Xenornis

El día sábado 28 de diciembre durante horas de la mañana cuando me dirigía hacia la cascada del sendero Iber Igar en la Comarca de Guna Yala, junto a un grupo de Burbayar Lodge observamos un Águila Harpía adulto, una gran sorpresa para todos los participantes, entre los cuales estaban: Aditi, Varun y Prabhat Vira y Sarah Toas, quien avistó el ave a más de 40 metros de distancia. Sin duda excelente cerrar el año con esta ave majestuosa. Las Fotografías son de Aditi Vira.

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...

La semana pasada un pequeño grupo de observadores de aves de Panamá hizo una gira a Cana, Darién (Bill y Claudia Ahrens, Rafael Luck acompañados del guía Roberto Medina). Entre otras fotos estamos incluyendo el Green-naped Tanager, Pirre Warbler, Orange-bellied Euphonia, White-headed Wren, Red-throated Cara Cara, Sharpbill, Little Cuckoo . Se vieron muchas rapaces incluyendo al Black-and-white Hawk-Eagle , que curiosamente nos estaba observando, el White Hawk, Black Hawk-Eagle, King Vulture, y como una gran sorpresa desde el mismo campamento principal, se pudo observar un Águila Harpía desde lejos. Estamos enviando fotos de tres guacamayas (Blue-and-yellow, Red-and-green and Chestnut-fronted Macaw). Vimos el Great Green Macaw, pero desafortunadamente no se dejó retratar.

A group of hardy Panama Auduboners spent last weekend braving weather and lodging and birding around El Real, Darién. After waking up at an ungodly hour on June 12 we made a quick stop at the bridge over Río Mono in the Bayano, where we heard a Barred Puffbird and nothing more. The Pan-American Highway is in excellent condition, and most of the 260 km from the Riande Hotel to Yaviza are freshly-asphalted, thus making it a pleasant four-hour drive. A stop at the marsh just out of Yaviza that had Large-billed Seed-Finches last November was also futile. After a quick lunch at the always-sweltering Yaviza we hopped on our boat and headed for El Real under a light drizzle. Ten minutes later we were being pounded by the heaviest of rains, that didn't stop until we walked into our hotel. During a lull in the storm, about halfway from Yaviza to the point where the Chucunaque River meets the Tuira River, Jan Axel Cubilla looked up from under his raincoat and saw a Black-collared Hawk. Not ...

On October 18, Rosabel Miró went with a visiting Department of Defense Partners in Flight group to the mouth of the Matías Hernández River, where they spotted a female Snail Kite . This is the first report of the species from the area, that has been heavily birded since 1994. She also reports hearing from freelance bird guide Gustavo Zevallos about a Harpy Eagle seen on October 21 on the banks of the Chagres River, about 10 minutes from the town of Emberá Drúa.

I returned from a scouting trip to the Metetí, Darién area on Saturday, August 11. We visited a Crested Eagle nest with a juvenile and a dark-phase adult. I had never seen a dark-phase before: the head was almost black and the underparts were all barred. These photos were taken with my little Nikon point-and-shoot. The adult was high up a Cuipo tree near the nest, but the juvenile was lower down. We also visited a spot near La Palma and were lucky to see a few Blue-and-gold Macaws and a pair of Great Greens. We also visited a Harpy Eagle nest. We explored some nearby ponds hoping for Black-chested Hawk and maybe some interesting ducks, but didn't get lucky: all we got were two hours wading in waist-deep swampy vegetation. The locals we talked to did say they had seen these "ruddy" hawks flying around, though. The spot looks promising, and we're considering organizing an extraordinary fieldtrip for PAS.

We received a second-hand José Tejada report of two Harpy Eagles seen this morning from the mirador beyond Nusagandi.