Xenornis

Rosabel Miró, Chris Rhodes and Darién Montañez visited Costa del Este at 7:00 A.M. to look for interesting gulls on the puddles in the mud. The first stop was on a large, shallow pond to the left as you descend from the bridge across the Corredor Sur from Chanis, on a large plot of land between the new Colegio San Agustín and the houses. The most interesting bird there was what seemed to be an all-dark Green Heron. Ridgely mentions a melanistic phase found in the lowlands of Bocas del Toro, but Costa del Este is quite a long way from Bocas. We thought this bird was clearly a Green/Striated Heron after comparing it with the real Striated Herons that were all around the same pond. Its plumage was almost black, though, dark brown on the sides of the neck. After that we stopped to watch a flock of gulls standing next to a large puddle next to the mouth of the canal that separates Costa del Este from the mangroves to the east. There was a Franklin's Gull, but the highlight was a possibl...

José Tejada stopped briefly at Panamá Viejo to scan a large flock of gulls on the rocks behind the visitor center. And, sure enough, one Gray Gull was mixed in with the Laughing Gulls. He also picked out a few Franklin's Gulls. The Gray Gull had not been reported in Panama since early 1998, when we had many reports thanks to El Niño (see The Toucan Vol. 24 No. 4).

Loyda Sánchez and José Tejada visited Costa del Este, where they found Gray Gulls, Elegant and Caspian Terns, and a few Royal Terns.

Easily a hundred, and possibly more, Gray Gulls were seen at Costa del Este on high tide. We also saw many Elegant Terns and one Caspian Tern . Last week's rains have flooded Costa del Este, creating two different ponds that were full of seabirds during high tide on Saturday and Sunday. They were mostly cormorants, but also Lughing and large groups of Franklin's Gulls, not to mention the Gray Gulls: about 25 were counted on Saturday, and at least a hundred were present on Sunday. Also, a small flock of Surfbirds in full breeding plumage, small flocks of Elegant Terns, a few Common Terns and one Caspian among the commoner Gull-billed and Sandwich's Terns. The ponds were noticeably smaller on Sunday, so it would be wise to check them ASAP, unless it keeps on raining. Expect an article about the Gray Gull Saga on the next Toucan

Karl and Rosbel Kaufmann, with Neil Smith, counted up to 24 Gray Gulls in a pool of rainwater at Costa del Este. Also seen were large numbers of Franklin's Gulls feeding on mosquito larvae.

Yet another Gray Gull was seen, this time at Costa del Este. Also present was a flock of Surfbirds , some in breeding plumage.

Four Gray Gulls were observed a few hours before high tide on avenida Balboa, right across from Galerías Balboa. In the same small flock were a pair of Elegant Terns , a Ring-billed Gull , and a few Franklin's Gulls .

The Gray Gulls are still at Panamá Viejo. This time at least three different individuals were seen in flight with other gulls near the mouth of the Río Abajo.

The PAS fieldtrip to Costa del Este had some remarkable sightings, like the return of the Spot-breasted Woodpecker and the Pied Water-Tyrant , which had not been seen in the area in recent times. They also had good looks at the Gray Gull , this time with a flock of Laughing Gulls at Panamá Viejo.

The Gray Gull was seen again at Costa del Este, mixed in a group of Laughing Gulls at high tide.

Paul Coopmans reports his group found a  Gray Gull amongst the Laughing Gulls at Panama Viejo. They also saw the  Blue-footed Boobies and the  Cattle Tyrants at Amador.