Xenornis

Advantage Tours' Venicio Wilson led the Panama Audubon Society fieldtrip to Wekso and Río Teribe, on La Amistad International Park on the province of Bocas del Toro, from November 2-5. A full report will be published on the January issue of The Toucan, but in the meantime a list of highlights will have to do. Part of the group got a one-day head start, which they spent at Willie Mazu on Palo Seco Protection Forest. No monklet, but they did find a Sharpbill, also seen during the PAS trip to Fortuna earlier in the year. The following day, upon meeting the rest of the group at the Changuinola airport, they found a female Painted Bunting . The trails around Wekso provided Green Ibis and Snowy Cotinga , while a visit to the town of Bonyic produced a Rufous-winged Woodpecker right in the middle of town.

Rosabel Miró sent in the following report, along with these intriguing photographs. Yesterday [November 28], around 12:30 pm, close to the Miguel de La Borda town located in Donoso District, Colon, I took a picture of this booby. I think it was hurt because I was standing next to it and it didn't try to fly. It looks to me like a Red-footed Booby but it doesn't have the red feet... Any idea what it could be? After careful scrutiny and consultation with at least two books on the subject, we agree with Rosabel's identification and are calling this a juvenile Red-footed Booby. Note the blue facial skin and, especially, the protruding crown and rounded head. Red-footed Boobies are apparently regular at sea off the Caribbean coast, but are seldom seen from shore.

The Canopy Tower's Carlos Bethancourt found a good army ant swarm while leading a group into Plantation Road on November 22. Highlight was a Ruddy Woodcreeper (uniform brown overall, brighter on crown and wing coverts), but also present were the usual suspects: Ocellated, Bicolored, Spotted and Chestnut-backed Antbirds, Northern Barred- and Plain-brown Woodcreepers, White-whiskered Puffbirds, Rufous Motmot, etc.

Ariel Aguirre sends in these photos of an adult Lark Sparrow seen at Tocumen Marsh on November 20, whilst in the company of George Carpentier, Tony Bigg and Peter Hogenbirk. More details coming soon, hopefully.

Over the last couple of weeks we have gathered a couple of interesting bird sighting from all over the country. Sapayoa (Oct 6, 2007): While conducting a scouting trip for Advantage Tours in a remote creek in the vicinity of La Marea village in Darién, Euclides Campos filmed for about 3 minutes a pair of Sapayoas. These elusive birds are only found in a few places in Panama. They were foraging close to the ground and under a drizzle common to this month. Blackpoll Warbler (Oct 7, 2007): While conducting an Advantage Tours snorkeling trip at Playa La Huerta , Portobelo National Park, Guido Berguido and Venicio Wilson Altamiranda spotted a 1st year male Blackpoll Warbler . The bird was filmed for around 4 minutes while foraging intensively at a recently-cut bush some 20 meters inland from the beach. After several revisions using Sibley’s Guide to Birds of North America, National Geographic Birds of North America and some pictures from internet we were able to identify this confusing...

The Panama Audubon Society, with generous sponsorship from Advantage Tours , is conducting its 4th annual migratory raptor count at Cerro Ancon. The cumulative number of hawks and vultures counted as of Wednesday, October 31 are: 95084 Turkey Vulture 96496 Broad-winged Hawk 55918 Swainson's Hawk 419 Missisippi Kite 5 Swallow-tailed Kite 2 American Kestrel 1 Merlin 176 Peregrine Falcon 135 Osprey 62063 Unidentified Raptor 3730 Undientified Buteo 314025 Total

Ariel Aguirre sends in this photo of an American Coot seen on the Chagres River in front of the Gamboa Marina restaurant on November 4. Last year was a good year for coots, with reports from all three Christmas counts. Whether this was a freak occurrence or represents a trend remains to be seen. Stay tuned.

Karl Kaufmann sent in the following report: Yesterday morning I saw a Java Sparrow in a fruiting tree behind our house at Albrook. Then it flew off. Here is a photo. It sucks, but it was early in the morning and I didn't have my glasses on to set up the camera properly and now Rosabel is mad at me for not waking her up to see it. I told her it doesn't count as a real bird anyway. I saw it a few minutes later sitting on a fence while walking the dog. The dog was unimpressed. Java Sparrows are widely available on pet shops throughout Panama City, so we feel this bird can be safely written off as an escapee. Move on, move on, there's nothing to see here.