A cornucopia of sightings from the last few weeks. In the last few weeks, as the Panamanian climate begins the transition from rainy season to dry, an assortment of interesting reports have come in from the Tower and Lodge's guides. Most remarkable is the October 24th report, by Tino Sanchez, of a Long-tailed Tyrant in the gardens at the Canopy Lodge. Long-tailed Tyrant is almost exclusively a species of the Caribbean slope of the Cordillera Central, and the few historic records from the Pacific slope are from Santa Fé de Veraguas and Cerros Azul/Jefe in western Panamá Province, both areas right on the edge of the continental divide. El Valle is well on the Pacific slope, although Lodge guides have recently found Long-tailed Tyrant near the village of Rio Indio, an hour's ride on rugged roads from El Valle, deep on the Caribbean slope of northeastern Panamá Province. The report from the Canopy Lodge likely represents the first record from Pacific Coclé Province. Given that Lodge guides have found other "Caribbean slope" species (e.g. Black-headed Saltator, Black-faced Grosbeak) to be locally common around El Valle, it is perhaps unsurprising that Long-tailed Tyrant, too, has refused to be contained within the artificial borders of our limited ornithological knowledge of the region.
Raúl Arias informs me that a pair of Rufous-crested Coquettes have returned to the gardens at the Canopy Lodge, present since at least October 25th.
This tiny hummingbird was virtually unknown from Pacific Coclé Province until it started showing up in Raúl's gardens a couple of years ago. The coquettes have disappeared for extended periods from time-to-time (I found it in May of 2006
but not in September), leading one to consider whether the species might be an altitudinal migrant. Rufous-vented Ground-Cuckoo has proved to be relatively regular at ant swarms around the Lodge, certainly more so than under similar circumstances in the lowlands.
On November 1st a VENT group became the first tour to enjoy views of this reclsuive and highly sought-after species, although employees at the Canopy Adventure have found it on an almost monthly basis.
From the Canopy Tower come interesting reports of Semiplumbeous Hawk (rare on the Pacific slope) and Ruddy Woodcreeper (more easily found in western Panama), both on Semaphore Hill, and three Shining Honeycreepers at Gamboa (mostly a Caribbean slope species). Alexis Sanchez found both Striped and Crested Owls on a night tour at Summit Gardens on October 29th- both species are rare and probably declining in central Panamá. I recall that Carlos Bethancourt reported finding a Striped Owl at Summit Ponds several years ago; when he brought the sighting to the attention of the regional records committee, it was met with enough skepticism that the report was ultimately rejected. I would assume that in the succeeding years the identification skills of the Tower's guides have come to be a bit more respected- I personally have no doubt as to the veracity of these most recent finds.
