Tino Sanchez of the Canopy Lodge just passed on a couple of excellent reports from Altos del Maria, a couple of great birds seen in the company of John Rowlett and his Field Guides tour group on March 21st. Tino finally has collected visual confirmation of the presence of Blue-fronted Parrotlet (photo above) at Altos del Maria, after having reported the species for over a year without concrete proof. The parrotlet is a species of the foothills and highlands of eastern Panamá, and was not exepcted to be found at Altos del Maria, where the Talamanca Range winds to a halt just to the west of the Canal. As discussed elsewhere on these pages, this discovery challenges some basic assumptions regarding species distribution in Panamá. I eagerly await Mr. Rowlett's comments.

The second-best sighting of the day was no slouch, a Slate-colored Seedeater (pictured above), also found at Altos del Maria. This emberezid occupies a patchy and poorly defined range within Panamá, and the discovery last year of a breeding population at La Mesa represented the first record of the species from Coclé Province. I've yet to figure out if this sighting at Altos is a first for western Panamá. The identification of this species is no simple task; the bird pictured above is not as pale on the belly as illustrated in most field guides, but the bright yellow/orange bill and white epaulet are solid field marks.