Xenornis

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...

Hoy domingo, como a eso de las 4:30 pm Karl y yo estábamos en los llanos de Costa del Este (los terrenos que no han sido vendidos y que tienen hierbas y acumulación de agua de lluvia). Nos salió una Sora y muy cerca, en un charco, estaban 3 Pectoral Sandpipers. No vimos a los otros 3-4 Solitary Sandpipers que han estado en el último mes en el área. Luego nos fuimos al Parque Ecológico lo único que vimos fue 2 grupos de 4-5 Whimbrels. Ambos sitios tienen bastante agua y están buenos para playeros que prefieren este tipo de hábitat.