Xenornis

Itzel Fong Gadea photographed this Long-billed Curlew at Panamá Viejo on August 20.

Jan Axel Cubilla visited Costa del Este for this afternoon's high high tide and found a strange gull with the thousands of Laughing Gulls just east of the bridge. Originally thought to be a Kelp Gull, when it took flight it showed a lot of black in the tail, which could mean he saw a Belcher's Gull. We'll have to wait for his photos to be sure, but it would be a good idea to visit the area tomorrow for an even higher tide at 4:26 pm. [The bird in question was proven to be but a subadult Kelp Gull . Apologies] We waited for the tide to recede and the gulls to reassemble, but could not find the one we were looking for. We did see two or three Herring Gulls , a few Ring-billeds and a young Lesser Black-backed . The beach at Panamá Viejo had two Elegant Terns and a Long-billed Curlew .

Barry Zimmer sends in the highlights of three Panama tours led on October and November. Blue-footed Booby - 100+ off Costa del Este (east of Panama City) October 19 feeding very close to shore; more impressive was more than a thousand along the beaches (and covering an offshore island) off Santa Clara and near Juan Hombrón November 12 Swallow-tailed Kite - two from the Canopy Tower October 18 seemed very late. I have not seen them here in October before. Sharp-shinned Hawk - one at the Canopy Lodge in El Valle November 8 was the first I have seen in that area of Panama Collared Plover - pair at Panama Viejo October 23; only my second for Panama Long-billed Curlew - one found and photographed at Panama Viejo October 23; this is the third or fourth time I have seen one at this location in the last ten years (maybe the same bird coming back to winter each time?); attached photo Black-billed Cuckoo - one seen on La Mesa above El Valle October 25; only my second in Panama Touit speci...

This Long-billed Curlew was photographed on October 5 by Itzel Fong at the usual spot in Panamá Viejo: on the mudflats between the new and old visitor centers.

This flock of Black Skimmers (part of a flock of 12) was photographed by Karl Kaufmann this afternoon, whilst shorebirding Costa del Este with Brian Watts and Bart Paxton from the College of William and Mary, George Angehr, and Rosabel Miró. Also seen in the area was Long-billed Curlew, which seems to be a yearly visitor to the upper bay of Panama.

Attendees of the Panama Audubon Society Shorebird Appreciation and Identification Workshop were treated to crippling views of an adult Long-billed Curlew at Panamá Viejo. The bird was working the mudflats near the viewing shelter halfway from the visitor center and the tower, and was pretty close to stable ground (which allowed Rafael Luck and Karl Kaufmann to blow plenty of megapixels on this noble beast). If you still need this rare (yet regular) winter visitor for your Panama list you may want to join tomorrow's PAS fieldtrip to the area.

[A very preliminary report] A lot of people went out at ungodly hours of the morning and managed to count a lot of birds. Highlights, compiled from my hazy memory of a hot midday roll-call, follow: Plantation Road: Speckled Mourner. Old Gamboa Road: Blackpoll Warbler, Slate-headed Tody-Flycatcher, Plain-breasted Ground-Dove. Metropolitan Nature Park: Worm-eating Warbler, Streak-headed Woodcreeper, American Coot. Panamá Viejo: Long-billed Curlew, Cocoi Heron, Elegant Tern, Franklin's Gull. Amador: Cattle Tyrant, a couple Brown Boobies and a single Blue-footed. Rodman Spoil Ponds: The first record (voice only, as usual) of Gray-breasted Crake from the Pacific Canal Area (that I know of). Four American Coots, a couple Glossy Ibis, and the only Masked Duck to grace our records in recent memory (that i know of. also the first one from the Pacific Side, that i know of.) Photo by Rosabel Miró.

José Tejada photographed this American Golden-Plover at Costa del Este. He has also been seeing a Long-billed Curlew there regularly since August 29. Both birds have been seen both in the exposed mudflats at low tide, and in the grass fields.

Darién Montañez, Ken Wysocki and Steve Huggins saw five Kelp Gulls, four adults and a younger (three-year?) individual, at the water’s edge in Costa del Este. We were standing on the vacant lot right next to the Corredor Sur, by the Costa del Este exit (if you’re coming from the city), and they were standing next to a few Laughing Gulls, about 25 meters away from us. These gulls were huge, and their bold black-and-white plumage made them all the more conspicuous. Our first guess was Great Black-backed Gull, but the legs of our birds were dull grayish-green, not pink. Also, they did not have bold white mirrors on the primaries like Great Black-backeds would. Their bills were big and heavy, bright yellow with a red gonys-spot. The heads were snow-white with no visible streaking, as was the neck, rump, tail and underparts of the bird. Their backs and upperwings were dark slaty-gray, darker on the primaries, with broad white trailing edges. The underwings were white, dark gray on the prima...

The highlight of the PAS fieldtrip to Panamá Viejo was a Long-billed Curlew, dicovered by Karl Kaufmann on the mudflats to the right of the visitor center/restaurant.

Rosabel and Karl Kaufmann visited Costa del Este hoping for gulls but had to settle for a few Pectoral Sandpipers, a Black Tern, a Merlin and a Long-billed Curlew. The Curlew was on the mudflats by the Escuela Interamericana (everything else was on the grass between the escuela and the mudflat, btw).

Bill Porteous stopped at Costa del Este this morning. Since the tide was only 12 ft, all the peeps stayed on the beach, but there were five Wilson's Phalaropes, four Stilt Sandpipers and a Buff-breasted Sandpiper by the pools at the Escuela Interamericana, and a Long-billed Curlew with the Whimbrels on the beach at the same spot.

Rosabel and Karl Kaufmann spent the afternoon shorebirding at Panamá Viejo. The mudflats between the IPAT building and the old stables had a big flock of shorebirds, and a few gulls and terns. The highlight was a Dunlin, picked out from the nearby Western Sandpipers by its larger size and differently shaped bill. The same mudflat also had a Long-billed Curlew, possibly the same bird seen there on the Christmas Bird Count. There were plenty of Whimbrels nearby for direct comparison, so picking it out was especially easy. There were large numbers of sandpipers, plovers and dowitchers, and a large flock of Surfbirds had a Red Knot molting into breeding plumage. The gulls were mostly Laughing Gulls, but there was one Ring-billed and one Herring Gull.

White-rumped Sandpiper at Rodman Ponds (Bill Porteous), Long-billed Curlew at Panamá Viejo (Rosabel Miró), Laughing Falcon, American Pygmy Kingfisher and Speckled Mourner at Old Gamboa Road (Darién Montañez), Slaty-backed Forest-Falcon and Pheasant Cuckoo on the Madden Road side roads (Loyda Sánchez)... (more coming soon).

The Long-billed Curlew was seen early in the morning in the same ponds at Costa del Este.

An adult Lesser Black-backed Gull was seen among the gulls at the mouth of the Matasnillo River, Paitilla. Later that day, two Long-billed Curlews were seen in the ponds by the sea at Costa del Este. A larger gull was seen among the Laughing Gulls on the sand by the mouth of the Matasnillo River, Paitilla, on high tide, october 8. Its head was white with buffy speckles, showing it was an adult in winter plumage. The speckling was especially evident in the area around the eye, the iris was pale yellow. Its bill was bright yellow with an evident red spot in the lower mandible. Its back and wings were slaty-gray, much darker than those of a (typical) Ring-billed or Herring Gull. We were not able to distinguish any white mirrors on the tips of the primaries. Then, at 5:30 P.M. at Costa del Este, Rosabel noticed a huge Whimbrel in a large flock of migratory shorebirds on one of the ponds by the seashore. The bird and another one like it took flight but landed nearby. After that only one cou...