Xenornis

94 Red Knots, which should show up in Panama any time now, were banded in Mexico earlier this year by Dr. Nigel Clark, from the British Trust for Ornithology. Each bird has a red flag with an X on it and a yellow flag with a number between 000 and 194. If you see a flagged knot, and especially if you manage to read the numbers, send us a report to playeros@panamaaudubon.org or xenornis@hotmail.com

The Canopy Tower's Carlos Bethancourt swung by Tocumen Marsh looking for the Jabiru. While he didn't find that, he did see a Gray-breasted Crake poke its head out of the grass and this male White-tailed Nightjar. Photo by Dustin Huntington.

The Canopy Tower's José Soto found a juvenile Jabiru in Tocumen Marsh, on the flooded ricefields beyond the left fork of the T-Junction by the dike trail while visiting with two tourists on the morning of September 18. This morning, Euclides Campos, José Carlos García, Mahelis Samudio and Rosabel Miró succeeded in finding and photographing the bird in pretty much the same general area. This is the first report from Central Panama since the sixties (or was it the fifties?)

The Canopy Tower's Carlos Bethancourt saw the Tocumen Marsh Long-winged Harrier while leading a small group. This time the bird was working the ricefields on the road out to the beach. Also seen was a single Orange-crowned Oriole.

The high point of the PAS fieldtrip to Tocumen Marsh was the third report of Long-winged Harrier for Panama. The bird was working the ricefields around the far reaches of the main road, taking a left at the dike road. Report by Jan Axel Cubilla, photos by Karl Kaufmann. Lo que vimos fue un típico Circus con alas largas y estrechas, cola larga y vuelo bajo con cernidas ocasionales. De pardo a pardo oscuro por encima con obvia rabadilla blanca estrecha (como una franja) y cola con varias (minimo tres) franjas pálidas (blancuzcas-anteadas). Por arriba se hacia obvio puntas negras de las primarias y un panel más claro formado por las primarias. Por debajo de las alas fue difícil discernir el color... parecía oscura, pero las fotos hacen notar que era pálido. Partes ventrales de un color blanco cremoso, con cuello ventral, pecho superior y cara negra contrastantes con marcas blancas (superciliares?). Patas largas de un color amarillo-naranja prominente. Lo observamos primero un poco antes d...

Rosabel Miró and I spent seven days (April 13-19) exploring Changuinola and environs thoroughly, scouting locations for the Birding Spots in Panama book and doing a little hunting for lifers on the side. Justo Camargo and Dinora López, two Univeristy of Panama students, tagged along, and Karl Kaufmann joined us for the second half of the trip. Highlighs follow: Green Ibis: Two pairs seen on the 19th, perched on trees at Chiriquí Grande's Two Tank Road, just before the road out to the dump. Crested Caracara: First Bocas record. A raggedy-looking adult seen on the old ricefields on the morning of the 16th. Gray-breasted Crake: Heard only. One on the 14th in a dry grassy field across from the banana plantation on the road to he Camino Ecológico through San San, about 500 m before the end. Another one heard on the old rice fields on the 15th and two heard at the same place on the 16. Rosabel mentioned hearing its characteristic tinkling call two weeks ago on the Ruddy Crake spot near t...

José Tejada sent in a bunch of additional reports: On april 12 I went again to the same area where I saw the Nashville Warbler on march 31 (the dirt road that connects the Gatun Yacht Club and Dock 45), this time I walked further in and I saw another great bird about two feet above the ground below a little tree full of vines. I heard the bird chipping and then I saw it about 10 feet from where I was standing. I had a good look through my binoculars; a male Connecticut Warbler. At first glance it looked to me as a mourning warbler with an eye ring like the one of a yellowish flycatcher; the bird had a gray hood with no black on the breast, yellow belly, olive back and wings and pink legs. The bird was foraging on the twigs of a shrub at the edge of the road and then it flew further in disappearing. I could see it for about 8 seconds through my binoculars, before it disappeared. At the same area I saw few minutes later a flock of Swainson's Hawks circling very low where I spotted a ...

Ariel Aguirre, Bob & Happy Nettle found a Hook-billed Kite during a Gatún lake tour. The bird was at the radio station entrance by Gamboa.

José Tejada reports a Nashville Warbler on march 31 at 7:30 a.m. about 200 meters beyond the gatun yacht club in Colon, at the dirt road which connects the gatun yacht club and dock 45. The bird had a clear contrast in betwen light gray head, pale yellow throat and yellow body, an eye ring. It was feeding on the flowers of a malagueto tree about 15 feet high and then it flew down and dissapeared in some grasses at the edge of the lake.

Whilst checking mileages and directions for the upcoming Panama Audubon Panama Bird-finding Guide, Darién Montañez et al. saw the ever-elusive Cattle Tyrant on the front lawn of the former ARI building in Amador.

Darién Montañez and Hal Opperman visited Tocumen Marsh. We only heard Little Cuckoo, but had crippling views of a female Blackpoll Warbler and a Sulphur-bellied Flycatcher.

José Tejada sent a bunch of interesting reports: Jan. 17: Male Yellow-bellied Sapsucker and a basic-plumaged Blackpoll Warbler at Mono Tití Rd, Metropolitan Nature Park. Jan. 21: Female Cerulean Warbler at Achiote Road. Feb. 13: Female Golden-cheeked Warbler seen on the road up to Respingo in Cerro Punta, at pretty much the same spot where he saw the first Panama record on 3 january 2005. Feb. 14: Warbling Vireo in Finca Hartmann. Second Panama record. Feb. 21: Female Cape May Warbler at a flowering guácimo colorado tree in front of the one-story bunker on the left at the base of Mono Tití Rd, Metropolitan Nature Park. Also on the same day, he had a Worm-eating Warbler from the lookout halfway in on Mono Tití Rd.