Xenornis

After my family hopped the bus back to El Valle early last week, I spent a few long days chasing some target birds from the Burica Peninsula through Fortuna to lowland Bocas del Toro. The first major highlight was a male Yellow-billed Cotinga found at the end of the road at Chorcha Abajo on 24-10; the bird was present but distant even for a scope view when I arrived, but I waited almost two hours for it to come in closely enough for a clear i.d. Thank you to Kilo Campos for his reports for this area, which gave me the faith to keep waiting! On the 25th I visited the Burica Peninsula, but bad weather early in the day, combined with confusion as my Charco Azul access, served to limit my success. Nonetheless, the road leading uphill just before the Petroterminales access yielded a male Common Yellowthroat and a female-plumaged Ruby-throated Hummingbird. The water level on the Quebrada Mellicita was very high, so I could walk in for 100 yards or so (even with good boots), but still a...

During my last trip to Cana that started from December 28th to January 4th with Andrew Valleley and Dale Dyer, we had an excellent adventure where most of the Cana specialties were seen. Frank Rheind saw a Striped Woodhaunter on January 2th, and we saw it the next day at El Paletón trail. Next day we got an Orange-crowned Oriole close to the lodge. According to the book Where to Find Birds in Panama , both birds have not been recorded for Cana. On January 4th we returned from Cana to do birding at the Metropolitan Nature Park to chase the Pheasant Cuckoo, Yellow-green Tyrannule t and Slate-colored Seedeater . All of them were seen. Next day we headed to the west doing some grassland birding around Herrera province where we found a Striped Owl at Las Macanas Marsh. The following day produced the Coiba Spinetail and Brown-backed Dove [at Coiba Island, of course]. On January 7th we had a White-throated shrike Tanager in a big mixed flock, and both wood wrens were seen forag...

During the first weeks of January, I spent a few days birding in the Chiriquí highlands and foothills of Bocas del Toro with some friends, looking for some of the Talamanca range endemics. On January 5th a male Masked Duck and a Masked Yellowthroat were seen at Volcán Lakes. The next day we had a White-fronted (Rough-legged) Tyrannulet on the way to the ANAM headquaters at Respingo, where we saw a Costa Rican Pygmy-Owl close to the main building. On January 7th a single White-throated Flycatcher (juvenile) and two Bran-colored Flycatchers at Volcán Lakes. The following day we moved to Rancho Ecológico Willy Mazu. The birding was superb around the area yielding White-crowned Manakin on 8th; Lanceolated Monklet, Ashy-throated Bush-Tanager, Dull-mantled Antbird, plenty of Yellow-throated Bush-Tanagers, a Black-headed Antthrush (heard only) and a good bonanza for the day: a male Bare-necked Umbrellabird on the 9th. On 10th at the Verrugosa trail, Ochre-breasted Antpitta almost...