Xenornis

Between January 6-9 a party consisting of Bill Adsett, George Angehr, Charlotte Elton. Dave Klauber, and Les and Cindy Lieurance visited Darien, birding mostly around Canglon, and Yaviza. The following are some of the highlights (with photos by Bill Adsett). Pale-bellied Hermit . A few individuals seen on the El Salto Road and north of Yaviza on Jan 7. The hummingbird feeders at the Avicar Restaurant in Meteti on Jan 6 and 9 featured Scaly-breasted Hummingbird , Sapphire-throated Hummingbird , Rufous-tailed Hummingbird, Snowy-bellied Hummingbird, Black-throated Mango, and Long-billed Starthroat. Spot-breasted Woodpecker . Two seen near Rio Iglesias on the afternoon of Jan 6. Barred Puffbird . Several pairs seen a few km north of Yaviza on Jan 8. Blue-and-yellow Macaw . A flyover by three individuals on Jan 6 about 7 km east of Rio Iglesias, on the south side of the Filo de Tallo, in a mostly deforested area. It's good to see the species still persists here. Spectacl...

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 ...

A rather short but successful birding extension trip into El Real and Rancho Frio, in the Darien National Park by Advantage Tour's Guido Berguido, revealed a couple of interesting sightings. On March 9, a strategic stop along the Pan-American highway, in the vicinity of the Tierra Nueva property, produced Yellow-breasted Flycatcher. Also noteworthy was a pair of copulating Plumbeous kites way up in a Cuipo tree. Along the Chucunaque river en route to El Real, Black Oropendolas were seen. Late afternoon birding at El Real showcased a small flock of Blue Grosbeaks, as well as a couple of thousand migrating Turkey Vultures with both Broad-winged and Swainson's Hawks. They settled down in the trees near the airstrip for the night. On March 10, near the Rancho Frio ranger station a Harpy Eagle nest contained a healthy-looking eaglet. Exploring the trails near the Rancho Frio Ranger station inside the Darien National Park, produced goodies such as Stripe-throa...

This past weekend I had a complete deep immersion into eastern Panama, that part of the country that remained pure and untouched on it's vast majority until the mid-60's. On Friday 24 and Saturday 25 I was invited by Raúl Arias de Para, along with Carlos Bethancourt and Ismael Hernando Quiróz (the famous Nando from Cerro Azul) to birdwatch the area between Metetí and Yaviza. [ See Carlos' report here ].  On Saturday afternoon, after saying goodbye to my original team, I joined the group of birders from Panama Audubon Society that the next day would observe birds in the forests around Rio Bayano. Claudia and Bill Ahrens, Cindy and Leslie Lieurance, Rosabel and Karl Kaufmann ventured to visit places that we have recently discovered in the area of ​​Tortí.   Early Sunday morning we visited the Playa Chuzo forest where, thanks to an excellent recording played by Bill Ahrens (recorded by Ken Allaire) we saw a couple of Double-banded Graytails  up close, a life...

During the first months of 2011 Raul Arias de Para, Daniel Arias, George Angher and I have been birding the patches of forest along the Pan-American Highway from Torti, in eastern Panama province, to Yaviza in Darien Province and here are some our the best sightings: Double-banded Graytail was found nesting in Fundacion Tierra Nueva, near El Salto town. This is possible the first confirmed nest of this specie only found in Eastern Panama, northern Colombia and Northwestern Ecuador. We have seen a total of 3 active nests in different spots of Darien Province and near Torti. White-fronted Nunbirds where seen for about 15 minutes in the headwaters of Torti River, above San Jose Town. Spot-breasted Woodpecker in Torti. The bird seems to be a common resident of Torti Abajo area Barred Forest-Falcon was seen in Cañazas mountain range Rufous-winged Antwren was seen in Arimae Yellow-breasted Flycatcher was seen near El Salto town This extends the range of this specie and confirm i...

Durante los días patrios decidí ir con unos amigos a visitar el Real y Rancho Frío. El jueves 5 de noviembre, fui al airstrip en la mañana donde me tropecé con este harrier. Este individuo era bien oscuro con algunas rayas blancas por debajo. De acuerdo a la literatura, el juvenil dark morph Long-winged Harrier es todo dark brown y poseen rufous thighs. En una de las fotos se puede ver algo los rufous thighs. Los juveniles northern harrier son oscuros en el chest y luego twany el resto. En rancho frío vimos Double-banded Graytail, Wing-banded Antbird, Yellow-backed Tanager, Scarlet-browed Tanager, Sapayoa, Black-and-white Hawk-Eagle, Ornate Hawk-Eagle, Plumbeous Hawk y Tawny-faced Quail.