Xenornis

On February 3rd, a Forster's Tern was observed near the mouth of the Changuinola River, resting with a group of Royal Terns on a birding tour organized by Let's go Birding and Wildside Nature Tour, led by Glenn Crawford, based at Tranquilo Bay Eco Adventure Lodge. Photos by Brooke Miller.

Enero 30, 31 y 1 de febrero Un macho Lesser Scaup y lo que parece ser una hembra Ring-necked Duck fueron observados en un laguito ubicado en el centro de la isla Contadora, archipiélago de Las Perlas. Durante los 3 días que observamos estos patos, siempre estuvieron juntos, como si fueran parejas (¿será una híbrido?). Eran los únicos patos del lago, donde habían no menos de 30 Least Grebes. Observadores: Rosabel Miró y Karl Kaufmann. En otro lago, en un costado de la pista de aterrizaje, cerca del antiguo hotel Contadora, escuchamos tanto el 31 de enero como el 1 de febrero a los White-throated Crakes, en varias partes de ese lago. (Foto de Rosabel) Sábado 7 de febrero Antes del Censo Centroamericano de Aves Acuáticas Una Whistling Heron en la arrocera de Santa María, Herrera, cerca de la entrada del pueblo de El Rincón. Esta garza estaba junto con otras garzas locales. Observadores: Yenifer Díaz, Alberto Bethancourt, Roxana Alveo y Stephany Carty. (No sacamos fotos). Dura...

Euclides Campos and Laura Reyes saw one Snowy Plover amongst a big group of Semipalmated Plovers, Wilson’s Plovers and Western Sandpipers at El Agallito Beach, Chitré, on February 25th. One Forster’s Tern was seen also in the same area. On February 24th, a Reddish Egret at Aguadulce Salt Ponds. This Scissor-tailed Flycatche r at Punta Chame on February 27th.

Euclides Campos photographed a Forster's Tern in Punta Chame. Can you pick it out? The flock also had a number of Common Terns , of which but a few winter in Panama.

Yesterday afternoon, Rosabel Miró, Yenifer Díaz, Dinora López and Delicia and Darién Montañez ventured out on the mud at Playa El Agallito to get a better look at the flock of terns at the surf's edge. Tern of the day was an adult Forster's Tern in non-breeding plumage, easily told apart from the others by its size and bold black spectacles. Also seen were about five Common Terns and two Caspian Terns . The mudflats were full of shorebirds, including a few Sanderlings and American Oystercatchers. Then this afternoon, Rosabel, Yenifer, Dinora and Alfred Raab returned and saw at least 15 Blue-footed Boobies flying and fishing at the distance. I've never heard of them beeing seen at El Agallito. Is this the beginning of an El Niño invasion? Remember the recent records of large flocks from the upper reaches of the Gulf of Panama. We'll keep you posted.

Rosabel and Karl Kaufmann, Jan Axel Cubilla and Darién Montañez spent last afternoon's high tide again braving rain and shine to scour through the flock of gulls at Costa del Este. We got there earlier this time, which gave us time for a first stop at Panamá Viejo, where we had a Lesser Black-backed Gull, a Herring Gull, a few Ring-billed Gulls, a first-cycle Forster's Tern, a diminutive Elegant Tern in front of a huge Royal Tern, a Franklin's Gull and a Laughing Gull with aberrantly-bright-red bill and legs. Photos by Rosabel Miró. Then on to Costa del Este, where we had pretty much the same as on Friday: at least five Ring-billed Gulls, at least three Herring Gulls, at least two Lesser Black-backed Gulls, and the third-cycle type Kelp Gull that has been hanging around for a week or so. Alas, no Kittiwake. Photos by Jan Axel Cubilla.

Delicia and Darién Montañez picked out three different Forster's Terns from the tern flock at Playa El Agallito, Chitré. Also in the flock were about six Caspian Terns.

The effort of sharing one scope to scan the huge flock of gulls and terns at the Panamá Viejo beach on high tide was rewarded with the discovery of a Forster's Tern in winter plumage. The Junior Audubon group (Rosabel Miro, Darién Montañez and Junior Auduboner Rogney Quibilán) got great looks at the much smaller bird, that was standing in front of the other gulls and sometimes opening its wings to make sure we saw its wing pattern. It had an all-black bill, and its head was white from the forehead to the crown, turning slightly grayer around the nape. The black ear-patches were quite striking, reaching the eyes but not extending into the lores of the bird. The back was pearly gray, with just a hint of a dark carpal bar (much paler than the ones on the few Common Terns standing nearby). We were treated to brief looks at its open wings, and the pattern of the upperwing was also paler than that of the average Common Tern, especially first few primaries. The flock was a big one, somewh...

Delicia, Pedro and Darién Montañez saw a female Snail Kite eating a snail on a fencepost by the main entrance to El Rincón de Santa María. An ANAM park ranger said that it has been around for about a month. This is, to my knowledge, the second report from Azuero of the species. The flock of Lesser Scaup was not at the Ciénaga, and neither were the Caspian Terns. The Scaup were still there on wednesday (Feb 16), though. Francisco Delgado reports American Oystercatchers at Isla Iguana, possibly the first time they've been seen there. Also, he found a Gray-breasted Crake dead-on-the-road at Playa Blanca, and a Forster's Tern at El Agallito. On February 20, a brief morning visit to the road that goes into the mangroves at the right from El Agallito produced an even briefer sighting of a female Common Ground-Dove. Also, a White-winged Dove made a fly-by appearance.

A first-winter Forster's Tern was discovered mixed in with a flock of terns at El Agallito, Chitré. A first winter Forster's Tern was picked out from a mixed flock of terns at Playa El Agallito, Chitré, on November 3rd, 1999, by Darién and Camilo Montañez. The flock included Royal, Sandwich, Gull-billed and Common Terns for easy comparison. The main fieldmark, which was impossible to miss, were the black eye patches similar to those of the nearby Gull-billed Terns. the gray nape separated the white top of the head from the light gray mantle and back. There was not a trace of a dark carpal bar. The bill was black and the red legs were evidently longer than those of the Common Terns on the flock, giving the bird a different jizz. In flight, the wings showed no dark on the leading or trailing edges, and the tail was not as deeply forked as that of the Common Terns. This is the second report of Forster's Tern from El Agallito, and only the third report from outside the Canal Ar...