(May 21th to
June 3rd, 2012)
Day 1
PM:
Arrival, Orientation & Canopy Tower Observation Deck
Upon arrival at the airport, you will be
met by our driver who will transfer you to the Canopy Tower, located at the top
of Semaphore Hill in the rainforest of Soberanía National Park.
A member of our staff will greet you as you arrive at the Tower, and you
will be provided with an orientation on the use of the facilities. At this time
we will answer any questions you may have.
As your luggage is being ferried to your room, you may visit the
dining/bar area and enjoy a refreshing drink.
We highly recommend that you spend some time on the Observation Deck.
The view from the platform is incredible!
Here, you get a unique eye-level perspective of the rainforest canopy.
Many birds, including toucans, parrots, tanagers of various types, hawks,
and dozens of others, as well as 2 species of sloths, monkeys and other mammals
are commonly seen. From this
vantage point you can also see ships transiting the Panama Canal, the majestic
Centennial Bridge and miles of rainforest!
You may also want to watch the hummingbird feeders at the base of the
Tower for Long-billed Hermit, White-necked Jacobin, Violet-bellied & Blue-chested
Hummingbirds and White-vented Plumeleteer.
Occasionally, a Snowy-bellied Hummingbird is spotted!
Dinner at CANOPY TOWER.
Day 2
AM:
Canopy Tower & Semaphore Hill Road
Your guide will be waiting for you at the
Observation Deck for early morning birding.
While you look for birds you can enjoy hot coffee, tea and orange juice.
Some of the bird species that we are likely to see from the observation
deck are Green & Red-legged Honeycreepers, Green Shrike-Vireo, Blue Cotinga,
Scaled Pigeon, Mealy & Red-lored Parrots, Keel-billed Toucan, Collared Araçari,
flycatchers of various kinds and raptors, including
King Vulture and Ornate Hawk-Eagle!
After breakfast, at mid-morning, you’ll start exploring Soberanía
National Park by taking a pleasant walk down Semaphore Hill Road. This winding,
shady paved road, festooned on the shoulders by wildflowers of many types, is a
little more than a mile long and crosses a large creek about half-way down.
The bird list here is extensive, and includes birds from the forest
interior as well as edge-dwellers.
Olivaceous Flatbill, Plain Xenops,
Lesser Greenlet, Black-breasted & White-whiskered Puffbirds, Fasciated & Western
Slaty Antshrikes, Slate-colored Grosbeak, Bay-headed & White-shouldered
Tanagers, Black-throated Trogon, Broad-billed & Rufous Motmots and Great Jacamar
may be found. Great Tinamou is
often heard, but harder to find.
This road is also great for raptors.
White, Tiny & Great Black Hawks have been seen.
Your morning bird list will be impressive, as we catch a ride back just
in time to enjoy a delicious lunch at the CANOPY TOWER.
PM:
Ammo Dump Ponds & Environs (15 min. from Canopy Tower)
The Ammo Dump Ponds are located just past
Gamboa on the way to Pipeline Road.
It is the best place to see the elusive White-throated Crake, as well as a host
of other waterbirds. Least Grebes
and Purple Gallinules are common, and Rufescent Tiger-Heron and American
Pygmy-Kingfisher are also resident.
Here, we often find Greater Ani, Red-legged Honeycreeper, Whooping Motmot
(recent split from Blue-crowned), Yellow-tailed Oriole, Southern Lapwing,
Yellow-crowned Tyrannulet, Tropical Kingbird, Scrub Greenlet, Lesser Kiskadee,
Black-bellied Whistling-Duck and Panama, Social & Rusty-margined Flycatchers and
even an Olivaceous Piculet! Birding
here will be excellent, as we add to our impressive list of birds!
Dinner at CANOPY TOWER.
Day 3
AM:
Pipeline Road Entrance (20 min. from Canopy Tower)
After breakfast you board the Birdmobile
or the Rainfomobile, both open-air vehicles, that take you to Pipeline Road, the
best place in Central Panama to find forest birds, and one of the premier
birding spots in the world! This
morning we concentrate our efforts at the beginning of Pipeline, where
diversity! Greater Ani, Gray-necked
Wood-Rail, Yellow-tailed Oriole, Masked Tityra, Rosy Thrush-Tanager, Plain Wren,
Streaked Flycatcher, Violaceous Trogon, Red-throated Ant-Tanager, Squirrel
Cuckoo, Gray-headed Chachalaca, Southern Bentbill, Forest Elaenia, Panama
Flycatcher, Blue Ground-Dove and Little Tinamou.
Other birds recorded here are Black-bellied & Buff-breasted Wrens,
Golden-collared Manakin, White-necked Puffbird, Violaceous, Slaty-tailed,
Black-throated, White-tailed & Black-tailed Trogons, Purple-crowned Fairy,
Yellow Tyrannulet, White-bellied & Dusky Antbirds, Fasciated & Western Slaty
Antshrikes. Lunch at CANOPY TOWER.
PM: Summit Gardens/Harpy Exhibit (10 min. from
Canopy Tower)
Summit Gardens is a center for
recreation, education and conservation, dedicated to reflect and enhance
Panama’s tropical and cultural diversity.
The botanical gardens are great for migratory warblers and other
forest-edge species, including a colony of Chestnut-headed Oropendolas,
Yellow-margined Flycatcher, Laughing Falcon, Gray, Crane & Great Black Hawks,
Collared Forest-Falcon, Tropical Pewee,
Masked Tityra, Golden-fronted & Scrub Greenlets, Yellow-crowned
Tyrannulet, Yellow-rumped Cacique, Giant, Shiny & Bronzed Cowbirds and Blue
Cotinga. This park is the best place to find Streak-headed Woodcreeper, a
difficult species to get elsewhere.
The Harpy Eagle is Panama's national bird, and this park has an exhibit,
including a life-size nest and interpretive panels, tracing the importance of
the Harpy in Panamanian history and culture dating back to Pre-Columbian times.
Dinner at CANOPY TOWER.
Day 4
AM:
Plantation Trail (5 min. from Canopy Tower)
After breakfast, we take a short ride to
the bottom of Semaphore Hill to Plantation Trail, one of our premier birding
areas. This easy trail passes
through mature rainforest and follows a small creek (Rio Chico Masambi) and is a
reliable place to find Golden-crowned Spadebills.
Oftentimes at the parking area near the entrance, we find Black-chested
Jays. Other birds to look for along
the trail include Ocellated, Bicolored, Chestnut-backed, White-bellied & Spotted
Antbirds; Broad-billed & Whooping Motmots, trogons, White-whiskered Puffbird,
hummers (Blue-chested, White-necked Jacobin and others); Plain Brown, Northern
Barred & Cocoa Woodcreepers; Cinnamon, Crimson-crested & Black-cheeked
Woodpeckers; White-breasted Wood-Wren, Song Wren, Dot-winged, Checker-throated &
White-flanked Antwrens; Purple-throated Fruitcrow, Bright-rumped Attila,
Gray-headed Tanager, Long-billed Gnatwren, Western Slaty & Fasciated Antshrikes,
Red-capped & Blue-crowned Manakins, Great Tinamou, Ruddy-tailed, Royal &
Yellow-margined Flycatchers, Yellow-rumped Cacique, Scaly-throated Leaftosser
and occasionally, a Great Jacamar or the endemic Yellow-green Tyrannulet!
Lunch at CANOPY TOWER.
PM:
Chagres River/Gamboa Feeders (15 min. from Canopy Tower)
After lunch, we take a short drive to
Chagres River and the accompanying fields & forest.
First, we must stop at Carmen Martino's house, in the picturesque village
of Gamboa, to look at her bird feeders!
Carmen is a great friend of the Canopy Tower.
In fact, she used to do some guiding for us.
At Carmen’s feeders, we are likely to see Red-legged, Shining & Green
Honeycreepers, Lemon-rumped, Crimson-backed & Blue-gray Tanagers, Thick-billed
Euphonia, Yellow-bellied & Variable Seedeaters, Whooping Motmot and Gray-headed
Chachalaca. Next, we're off to
Chagres River, the main tributary for the Panama Canal.
The birding along the river banks and the forest edges of Gamboa Resort
can be spectacular! Here, we search
for Amazon, Green & American Pygmy Kingfishers, as well as, Whooping Motmot and
Cinnamon Woodpecker. We could also
see Gray-Necked Wood-Rail, Cocoi, Green & Striated Herons, Wattled Jacana,
Pied-billed Grebe, Anhinga, Royal & Sandwich Terns, Brown Pelican, Neotropic
Cormorant, Tricolored & Little Blue Herons, Rufescent Tiger-Heron,
Mangrove Swallow, Black-chested Jay, Lesser Kiskadee, Rusty-margined
Flycatcher, Yellow-billed Cacique, Black-bellied & Buff-breasted Wrens,
Fasciated & Barred Antshrikes, Cinnamon Becard, Slaty-tailed Trogon,
White-bellied Antbird, and even Slaty-backed Forest-Falcon and Blue Cotinga at
times! Dinner at CANOPY TOWER.
Day 5
Full Day trip to Cerro Azul
We'll leave early in the morning to get to higher elevations of Cerro Azul, one of the top birding areas for mid-elevation species. We'll have a chance for such special birds as Black-crowned Antpitta, Stripe-cheeked Woodpecker, Speckled Antshrike, Violet-capped Hummingbird, Golden-eared Toucanet and Black-and-yellow Tanager. The list of additional birds is long with many species not seen in the lowlands of the Canal Zone!
Day 6
World Famous Pipeline Road (20 min. from Canopy
Tower) FULL DAY
Today we will search for the area’s
super-rare specialties, the Rufous-vented Ground-Cuckoo and Harpy Eagle, both
recorded here. Eight species
of wrens, 5 trogons, 4 puffbirds, 3 motmots, many tanagers and flycatchers,
including the unusual Brownish Twistwing, Great Jacamar and Common Potoo, among
others, are often found. Also, the
calls of Streak-chested Antpitta and Black-faced Antthrush will lure us in!
Army ant swarms are found occasionally, attended by a host of birds
including, Bicolored, Ocellated & Spotted Antbirds.
Plus, we will hunt for Golden-collared, Red-capped & Blue-crowned
Manakins, always high on the list of birder favorites!
Raptors include 3 Forest-Falcons, Tiny & Semiplumbeous Hawks, Ornate &
Black Hawk-Eagles (soaring overhead), as well as Olive & Sulphur-rumped
Tanagers, Purple-throated Fruitcrow, Black-crowned
& Masked Tityras, Cinnamon & Crimson-crested Woodpeckers, Scarlet-rumped
Cacique, Red-lored & Brown-hooded Parrots, Collard Araçari, Pheasant Cuckoo,
Speckled Mourner, Buff-throated Foliage-Gleaner, Chestnut mandibled &
Keel-billed Toucans, Black-striped, Northern Barred and Plain Brown Woodcreepers!
As we cross several rivers, we search for Sunbittern and Green-and-rufous
Kingfisher. To maximize our time in the field, we enjoy a nice picnic lunch
along Pipeline Road—but with scope and binoculars at the ready!
After lunch, we search for more species, including the elusive
Wing-banded Antbird and Spot-crowned Antvireo, Moustached Antwren, Ruddy
Quail-Dove and Marbled Wood-Quail!
Dinner at CANOPY TOWER.
Day 7
AM:
Summit Ponds /Old Gamboa Road (10 min. from Canopy Tower)
Old Gamboa Road and the associated ponds
at Summit are great places to find Canal Zone birds of many types.
At Summit Ponds we will scan for Green, Striated, Capped & Boat-billed
Herons as well as Green, Ringed, Amazon, Green-and-rufous (rare) & American
Pygmy Kingfishers, which are all resident here!
Also we seek out Rusty-margined & Streaked Flycatchers, Mangrove Swallow,
Bat Falcon, Cocoa Woodcreeper and Lineated & Crimson-crested Woodpeckers.
Going straight past the two ponds you'll be on Old Gamboa Road, one of
the birdiest spots around. This
road passes through a variety of habitats and has plenty of specialties,
including Blue Ground-Dove, Great Antshrike, Jet Antbird, Black-tailed & Royal
Flycatchers, Lance-tailed & Golden-collared Manakins and the delightful Rosy
Thrush-Tanager! We also will find
species like White-bellied Antbird, Yellow-bellied Elaenia, Yellow-backed
Oriole, Boat-billed Flycatcher, Yellow-headed Caracara and more.
Also resident are Gray-headed Chachalaca, with Spectacled Owl a real
possibility, too, as the guides know where they often roost.
Lunch at CANOPY TOWER
PM:
Chagres River N./Gamboa Grounds (15 min. from Canopy Tower)
Here, along the banks and in the
accompanying forest edges, Amazon, Green & American Pygmy Kingfishers, as well
as, Whooping Motmot and Cinnamon Woodpecker, Cinnamon & White-winged Becards,
are resident. We could also see
species like Gray-necked Wood-Rail, Green & Striated Herons, Black-tailed
Flycatcher, Wattled Jacana, White-throated Crake and Anhinga.
Good views of Rosy Thrush-Tanager have occurred here recently. Embera
Indian trails lead from the river, and we often see them fishing from their
canoes. In the river we
search for Least Grebes, Muscovy & Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks, and along
their trails we often find Little Tinamou, Scarlet-rumped & Yellow-billed
Caciques, Yellow-tailed Oriole and sometimes Blue Cotinga!
Day 8
AM:
Rainforest Discovery Center (20 min. from Canopy Tower)
After breakfast we depart to the Panamá
Rainforest Discovery Center, which is an ecotourism and environmental education
facility created and administered by Fundacion Avifauna Eugene Eisenmann.
It is located off Pipeline Road adjacent to Soberanía National Park.
The center contains several attractions, the best of which is a
100-foot-tall observation tower, with 4 rest platforms—each stopping at a
different layer of the rainforest.
The view from the top is incredible!
Here, we scan for hawks like Double-toothed Kite and
Semiplumbeous Hawk. Also, we
explore the 1.1 kilometer circuit of well-maintained forest trails, one ending
at a pond, which is excellent for birds!
Snail Kite, Wattled Jacana, Little Blue Heron and Sungrebe are often
resident at the pond, and along the trails we look for White-necked Puffbird,
motmots, trogons, manakins, antbirds, wrens, tanagers, flycatchers and many
others. The covered Visitor Center
has several hummingbird feeders (attracting species that may be photographed
easily), bathrooms, lunch tables and a small gift shop with drinks and snacks.
Lunch at CANOPY TOWER.
PM:
Miraflores Locks (optional)
This afternoon you have the option to
relax on your own, catch up on some photography, or you may want to visit
Miraflores Locks Museum. In
addition to seeing first-hand the operation of the Canal, with huge container
ships negotiating the narrow locks, you may also explore the world-class museum
there. Magnificent
Frigatebirds are seen gliding overhead!
Day 9
Canopy Tower/Departure to Canopy
Lodge/Canopy Lodge Grounds & Feeders
FULL DAY
After a leisurely breakfast and a last
look at the birds from the Observation Deck, we'll board a comfortable
air-conditioned van for the 2-hour ride to El Valle de Antón, also known as
Crater Valley. We will spend six nights at this lovely village, nestled in the
crater of a long dormant volcano that last erupted 5 million years ago. The
resultant scenery is quite unique:
a steep valley surrounded by jagged peaks and filled with flowers, streams and
verdant forests. We arrive in time
for lunch. Our home for the next
five nights will be the Canopy Lodge, sister lodge of the Canopy Tower, a
charming eco-lodge built next to a babbling mountain stream and adjacent to the
protected area of Cerro Gaital Natural Monument.
At 2,400-feet in elevation, you will immediately appreciate the
noticeably cooler temperatures here!
A member of our staff will greet you as you arrive at the Lodge, and you
will be provided with an orientation on the use of the facilities.
At this time we will answer any questions you may have.
As your luggage is being ferried to your room, or after you get settled
in, you may visit the dining area and enjoy a refreshing drink and snack.
You will immediately want to scan the bird feeders and grounds!
Crimson-backed, Blue-gray, White-lined, Lemon-rumped, Dusky-faced &
Plain-colored Tanagers, along with Red-crowned Ant-Tanager are about, as are
Thick-billed Euphonia, Chestnut-headed Oropendola, Streaked & Buff-throated
Saltators, Lineated & Red-crowned Woodpeckers, Red-legged Honeycreepers,
Yellow-faced Grassquit, Social Flycatcher, Ruddy Ground-Dove, Barred Antshrike,
Clay-colored Robin, Rufous Motmot; Rufous-tailed, Snowy-bellied & Violet-headed
Hummingbirds and Garden Emerald!
Lunch and Dinner at CANOPY LODGE.
Day 10
AM: La
Mesa Road (15 min. from Canopy Lodge)
After breakfast, we continue our quest
for more lifers with a trip to La Mesa Road. This area, which is a visually
pleasing blend of secondary forest, scrubby pastures, overgrown fincas and
grassy borders, is home to many of the area’s specialties.
Here is where we look for such great birds as Spot-crowned Barbet,
Cinnamon Becard, Scarlet-thighed Dacnis, Silver-throated, Golden-hooded,
Tawny-crested & Bay-headed Tanagers, Spot-crowned Antvireo and
Spotted Woodcreeper; hummers, such as,
White-tipped Sicklebill, Rufous-crested Coquette, Violet-crowned Woodnymph and
Black-throated Mango. Also resident
are Blue-throated Toucanet, Bran-colored Flycatcher, Scale-crested Pygmy-Tyrant
and Orange-bellied Trogon. Lunch at
CANOPY LODGE.
PM:
Cara Iguana (15 min. from Canopy Lodge)
With a full stomach and some rest, we
head to Cara Iguana Trail, where we enjoy outstanding foothill birding in some
of the last remaining examples of quality Dry Pacific Forest.
Specialties we hope to find in this bird-rich habitat are Lesser Elaenia,
Yellow-olive & Panama Flycatchers, Pale-eyed Pygmy-Tyrant, Yellow-bellied
Elaenia, , Lance-tailed Manakin, Rufous-breasted & Rufous-and-white Wrens, Rosy
Thrush-Tanager, Tody & Whooping Motmots and Long-billed Gnatwren.
Also resident are Striped Cuckoo, Little Tinamou, Common Potoo, Dusky &
White-bellied Antbirds, Barred Antshrike, White-winged Becard, Tropical
Screech-Owl and Bat Falcon. Hummers
to watch for are Garden Emerald, Long-billed Starthroat and White-vented
Plumeleteer. Dinner at CANOPY LODGE.
Day 11
El Chiru/Juan Hombron Beach /Lunch Playa Santa Clara
(45 min. from Canopy Lodge) FULL DAY
After breakfast we are off for a full day
of birding in more Dry Pacific Forest and its wonderful suite of birds!
Among the birds we will be seeking out today are Yellow-headed Caracara,
Roadside, Gray & Short-tailed Hawks, Peregrine &
Aplomado (rare) Falcons, White-tailed Kite and Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl.
We will also search for Pale-eyed Pygmy-Tyrant, Golden-fronted Greenlet,
Grassland Yellow-Finch, Rufous-browed Peppershrike, Brown-throated Parakeet,
Blue Ground-Dove, Crested Bobwhite, Red-breasted Blackbird, Fork-tailed
Flycatcher and Crested Oropendola. We
stop at a spot where we sometimes find Common Potoo.
Hummers to be on the watch for in this unique scrubby area are Veraguan
Mango (endemic!) and Garden Emerald.
We enjoy a picnic lunch at a popular beach at Santa Clara where we hope
to spot Sapphire-throated Hummingbird working the coastal shrubbery.
On the beach or flying by we look for Least, Western & Spotted
Sandpipers, Sanderling, Blue-footed & Brown Boobies, Sandwich, Royal & Elegant
Terns and Franklin's & Laughing Gulls. At
Juan Hombron rice fields we hope to find Lesser Yellow-headed Vulture, Crested
Caracara, Gray-necked Wood-Rail, Pale-eyed-Pygmy-Tyrant, Northern
Scrub-Flycatcher, Southern Lapwing, Great Blue Heron, Tricolored Heron,
Black-crowned Night-Heron, Glossy Ibis, Straight-billed Woodcreeper,
Pale-breasted Spinetail, Plain-breasted Ground-Dove, Mouse-colored Tyrannulet,
Savanna & Common Black Hawks and Pearl Kite.
Dinner at CANOPY LODGE.
Day 12
AM:
Cerro Gaital (20 min. from Canopy Lodge)
Today after breakfast, we proceed
to Cerro Gaital, a steep, forested,
mist-shrouded mountain that you see from the lodge!
Cerro Gaital (3,500’) is the namesake of Cerro Gaital Natural Monument,
which protects more than 335 hectares of mature cloud forest.
This area offers sightings
of Black Guan, Blue-throated Toucanet,
Orange-bellied Trogon, Spotted Barbtail, Common Bush-Tanager, Silver-throated
Tanager, Black-headed Antthrush, Slaty Antwren, Spot-crowned & Plain Antvireos,
Black-faced Grosbeak, Blue Seedeater, Rufous-capped Warbler, Gray-headed Kite,
White Hawk, Tawny-capped Euphonia, Pale-vented Thrush, Thrush-like Schiffornis,
White-tailed Emerald, Green-crowned Brilliant, Violet-headed Hummingbird and
Violet-crowned Woodnymph. Scaled
Antpitta and Rufous-vented
Ground-Cuckoo have been recorded here! Back
for lunch at the CANOPY LODGE.
PM:
Valle Chiquito (20 min. from Canopy Lodge)
After lunch we are off to Chiquito!
This valley is accessible by a newly
paved road and passes through nicely forested woodlands crossed by two rivers.
At Rio de Jesus we search for Green Kingfisher and listen for
Sepia-capped Flycatcher. We also
see a nice colony of Chestnut-headed Oropendolas in a
Cecropia tree.
We also try for Tody Motmot, Yellow-throated Vireo, Yellow-backed Oriole,
White-bellied Antbird, Gray-chested
Dove, Yellow-billed Cacique, Zone-tailed & Gray Hawks, Black Hawk-Eagle,
Lance-tailed Manakin, Panama
Flycatcher, Black-headed Tody-Flycatcher, Little Tinamou,
Long-billed Starthroat and Garden Emerald.
Wrens are abundant here, with Black-bellied, Rufous-and-white, Bay, and
Rufous-breasted Wrens all lurking about in the thickets!
Day 13
Altos del Maria
(1 hr. from Canopy Lodge) FULL DAY
Departing early in the morning after
breakfast, we drive from El Valle in air conditioned 4x4 SUVs back along the
Pan-American Highway and then up into the mountains.
As the sun rises over the highlands ahead of us, spectacular mountains,
vast valleys and towering cliffs come into view!
Set in the mountains on the continental divide east of El Valle, Altos
del Maria provides a spectacular addition to the Best of Central Panama Birding
Package. Ascending an excellent
paved road, we will climb a ridge to our destination, an expansive area of cloud
forest at 3,600 ft. This area
harbors an exciting variety of highland forest birds.
Some of the characteristic species of this cloud forest include
Black-crowned Antpitta, Black-headed Saltator, White Hawk, Barred Forest-Falcon,
Orange-bellied Trogon, Spotted Woodcreeper, Red-faced Spinetail, Spotted
Barbtail, Russet & Great Antshrikes, Tufted & Sulphur-rumped Flycatchers, Rufous-browed
Tyrannulet, White-ruffed Manakin, Ochraceous Wren, Gray-breasted Wood-Wren,
Pale-vented Thrush, Green Shrike-Vireo, Yellow-billed Cacique; Black-and-yellow,
Bay-headed, Dusky-faced & Tawny-crested Tanagers; White-vented Euphonia,
Slate-colored Grosbeak and Yellow-eared Toucanet.
Even the bizarre Brown-billed Scythebill is seen here regularly.
Hummers we may spot include Band-tailed Barbthroat, the exquisite
Snowcap, Garden & White-tailed Emeralds, Purple-throated Mountain-Gem,
White-tipped Sicklebill and Bronze-tailed Plumeleteer.
After a picnic lunch in the field, we will drop down into a valley and
climb to the ridge on the opposite side.
Reaching some large swaths of mature humid forest along this ridge, we
will explore some trails and roadside spots in search of even more forest birds.
Around mid-afternoon, we will head back into El Valle for some relaxation
time prior to dinner at CANOPY LODGE.
Day 14
Departure to Airport (about 3 hrs. from Canopy
Lodge)
Time permitting, after a leisurely
breakfast and some last-minute-birding in the gardens surrounding the lodge, we
will drive back to Panamá City and catch our return flights home!