Xenornis

On September 5, while birding with Diego Postigo and his 6 year old son Carlos, I saw an Empidonax with relatively long bill, whitish lores, pale yellow belly and a totally white throat and upper chest. Bird was moving constanly. Did not heard it call. I send this pictures to Ito (Genover) Santamaria and he agrees that the bird is a White-throated Flycatcher . The bird was spoted near the 2nd balcony on the walkway from the Yacht Club to Biomuseo.

While heading back from Coiba Island to Playa Arrimadero on April 26, rougly 8 to 10 miles away from the Hot Spring Trail, I spotted a large gull that turned out to be a Swallow-tailed Gull . I think it is the third record for Panama of this vagrant. John Hornbuckle, Brian Foster and Rodney Martins were with me during this sighting. Other birds seen were 2 Nazca Boobies, plenty of Black Terns, Brown Noddy and a lot of Red-necked Phalaropes. A White-throated Flycatcher was seen on March 7th at Old Gamboa Road. This is the second record of this difficult to identify Empidonax along the Panama Canal. Just to confirm ID, this bird responded after playback. Red-tailed Hawk adult seen on January 24th at Lagunas de Aruza, Metetí, Darién. This place is located in the back part of Reserva Hidrológica Filo del Tallo.

March 3 : White-crested Coquette at her nest in Cuesta de Piedra. March 6: Golden-naped Woodpecker at Santa Clara. Also Gray-crowned Yellowthroat and White-throated Flycatcher at Volcán Lakes. March 29: Strong-billed Woodcreeper at La Rana Trail in El Copé, with Kereen Álvarez. April 30: Streaked Xenops at Lake Bayano, with Laura Reyes. I used playback and the bird came in right away.

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...

Eduardo Amengual and Robert Dean, of the Costa Rican Birding Club, spent three weeks birding around Panama. Highlights of their trip included a Plumbeous Hawk early on March 11 on Los Caobos Trail at the Metropolitan Nature Park, a male (and possibly a female) Cinereous Becard on one of the canal maintenance roads near Madden Lake on the 17, two Palm Warblers at Fort San Lorenzo on the 18, two Violaceous Quail-Doves in the forests of Fort Sherman on the 19, a male Rufous-crested Coquette on the entrance to Chorro Macho at El Valle on the 22, two White-throated Flycatchers around the Volcán airstrip on the 24 (as well as another two around the Hotel Dos Ríos on the 25), and a Costa Rican Pygmy-Owl mobbed by a flock of birds on the Volcán-Boquete Trail on the 26.