Xenornis

This past weekend I had a complete deep immersion into eastern Panama, that part of the country that remained pure and untouched on it's vast majority until the mid-60's. On Friday 24 and Saturday 25 I was invited by Raúl Arias de Para, along with Carlos Bethancourt and Ismael Hernando Quiróz (the famous Nando from Cerro Azul) to birdwatch the area between Metetí and Yaviza. [ See Carlos' report here ].  On Saturday afternoon, after saying goodbye to my original team, I joined the group of birders from Panama Audubon Society that the next day would observe birds in the forests around Rio Bayano. Claudia and Bill Ahrens, Cindy and Leslie Lieurance, Rosabel and Karl Kaufmann ventured to visit places that we have recently discovered in the area of ​​Tortí.   Early Sunday morning we visited the Playa Chuzo forest where, thanks to an excellent recording played by Bill Ahrens (recorded by Ken Allaire) we saw a couple of Double-banded Graytails  up close, a life...

El fin de semana del 23 de abril estuvimos explorando las cercanias del Darién, Jan Axel Cubilla y Gloriela Archbold, José Carlos García y Mahelis Rodríguez, y Rafael Luck. Nuestro destino final era el poblado de Nuevo Vigía, pero desafortunadamente SENAFRONT no nos autorizo visitar esa zona por razones de seguridad. Una verdadera lástima, ya que personas del pueblo invirtieron tiempo y fondos para transportarnos y alimentarnos sin poder obterner los frutos de nuestra visita. De todas formas hicimos nuestro acostumbrado paseo con algunos de los resultados fotograficos: El Salto : Black-capped Donacobius en abundancia y Spectacled Parrolet Filo del Tallo : Black Antshrike , Cinnamon Woodpecker, Golden-headed Manakin (muchos hermits: long-billed, stripe-throated, pale-bellied , rufous-breasted) Puente del Río Mono : Rufous-winged Antwren, Barred Puffbird, Red-rumped Woodpecker, One-colored Becard .

During the first months of 2011 Raul Arias de Para, Daniel Arias, George Angher and I have been birding the patches of forest along the Pan-American Highway from Torti, in eastern Panama province, to Yaviza in Darien Province and here are some our the best sightings: Double-banded Graytail was found nesting in Fundacion Tierra Nueva, near El Salto town. This is possible the first confirmed nest of this specie only found in Eastern Panama, northern Colombia and Northwestern Ecuador. We have seen a total of 3 active nests in different spots of Darien Province and near Torti. White-fronted Nunbirds where seen for about 15 minutes in the headwaters of Torti River, above San Jose Town. Spot-breasted Woodpecker in Torti. The bird seems to be a common resident of Torti Abajo area Barred Forest-Falcon was seen in Cañazas mountain range Rufous-winged Antwren was seen in Arimae Yellow-breasted Flycatcher was seen near El Salto town This extends the range of this specie and confirm i...

This morning's Panama Audubon Society fieldtrip to the Bayano was a complete success. Top target Golden-green Woodpecker was seen within the first half hour of walking the trail. Other exciting eastern Panama specialties seen were One-colored Becard (a pair at a nest), a pair of White-eared Conebills, a few Rufous-winged Antwrens, and a male Black Antshrike (all around the bridge over Río Mono.)