Xenornis

Attendees of the Panama Audubon Society Shorebird Appreciation and Identification Workshop were treated to crippling views of an adult Long-billed Curlew at Panamá Viejo. The bird was working the mudflats near the viewing shelter halfway from the visitor center and the tower, and was pretty close to stable ground (which allowed Rafael Luck and Karl Kaufmann to blow plenty of megapixels on this noble beast). If you still need this rare (yet regular) winter visitor for your Panama list you may want to join tomorrow's PAS fieldtrip to the area.

Panama Rainforest Discovery Center's Venicio Wilson reports a pair of Hook-billed Kites seen soaring above their Pipeline Road observation tower: Durante la mañana de hoy, a eso de las 9:00 am avistamos una pareja de Elanios Piquiganchudos, Hook-billed Cites, Chondrohierax uncinatus . Lo interesante de la pareja es que el miembro de mayor tamaño (posiblemente la hembra) era de fase oscura. La mañana estaba soleada, sin brisa y con nubes blancas bien altas. La pareja fue vista por 4 personas, Julia Sarco, Margelys Barría, Marcial Caisamo y mi persona. Julia, Margelys y Marcial son los futuros guías del PRDC, el proyecto de Fundacion Avifauna en Pipeline Road y todos tienen bastante experiencia en campo identificando aves. Todos fueron estudiantes de Darién Montañez. Utilizamos binoculares Bushnell H20 8X42, Bushnell Birding Series 10x42, Nikon Action 7x35 y Leica Trinovid 10x42BN. Las aves fueron observadas por espacio de 3 minutos y sobrevolaban haciendo círculos lentamente. Par...

Advantage Tours' Guido Berguido reports the highlights of a 9-day birding trip (Sept 14-22): At the top of the list are two Lanceolated Monklets we saw at Willie-mazu, Bocas del Toro. We were walking around the grounds of the lodge searching for Lattice-tailed Trogons. Since I had heard that the monklet had been seen not too long ago, I went ahead and played the call twice. After a little silence, a tiny bird flew right in front of us, some 4 meters above the ground. When I first saw the small bird fly in I thought it was just a flycatcher, but I promptly put my Swavoski binos on it, and was happily surprised to see this long-desired bird: a Lanceolated Monklet. Some seconds later, a second one flew in next to the first, and both started calling. Robin, the manager of the lodge, said that he had only seen it once before some weeks ago, so we felt pretty lucky. Secondly we were all very happy to watch great many migrants during the trip. The same Monklet day, while birding along...

Swedish birder Håkan Thorstensson sent in a report of a Panama trip earlier this year. Highlights included Dull-mantled Antbird , Speckled Antshrike and Blue-throated Goldentail at Burbayar on March 25, and a single Elegant Tern photographed at Veracruz on April 10th.

The Canopy Tower's Carlos Bethancourt sent in the following report, illustrated with stunning digiscoped photos. These photos of Cerulean Warbler were digiscoped with a Leica APO-Televid 77 scope and a C-LUX 2 Camera. The warbler was observed and photographed at Cerro Gaital, while doing a day tour to the Canopy Lodge. I think this is the second record of this bird observed at el Valle. There were three of them one female and two males. Another interesting bird observed in the same area was a Black-poll Warbler. Another interesting and rare bird that hung around the Canopy Lodge from late July to early September was a Rufous-vented Ground-Cuckoo . This bird was first reported to us by Ken Allaire, who spent a good amount of time exploring El Valle and Canopy Lodge Grounds, and was seen often by the birders staying at the lodge. I was very lucky to get this pictures on July 20, 2007 (10:00 am), while leading the first Tropical Digiscoping Seminar with Jeff Bouton from Leica Sports ...

After a thorough search of the literature, the identity of a mystery warbler seen by Delicia and Darién Montañez and Olmedo Miró whilst on the PAS fieldtrip to Isla Escudo de Veraguas has been changed from the very tentative first guesses (weird Cape May Warbler? Nashville x Palm Warbler hybrid?) to something that is exactly halfway between the most common warbler in the country and a new warbler for the country: a new subspecies of bird for Panama. Our bird was clearly a warbler, with a Dendroica -esque jizz. Its crown, cheeks and back were dull gray, contrasting with the olive scapulars, coverts and tail. The only markings on the face were a thin white incomplete eye-ring and a very faint black post-ocular stripe, for an effect similar to a female Mourning Warbler. The throat was white, the chest and belly were yellowish, and the undertail coverts were bright lemon yellow. But what really caught our eyes were the sharp, thin chestnut streaks that covered this warbler's throat, ch...

Eight brave Panama Audubon Society members spent the weekend at pristine, remote Escudo de Veraguas. Saw the hummingbird, dipped on the pygmy sloth. Full report coming soon.

Rosabel and Karl Kaufmann stopped by the lake in Albrook and found a Snail Kite enjoying, of course, a snail. This is the first recent record from the Pacific side of the Canal Area, the previous one being the original sighting from Chivo Chivo Ponds. Also present was a clearly overworked Black-bellied Whistling-Duck single parent, escorting a raft of thirty-two obedient ducklings.