Xenornis

El viernes 13 de octubre en la mañana, regresando de de un taller en Volcán, paramos en el Parque Nacional Sarigua y encontramos un Hudsonian Godwit . Hay muchas camaroneras por el área y varias tinas vacías, con algo de agua algunas. Habían también muchos Lesser Yellowlegs , 150. No nos había tocado ver tantos. Camino a Volcán paramos en Aguadulce y allí vimos muchos Stilt Sandpipers : 79, un número grandote. En la entrada de El Rincón de Santa María estaba un tractor removiendo la tierra y detrás del tractor contamos 806 Glossy Ibises , el número más grande que hemos tenido a la fecha. Parece que a esta especie le está yendo muy bien por allá. Este White-rumped Sandpiper  también andaba por ahí...

And like good listers we were at the Gamboa bridge at dawn yesterday, and like a good stakeout the White-faced Ibis was there, too. And it remained for the rest of the day. Birders beware that there is at least one Glossy Ibis present at the nearby Gamboa Marina. That bird, shown in the photo below by Osvaldo Quintero, has a dark eye and dark-blue facial skin. Unofficially, White-faced Ibis is bird species number 1002 for Panama. Stay tuned for the updated list, which will be published by the Panama Records Committee of the Panama Audubon Society. Photo by Rafael Lau.

On our way back from Pipeline, about noon today, Alfred Raab stopped at the Gamboa side of the main bridge, parking at the bus stop. A Glossy Ibis was browsing in the matted vegetation there. Alfred let me know it was rare for the area, so we are passing the info along.

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...

Rafael Lau photographed these Glossy Ibises on the fields by the oil tanks in Chiriquí Grande on November 25. This is the first Bocas record of this species.

Osvaldo Quintero photographed this ibis in full breeding plumage at Las Macanas Marsh this morning. We are calling it a Glossy Ibis based on the dark iris and facial skin. White-faced Ibis (which has never been reported in Panama) whould have bright red eyes and facial skin, but if any of you have dissenting opinions, just let us know.

Guido Berguido sent in a report of his group's visit to Ciénaga de Las Macanas. While leading an Advantage Tours birding group on our way back from Coiba Island last Saturday June 20th, I decided to break the drive and do a brief visit at Las Macanas wetlands. Upon our arrival we were greeted by a covey of Crested Bobwhites at the parking lot, promptly followed by views of Mouse-colored Tyrannulets, and flocks of Black-bellied Whistling-ducks, as well as a vocal Rufous-browed Peppershrike. Later we saw a pair of Pale-eyed Pygmy Tyrants near some Common Tody-flycatchers, and a flock of "Veraguan" Brown-throated Parakeets. While walking around the water's edge, we saw lots of Grooved-billed Anis and were fortunate to spot a roosting Striped Owl. Towards mid-morning we decided to wrap it up. Back at the parking lot we heard a pair of Gray-necked Woodrails nearby and decided to wait under the shade to try to see them. Suddenly, a cuckoo flew in front of us and perc...

Darién Montañez and Swedish birding pal Mikael Sellin spent the morning at Ciénaga de las Macanas; saw pretty much the usual: about five Glossy Ibis, a couple thousand Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks but no fulvous, and a Mangrove Cuckoo. That afternoon we had a flock of 13 Stilt Sandpipers in the pond to the left of the street at Playa El Agallito. We also had Cinnamon Becard in the mangroves, which is supposed to be there but i had never recorded.

On our way back from the PAS fieldtip to Santa Fe, we made a short detour to check out Las Macanas Marsh, near Santa María, and had a number of pretty good sightings. Orquídea found a juvenile Great Blue Heron, and Snail Kites were everywhere, as were Glossy Ibis. A Limpkin flushed from the vegetation near the small dock and flew to the other side of the marsh and Delicia had an even briefer look at what had to be a Masked Duck, small, brown and with white wingpatches, which flew up from the vegetation and dove down almost immediately. Among the thousands of Wattled Jacanas which were all over the place was a weird individual with what appeared to be an all-brown back (which stayed in the vegetation, ducking out of sight frequently). The red rictal lappets (the wattles) were visible thrugh the scope, but the top part of its red frontal plate was bluish white, which made this bird look even weirder. But the birds of the day were without a doubt the Fulvous Whistling-Ducks. The first sig...

Delicia & Darién Montañez had a fleeting view of what had to be a pair of Glossy Ibis when their bus to Chitré was passing next to the rice fields around the entrance to El Rincón de Santa María, near Ciénaga de Las Macanas. They were near a small group of assorted egrets on a shallow pond about 10 meters from the bus traveling at about 80 km/h.

The PAS fieldtrip to Las Macanas and environs got a few good birds, even though we dipped on most of the local specialities. Rosabel Miró had brief looks at a probable Yellow-breasted Crake at a small marsh in the town of Correa, where Darién Montañez had even briefer looks at a probable Least Bittern. Big numbers of Glossy Ibis were seen on both sides of the marsh, and also at Correa. Six Roseate Spoonbills were at the water's edge next to the observation tower at Las Macanas, quite close to a thightly-packed group of about four roosting Fulvous Whistling-Ducks. At the same place, a single Tree Swallow was seen among the Sand Martins flying overhead. At Playa el Agallito, some 25 Stilt Sandpipers were seen at the pond on the left side of the road, next to a female Wilson's Phalarope in breeding plumage.

Loyda Sánchez and Carmen Martino had excellent looks at an Agami Heron on a waterhole just past the entrance to Limbo Camp on Pipeline Road. On the same date, they saw a Glossy Ibis that has spent the last week around the Marina at Gamboa.

A first winter Herring Gull was seen at dusk (high tide) at a newly discovered roost at Costa del Este by Rafael Cortez, Jan Cubilla and three fourths of the Montañez family. The gull was noticeably larger than the Laughing (and Franklin's) Gulls it was flying with. Its breast was mottled brown and it had pink legs and a pale bill base. The back was brownish-black as were the wings, with a darker trailing edge in the secondaries. The rump was white with some dark splotches that formed a dark tail band. The Herring Gull was in a small flock of gulls, most (at least 85 of them) were Franklin's in both adult and first winter plumage. Also seen were large numbers of Black Terns and a pair of Glossy Ibis. The new roost is in a flooded grassy field located to the left of the Corredor Sur, just beyond Snipe Field.