Xenornis

Last week Moyo Rodriguez and I (Venicio Wilson) guided a couple of dutch birdwatchers, Yvonne and Atze, into eastern Panama. We had and incredible luck finding birds we had not seen yet in the previous months of development of a new Canopy Tower tour to the Darien lowlands. Orange-breasted Falcon was seen near the ‘Mirador’ in Nusagandi, Guna Yala. A pair was spoted by the group and Moyo noticed the large size of the bird. Once we stopped the car we heard clearly the falcons' calling and realized the call was nothing similar to a Bat Falcon, which are much more common. After playing the Orange-breasted Falcon call the female flew some 40-50 meters above us allowing us to see her breast band! Later we saw the same couple perched and I made some crummy pictures that I still like to share with you. Nusagandi produced some great birds such as White-thighed Swallow , Rufous Piha, Crested Guan, Black-and-Yellow, Dusky-faced and Sulphur-rumped Tanagers . During our second day we b...

Last Friday, Venicio Wilson found a Cattle Tyrant on the lawns at Cinta Costera, across from the Rivage building at calle 32.

Durante el fin de semana del 9 y 10 de julio se realizó la gira anual de Santa Fe, Veraguas. El día sábado camino a Guabal pudimos observar un grupo de 8-10 Black-faced Grosbeaks alimentándose en un árbol frutal al pie de la carretera. Algunos juveniles eran alimentados por sus padres. Otras observaciones incluyeron la Crimson-collared Tanager , una pareja de Barred Hawks sobrevolándonos a la altura de la nueva sede de ANAM en el parque, una Sulphur-rumped Tanager , una Olive-backed Euphonia alimentando a una parejita de bebés en un nido de lo más discreto y un Northern Barred Woodcreeper, estas tres últimas especies por primera vez reportadas en el área en una gira de SAP. De regreso a Alto de Piedra, en la carretera, a un par de kilómetros antes de uno de los brazos del Río Bulabá vimos un par de Sunbitterns cruzando la vía en pleno mediodía y mientras parte del grupo las perseguía en un extremo de la calle, en el otro extremo cantaba un Lattice-tailed Trogon . Un poquito más a...

On the way back from the Annual Panama Audubon Society field trip to Santa Fé, Michael Froude and Daniel Hinckley stopped in at the salt ponds of Aguadulce. The highlight was two Roseate Spoonbills in the ponds near the beach. The birds, though of a feather, were not flocking together but rather on opposite sides of the salt farms. Other interesting birds observed and photographed were almost 200 Black Skimmers seemingly ( fide G. Angehr) of the South American race, a White-winged Dove near the first pond visited and a Zone-tailed Hawk at the beach (!). I shot many of these doves at the same place almost a year ago, so they seem to be a permanent fixture there now. Shot with my camera, of course. Rosabel Miró, Karl Kaufmann, George Angehr and Antonio Domínguez were also able to view most of these birds later in the afternoon as well as observe chicks and active nests of the very, very plentiful Black-necked Stilts.

Following a tip from my friends at the Cerro Ancón Raptor Count, Ovidio  Jaramillo, Euclides Campos & Juan Pablo Rios, I found a Cattle Tyrant yesterday on the lawn of the Areas Revertidas Administration Building at Amador. It's a big building on the left as you head out towards the islands. Big sign across the front. Can't miss it. The parking area across the street was also full of birds, including Saffron Finch and many Fork-tailed Flycatchers.