Xenornis

Joris Deruwe and I found at least 2 Least Bitterns at Ammo Dump on Sunday, August 23. The birds were constantly flying back and forth between the shoreline and the tall vegetation on the floating island. On Sunday, the wind had blown the island to the northeast corner of the pond, near the Ammo depot entrance gate, so it was pretty far away. Quality is not optimal due to the distance, but I would say this is the resident race. 

Cindy and Leslie Lieurance and I went on May 20 to the Finca Bayano rice farm near Chepo (Eastern Panama). Water levels are still low and water birds were sparsely distributed. Quality made up for quantity. Cindy's sharp eye located a group of 3 Wilson's Phalaropes way off in a shallow wash. There was one smart female coming into breeding plumage, while the other two were still in non-breeding plumage. This bird is rarely seen in Panama during the Fall migration and is exceedingly rare in Spring (only one previous Spring record?).  Nearby was a Pectoral Sandpiper , also rare in Spring, especially in mid-May. Leslie and I were walking a rough track through the undeveloped marsh area when a small heron flushed from a drainage ditch in front of us and landed in a clump of bushes. It turned out to be a most unusually tame Least Bittern that stayed put for several minutes just a few feet away from us. It is clearly a particularly handsome individual of the resident race ( ery...

Comparto reporte de un Least Bittern observado por Siu Mae y Won Ton en Ammo Dump Ponds, en la carretera principal que va hacia el muelle del Smithsonian el Sabado 26 de abril a las 12:15 pm. Al darse cuenta de nuestra presencia se trató de camuflar como típicamente hace levantando la cabeza simulando la vegetación. Al notar que seguiamos, voló hacia la izquierda. Probablemente siga en el área. Fotos por Won Ton.

Botanist Alicia Ibañez invited George Angehr, William Adsett and Venicio Wilson to join her expedition to Damani-Guariviara Ramsar Site in the Ño Kribo Region, Kusapin District in the Ngabe-Bugle Reservation. Before departing to Rio Cañas, we visited the trail to La Estrella community, next to the Rio Guarumo River in Punta Peña-Almirante Road looking for Melodious Blackbirds. Instead, we found 2 Grayish Saltators . This sighting extends the range of this recently reported species a bit more into the east. During our visit to Rio Caña and the Damani-Guariviara Wetlands we had some interesting findings. White-crowned Pigeons were seen 3 days in a row in the town of Rio Cañas, a new locality for this species in Panama. Three Crested Guans were spotted while navigating the Tiger Head River (Tagajed in the maps). Green Ibis were common, as was Olive-backed Euphonia . The most remarkable findings were the dark form of the Green Heron (described by Ridgely in his book), Least Bittern ...

Darién Montañez spent a week with Dale Herter and Alan Clark on a whirlwind tour of Central and Western Panama birding spots. Following, the cream of the 430-species crop. 24th: Bronzy Hermit, Black-throated Wren, Gray Catbird and Olive-crowned Yellowthroat at the Chiriquí Grande dump/oil tanks road. 25th: All three Spinetails, Ruddy Foliage-Gleaner and Worm-eating Warbler at Volcán Lakes. 27th: Anhinga, Least Bittern, Glossy Ibis, Roseate Spoonbil and singing Willow Flycatchers at Las Lajas Beach. Slaty Antwren at Santa Fe, and Fulvous Whistling-Duck at Las Macanas Marsh. 28th: Bare-crowned Antbird and Stripe-breasted Wren on Achiote Road.

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.