On July 18th I pulled a sort of El Valle Daily Double; I spent the day hiking on the highest trails above the Canopy Lodge, which has generally proved to be quite rewarding.
On this day I lucked into an army ant swarm, and saw not one but two Rufous-vented Ground-Cuckoos, one of them an immature bird, distinguished
by a dark bill and overall dark plumage. I watched the birds on and off for almost an hour; the skulking nature of the birds is indicated
by the 30 seconds of mediocre video that I collected during this time! On the 19th I managed to relocate the birds near the same spot, much to the delight
of visiting birders Terry Morgan and Karen Walz of Texas, repeat guests who had yet to see the species. Raúl Arias, his wife Denise, and visiting nephew
Tomás came for a look, and the owner of the Canopy Lodge had his best looks ever at what is quickly becoming the signature bird of the area.
We observed many interesting behavioral details, including the immature bird apparently begging, both birds raising and lowering their crests, and, of course, the bill-snapping
alarm call. Interestingly, I first found the ant swarm when I noted a large number of Black-chested Jays foraging close to the ground, and in uncharacteristic silence. I have never
considered this species to be an ant-swarm bird, but Carlos Bethancourt pointed out that many species will be opportunistic
when an ant swarm passes by. I also saw the adult Ground-Cuckoo take an aggressive run at a jay, a large bird that seemed tiny in comparison.
There now seems to be little doubt that the Canopy Lodge is the best place in the world for a shot at seeing Rufous-vented Ground-Cuckoo.
I spoke of a "Daily Double"; on the 18th I also had drop-dead
looks at a pair of Spot-crowned Barbets (male pictured at left), very close to the ant swarm. The image presented here is blurry, as my video camera had been out
for a while (for the cuckoos) and was starting to fog, but the bird is identifiable. This "Caribbean-slope" species has been seen in El Valle sporadically for a few months
now, but my mediocre footage may be the first physical documentation of the bird's presence on the Pacific slope of Coclé Province.
Lightning struck three times this week; on Friday the 20th I moved ahead of a group doing a digiscoping workshop with Jeff Bouton of Leica, and with a bit of work found the ant swarm again. Every member of the group saw the Rufous-vented Ground Cuckoos, and we confirmed that there were two adults along with the juvenille, and several fine photos were obtained (I hope to present a few here very soon). To top things off, at one point I moved down the trail away from the group, and found three Spot-crowned Barbets. I ran back to get the group, and with the help of Tino Sanchez of the Canopy Lodge everybody saw the barbets. There were two male birds and one female, leading me to consider the possibility that this species bred in the area. A bit later we all saw at least three Black-headed Saltators, another Caribbean-slope species, and a good find this far down the Pacific slope. On any other day this species might have been the highlight.
I took a crack at relocating the ground-cuckoos on the morning of the 21st, but it poured rain for most of the morning and the ant swarm was not active. But I got word from Carlos Bethancourt that Terry Morgan and Karen Walz did see the birds in the early afternoon (by which time I was in Panama City). Carlos also told me that a Blue-footed Booby was seen off the Pacific coast of Coclé at Juan Hombrón, not photographed but seen quite clearly, also on the morning of the 21st. This species is a hard find in Panamanian waters, more likely to be found where the Causeway juts out into the Pacific. Another word-of-mouth report is of a Yellow-breasted Crake found by José Perez at the Ammo Dump Ponds in Gamboa. I found this species, with young in tow, at this location almost four years ago, but I am not aware of any subsequent reports. Apparently José digiscoped the bird, and I hope to obtain an image this week, and to follow up on the sighting, as I will be in Gamboa for several days. Finally, Terry, Karen, and Danilo Rodríguez found a Barred Forest-Falcon at La Mesa, a rather rare species in the region.
