Xenornis

Danny George visited Rodman ponds and found four  Wigeon , plus the female  Pintail among the teal.

Five American Wigeon were found in the morning at Rodman Ponds. The Cattle Tyrant was seen on its usual haunts behind the ARI building at Amador. The Herring Gull was there, too. This morning (dec 25) Karla Aparicio, Ruby Zambrano and Darién and Camilo Montañez went to Rodman Ponds to look for the Pintail, but instead found at least five American Wigeon, including a male in breeding plumage. They were first seen in fligh, their size and wing pattern distinguished them from the Blue-winged Teal they were flying with. Once they "landed" the head pattern of the male was seen clearly, the white forehead being very conspicuous. The cinnamon flanks and the contrasting white belly and undertail coverts could also be seen clearly. Later, the group visited the ARI building at Amador where Ruby found a Cattle Tyrant and, minutes later, the Herring Gull. There was only one Blue-footed Boobie in the concrete blocks at Punta Culebra. What better Christmas present than a lifer? Go get...

The female  Northern Pintail was seen at dusk with a small flock of blue-winged Teal at Rodman Ponds. The  Shovelers were also seen.

On sunday, december 14, the Kauftañez family along with the Murdochs and María Allen visited Rodman Ponds at noon in hopes of finding a Sora, but instead discovered a pair of Northern Pintails swimming among the Whistling-Ducks and Shovelers. Rosabel was the first to spot them, their long necks gave them a slim, pintail-like appearance. We approached to get a better look with Wally's scope and were able to observe the male preening.The head was dark brown, darker in the crown and nape, and the breast was white with a few vague buffy spots. We couldn´t see the white line on the sides of the neck, but María did. The flanks were patterned in black and white, and the undertail coverts were black. The tail was pointed, but wasn´t as long as that of an adult male. Then on tuesday, dec 16, Darién, Delicia and Camilo went with Danny George and Steve Droste to look for it and saw the female. It looked "just like the picture", with the same slim shape of the birds seen on sunday. I...

Darién Montañez saw at least five  Snowy Plovers were seen in a flock of peeps on the beach at the end of Calle G, Punta Chame.

A pair of  Northern Pintails were seen at noon on Rodman Ponds swimming among the Whistling-Ducks. Also present were about a dozen  Northern Shovelers .

The  Herring Gull was seen again, this time behind the ARI building at Amador.

Last sunday at least seven Blue-footed Boobies were seen flying around Punta Culebra at Naos Island. Two of them were seen perched on one of the concrete blocks just out of Amador Beach. Karl saw them on tuesday and today, too.

A first winter Herring Gull was seen at dusk (high tide) at a newly discovered roost at Costa del Este by Rafael Cortez, Jan Cubilla and three fourths of the Montañez family. The gull was noticeably larger than the Laughing (and Franklin's) Gulls it was flying with. Its breast was mottled brown and it had pink legs and a pale bill base. The back was brownish-black as were the wings, with a darker trailing edge in the secondaries. The rump was white with some dark splotches that formed a dark tail band. The Herring Gull was in a small flock of gulls, most (at least 85 of them) were Franklin's in both adult and first winter plumage. Also seen were large numbers of Black Terns and a pair of Glossy Ibis. The new roost is in a flooded grassy field located to the left of the Corredor Sur, just beyond Snipe Field.

A male Prairie Warbler was discovered at dusk in Old Gamboa Rd, in the first clearing from the Golf Club entrance, just past the first road tothe left. All its underparts were a very bright yellow with clear black streaks on the flanks. The back was dull-olive, as was the crown; we couldn't see any chestnut streaking. The wings were darker and had vague wingbars. The face pattern wasn't seen clearly, but we saw that it had a dark eye-line and a paler supercillium. We did not see it twitch itstail, and it was very active moving in and out of view among the leaves of the tree. And a few minutes later a Pale-eyed Pigmy-Tyrant came to the same tree! It was seen mainly from below, so the streaked breast was its mostvisible fieldmark. Also seen were its bright-pink legs (not an useful fieldmark) and pink base to the lower mandible. The Pale-eye was seen briefly, and it was heard calling as it flew from one twig to another.