Wow! I had a bunch of reports stacked up from the last couple of weeks, and then news arrived late last night of a find that trumped them all. Tino Sanchez shared his discovery, while in the company of U.K. birder Vince Parslow, of an unusual antpitta found near the waterfall on the grounds of the Canopy Lodge, on December 5th. The initial identification of the bird was as an immature Thicket Antpitta Hylopezus dives, a species that has never been found in the large gap between Bocas del Toro in western Panamá and the Darién in the east. These images, smartly captured by Vince, were shared quickly with all regional experts; the earliest replies, from Dodge Englemann (a well-respected expert on Panamanian birds) and myself indicate that this might be in fact a Scaled Antpitta Grallaria guatimalensis. Dodge based his i.d. on the dark legs and extensively rufous underparts of the bird, while I was struck by the white "necklace" visible in the photo at top right. We both, however, admit that the apparent size and structure of the bird give the impression of the much smaller Thicket Antpitta, or another member of its genus. Tino Sanchez is well-familiar with antpittas of various sizes. having seen both the large Black-crowned Antpitta and the mid-sized Streak-chested Antpitta on multiple occasions, as well as breeding Scaled Antpittas found on Cerro Gaital early this year. His first impressions in the field are not to be taken lightly- not to mention that there is little info published regarding the plumage variation in immature antpittas, particularly regarding bare parts. I have to regard the specific identification of this bird as questionable, and perhaps more investigation will offer more clues; either way, this is one hell of a good find! (Ed. note: a lively discussion among some key members of the Panamanian birding community leaves no doubt that this bird is a Scaled Antpitta- please click here to follow the authoritative discussion regarding this bird within the neotropical birding community at large .)
By the by, Carlos Bethancourt brought some folks over from the Canopy Tower on the 6th to try to relocate the antpitta; while they were unsuccessful in this quest, their "consolation prize" was a good army ant swarm attended by the ubiquitous Rufous-vented Ground-Cuckoo. along with a Barred Forest-Falcon and a Tody Motmot. Splendid photos were obtained of all of these birds, and, as they are the only photos I have at the moment, I'll spread them out for the duration of this date's report.
Carlos' report was not the only one of the ground-cuckoo during this period; Danilo Rodríguez (and company) found the bird on 11/28 and 12/03. On the latter date they also found Bicolored Antbird and Orange-bellied Trogon, both of which are rare on the grounds of the Canopy Lodge. The famous Rufous-crested Coquette made its first appearance of the dry season at the Lodge on 12/04 (Tino Sanchez), and Green Thorntail also returned to the gardens on 11/27 (Brian Fletcher). Another sighting of note was that of White-thighed Swallow on the Lodge grounds on 11/28- this regionally-rare species seems to come and go, and I am unaware of any sightings since I found several flying through a clearing up the road from the Lodge in June of this year.
(Ed. note: Allen Chartier [see paragraphs below] pointed out that he and his group had both White-thighed Swallow and a female Green Thorntail at and around the Lodge on 11/25, 2-3 days before the above reports; please forgive the oversight, but I don't always receive reports in the order in which they were collected!)
Finally, I've got a stack of great reports from well-respected birder Allen Chartier of Michigan, who just completed a tour of the Tower and Lodge with a small group he brought together. Allen has, bit by bit, been sending me his daily reports, and I've been eagerly scanning them for notes regarding species of interest. Photos and audio recordings are still outstanding, but here are the early highlights. Two Spot-crowned Barbets were found (and photographed) at Cerro Azul on 11/17. This species is not rare in that particular area, but still a good find. Most exciting was Allen's report of 20+ Black Swifts seen over the Canopy Tower on 11/18; to follow is the exact text of Mr. Chartier's report:

"The Black Swifts were seen on several days at the Canopy Tower and I, at least, studied them carefully. The were definitely bigger than any of the Chaetura swifts, and with less stiff-winged flight, all black with a slightly notched tail. They were not big enough to be White-collared Swifts, and none had any white on the nape or breast. A few came low enough to confirm that they were not Chestnut-collared Swifts as they were entirely black on the throat and breast. I tried to see if there was any white on the face but none of the birds came close enough for that. I do have one rather poor photo of one of them."

20 years ago this species was considered hypothetical in Panamá, but sight records have increased in recent years as birder awareness has been engaged (I have my own report from May of this year). At right is a photo of one of the swifts, bravely submitted by Allen. This photo illustrates both the difficulty of capturing swifts on film and the difficulty of identifying them in the field. From this image I feel pretty safe in elminating the larger swifts in the genus Streptoprocne, but I don't feel sure that I can eliminate either Black Swift's congener, White-chinned Swift (one we are all watching out for in central Panamá), or smaller swifts in the genus Chaetura, but in the field this latter distinction is usually obvious. This case also reminds one of the need to take good field notes, as Allen has done quite nicely. A brave ornithologist could make a career out of cataloguing the swifts passing through Panamá, as there are probably a number of species that pass unnoticed.
Allen also shared news of Chimney Swifts seen from the Tower on 11/20 and 11/22; this species is probably a common transient in Panamá, but has rarely been reported, and the efforts of experienced North American birders are quite helpful in noting the passage of this familiar (to some) species. A Philadelphia Vireo seen well from the Canopy Tower on 11/20 was noteworthy; this species is an easy find as a wintering bird in western Panamá, but the Canal area is at the eastern edge of its range. A male Saffron Finch at the prison south of Gamboa on 11/20 was noteworthy in that it further documents the spread of this introduced species throughout the Canal area; 20 years ago it was restricted to the northern Canal area (where still common), but I and other birders have found it to be quite easily-found in the Amador area of Panamá City, at the southern end of the Canal, in recent years. A Semiplumbeous Hawk on Plantation Trail on 11/21 was a fine find; most transient birders miss this uncommon forest raptor (including me!). On 11/22 Pipeline Road yielded both Great Jacamar and Gray Elaenia, both of which are seldom-seen in the region, A-list finds. Allen also has given me advance notice of sightings of probable Blue-fronted Parrotlets from Altos del Maria and Veraguan Mango from El Chirú, and I will wait for details before posting.
Only in such a fine time could this sighting be treated as an afterthought; Alexis Sanchez (and Kit Larsen's group from Oregon) found a Wing-banded Antbird on Pipeline Road on or about 12/3- this declining species used to be fairly common in the region, and any new sighting is welcome news. He described the bird as being found around the "Limbo plot", which I believe describes a stand of trees about 2K from the entrance that is usually good for Brownish Twistwing. among other species.
Stay tuned for more updates!