Xenornis

En primer lugar me uní al grupo de observadores que han encontrado el White-eyed Vireo en la entrada de los Summit Ponds, la primera vez que lo vi fue un sólo individuo el lunes 21 de febrero, acompañado de una Magnolia Warbler inmadura en las misma marañas.  El miércoles 23 de febrero regresé al mismo lugar, esta vez acompañado de Rosabel Miró y posteriormente por Karl. Nuevamente encontramos el White-eyed Vireo en el mismo sitio.  En el lugar estaba un grupo de observadores guiados por Carlos Bathancourt quien encontró una  Agami Heron  inmadura en el laguito de la derecha, el cual fue apreciado por todos. En el día de hoy (sábado 26 de febrero), fui a Pipeline junto a Osvaldo Quintero. En el parche de maleza (paja canalera) a la izquierda del camino antes de la desviación hacia el PRDC observamos una Blue-winged Warbler , probablemente una hembra a juzgar por parte de la corona oliva (sólo la frente era amarilla brillante). Las fotos de la Blue-winged Warbl...

Hoy (24 de febrero) fuimos Benny Wilson y Rafael Luck en busca del White-eyed Vireo . Podríamos casi jurar que vimos a dos ejemplares, o tal vez una pareja. Aqui un par de fotos. Los encontramos en el mismo lugar reportado originalmente por Carlos Bethancourt, en la entrada de los Laguitos de Summit.

Después de leer el informe de Carlos Bethancourt sobre la presencia de un Vireo Ojiblanco*  a la entrada de los laguitos del Summit, Euclides Campos y yo nos apersonamos a ese lugar hoy en la mañana. Apenas llegamos lo oimos cantar, y lo pudimos observar por bastante tiempo. No fué fácil retratarlo. [*] Carlos' report, from his Facebook page: White-eyed Vireo at the entrance of Summit Ponds; almost a week in the same area, you can hear it calling. It is outside the gate in the small patch of dry forest.

Jan Axel Cubilla forwarded a photo of one of the two Tiny Hawks seen by Osvaldo Quintero and Itzel Fong on the stretch of Mono Tití Trail immediately past the turnoff to the construction tower at Parque Natural Metropolitano on June 15. Jan Axel also reports that the Capped Herons are still at Summit Ponds; on June 13 he saw a pair (and photographed one) on the far end of the pond on the left.

Carlos Bethancourt sent in these photos of Agami Heron seen this morning at Summit Ponds. Also seen was a pair of Brown-throated Parakeets , a rare sight in the Canal Area. An Agami Heron was present in the area last dry season, sometimes accompanied by a Capped Heron or two.

While on the Panama Audubon fieldtrip to Summit Ponds, Rosabel Miró located a barely-visible Agami Heron stealthily walking among some twigs on the far side of the left pond. Also seen on fieldtrip day were two Capped Herons, as well as a couple of Yellow-green Tyrannulets. The Agami was also seen near dusk on Saturday the 14th by Ariel Aguirre and José Tejada.

After kind of trying for the week before, we finally succeeded at seeing the Summit Ponds Agami Heron. The Canopy Tower's Carlos Bethancourt was there with a group, which I suspect was what convinced the bird to show up. Also seen was Capped Heron and the ever-present Boat-billed Herons. These two photos (shown here for documentation purposes only) were digiscoped by Carlos, photoshopped by me. It seems the latest string of rainy days has replenished the bird's usual haunts, because it's been a couple of days since it was last seen. We'll try for it early on Sunday, before the Panama Audubon fieldtrip.

The Canopy Tower's Carlos Bethancourt sent in a scattering of reports from him and his colleagues: Agami Heron at Summit Ponds on March 1st . Great views at pretty much the same spot where one was seen last year. This is my 6th sighting of this bird at this location. Pheasant Cuckoo at the entrance of Pipeline Rd. on Feb 28 and on I had a Rufous Nightjar seen by Alexis Sanchez at the entrance of Pipeline Road on Feb 27, then again on March 3 with John Coons's FieldGuides group.

The Panama Audubon fieldtrip to Plantation Road made a quick stop at Summit Ponds to beef up the birdlist. The best among the numerous additions was an adult Cocoi Heron seen on the far side of the left pond. This Eastern Panama specialty is only rarely seen in the Canal Area, with a few sightings from the Chagres River/Gamboa Resort area (fide Carlos Bethancourt).

While zipping past Summit Gardens on their way to the PAS Pipeline Road fieldtrip, Rosabel & Karl Kaufmann saw a Capped Heron, on the edge of the small pond just beyond the fence 20 meters before the parking lot.

The best sighting on the PAS fieldtrip to Summit Ponds was Capped Heron. At first, it was seen flying towards the ponds, and the lucky few that got to the left pond fast enough got a clear view of it before it got spooked and flew into the foliage. We tried to find it by walking the trail around the pond but a mass attack by chiggers spooked us away. Other good birds seen were a bunch of male Scarlet Tanagers, Panama Flycatcher and a Giant Cowbird.