Panama
January 29 – February 5, 2006
Cheryl Pavlik
Tom Pavlik
The trip from Detroit to Panama City, via Atlanta, was uneventful – as it should be for flying. We arrived in Panama City around 9:40pm, waited for our luggage and took the cab ride to our hotel in Panama City.
A driver for the Canopy Tower arrived at the hotel lobby around 7:00am. This would get us to Canopy Tower just after 7:30am. We were on our own until the afternoon hike. We quickly got our stuff around and were on top of the tower within 15 minutes.
The big selling point of the Canopy Tower is that the top of the old radar station is about even with the canopy. A luxury that is hard to find in the tropics. Therefore, you are at eye level or even above many of the birds.
A common misconception for many first time birders to the tropics is that birds are dripping off every limb. While there are exceptional days where this seems like the case, most times birding is a little slow, even in the morning. This morning was a bit on the slow side but we still managed to see several interesting things. One of the first sightings was a pair of Blue Dacnis. A Tropical Kingbird was also close by the tower.
Later in the morning we walked the paved road all the way to the entrance and back. Did very well with several pockets of birds in both directions. Even at 10:30am the birds were calling and most were visable.
Lunch was at 12:30pm. This is where we met Jose who would be our guide the rest of the time at Canopy Tower. Our afternoon trip was at 3:30 so we could fill that time any way we wanted. We decided to go part way down the road. We didn’t expect much but there was still a few pocket of birds that kept us interested.
At 3:30pm we met our makeshift group out front. We were dropped off at the bottom of Semaphore Hill. We birded the path at the bottom of the hill, known as Plantation Road, until about 5:30pm. Overall, pretty slow but added a few items including the impressive Black-crested Jay, Keel-billed Tucan and a variety of other colorful birds.
We were at the top of the tower around 6:15 am as the sun began to rise. It was impressive site with the Panama Canal visible from one side and mountains visible on other sides. A pair of Blue Dacnis were working across the canopy at eye level as was a male White-shouldered Tanager. At breakfast we had a little activity outside the window that reminded me of fall birding in Michigan. A Tennessee, Chestnut-sided and Black-and-White Warbler flitted about the tree as did a Yellow-throated Vireo.
After breakfast we walked the road down Semaphore Hill with our guide Jose. This is jungle birding so we had to work for our species. Per usual they came in pockets and often involved diverse species. First a flycatcher, then a woodcreeper, then a trogan.
In the afternoon we were with Jose by ourselves. We went Summit Ponds and walk the road (Old Gamboa Rd.). The ponds are nice for picking up a few herons, flycatchers and kingfishers as well as a variety of other species. Old Gamboa Road starts as a relatively small piece of rainforest. Before long it opens up into some large grassy fields. Consequently we started to see grass birds including:
Again, another day with just the two of us and Jose. We were being spoiled with the personal attention. This morning we would do the famed Pipeline Rd. Once again this would be jungle birding so we didn’t expect to see a large number of species but rather speciality birds. It wasn’t long before Jose had his scope on a Black-breasted Puffbird. We continued our walk ticking off all sorts of antbirds, trogans, flycatchers, hummingbirds, raptors, tanagers and the occasional manakin.
We walked in about 3 km and returned the same way. On the way out we came across a near-endemic; Southern Bentbill which only resides in Panama and the northern part of Columbia. By the time we got back to the van it was getting pretty warm so the cooler of water and gatorade was a welcome sight.
After lunch Jose informed us we would be doing some “easy birding” in the afternoon. He wasn’t kidding. We jumped in the van once again around 3:30 pm and drove back to Gamboa. There is a lady who lives in the residential area who is active in the local Audubon group. She keeps hummingbird feeders filled as well as an interesting chicken wire platform feeder. The chicken wire is rigged up horizonally with twigs and small limbs across it for the birds to sit on. On the make-shift feeder you put bananas and various melons to attract the birds. Jose brought a tupperware full of fruits on the wire and we sat back to watch the action. Before long we had numerous Clay-colored Robins, Crimson-backed Tanagers, a Buff-throated Saltator and a nice display of other colorful birds. In the meantime, both Green and Red-legged Honeycreepers were keeping the hummingbird feeders active.
After the birds made quick work of the fruit we drove to the “Ammo Ponds”. This is a small marshy area but fairly active with a variety of birds. We simply pulled off the road and watched. As hoped we had our first Rufescent Tiger-Heron but also added Wattled Jacana. The immature Jacanas can easily throw you off as they look nothing like the adults but rather some version of stilt. Along with the marsh birds Jose pointed out the occasional flycatcher noting the small details that separate it from a similar specie.
Our last stop of the day would be at the marina at the Old Gamboa Lodge. There is a fairly large lake here and that attracts a number of birds we haven’t seen yet. Osprey were floating overhead and there were hoards of Common Morehen on the water. An unexpected treat was a Black-throated Mango (hummingbird) working the flowers on a nearby tree. This was easy birding. We probably didn’t walk more than 100 yards all afternoon.
In spite of the easy afternoon a full day of birding in hot weather takes it toll and we were pretty drouzy after a shower and a pre-dinner cocktail. However, we were rejuvinated at the prospect of a night trip. We met shortly after dinner and began the decent down Semaphore Hill in the “Birdmobile”. Another excellent guide, Carlos, was our leader. He continually scanned the trees looking for any signs of life. We came across more than I expected including a couple of monkey-like critters that I have since forgotton their names. We also got to see both Two and Three-toed Sloths.
After a few hundred yards down the road we stopped and Carlos tried to call in a Crested Owl. We only got the occasional retuned call without any sightings. We continued down the road coming across a few more mammals that were quite intersting. At the bottom we made the short ride over to Summit Ponds to see what critters may be lurking around there. Three Pauraque were on the road and didn’t flush until we were quite close. At the ponds we had a long look at a roosting Boat-billed Heron. Upon tallying the birds I was surprised to see we had 112 for the day.
Today we would have to leave the Canopy Tower but Anna, the manager, was in no hurry to push us out. We were able to stick around the lodge until late morning. Consequently, we were on the tower just as it was getting light. Again, little activity but a great place to see the view. Before long the calls of the Green Shrike-Vireo started and the occasional Blue Dacnis and Tropical Gnatcatcher would work their way through the canopy.
After breakfast we really only had time for one last walk about half way down Semaphore Hill. There were many repeat bird at this point but you don’t get tired of seeing trogans and motmots. Occasionally, something new would stop by. Being without a guide now it took some extra time to identify the birds. Just when we think we have the field marks the guide shows some subtlty that we just didn’t catch. Of course by then the bird is several layers deep in the rainforest.
Around 11:00 am our driver arrived and took us to our car rental agency about 20 minutes away. Now the real adventure began – trying to drive in Panama City. One thing that seemed consistent is that Panamanians, while intentions are good, are not particulary great at giving directions. Or perhaps they expect too much from the recipient. In this case that would be me. When giving directions they provide way too many landmarks. The kind lady at the National Car Rental company pulled out a map and started giving us directions. She labored on and on about how to get from there to the Marriott downtown. After mentioning about the sixth landmand mark I asked her to show us on the map. According to map we would have gone about 2 miles at this point with only one turn. After simply pointing to where the Marriott was, this was good enough for me. Panama City isn’t that big and I was confident I could get there. Besides, it wasn’t even noon yet and we would have a full tank of gas. As luck would have it we made it to the hotel with only getting on a few one-ways that took us off our course.
The shores of the ocean were only about six blocks from our hotel so we got settled in and walked to the shore to see what we could see. Luck was once again on our side as it was low tide. We made our way to the back of a hotel parking area where we had excellent views of shorebirds, pelicans, gulls and terns. Most of these were trip birds but nothing out of the ordinary.
It was hot this day (90+ F) so we didn’t spend too much time in the afternoon sun. We wandered back to the hotel and decided not to venture back out of the city until the following day.
It made sense to get out of the city early to avoid the traffic. We did our best to get on the road by 6:00 am. Today we made our way to the Canopy Lodge which is west of Panama City about 2 hours. Anna was kind enough to make a call for us and Raul was expecting us by 8:30 am. We arrived shortly after that and were giving a quick tour of this awesome lodge. It was truly luxury in the jungle.
Although we offered, Raul was having no part of charging us walking the trails and resting near the feeders. We did a slow walk up the main trail near the lodge. The trail was flat for the first 100 yeards or so then became steep shortly after that. Most birds were found at the lower, flat part.
After our hike we walked over to lodge and waited for birds to appear at the feeders. Raul put out fruit several times a day and the birds went through these rather quickly. We also ran into some friends we made at the Canopy Tower and got caught up on what everyone had done since we last saw each other.
Around lunch we headed to a beach area to see if we could find anything of interest. There was very little. The only bird were added here was Royal Tern.
We tried to find some backroads to wander down but they are surprisingly sparse. The few roads immediately took us into a residential area so we really couldn’t find any area to get out and look around.
We decided to head back up the road to El Valle (27 km) because we saw a pizza place. The gentleman running the place (Pinocchio’s) was from the United States but relocated several years ago. Since we were at a higher elevation it was a bit more pleasant than the temps at sea level. We decided to eat outside and watch the somewhat busy streets of El Valle. This turned out to be an excellent spot for a meal. We ordered a 12” supreme pizza, a couple of sodas and a slice of pie for $9.75.
Since we felt comfortable getting around now we decided to head back to Summit Ponds/Old Gamboa Road and Summit Garden across the main road.