PANAMA BIRDING, MARCH 20-31
PANAMA BIRDING, MARCH 20-31
2008
PANAMA, MARCH 2008
Barry McLaughlin and Lois Goldfrank
Our trip was from March 20 to March 31. Because of a family emergency, Linda and Barry shortened our trip by four days. Lois and Wally Goldfrank made the whole trip.
There were essentially three legs of the trip: (1) Finca Lérida, at about 6000 feet in the Chiriqui Highlands of western Panama but with access to the foothills; (2) Los Quetzales Lodge, also in the highlands at 6200 feet but on the western side of Volcan Baru; and (3) Burbayar Lodge, at 1275 feet in the eastern foothills of the Nusagandi region. We flew to Panama City and stayed overnight at La Estancia Bed and Breakfast, which is near the airport for internal flights, whence we flew to David the next morning. The B&B had birdfeeders and you could look from the balconies and see Tanagers, Seedeaters, Parakeets, Hummingbirds, and other birds. The grounds and the area around the hotel were also worth exploring. Some birds seen included CRIMSON-BACKED TANAGER, BLUE-GRAY TANAGER (birds in caps are pictured in the photo section) as well as Clay-colored Robins, Variable Seedeaters, Yellow-bellied Elaenias, Yellow-backed Oriole, and Southern House Wrens among others. Agouti ran around on the ground under the feeders, foraging.
After our flight to David the next morning, we explored the area around the airport briefly and saw ORANGE-CHINNED PARAKEETS, FORK-TAILED FLYCATCHERS, and Red-crowned Woodpeckers. We then had a ride to the beautiful coffee plantation, Finca Lérida, where we walked on the trails that afternoon. Birds there included the VIOLET SABREWING, ELEGANT EUPHONIA, RUFOUS-COLLARED SPARROW, SILVER-THROATED TANAGER, FLAME-COLORED TANAGER, SLATE-THROATED WHITESTART, SLATY FLOWERPIERCER, WHITE-LINED TANAGER, and Green Violet-ear.
Finca Lérida from one of the trails
The rooms at Finca Lérida
The next day we had César Caballero as a guide and with his help we found the Three-wattled Bellbird and male and female RESPLENDENT QUETZAL. In fact, we found the Quetzals’ nest and were able to spend twenty minutes or more watching and photographing a pair. Other birds seen that day included the SNOWY-BELLIED HUMMINGBIRD, White-tailed Emerald, Scintillant Hummingbird, Blue-throated Toucanet (a recent split from the Emerald Toucanet), SPOT-CROWNED WOODCREEPER, Mountain Elaenia, Blue-and-white Swallow, Flame-throated Warbler, Collared Whitestart, Scarlet-thighed Dacnis, White-naped Brush-Finch, Streaked and BUFF-THROATED SALTATORS, and Yellow-bellied Siskin.
The next day we drove to Willy Mazu, Palo Seco, and Fortuna Road. Unfortunately we were not able to get to those places early enough in the morning and didn’t have adequate information about the sites to take full advantage of our time there. Consequently we didn’t have a great deal of luck with some of our target birds, but did find a COMMON BLACK-HAWK on the nest, a GRAY-HEADED CHACHALACA, YELLOW-HEADED CARACARA, and some marvelous hummingbirds at Willy Mazu, including LONG-BILLED STARTHROAT, GREEN HERMIT, WHITE-NECKED JACOBIN, BRONZE-TAILED PLUMELETEER, and VIOLET-CROWNED WOODNYMPH. That day we also saw Blue-headed Parrots, YELLOW-FACED GRASSQUITS, RED-LEGGED HONEYCREEPERS, Keel-billed Toucan, Montezuma Oropendola, and the PANAMA FLYCATCHER.
The next morning everyone heard but only one of the group had a view of a Spotted Wood-Quail. We spent more time walking the beautiful grounds of Finca Lérida , adding Silvery-fronted Tapaculo, YELLOWISH FLYCATCHER, and a Dark Pewee; then made the trip by taxi to David and on to Los Quetzales in the town of Guadalupe on the (opposite) western side of Volcan Barú. Los Quetzales consists of a lodge in the small town and several cabins in the forest to which one has to bring sleeping bags and all food and water.
Los Quetzales Hotel
The grounds at Los Quetzales
We settled in at the hotel and then got a lift up a nearly impassable rocky road into the cloud forest around Cabin 1 and birded there and around the hotel. New birds included Sulphur-winged Parakeet, WHITE-THROATED MOUNTAIN-GEM, Magnificent Hummingbird, and Yellow-thighed Finch.
The following two days we had the services of an excellent guide, Ito Santamaria. With him we drove to Volcan Barú national park where we walked in the mist and saw the RESPLENDENT QUETZAL once again, Streak-breasted Treehunter, Ruddy Treerunner, BLACK-CAPPED FLYCATCHER, Yellow-winged Vireo, Gray-breasted Wood-Wren, Black-faced Solitaire, Black-billed Nightingale-Thrush, Ruddy-capped Nightingale-Thrush, Mountain Thrush, Flame-throated Warbler, Black-cheeked Warbler, Black-thighed Grosbeak, and Large-footed Finch among others. One of the hardest to see well, but ultimately one of our favorites, was the Wrenthrush, much more striking than its picture in any book.
Having come back from the park, once again we birded around the Los Quetzales cabins and found numerous hummingbirds at Cabin 2, including Stripe-tailed Hummingbird, Purple-throated Mountain-gem, Volcano Hummingbird and Green-crowned Brilliant. After a challenging walk to the waterfall, we got great looks (but no photo) of the Green-fronted Lancebill. That evening Ito found us the Dusky Nightjar, spotlighting the cliff behind his house.
Along the trail in Los Quetzales
The following morning we were up early and drove 45 minutes to Finca Hartmann, a shade-grown coffee plantation, where we found CHERRIE’S TANAGERS and, far in the distance, two highly localized specialties: TURQUOISE COTINGA and Fiery-billed Aracari.
Finca Hartmann
The Cotinga eventually came closer, along with its mate, affording us good views. Other new birds were Scaled Pigeon, Garden Emerald, Blue-crowned Motmot, , Slaty Antwren, Lesser Elaenia, Slaty-capped Flycatcher,White-ruffed Manakin, Philadelphia Vireo, ORANGE-BILLED NIGHTINGALE-THRUSH, Buff-rumped Warbler, White-winged Tanager, SCARLET-RUMPED TANAGER, Palm Tanager, Bay-headed Tanager, and Crested Oropendola.
That afternoon we made the trip to David and the flight to Panama City where we stayed once again at La Estancia.
The next morning we all shared a cab to the international Tocumen airport on the other side of the city. Barry and Linda flew back to California, Wally and Lois were picked up and taken to Burbayar , an ecolodge on the Llano-Carti road in the Nusagandi region, on the border of Panama province and the Kuna Indian Comarca of San Blas. About a 2 hour drive from the airport, the lodge is on top of a ridge with spectacular canopy views. There is no electricity, accommodations are basic, but we found them more than adequate and the staff extremely friendly and helpful.
Burbayar
The trails into the rainforest are challenging – steep, narrow, never flat – but they provided us with a wonderful adventure. Birding tends to be good in the early morning and late afternoon; but during the main part of the day, much more so than in the highlands, it often seemed that not a creature was stirring.
Most people tend to go to central Panama on their first visit, to the famous Canopy Tower and neighboring sites. Wally and I, however, are on something of a bird family quest. Burbayar is one of the best places to see the enigmatic Sapayoa, a bird that has been classified as either a Broadbill or a Flycatcher but that some people now place in its own family. So our trip was planned around finding that bird – and we did, that first afternoon! With the help of our wonderful guide José Tejada, one of Burbayar’s two main bird guides, we hiked the Waterfall trail to its most regular spot : no bird. We hiked a bit farther to another site : this time the bird flew in over our heads. It sat for several minutes with its back to us, then turned its head so we could see its broad bill, and flew off, not to be found again. We were all ecstatic!
From then on we could relax and enjoy whatever we saw. For the rest of the afternoon and the next two days, we hiked up and down trails, birded the grounds and walked along the road in both directions. Some of the best birds included King Vulture; Bat Falcon; VIOLACEOUS and BLACK-THROATED TROGONS; PIED PUFFBIRD; Great Jacamar; KEEL-BILLED TOUCAN; Crimson-bellied and BLACK-CHEEKED WOODPECKER; WESTERN SLATY-ANTSHRIKE; STRIPE-THROATED WREN; Tawny-faced and Long-billed Gnatwrens; Olive, Black-and-Yellow, Tawny-crested, Rufous-winged, and SUMMER TANAGERS; Slate-colored, Checker-throated, White-flanked, and Dot-winged Antwrens; Dull-mantled, Bicolored, and Ocellated Antbirds; RUFOUS MOURNER; Golden-Collared and Blue-crowned Manakins; Song and STRIPE-THROATED WRENS; Slate-colored Grosbeak; and Thick-billed and Tawny-capped Euphonias. Mammals included Three-toed Sloth, Geoffroy’s Tamarin, and Western Pygmy-squirrel. We were also happy to see a Blue-bellied Poison Dart Frog and two GREEN VINE SNAKES.
The dining area at the lodge was surrounded by flowers and hummingbird feeders, and although the Blue-chested Hummingbirds tended to chase other species away, we managed to see LONG-BILLED HERMITS well. In the forest we also added Stripe-throated (Little) Hermit, Green-crowned Woodnymph, and Violet-capped Hummingbird.
José Tejada and Antonio, the resident manager, took us on a night walk as well. First we heard and then watched a Common Potoo give a rather hoarse serenade from his perch on top of a snag, head thrown back and mouth wide open. A Mottled Owl allowed us good looks, but the Vermiculated Screech-owl and Least Pygmy-owl remained heard-only. Spotlighted mammals included a Kinkajou, Woolly Opossum, Armored Rat, and 9-banded Armadillo.
The last day on the way back to the airport we made a side trip to Lago Bayano. We birded from a bridge , along a trail, and at the edge of the lake itself and added a number of great birds in this lowland habitat. The main target here is the BLACK ANTSHRIKE which came in quite quickly to a tape. Other new trip birds seen from the bridge were a Double-toothed Kite on its nest, Band-tailed Barbthroat, Black-tailed Trogon, Crimson-crested and RED-RUMPED WOODPECKERS, Ochre-bellied Flycatcher, and White-eared Conebill. By the time we got to the trail, it was very hot but surprisingly birdy still. We added a Slaty-tailed Trogon; Northern Barred-, Cocoa, and Streak-headed Woodcreepers; Olivaceous Flatbill; and Red-capped Manakin among others. Pied Water-tyrant was at the lake’s edge, and White-throated Capuchin Monkeys watched us from the trees.
Then it was time to go to the airport and the Riande Airport Hotel, definitely not recommended for anything other than convenience. On the way back we spent our last hour talking to José and planning our next (and longer) trip back to Panama .