Xenornis

On their way back from Cerro Azul on the afternoon of November 29, Rosabel Miró and Juan Pablo Ríos swung by Tocumen Airport to look for Cattle Tyrants, and they found a group of three on one of the palm trees on the front lawn, on the left side as you approach the terminal. A fourth bird was seen on the chain link fence around the parking lot.

On November 29, while waiting out on the noontime drizzle at Cerro Azul's Birders' view, Rosabel Miró and Juan Pablo Ríos had a Brown Violetear visiting the back yard's white-flowered bushes. The bird was later seen at the tree with white flowers on the side of the house. Un poco antes de las 11:45 de la mañana, bajo una leve llovizna, llegó a los arbustos de flores rosadas, pero esta vez a los de flores blancas, un visitante raro y que primera vez se reporta para el patio de Birders’ View: el Brown Violetear. Esta ave también fue vista en el árbol con flores blancas al costado de la casa.  There's a lot of flowers, and a lot of hummingbirds around, including the regular Violet-capped Hummingbird and an abundance of the very irregular  Green Thorntail . Hoy lunes 29 de noviembre de 2010, a eso de las 10:27, en una mañana de neblina y llovizna, se acercó a los arbustos de flores rosadas ('estrellitas') que están en el patio trasero de Birders’ View, Alt...

On Sunday, November 28, Delicia, Pedro and Darién Montañez made a midday visit to Las Macanas Marsh. Bird of the day was a male Ring-necked Duck seen from atop the tower while foraging and diving near the floating vegetation at the lake's edge. Its head, chest and back were very dark, contrasting boldly with the very light gray sides. The usual Lesser Scaup, two rafts of 10–20 birds each, were way on the other side of the lake including a few males with their lighter backs showing no contrast with the flanks. The somewhat usual Fulvous Whistling-Ducks were heard and mixed in with the huge flock of Black-bellieds. On our way in, beyond the town of Rincón de Santa María, we had an Aplomado Falcon sunning in the middle of the gravel road, while its consort ate the last bits of a White-tipped Dove.

In the early afternoon if Sunday 21 November 2010 on the Achiote road, I saw a Sharp-Shinned Hawk perched high in a moderately-foliaged roadside tree near the first bridge on the approach to the village. It did not move for at least half an hour, providing prolonged clear sightings from front and rear. Its plumage matched perfectly the illustration in Ridgely, except that the relative widths of the grey and white tail bands were reversed. From behind, the tail showed three narrow white bands and a narrow white tip. The iris at first appeared more yellow than the illustration but later, when it turned its head towards the hazy sun, it showed redder. The similar species mentioned by Ridgely, Tiny Hawk and Double-Toothed Kite, could confidently be ruled out. It twice uttered screechy two-tone calls. Amongst other sightings on or near the Achiote Road were Royal Flycatcher (crest folded but still unmistakable), Black-Breasted Puffbird, Bay Wren (with their buzzy chatter) and a floc...

Our good friend Faustino ‘Tino’ Sánchez just sent me a picture of this beautiful and rare bird seen at Altos del María on Nov 16, 2010. Tino was leading a Naturetrek trip with Eliecer Rodriguez, they were looking for a Brown-billed Scythebill when Tino heard the Crimson-bellied Woodpecker . Although Crimson-bellied Woodpeckers range throughout the Caribbean from Bocas del Toro to Kuna Yala, on the Pacific Slope they are unknown west of Cerro Azul in Eastern Panama.

José Carlos García and Mahelis Rodríguez found this  Prairie Warbler , probably a young male, near the new bridge over Rio Teribe at the end of El Silencio road, Changuinola on Nov. 14. As a bonus, they sent a photo of a  White-fronted Tyrannulet found near the entrance of Finca Dracula on Nov.13.

Darién Montañez spent most of November 12 walking Los Quetzales Trail from the Boquete side. Bird of the day was a Buff-fronted Foliage-Gleaner seen with a large mixed flock near Quebrada El Silencio, at around 2150 m. The bird was about the size of the Buffy Tuftedcheeks nearby, but was completely unstreaked with a brownish back and ochre underparts, brighter around the throat and chest. The buff forehead and superciliary and gray cap were also very conspicuous. It foraged actively at eye level, sometimes right by the trail, affording for long and conscientious study. Also notable was a pair of Black-banded Woodcreepers , also with a mixed flock, this time at around 2200 m, about halfway from El Silencio to the Respinguito rest area. Conveniently, they also stayed near eye level and near the trail, allowing all the fieldmarks to be noted.

Also in Chiriquí this weekend was Björn Anderson, who heard two Maroon-chested Ground-Doves and flushed one while at Alto Pineda on Saturday, November 13.

Continuing on their race for the 600+ year list, Rosabel & Karl Kaufmann and Darién Montañez moved to the Cerro Punta area. November 8 at Las Nubes we had Collared Trogon , Fiery-throated Hummingbird, and a mixed flock with Barred Becard and White-fronted Tyrannulet . Rainy Volcán Lakes was, as reported, full of migrants. A big flock of warblers and vireos included a male Rose-throated Becard and a nearby young male bird with slaty wings, and a nearby White-winged Becard for comparison. November 9 had us at El Respingo Trail, where we found an off-season Resplendent Quetzal and a covey of Spotted Wood-Quail scrambling across the road. On November 10, Glen Lee joined us for another visit to Volcán Lakes. This time we ran onto an even bigger flock of warblers, this one with a male  Blackpoll Warbler in basic plumage, distinguished from the nearby Bay-breasteds by the clear black streaks on its flanks, and a Prairie Warbler , distinguished from the nearby Blackburnians by the ...

Rosabel & Karl Kaufmann and Darién Montañez spent the better part of the last two weeks chasing after their 600th year birds in Western Panama. First stop on November 3 was the marsh at Las Lajas beach, where the highlight was a calling Gray-breasted Crake . We then headed to the Fortuna area, which we birded out of the ANAM sation in Palo Seco. We got to Chiriquí Grande at dusk, right in time to coax responses from a pair of  Uniform Crakes by the Two Tanks Road dump. November 4 began at Continental Divide Trail, which had the usual big mixed flocks interspersed with long periods of birdless quiet, and produced Black-thighed Grosbeak, Rufous-breasted Antthrush and Rufous-rumped Antwren. The access road beyond the trailhead is now paved [map], and dives into Palo Seco all the way down to a Petroterminales pumping station at 725m. A stop at around 900m got us Black-headed Nightingale-Thrush , White-crowned Manakin , and Blue-and-gold Tanager. Verrugosa Trail [ map ] is stil...

After my family hopped the bus back to El Valle early last week, I spent a few long days chasing some target birds from the Burica Peninsula through Fortuna to lowland Bocas del Toro. The first major highlight was a male Yellow-billed Cotinga found at the end of the road at Chorcha Abajo on 24-10; the bird was present but distant even for a scope view when I arrived, but I waited almost two hours for it to come in closely enough for a clear i.d. Thank you to Kilo Campos for his reports for this area, which gave me the faith to keep waiting! On the 25th I visited the Burica Peninsula, but bad weather early in the day, combined with confusion as my Charco Azul access, served to limit my success. Nonetheless, the road leading uphill just before the Petroterminales access yielded a male Common Yellowthroat and a female-plumaged Ruby-throated Hummingbird. The water level on the Quebrada Mellicita was very high, so I could walk in for 100 yards or so (even with good boots), but still a...