a skua (South Polar Skua or Great Skua, S. skua) see below for discussion of species). The bird was dark, very bulky, with a short tail and no tail projections. It flew toward us, then right overhead, but right into the sun. It had heavy and deep wing beats, slower than typical for pomarines (or other jaegers). At 1430h I was in Bocas town and my wife (Mary Hart) said she saw a jaeger, seeing t...

Rosabel Miró and Karl Kaufmann heard, recorded and flushed a Gray-headed Dove while birding the woods around the STRI field station at Isla Colón, Bocas del Toro. To those with access privileges, this is probably the most accessible place to see this bird.

Advantage Tours' Venicio Wilson led the Panama Audubon Society fieldtrip to Wekso and Río Teribe, on La Amistad International Park on the province of Bocas del Toro, from November 2-5. A full report will be published on the January issue of The Toucan, but in the meantime a list of highlights will have to do. Part of the group got a one-day head start, which they spent at Willie Mazu on Palo Seco Protection Forest. No monklet, but they did find a Sharpbill, also seen during the PAS trip to Fortuna earlier in the year. The following day, upon meeting the rest of the group at the Changuinola airport, they found a female Painted Bunting . The trails around Wekso provided Green Ibis and Snowy Cotinga , while a visit to the town of Bonyic produced a Rufous-winged Woodpecker right in the middle of town.

Advantage Tours' Guido Berguido reports the highlights of a 9-day birding trip (Sept 14-22): At the top of the list are two Lanceolated Monklets we saw at Willie-mazu, Bocas del Toro. We were walking around the grounds of the lodge searching for Lattice-tailed Trogons. Since I had heard that the monklet had been seen not too long ago, I went ahead and played the call twice. After a little silence, a tiny bird flew right in front of us, some 4 meters above the ground. When I first saw the small bird fly in I thought it was just a flycatcher, but I promptly put my Swavoski binos on it, and was happily surprised to see this long-desired bird: a Lanceolated Monklet. Some seconds later, a second one flew in next to the first, and both started calling. Robin, the manager of the lodge, said that he had only seen it once before some weeks ago, so we felt pretty lucky. Secondly we were all very happy to watch great many migrants during the trip. The same Monklet day, while birding along...

Eight brave Panama Audubon Society members spent the weekend at pristine, remote Escudo de Veraguas. Saw the hummingbird, dipped on the pygmy sloth. Full report coming soon.

Rosabel Miró and I spent seven days (April 13-19) exploring Changuinola and environs thoroughly, scouting locations for the Birding Spots in Panama book and doing a little hunting for lifers on the side. Justo Camargo and Dinora López, two Univeristy of Panama students, tagged along, and Karl Kaufmann joined us for the second half of the trip. Highlighs follow: Green Ibis: Two pairs seen on the 19th, perched on trees at Chiriquí Grande's Two Tank Road, just before the road out to the dump. Crested Caracara: First Bocas record. A raggedy-looking adult seen on the old ricefields on the morning of the 16th. Gray-breasted Crake: Heard only. One on the 14th in a dry grassy field across from the banana plantation on the road to he Camino Ecológico through San San, about 500 m before the end. Another one heard on the old rice fields on the 15th and two heard at the same place on the 16. Rosabel mentioned hearing its characteristic tinkling call two weeks ago on the Ruddy Crake spot near t...