John Afdem's Panama Photog Blog

Well, tonight I sleep in the US. I’m all packed and ready to go–but I did make a quick walk around Gamboa Rainforest Resort this morning.

I found a nice Red Lored Amazon Parrot…..

Red Lored Amazon Parrot-Gamboa Panama

A Blue Crowned Motmot……

Blue Crowned Motmot-Gamboa Panama

And a Ruddy Ground Dove…….

Ruddy Ground Dove-Gamboa Panama

So many Beautiful Birds, Awesome Animals, Bodacious Bugs…most importantly, Fantastic Friends!!

Special thanks to:

Raul Arias de Para, Carlos Bethancourt–and the entire staff of the Canopy Family at the Canopy Tower and Canopy Lodge. You guys are the best!!

Guido Berguido and his Advantage Tours Pamama–Guido is a great guide and handles the demands of large and unique groups with aplomb. Everyone knows Guido, and everyone who knows Guido says, ‘Guido is my friend’. Me too!

Jose Soto and the staff at Gamboa Rainforest Resort. I greatly appreciate your friendship, Jose, and the hospitality of the staff at GRR.

Beatriz Schmitt and Margelys Barria, and the rest of the staff at Panama Rainforest Discovery Center–One of my favorite destinations in the Gamboa area. You guys do a great job.

Gonzalo Horna-Your ‘Birding By Boat’ tours are great, and you’re a great guide. Highy Recommended.

Ida Herrara and the staff at Sierra Llorona–You run a great B & B, and truly enjoyed my stay there!

Ivan Ortiz at Ivan’s Bed and Breakfast-in Gamboa

The staff at Anton Valley Inn, in El Valle

Jennifer Wolcott, Bill and Claudia Ahrens, Alfred Raab, and the dozens of other folks I had the good fortune to meet on my adventure in Panama. I may forget a bird now and again, but I’ll never forget you all and your gracious hospitality.

And now it’s time to go. Hasta Pronto, Panama. It’s been an incredible adventure.

I’ll be adding Panama wildlife images to my website as I find time to process images. You can view them at

http://www.johnafdem.com

I’m gettin all sad!! I head back to the USA tomorrow, and all I can think about is all the fantastic adventures in Panama that I WON’T have starting tomorrow. Arrrrrrgh!

Ok, now that that’s out of my system, I grab the gear and I head out to see what I can see and shoot what I can shoot.

Went down to the Teleferico area at dawn to see if I could find the Blue Cotinga again, which I did. It was waaaaay early though, so I had to use the flash and I don’t really care for those shots as the flash distorts the beautiful deep blue of the bird in ‘regular’ light.

I got some nice shots of the Yellow Tailed Oriole too, but since I’ve showed ya’ll some better ones from earlier on the trip, I’ll pass on posting those too.

I will post this one, the Red Throated Tanager—I like this shot.

Red Throated Ant Tanager-Gamboa, Panama

And then I saw it–the Dream bird. The Purple Crowned Fairy. I got a really bad shot of one of these when I was here last year, and I’ve been dying to see one again. They’re just magical to watch in flight. They’re a canopy bird, and I’ve never heard of them hitting a feeder, so shots of them are rare. I saw this one for just a couple of minutes, hitting flowers in a tree-top almost directly overhead. This isn’t a great shot by any stretch of the imagination–but it does give you some small idea of the delight of seeing one of these.

A poor shot of a Fabulous bird--the Purple Crowned Fairy

I was also able to watch a Chestnut Headed Oropendula feeding on some monster flowers–but the light was bad for photography. None the less it was fun to watch. He’d reach up with his foot and peel back some petals on the flower for a drink of nectar. These flowers must have been dripping nectar, because when he’d pull away the droplets would fly.

I then saw this butterfly land on a tree–I don’t know the species, but they are really a striking butterfly.

Butterly-Unk Species-Gamboa, Panama

After grabbing a late breakfast at GRR (and an early siesta!) I grabbed the macro lens and found this wonderful red-eyed grasshopper. I figure he must taste like crap–otherwise this coloration seems to me like it’d make him a meal-advertisement to the local birds.

Red Eyed Grasshopper-Gamboa Panama

And then I found this unique jumping spider (unique, in that it seems to be using a beetle shape for its camo) dining on a jumping spider!

Spiders getting together for lunch!

With that, it’s time to head back to the crib and see to the packing–for Manana I head back to the US of A.

Oh my, I’m getting short of time here!! Heading home on Monday, the 31st.

So as my time winds down I revisit one of my favorite places in the area. The Panama Rainforest Discovery Center is one of the underappreciated jewels of the area. Great hummingbirds at the feeders (which feature coffee, cold drinks and snacks) along with great trails and the fantastic ‘El Torre’, the 170ft tall tower that soars above the canopy.

I hit the Tower at dawn. My first sighting was a Scaled Pidgeon. A strikingly plumaged bird, no?

Scaled Pidgeon-From El Torre at Panama Rainforest Discovery Center

A few minutes later a magnificent Blue Cotinga dropped by.

Blue Cotinga from El Torre

And then a White Necked Puffbird…..

White Necked Puffbird from El Torre

And a Crimson Crested Woodpecker…

Crimson Crested Woodpecker-from El Torre

And finally, a Great Potoo was spotted through a hole in the foliage–taking in the early morning light.

Great Potoo-from El Torre

I’ve never had a bad morning in El Torre, and this one proved better than most. I also saw and photographed a Gray Headed Kite, a Roadside Hawk, and a hook billed kite, but they were so far away that the shots will reside on my hard drives as ‘ID shots’.

I don’t think I’ll make it back over here before I leave day after tomorrow, so I can only say ‘Muchisimo Gracias!!’ to the staff at Panama Rainforest Discovery Center. The Center is a national treasure, as is so much in this area. They’ve created an oasis of accessibility for many who might not be able to hit some of the more primitive sites such as Pipeline Road, and Plantation road, and the staff is consistently professional and friendly.

I slept in this morning. For some reason I wasn’t feeling well–probably due to the most excellent mohitos served at the bar at the Gamboa Rainforest Resort (sigh!) Honestly, they are the best mohitos I’ve ever had.

So after rolling out of bed well after the ‘birding hours’ I decided to strap a Macro lens on one of my camera bodies and see what little buggers I could find.

Spiders!!

Jumping Spider-Gamboa Rainforest Resort

Jumping Spider-Gamboa Rainforest Resort

Butterflies!!!

Butterfly-Gamboa Rainforest Resort

And Flies!!

Itty Bitty Little Green Fly-Panama

Itty Bitty Little Fly-Gamboa, Panama

Oh My!!

I don't know what this is, but it freaks me out--Gamboa, Panama

I took another cruise around the GRR today. This is one of the most underappreciated birding spots in the area!!

Both species of Toucan were very much in evidence, Keel Billed and Chestnut Mandibled Toucan’s are all over the place. Here’s a selection for you.

Keel Billed Toucan-Gamboa Rainforest Resort-Panama

Keel Billled Toucan-Gamboa Rainforest Resort-Panama

Chestnut Mandibled Toucan-Gamboa Rainforest Resort

Walking down by the water, I found a nice female Red Legged Honeycreeper preening, and found some turtles basking in one of the offshoots to the Chagres River.

Turtles-aka: 'Swims with Crocs'-Gamboa Rainforest Resort

Smiling Turtle-Gamboa Rainforest Resort-Panama

Red Legged Honeycreeper-Female-Gamboa Rainforest Resort

Since the Contingas are just there in the very early morning at GRR, and since the light is very low since it’s before sunrise, a trip over there sometimes yields only a dozen shots–and that’s if you’re lucky!  So, I went back over this morning to get more, more, more (I can be a bit piggish when it comes to shots of truly beautiful and rare birds!)

They showed up again this morning, but my luck wasn’t with me as I didn’t get any shots better than what I already have, so I won’t bore you with them. A Cinnamon Woodpecker showed up though, and he put on a nice show for me. He was pecking away at some dead branches, hunting bugs, and his attention was on that, not me.

Cinnamon Woodpecker scratching an itch

Cinnamon Woodpecker-going for the grubs

The Yellow Tailed Oriole dropped by the tree next door to hit the flowers for some nectar. Handsome, handsome birds.

Yellow Tailed Oriole

After shooting more of the ‘usual suspects’ at GRR, I headed up for a nice breakfast (they have a breakfast buffet that’s worth the price of admission!) and then headed home for a nap. Got going later in the afternoon and headed out to follow up on a report about the local Bat-Falcons.

Found this Chestnut-Headed Oropendula gathering nesting materials in a palm tree. The Oropendulas build large ‘pendulum’ nests–hanging sacs–and they’re just getting started in January.

Chestnut Headed Oropendula

Just as it was getting dark, the Bat-Falcon made his appearance. First he perched way up high on a palm-disguised cell phone tower. From there, he watches for the bats to start hunting, which happens right as twilight starts to dim. When he sees one, down he comes. Being a falcon, he’s fast of course, but the truly amazing thing is his manuevering in such dim light. He flies right through trees and thickets going after his prey and it’s amazing to watch. Once he makes a kill, there’s a certain tree in the ‘historic villas’ that he goes to for a ‘perch and dine’ session. Had to use flash–no flash no shot since it was so dark. But wow!!!

Gee Daddy, Why do they call them 'Bat' Falcons???

Bat Falcon with Dinner--Fresh Bat!

Headed over to the Gamboa Rainforest Resort this morning for another shot at the Blue Dacnis. I’ve been hoping for an opportunity to see and shoot the female Blue Cotinga, and getting down there early paid off!!

Here are three shots–of course one is the promised Blue Cotinga, the other is a male that was shot using flash, and one without flash for comparison. As you can see, when you use a flash on these birds you get a striking photo, but one that has the color completely wrong. This is true with many birds with blue plumage. I believe it’s caused by the fact that blue is not a pigment (like other colors). Instead, blue coloration is a result of light refraction, so when we ‘flash’ the birds, we get that refraction but since the light is coming from a single source (unlike natural light) we get this blue-green effect. As you can see, the female’s coloration is much more cryptic than the males, but she’s got a subtle beauty of her own..

Blue Cotinga-Female

.

Blue Cotinga-correct coloration (shot in natural light)

Blue Cotinga-shot with Flash

I also got a nice shot of another one of my favorite birds, the Cinnamon Becard.

Cinnamon Becard

This afternoon, I headed over for a hike up Plantation Road. About two miles in I inadvertantly scared a Green Hermit off the nest. I grabbed a few shots of the nest, which had two eggs on it, and backed off. The adult came back after about a half hour, but as soon as I moved it bolted again, so I left the area without a shot of the adult on the nest since I didn’t want to risk causing an abandonment.

Green Hermit Nest-Plantation Road

I awoke to the sound of Keel Billed Toucans this morning. Rushing through a shower and grabbing the gear, I hit the yard at Sierra Llorona and found them perched in a big snag, seranading the dawn (and me!).  The Keel Billeds are, as I’m sure you know, one of the ‘signature’ birds of the Neotropics…and for good reason. They look like they were designed by Disney Studios rather than Nature! Looking totally impractical, they survive and prosper in the phenomenally challenging environment of the jungles of Central America. I, of course, and glad they do!!

Keel Billed Toucan-Sierra Llorona, Colon Panama

Keel Billed Toucan-Achiote Road, Colon Panama

Also found a nice looking Red Capped Mannikin haunting the undergrowth of the grounds at Sierra Llorona. One of these days I’ve got to find some on a lek (a courtship display area) and get some video.

Red Capped Mannikin-Sierra Llorona, Colon, Panama

The other species that was most prevalent on the grounds is the Black Cheeked Woodpecker. So of course I got a couple of shots for you to enjoy, so….Enjoy!!

Black Cheeked Woodpecker-Sierra Llorona, Colon Panama

Black Cheeked Woodpecker, Sierra Llorona, Colon Panama

Drove over to Sierra Llorona yesterday afternoon. Sierra Llorona is a very nice little bed and breakfast sitting way up in the hills SW of Colon. The view is great, Colon and the ships waiting passage through The Canal are easily viewed.

The property is birdy, with Toucans, hummingbirds and of course varios woodpeckers and tanagers running through the gardens. I headed down to Achiote Road this morning to meet a local guide (I always recommend local guides. They know what’s going on in their area like no transient guide possibly could) for some great birding. I met the guide at the entrance to the trails at Achiote, and he suggested we take the car down the road a bit since it was still quite early and we had little light. As we headed down the road, a bird flew up from the side of the road and became hung up on the windshield wiper!! Of course I figured the bird was either dead or injured, he’d hit the car pretty good and then caught his leg on the wiper, so I figured we’d find either a broken neck or leg.  It turned out to be a Chestnut Back Antwren, a very handsome bird, and it was OK!! I was delighted to see it fly off into the forest.

Once we parked, we found a White Tailed Trogon right away, and spotted a Collared Aracari too. I was delighted to get some shots of Toucans in flight this morning. Both the Keel Billed and Chestnut Mandibled Toucans put on flight displays for me.

Chestnut Mandibled Toucan-Achiote Road, Colon Panama

Also had a nice flyby by a Yellow Headed Caraca, much to my delight, and later in the morning we spotted a real rarity, a King Vulture—he was a looong ways away, but here’s a shot so you know what to look for. Always binoc the vultures–the higher ones just might be a King!

Yellow Headed Caracara

King Vulture-Achiote Road, Colon Panama

Now that we had good light, we headed into the jungle where we got great views of Chestnut Backed, Dull Mantled, and Immaculate Antbirds. Unfortunately, my photographs of those birds today don’t measure up so they’ll be resident of my computer drives and won’t otherwise see the light of day. I did get a presentable shot or two of Song Wrens–these guys have the craziest vocalization–it’s really fun to listen to them.

Song Wrens, Achiote Road, Colon Panama

Took the short trip down to the Panama Rainforest Discovery Center for a Hummingbird Fest this morning. They’re feeders are just  insane–dozens and dozens of hummingbirds of about a dozen species flitting about constantly. Don’t wear a red hat!!! (You’ll get mobbed!)

First Up: Rufous Tailed Hummingbird–these are quite common, and more subtly plumaged than many of the  hummingbirds, but handsome, doncha think…

Rufous Tailed Hummingbird

Next, a male and a female Crowned Woodnymph, Gorgeous birds.

Crowned Woodnymph-female

Crowned Woodnymph-male

Got up early and did a big walk through Gamboa Rainforest Resort this morning. It was pretty productive as I got some nice shots of a Red Throated Ant Tanager and had a lengthy session with a young Fasciated Tiger Heron.

Red Throated Ant Tanager

Went and had lunch at the resort, where met a nice fella who was going home tomorrow who hadn’t been to Plantation Road, so I invited him to ride-along for a jaunt up there this afternoon. I’m glad we did!! Ran into a decent Army Ant Swarm about a click up the road that had a nice variety of birds on it. Three woodcreeper species, a Rufous Motmot, Bi-Colored Antbird, and the treat of the day, a Bright Rumped Attila. I’ve included a couple of shots, as had to show you that bright rump that gives the bird his name.

Bright Rumped Attila

Bright Rumped Attila-the Rump

As we were getting ready to leave, we found the parking lot inundated with a mixed flock of feeding birds. Here I picked up a shot of a Dot Winged Antwren, a female Dusky Antbird, and an adult male Fasciated Antshrike.

Fasciated Antshrike

Dusky Antbird-Female

Dot Winged Antwren

Lastly, I present you with a Mystery bird. Found this one lurking in the underbrush on the antwarm, and for the life of me I can’t figure out the species. Immature Bi-Colored, perhaps?

The Mystery Bird

It’s back in Gamboa, and back to the Pipeline Road for me today.

Waaay down the road I found a Crimson Crested Woodpecker. His pecking was reverberating through the forest, and I finally located him through a hole in the foliage. Handsome birds, these guys are really shy and sensitive to the presence of people so getting images isn’t easy.

Crimson Crested Woodpecker-Pipeline Road

One the way back I ran into a couple of butterfly species–there’s an incredible variety of them down here, though I’m only really interested in the wild ones.

Pipeline Road Butterfly

I also stopped for a bit and studied some of the leafcutter ants that were hard at work disassembling a leaf. Am I the only one who cries for the leaves?

Leaf Cutters Cutting

Drove down from the highlands yesterday and decided to spend the night at El Valle. Got a room at the Anton Valley Inn (great hotel, reasonably priced with a good restaurant attached) and this morning I decided to just play the tourist. Grabbed a camera body with a couple of wide lenses and did some walking around after breakfast.

At the market, I noticed a vendor with a ‘sno-cone’ cart. Down here, they don’t have the brand name, of course, and the vendor carries a block of ice that he shaves on the spot for you to make your cone. (Block ice lasts a lot longer than shaved ice) I noticed a young gentleman approach the cart and started shooting as he made his selections and paid for his cone for a slice of Panamian life…..

Selecting the flavor-

The Decision-Flavor

Selecting the topping-

The Decision-Toppings Please

Sealing the deal

Panamas GNP just went up about 50 cents

They’ve got buses all over Panama that they call the Red Devils. These are retired US schoolbuses that get sold down here and converted into private transportation. Each buyer distinguishes his bus with a wild paintjob, stereos and other knickknackery to distinguish himself from the competition. This one is TAME compared to some I’ve seen.

Red Devil-El Valle

Red Devil-El Valle

Time to head back to the Gamboa area today. I’m looking forward to the drive south–the last part of the drive up here was in the dark so I’m interested to see more of the highlands in the daylight.

On the way down I stopped by the Volcan Lakes area as I’ve heard it can be quite good. As I neared the lakes, I noted a tour bus stopped with a load of binoculared gray-hairs out and about. I pulled over and asked what was up and heard ‘Leucistic Rufous Collared Sparrow’ (oh my!).  So of course I stopped and drug out the gear!

Leucistic birds and animals are often confused with Albinos. The distinction in the field is the eyes. A true albino has pink eyes, I’ve included a shot from a couple of days ago of a ‘normal’ Rufous Collared Sparrow for comparison. I must say that the coloration on the Leucistic bird makes him pretty special.

Leucistic Rufous Collared Sparrow-Volcan Lakes, Panama

Rufous Collared Sparrow-Volcan Panama

I also took a shot of the area from higher up the hill–gorgeous country, neh? If you head to Panama and get the chance, the Boquette/Volcan area is quite nice. I didn’t get an opportunity to photograph any Resplendant Quetzals on this trip–it was too early in the year for them to be engaging in courtship so they were not easy to find. (I saw one flying, but it was about a half a mile away)

Chiriqui Highlands

Ran up to the top of the mountain today. It was a gorgeous day and I took a terrific hike. Such beautiful country!

Right at the start of the Los Quetzales Trail I noted a tiny lil hummingbird gathering spiderwebs. I’m not positive, but it seems to be a female Scintilliant Hummingbird (correction or affirmation would be appreciated.) It was a flying jewel and a real treat.

Scintilliant Hummingbird (female)(possible) Los Quetzales Trail, Panama

Scintilliant Hummingbird (female)(possible)-Los Quetzales Trail, Panama

Further up in elevation, and much deeper in the forest, I found another species I’ve never seen before. I thought it was ‘just’ a plain xenops when I was taking these images (the white eybrow pointed me in that direction), but then I found by refering to the Guide that it’s a Ruddy Treerunner. What beautifully subtle plumage!! I’d never have believed that a bird named ‘ruddy treerunner’ would be so beautiful (this might be another candidate for a renaming…I’ll give that some thought)

Ruddy Treerunner-Los Quetzales Trail, Panama

Day Two in Chiriqui and the birdin is good!!

Up at the cabinas at the top of the mountain I found a couple of nice birds, a Yellow Thighed Finch, and a Large Footed Finch. (Unfortunately, I didn’t get a shot that shows his feet, which are, indeed, Large!)

Large Footed Finch-Chiriqui Highlands, Panama

Yellow Thighed Finch-Chiriqui Highlands, Panama

The next targets of opportunity turned out to be a couple of species of hummingbirds that aren’t found at lower elevations, the Magnificent, and the Magic Hummingbird (I’ve renamed it since I think it must be magic and I can’t figure out what species it is…..I reserve the right to name any species that is not reasonably easy to identify according to me, due to inadequate naming) (A kind commenter has subsequently identified this bird for me as a male Strip-Tailed Hummingbird)

Stripe Tailed Hummingbird-Chiriqui Highlands, Panama

Magnificent Hummingbird-Chiriqui Highlands, Panama

Took the six hour drive yesterday afternoon to Volcan in the Chiriqui province (right up next to Costa Rica). This area has a lot in common with the southern Costa Rica highlands since the mountains here are an extension of the same range.

Staying at the Los Quetzales Inn, which I’m liking quite a lot. Prices are quite reasonable, the restuarant is quite good, and so far the birding is terrific!!

Took the tractor ride up the valley to where the Inn maintains some cabinas high on the mountain. Next time I come here, I’m staying in one! Completely cool. (And after that tractor ride I’m completely disabused of any notions of taking my 4wd rental up here….don’t even think about it!)

Ran into one of the pretiest little denizens of the higher elevation rain forests, the Collared Redstart. Great bird, neh?

Collared Redstart-Los Quetzales Lodge, Panama

The Yellowish Flycatcher popped up on a stump and posed like a champ for me for a few shots–another great bird, neh?

Yellowish Flycatcher-Los Quetzales Lodge, Panama

And, finally, back down at the lodge, I took a couple of nice shots of the resident Violet Eared Hummingbirds.

Violet Eared Hummingbird-Los Quetzales Lodge, Panama

Violet Eared Hummingbird-Los Quetzales Lodge, Panama

All in all, I’m having a great time here. Ran into lots more species today that are unique to these altitudes. Tomorrow, I’m going to hike the Los Quetzales Trail which runs from Volcan to Boquette. Should be fun!!

Headed out this morning for some Birding by Boat with my friend Gonzalo Horna.  With the high water levels of December, the boom which blocked travel up the Chagres came down, so we headed up the Chagres to see what we could see.

I was delighted to get some new, and good, shots of one of my favorite lil birds, the Common Tody Flycatcher. These guys are such bold little devils!

Common Tody Flycatcher-Gamboa Rainforest Resort

And then the Kingfishers turned on. We found Amazon Kingfishers, American Pygmy Kingfishers, and Ringed Kingfishers. Whew!!

Ringed Kingfisher, while 'Birding By Boat' with Gonzalo Horna

Amazon Kingfisher-Chagres River 'Birding by Boat' with Gonzalo Horna

American Pygmy Kingfisher-Chagres River while 'Birding by Boat' with Gonzalo Horna

Finally, we ran by this immature Snail Kite perched in the floating vegetation.

Snail Kite while Birding by Boat with Gonzalo Horna

With that, it was time for me to go. I’m heading up to the Chiriqui area this afternoon to get a shot at some of the species unique to that area.

Hit the entrance to the Teleferico at Gamboa Rainforest Resort this morning at the crack of dawn for a crack at the Blue Cotingas.

These birds are frugivores and canopy dwellers, most often seen in a distant treetop about 4 miles away. Well, the early cotinga gets the fresh fruit, and the early photographer gets the continga!!

Blue Cotinga-Male, Gamboa Rainforest Resort

Blue Cotinga-Male, Gamboa Rainforest Resort

Gorgeous birds, neh?

After the sun came up (and the cotingas left) I headed down to the water to see if I could find some of the Southern Lapwings that frequent they area. Scored!!

Southern Lapwing in Flight-Gamboa Rainforest Resort

Southern Lapwing-Gamboa Rainforest Resort

What a nice day!! Also saw a wide variety of other birds, there are resident Yellow Tailed Orioles on the grounds, along with White Shouldered Tanager, Cinnamon Becard and Cinnamon Woodpecker, Rufescent Tiger Heron, and loads more. If you are in the area and you don’t bird/photograph the grounds of the GRR, you are missing out!!

Hit the Ammo Dump Ponds this morning. With the high water levels the White Throated Crakes have been unusually visible and they did not disappoint this morning.

White Throated Crake--Ammo Dump Ponds, Gamboa Panama

Oh, and the Yellow Tailed Oriole came out to play too!!

Yellow Tailed Oriole-Ammo Dump Pond, Gamboa Panama