Xenornis

Jan Axel Cubilla photographed the Costa del Este Kelp Gull at its usual haunts, near the mouth of Río Matías Hernández, at noon on Wednesday. More details here .

Rafael Luck and Osvaldo Quintero found a pair of Sungrebes at the Panama Rainforest Discovery Center's Lake Calamito on Saturday morning.

Bartolo Tumolo photographed this Mangrove Cuckoo in his Pedasí yard. He also reports having seen more in the mangrove near the beach.

Acabamos de llegar luego de pasar cuatro días en Chiriquí. El viernes 12 de marzo, Gloriela y yo manejamos hasta Puerto Armuelles y más allá, pasando las Petroterminales... lo único que tengo que reportar es que los Riverside Wrens fueron muy fáciled de localizar (y ver) justo después de la garita trasera de las Petroterminales ya que llamaban constantemente (a pesar que fue en la tarde, con el sol muy caliente). Ese día nos reunimos con Rafael Luck, Osvaldo Quintero, Osvaldo Quintero hijo, Milagros Sánchez y Olmedo Miró en Boquete con el fin de buscar los Campaneros al día siguiente, los cuales vimos en Alto Chiquero. Ese mismo día, en horas de la tarde (prácticamente 6:00 pm) caminando en el área de Horqueta (1995 msnm) observé por nos segundos una tortolita de contextura robusta y con dos claras barras alares violáceas posada en el borde del camino a medio metro del suelo, cuando voló reveló anchas esquinas blancas en la cola (vistas por Rafael y Osvaldo hijo) confirmando que se...

[It has been noted that the tail looks way too long for Solitary Eagle, projecting well beyond the wing tips. We'll have to wait for the recording of its call to confirm the ID] [UPDATE: After hearing the recordings, we're calling these birds Great Black Hawks.] On March 9, 2010 Alfred Raab and Dave Milsom observed 2 Solitary Eagles [sic] at Altos del Maria (close to the same area as my last report from January ). We first heard the bird calling and then saw one flying away and the other landed on a tree top. We observed the bird on the tree top for about 5 min, during this time it was calling continuously. I have attached photos which are of poor quality due to the distance, but are for documentation purposes only. Also I was able to make a sound recording.

During our navigation from Pedro González too San Miguel, I spoted a Gray-hooded Gull among a feeding frenzy. At first I though it was one of one of the many Franklin's Gulls that had invaded the Gulf of Panama due too El Niño. After examining the bird carefully I noticed the peculiar wing tip pattern. The gull seemed to be in good health and actively participated of the feeding frenzy. We also got a Green-and-rufous Kingfisher at Río Mosquito, Isla del Rey. The kingfisher was fishing in the mangroves about 1km inland.

False alarm, folks. The supposed Belcher's Gull at Costa del Este is but a subadult Kelp Gull . Young Kelps, of course, have black on their tails. Euclides' photo of the bird shows it to be the same size as the adult Kelp Gull next to it, and that would not be right, as the average Belcher's is smaller than a Lesser Black-backed, and the average Kelp is larger than a Herring. That made us look at the Jan Axel photos more closely (and not just out of the envy of never seeing the bird after repeated tries). The bill looks too heavy and blunt for Belcher's, which would look "sharper", but just right for Kelp Gull. The final nail in this coffin is laid by Bob Ridgely: To me this looks like a subadult Kelp Gull, and not a Belcher’s (Band-tailed). Head shape and overall jizz is off, as is the leg color; Belcher’s typically has bright yellow legs when adult, which by plumage it would have to be. Also, no one would ever consider Belcher’s a “huge” gull. But I’ll...

Björn Anderson photographed this Green Manakin at Nusagandi last weekend. Another highlight was a Rufous-vented Ground-Cuckoo at Cerro Azul.

Olmedo Miró photographed this Rufous-vented Ground-Cuckoo at the entrance of Pipeline Road's Panama Rainforest Discovery Center today.

This morning's high tide at Costa del Este produced a 2nd-winter Lesser Black-backed Gul l in addition to the 3rd-winter bird that's been around for a few weeks. Also seen was an all-dark juvenile/1st-winter bird that we're calling a Herring Gull , even though the size seemed to be similar to that of the Lesser Black-backeds. Photos TK. Again, no sign of the Kelp Gulls.

Costa del Este was visited both morning and dusk, yet no sign of the Kelp Gulls was seen. The 3rd-year Lesser Black-backed was seen both times, but the Herring Gulls were in just for the morning.

[The bird in question was proven to be but a subadult Kelp Gull . Apologies] Euclides Campos and Ramiro Duque visited Costa del Este today and found not only the Belcher's Gull [sic], but an adult Kelp Gull , plus the third-winter Lesser Black-backed Gull first photographed at the end of february and a Herring Gull . In the photo above, the gull in front shows a white mirror on what we presume is P10 and a white tail, which could show it to be an adult Kelp Gull, while the one in the back may show a black tail and no mirrors on the tips of the primaries, but they're roughly the same size. A Belcher's Gull should be noticeably smaller, so maybe it's another Kelp. More details to come. And now more photos, labeled for your convenience. (Belcher's Gull [sic]) (Kelp Gull) (Lesser Black-backed Gull) As a bonus, he sent this photo of an unfortunate Yellow-breasted Crak e being devoured at Las Macanas Marsh on March 3, where he also found a group of Long-billed Dowitche...

Rosabel and Karl Kaufmann and Darién Montañez went to Costa del Este this morning to look for large gulls. No Belcher's was seen, but the 3rd winter Lesser Black-backed Gull was around, plus three Herrings , a Ring-billed and a few Franklin's .

[This bird has been proven to be but a subadult Kelp Gull . Apologies] Jan Axel Cubilla uploaded the photos of the Belcher's Gull [sic] he found in Costa del Este on Sunday afternoon to his blog . What immediately caught my attention was a huge dark-backed gull standing alone in the shoreline. It was considerably larger than the Laughing Gulls and than the Ring-billed Gull present, with a bulkier shape and heavy yellow bill tipped in black, followed by red (wider in the lower mandible). Dark eye. Pale yellow(ish) legs. Head and breast completely white, with no streaking. Sides of neck, flanks, belly and upper back white with diffuse dark spots. Back and wings black... blacker in the wings and with a brownish tinge in the back (specially with the bright light). The secondaries had wide white tips. I didn't see the tail while the bird was standing. I thought first it was a Kelp Gull, but then the bird took flight, showing a white rump contrasting with the mostly dark tail! It als...

Jacobo Ortega photographed this Cedar Waxwing on the morning of February 15 at the Ficus tree right at the entrance of Gamboa.

Osvaldo Quintero photographed this Laughing Falcon at Parque Metropolitano's La Cienaguita Trail earlier on Sunday, February 28.