Mokka mit Schlag » 2011 » October

Details still to come, and a few birds I need to verify, but:

• 333 total species
• 242 life birds
• 9 mammal species including four primates (10 if you include Homo sapiens)
• 2 endemics
• 13 Herons and Ibises
• 28 raptor species
• 21 shorebird species
• 7 pigeons and doves
• 3 cuckoo species
• All 3 Ani species
• 3 Owl species
• Both Potoos
• 5 swift species
• 29 Hummingbird species including the endemic Veraguan Mango
• 5 Trogon species; essentially evry one in the area
• 5 Motmot species
• 4 Kingfisher species
• 5 Puffbird species
• 5 Toucan species
• 5 Woodpecker species
• 17 Antbirds (actually lower than expected; these birds hide)
• 38 Flycatcher species
• 13 Wren species
• 14 Warbler species
• 18 Tanager species
• 3 Cacique species
• 5 Euphonia species
• 2 Oropendola species
• 0 ABA area species :-)

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Wednesday I woke up with what I will politely call Torrijos’s Revenge. I should have either A) stayed at the Lodge or B) stuffed up with Imodium but I stupidly did neither. Today’s plan was to drive pretty much as far down the road as we could get in a four-wheel drive, stopping to bird along the way.

At the first stop we added #779, Buff-rumped Warbler, and I was feeling a little queasy.

At the second stop we added #780, Crested Oropendola, and I was looking for a tree.

At the third stop we added #781, Barred Puffbird, #782, Slate-colored Seedeater , and #783, Dusky-faced Tanager; and I was really starting to wish I hadn’t come.
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Tuesday it’s another early morning to drive about an hour and half away to the Pacific Coast for some lowland birds. First stop was a rice farm that attracted a lot of herons and shorebirds.

768. Crested Bobwhite
769. Lesser Yellow-headed Vulture
770. Scaly-breasted Hummingbird
771. Straight-billed Woodcreeper
772. Roadside Hawk
773. Pale-eyed Pygmy-Tyrant
774. Veraguan Mango (a Panamanian endemic)

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Monday we spent at Los Altos de Maria, another retirement community not yet completely built up relatively high in the mountains. But first we pulled over in the El Valle where some swallows were swooping including #752, Blue-and-white Swallow

I got three more lifers pulling out along the road to Los Altos de Maria including

753. Common Bush-Tanager
754. Black-and-yellow Tanager (spotted by me)
755. Ochraceous Wren
756. Gray-breasted Wood Wren

And then in Los Altos de Maria itself 11 more:
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The last couple of days had been slowing down a bit as we increasingly ticked off more and more of the species around the Canopy Tower. However today we hit new habitat and elevations and things picked up again. Even before we left the lodge we added #734 Rufous Motmot at the feeders, and then #735 Lineated Woodpecker, atop a nearby tree. I missed the Grey-necked Wood Rail though; and indeed I missed it repeatedly throughout my stay, even though it was haunting the grounds.

We then drove further inland to near the top of the mountains (i.e. near the edge of the extinct volcano we’re in the middle of) to Los Minas Road, and in a few hours of casual strolling we added nine new species:

736. Silver-throated Tanager
737. Tawny-capped Euphonia
738. Scarlet-thighed Dacnis
739. Ornate Hawk-Eagle (perched in the distance through a scope)
740. Tufted Flycatcher
741. Orange-bellied Trogon
742. Sulphur-rumped Flycatcher
743. Olive-striped Flycatcher
744. Plain Antvireo

But we weren’t done yet.
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On Satrurday, after a couple of hours of driving (half of which I slept through), we arrived at the Canopy Lodge in time for lunch. And I got upgraded to a large room. Yay! My room at the Tower was the size of a large closet. And I have a balcony that has a good view of a tree popular with birds waiting for the feeder. Good for photography. On the downside the Wifi is much less reliable at the Lodge than the Tower. I don’t know why.

The lodge has feeding platforms that attract a different group of birds since we’re further west and higher up. However there were, a bit surprisingly, no lifers at lunch. After lunch though, we walked up the road and explored a bit in the Canopy Adventure, and this added four new species:

1. Rufous-capped Warbler (one of my target birds)
2. Common Tody-Flycatcher
3. Streaked Saltator
4. Orange-billed Nightingale-Thrush (good find; these are secretive and usually hard to see