Panama Trip Update

Paul Pratt and myself arrived in Panama a day before meeting our group at La Estancia bed and breakfast. We birded the Rainforest Discovery center and tower along Pipeline Road before the and did some scouting there. Among the highlights were an incredibly co-operative White-whiskered Puffbird which sat at eye level for nearly twenty minutes!




To start off the trip we returned to the beginning of Pipeline Road. Here we had great looks at several species of antbirds, Bright-rumped Attila, fruit crows, and several great encounters with trogons, including a female Slaty-tailed Trogon.

Another good find was this male Black-throated Trogon, one of several yellow bellied trogons present here.




On day four of the trip we moved to Canopy Tower where we will spend three nights. Our guide Carlos Bethancourt proved to be superb. In addition to a great sense of humour, his knowledge of birds and nature and his enthusiasm made him an outstanding guide. We also benefitted from the official hawk watcher at the tower Dan Berard, who was extremely helpful in pointing out birds and other critters such as Canopy Lizard. On our first full day at the tower we enjoyed no fewer than three male Blue Cotingas including the one below which perched for over ten minutes in clear view with the scope!

On our second full day at the tower we returned to Pipeline road. This was truly a fantastic day with highlights including a perched Collared Forest Falcon in clear view, a Great Tinamou standing on the road to Semaphore Hill, and SCOPE views of Rosy-Thrush Tanager male gathering nesting material for ten minutes in clear view (!). This time we did the area beyond the gate. One of our main targets was the Streak-chested Antpitta - a secretive and local specialty of this area. Incredibly the ENTIRE group of twelve got to see the bird very well. I was even lucky enough to secure this photograph of the bird.




A little farther down the road Carlos picked up on the call of a Great Jacamar. After some tense moments the bird swooped low through the canopy and perched up so we could enjoy scope views for ten minutes.




After all this it seemed almost greedy of us to want to see an army ant march, but we joked with Carlos that were hoping to see one. Not half an hour later and there they were right beside the road. The swarm was attended by many Bicolored and Spotted Antbirds, two Black-faced Antthrushes, Barred, Black-striped and Plain-brown Woodcreepers, Gray-headed Tanagers, and at least six Occellated Antbirds. Here is an image of one of the Occelateds. All in all, a truly spectacular day of birding!

EL ORO PARAKEET MUD STOMP

BUENAVENTURA, ECUADOR - JAN 26, 2009

Today will go down as one of the most challenging and muddy days of any tour Tom has ever led. Darwin, the local guide, took us on a '200 meter' trek to see the globally endangered El Oro Parakeet. Only discovered in the mid 1980s this is the star attraction along with umbrellabird here. Seeing both as we did is extremely difficult and rare. We managed to photograph both, but we paid our dues! It was a muddy, slick and steep hike, and multiples longer than 200 meters, but it was well worth the journey!



Here are a few pics to illustrate why rubber boots are recommended for this trip. Luis was not happy to see us after he had just cleaned his bus!


Here our guide Darwin, and Diane, help Gail through one of the deeper 'wallows'.

ECUADOR - QUITO TO BUENAVENTURA

DAY 1 - This morning our Ecuadorian adventure began. We left the Quito Sheraton early and met Galo at the airport, flying on to Guayaquil. Once there we met Luis, our driver and headed directly towards wetlands and rice fields south of the city. Among our many great birds the highlight was a spectacular close view of a Horned Screamer!



We continued on to Puerto Bolivar on the coast where we enjoyed a good seafood lunch at the Caribe Line restaurant, while frigatebirds, gray-hooded gulls and pelicans cruised the shore.



We left the lowlands after lunch and entered the foothills ascending to around 500 meters elevation near Pinas. Our destination was the Buenaventura reserve and Umbrellabird lodge. The hummingbird feeders here have to be seen to be believed!


DAY 2 - BUENAVENTURA LODGE

Our number one target here was the namesake bird for the lodge, the very rare and tricky to see Long-watted Umbrellabird. On our first full day we had great weather and we had spectacular views of both female and male umbrellabirds. The muddy slick hike to the birds made for a fun adventure, but it was a big payback.



The fruit and nectar feeders at the lodge pavilion/restaurant made a great place to study the hummers, and other colourful species. This male Green Honeycreeper was a common and beautiful attendant of the feeders.


This cheeky Brown Coati was one of a small band of these trouble makers that took advantage of the bounty of nectar and fruit.


One of the most common hummingbirds was the dainty bee like Green Thorntail. This female hovers near a feeder before getting her nectar reward.


This region boasts many restricted range species. The Pale-mandibled Aracari was one of these specialties. Here he is trying to crunch up a huge beetle for a snack.

There are so many hummers at the feeders here that they regularly perch making great photo opps in the small trees around the pavilion. This aptly name male White-necked Jacobin is one of the common show stoppers here.

Hermits are one of those hummingbirds that look rather ho hum on the colour plates but their behaviour and structure make them a hit. This White-whiskered Hermit, along with Barons Hermit, was a regular at the feeders.