Bird Banding, Airplanes, and Quetzals

Since my last post, we have been moving around alot! On Sunday, we visited a couple of great birding spots near Gamboa. First to an area near the Canal where we saw and hear the Laughing Falcon. This bird is not only handsome but noisy. Guido got it to respond by actually laughing to it. As soon as I figure out how to post sound files, I'll include my recording here. Not far from the falcons, we saw a gorgeous Spectacled Owl. Our friend Denny took some photos of it - stay tuned for those.

Next we went out to Madden Forest, part of the Chagres National Park. When we drove in, we found several biologists who were mist-netting and banding birds. The first four birds they showed us were Lance-tailed Manakins, but they were especially keeping tracks of Neoptropical Migrants. The birds you see here are resident female and male Lance-tailed Manakins. In the hand, you can actually see the lance-shaped feather in the tail.

When we got into the park headquarters, two young girls walked with us on the tral and were just amazing bird finders. We think we should send them the field guides and binoculars - they show great promise!

That evening, we flew to David, way out to the west of Panama City and Gamboa in the easternmost province of Chiriqui.

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We drove in the dark up to the Dos Rios Hotel in Volcan, a little town about one hour and 4,000 feet up and away from the steamy coast. The weather up there reminded me of a perfect summer in Saranac Lake - cool with some clear days mixed with some rainy spells. Absolutley gorgeous in those volcanic mountains. This province is a the main agricultural area of Panama - many beautiful farms with vegetables, fruit, and cattle. Most of the work appeared to be done by hand. We stopped one day on the road back down the mountains for fresh local strawberries at one of many little stands. Janice loved hers.

The birding there was a mix of relaxing strolls (and sits - see the group the right!!!), drenching rainy hikes between birding from the porches at La Amistad International Park, and cool uphill walks at Volcan National Park through gorgeous forest interspersed with steep terraced small farm fields.

The birding was spectacular in many places, with great sightings of Rufous-faced Spinetail, Elegant Euphonia, Orange-billed Nightingale Thrush, Respendant Quetzal (the name doesn't come CLOSE to describing this bird), the elusive Wren Thrush, and Collared Becard. The list of new birds is getting satisfyingly long, but I especially enjoyed the calls of the Black-faced Solitaire ringing through the forest, while the parrots, wrens, and toucans accompanied it.

At La Amistad International Park, we were served both breakfast and lunch by the women's cooperative - Las Nubes - that runs a restaurant just inside the Chiriqui entrance to the park. There is another entrance to the park from Boca del Toro Province in Panama, as well as entrances from neighboring Costa Rica. It is a huge park that straddles the border and is jointly managed by both countries. It would take years just to explore this area in any satisfying way.







  We flew back to Guido's lodge in Gamboa last night, and this afternoon, we leave for yet another adventure - a trip out to the east to Torti, near the border of Darien Province. There is a whole new set of birds out there, and we will also visit a native Embara village. The heat and mosquitos will be challenging but seeing so many new things is extremely distracting! Tomorow night we will be back in Panama City to see some sights, enjoy a nice dinner, and get some sleep before flying home on Saturday. The wrap-up to this trip and blog will be coming next week once we are home and can add more photos and information. Stay tuned!