Xenornis

A rather short but successful birding extension trip into El Real and Rancho Frio, in the Darien National Park by Advantage Tour's Guido Berguido, revealed a couple of interesting sightings. On March 9, a strategic stop along the Pan-American highway, in the vicinity of the Tierra Nueva property, produced Yellow-breasted Flycatcher. Also noteworthy was a pair of copulating Plumbeous kites way up in a Cuipo tree. Along the Chucunaque river en route to El Real, Black Oropendolas were seen. Late afternoon birding at El Real showcased a small flock of Blue Grosbeaks, as well as a couple of thousand migrating Turkey Vultures with both Broad-winged and Swainson's Hawks. They settled down in the trees near the airstrip for the night. On March 10, near the Rancho Frio ranger station a Harpy Eagle nest contained a healthy-looking eaglet. Exploring the trails near the Rancho Frio Ranger station inside the Darien National Park, produced goodies such as Stripe-throa...

Here are a few observations from the last weeks. I have been travelling a bit, so they are all over the place. - When returning from a mission in Chanati on 25 January, I saw two Muscovy Ducks on the Cucunati river (South of Santa Fe - Darien Province) about 1 km downstream of Cucunati village. - On 29 January we found Orange-collared Manakins displaying in the secondary forest on the farm of Juan Velazques at the foot of the Cero Hoya. One of the group also saw three Great Green Macaws fly over. In the afternoon we found Veraguan Mango feeding in the Erythrina lanceolata trees in a fence line near Las Flores. - On 31 February we had a female Ruby-throated Hummingbird feeding on porterweed ( Stachytarpeta sp) in the garden of Hotel Heliconia (8 km south of Mariato, Veraguas). - We still see Northern Jacanas and Wattled jacanes feed together on a small catival near the Quebro river.

Jacobo Ortega birded the Chagres river at Gamboa this morning and found a Least Bittern, a Cocoi Heron, a Moscovy Duck and about 12 Masked Duck, plus about 25 Blue Winged Teal.

It's the dry season in central Panama, which means Capped Herons popping up in unexpected places. Jacobo Ortega found this one in Gamboa yesterday afternoon, at the road out to the indigenous village beyond the Gamboa Resort.

On Wednesday, January 16, Jennifer Wolcott, John Afdem and Brian Hansen went on a boat trip up the Chagres and found this  Ring-necked Duck swimming with the raft of Lesser Scaups that has been at the Gamboa Resort dock since early December.

El fin de semana pasado estuve en Aguadulce (lunes 7 de enero) con mi familia buscando avocetas, pero encontrando en su lugar en las salinas un inmaduro de fase oscura de Reddish Egret . Estaba muy atento a mi presencia y no mostró su típica forma de alimentarse, sólo se alejo después de un par de fotos. Este fin de semana, el sábado 12 de enero fui con mi familia a Pedasí y alrededores. En el camino hacia Playa El Arenal (donde uno toma el bote hacia Isla Iguana) encontré un American Coot en un charco pequeñísimo, lo cual me resultó extraño.  En la playa, entre los muchos Royal Tern había un Elegant Tern... pero no pude tomarle fotos. El domingo 13 de enero visitamos la playa de El Ciruelo en donde encontré 4 Elegant Terns, incluyendo uno con patas rojas (y no, no era un South American Tern!). Parece ser un buen año para las Franklin's Gulls . Se describen como raras cuando no están de paso o en el verano, pero desde que las ví en Gamboa, resulta que son bastante co...

Karla Aparicio sends two noteworthy reports: Bicolored Hawk : Karla Aparicio, Jorge Herrera e Hilda Castañeda, observamos un individuo adulto con una presa en la pata en el sendero Harvard de la Isla de Barro Colorado (Smithsonian) durante el conteo central de aves (23 de diciembre, 2012). Foto: Jorge Herrera. Yellow- Bellied Sapsucker : Karla Aparicio, Katherine Araúz y Norma Ponce, observaron un individuo juvenil en la comunidad de La Tranquilla en el Lago Alajuela (a 20 min en bote del Puerto Corotú) el 20 de diciembre, 2012. Fotos por: Katherine Araúz Ponce.

On Christmas day we saw royal flycatcher, white-ruffed manakin and black-hooded antshrike in the Cerro Hoya NP. We heard Great Green Macaws flying over. On the way back, we visited a small catival where we spotted northern and wattled jacana side by side. On the trip to Coiba on 27 Dec 2012 we saw Galapagos shearwater. On a second trip to COiba (3 - 5 Jan) we saw 7 scarlet macaws flying over the mangroves near the central prison and brown-backed doves and coiba spinetail on the Sendero Los Pozos.

Jacobo Ortega reports a flock of American Wigeons and Northern Shovelers at the ponds before te Chepo turnoff. Also present were a few Killdeer.

Euclides Campos spent Christmas at the town of Paya, Darién, and he returned with a number of interesting records. First and foremost is the addition of a new species to the Panama list (and, therefore, the AOU North America list): Bicolored Wren , an unmistakable open-area wren of the Magdalena valley. He saw a pair in Paya on December 23rd and heard it again at Boca de Cupe on the 28th. He also saw a female Cape May Warbler at Paya on December 25th and photographed Dusky Pigeons near the Colombia border on the 26th. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XduDZJjj6ZM

I just came back from Gamboa: plenty of Scaups and at least 1 Northern Shoveler in the group! Best spotting at "Los Lagartos" restaurant by the Gamboa Rainforest Resort Marina.