Xenornis

On our way back to the city on August 26 we stopped to scan the ponds at the Malibu development in Nueva Gorgona with Cindy Lieurance and Leslie Lieurance. The pond seen from the fence had about 30 Least Grebes and we found 1 Pied-billed Grebe. The pond at the back of the development is in a much more natural state and had a number of other species. Most notable - there was a Capped Heron on the far shore and a non-breeding adult Black Tern. We also saw a single American Kestrel and 2 Whistling Heron in the field area. Leslie Lieurance shared this video of the sighting.

Enero 30, 31 y 1 de febrero Un macho Lesser Scaup y lo que parece ser una hembra Ring-necked Duck fueron observados en un laguito ubicado en el centro de la isla Contadora, archipiélago de Las Perlas. Durante los 3 días que observamos estos patos, siempre estuvieron juntos, como si fueran parejas (¿será una híbrido?). Eran los únicos patos del lago, donde habían no menos de 30 Least Grebes. Observadores: Rosabel Miró y Karl Kaufmann. En otro lago, en un costado de la pista de aterrizaje, cerca del antiguo hotel Contadora, escuchamos tanto el 31 de enero como el 1 de febrero a los White-throated Crakes, en varias partes de ese lago. (Foto de Rosabel) Sábado 7 de febrero Antes del Censo Centroamericano de Aves Acuáticas Una Whistling Heron en la arrocera de Santa María, Herrera, cerca de la entrada del pueblo de El Rincón. Esta garza estaba junto con otras garzas locales. Observadores: Yenifer Díaz, Alberto Bethancourt, Roxana Alveo y Stephany Carty. (No sacamos fotos). Dura...

[Tuesday, January 13] These are the popular Whistling Herons that are being reported frecuently from the pond at Gorgona's Malibu residential proyect; I finally decided to go and search for them to get my lifer; however the pictures are not so good due to the far distance and heat waves making the pictures blurry; well a success anyways!! Thanx to Rafael Lau and Justo Camargo for the information about the location to get to the place and to Niurka Castillo for joining me for an early start that day. I also happened to find this group of Masked Ducks consisting of one male and four females which spent the whole day foraging at the center of the pond far from the edges asociating with a group of nearby Blue-winged Teals and Common Moorhens. Through the day for many hours (and to my surprise) the Masked Ducks never searched for the concealment of the plants at the edge of the pond.

The two Whistling Herons that have taken residence at the pond in Playa Malibú ( first seen on July 15 by Euclides Campos ) have been visited by many a birder in the last few days.    First were Venicio Wilson and Maurice Posner, who went there on the morning of Wednesday, January 7. They found them on the fields north of the pond, where they also had a juvenile Tricolored Heron that may be the mysterious possible third Whistling Heron reported previously. The pond had Masked Duck and the Lesser Scaup reported previously, as well as many American Coots . On the morning of Friday, January 9, Delicia, Camilo and Darién Montañez tried yet again, this time successfully. The two birds were on the edges of the greener grass around the small pond on the NE of the big pond. The juvenile Tricolored was also there, so caveat emptor. The pond had a raft of 6 female Masked Ducks (out in the open, too), lots of Coots and two Lesser Scaup . That same afternoon had Rolando Jordán v...

January 4, 2015: After the several reports on Xenornis from Paul Oehrlein, Jose Pérez and I took a quick look at the pond and saw these 2  Whistling Herons!  If you missed the Chepo heron this is a good chance to see them!

January 2, 2015. Just took a turn down by the pond and noted two of the Whistling Herons on the Eastern end of the pond. As before, I submitted a checklist to E-bird.

Saturday, December 27. Noon. Just returned from a supply trip to Coronado and took a quick drive around my favorite birding spot and noted two of the subject herons just NE of the pond in the medium to tall grass.

On Monday, December 8 at about 10:30 AM I went down to the pond near Playa Malibú, Gorgona and observed many Least Grebe and one Blue-winged Teal on the water. East of the pond I was watching Snowy and Great Egrets, Little Blue Heron, and at least three   Whistling Herons foraging in the medium to tall grass. Their position was approx. 8 33 28 N 79 51 21 W. They were somewhat shy and moved further back in the field when they took notice of me taking several pictures. I have included three of those. I was so excited, I am not sure whether this is one or three birds! I did see three at once and a few moments later there could have been a fourth. It was difficult to keep track. They did not fly out while I was there and this area is not heavily birded in my experience. I visit irregularly and have yet to encounter any other birders.

  Solo para informate que hoy, conjuntamente con Osvaldo Quintero y mi persona, vimos el Whistling Heron ... Anda aun solo por el mismo lugar donde muchos los han visto, en la finca a la izquierda antes de llegar a la Garita de Policia de Chepo, viniendo de la ciudad...

When I was doing birding with Arie Gilbert and Ian Resnick at Lake Bayano on July 12 on one of the many side trails after Rio Mono Bridge, a Grey-bellied Hawk (inmature), perched close where we were. I think this bird was 9 feets above the ground staying for a while in the area. This is the third record of this extremely rare raptor in Central America [and the second one from Panama]. We did some birding at Gorgona (july 15th) close to Malibu gated community. We headed there because one of my client was requesting a Masked Duck. I have seen female two years in a row there. We checked the small pond and found a male Masked Duck among a group of Least Grebes. We drove down road, pass the pond and you find a orange house to the right side. Both Whistling Herons flew in front of the car and landed on top of a tree. The sighting was around 6:00 p.m. Just adding a range expansion, a Cattle Tyrant was seen at Juan Hombron on July 16th. On July 20th, we saw a Sapayoa at ...

Después de visitar Las Macanas durante el Centro Centroamericano de aves Acuáticas, paramos en la vía principal, adonde estuvimos viendo Glossy Ibises que nos pusimos a contar (65, MUY pocos comparado con otras veces que hemos estado en el área para las mismas fechas). Paramos en tres puntos de la vía para observar desde la calle el campo de arroz, en búsqueda de íbises. En el último sitio que paramos, el más cercano a la entrada de la finca y donde el terreno estaba descubierto de cultivos de arroz, pudimos observar un Whistling Heron muy activo, caminando por el terreno seco, buscando comida y atrapando uno que otro bicho. Como muestra una de las fotos, se acercó muchísimo a unos campesinos que estaban trabajando la tierra. Me acompañaron en estas observaciones Celeste Paiva, Yenifer Díaz, Michele Caballero, Stephany Carti y Asquena Aguilar, y Héctor Escudero, de la comunidad de El Rincón.

La noche anterior, Guido Berguido me mando un chat que observo un Whistling Heron en la misma calle en cual se observo el año pasado, reportado por Kevin Easley, salí esta mañana y estaba desde las 6 a.m. en el lugar, no tuve mucho éxito y decidí retirarme, ya cuando iba a guardar la cámara miro a mi izquierda y esta justo en frente mío! Es asustadizo, decidí no seguir tomándole fotos ya que estaba alterado y me fui del lugar, la vi exactamente a las 10:00 a.m. y estuve observándola por un lapso de 30 minutos y seguía ahí cuando me retire. Después del letrero de Tanara, 9kms, calle de tierra a la izquierda, a unos cuantos metros de la entrada a mano derecha hay 3 lagunitas. Muchas gracias a Guido por el reporte!