En El Valle - March 5

After a late flight on Tuesday and an overnight at La Estancia B&B in Panama City, we woke up to the songs on so many birds! Our hotel was built on a steep hillside, and the feeders hanging over the cliff were constantly busy. The first Life Bird was the flamboyant Crimson-backed Tanager (coincidentally also the first bird photo, taken by J. Morlan) that I posted on this blog. The banana-bunch feeders (very common in the tropics - nicely low-tech) were constantly busy with Blue-gray Tanagers, Palm Tanagers, Orange-throated Parrot, Crimson-headed Woodpecker, Clay-colored Thrush, and the local squirrels among others. The feeders that we would fill at home with mixed seeds were filled instead with rice for the Variable Seedeaters and Ruddy Ground Doves. We got to enjoy all of this while having a nice breakfast on the balcony.

While we waited for our taxi after breakfast, some of the staff was watching a gorgeous and hefty green snake - a Bejuquilla - while it waited for its own breakfast of fowl fresca while draped over some branches. That was one camoflaged snake - the exact green of the local leaves and with a leaf-shaped-and-patterned head.

Our bus left from the busy Panama City station at about 11:30 AM and we arrived at about 1:45 in El Valle. The owner of our lodgings at Cabañas Potosi was at Massiel´s Restaurant wainting for us, and we had a terrific lunch there while Denny regaled us with El Valle information and lore. It was very warm - over 80 degrees - and we were glad for the shade while we watched the world go by, consisting mostly of pedestrians, buses of all descriptions, bicycles, mopeds, and very few cars. Denny took us to our cabaña next and we settled in. The cabañas are in lovely, lush setting and we started birding immediately! I took this photo to the right during the afternon shower, a regular pattern it seems. It is actually refreshing, coming after the heat of midday when we were wandering up the La India Road. Best bird - although not a life bird - was the Bay-headed Tanager, surely one of the most gorgeous of a gorgeous group of birds. We also saw a Red-thighed Dacnis, Blue-crowned Motmot, and Road-side Hawk and a bunch of others. I´d love to show you more, but here I am sitting in the internet cafe instead of biking down the street to the orchid farm! Ron is up in the mountains with our cabañas neighbors and "El Jaguar" - their local birding guide for the day. Hasta Luego!