Panama: The Darien Wilderness Feb 14—23, 2006
Posted by David Wolf
David Wolf
David Wolf is a senior member of the VENT staff and one of our most experienced tour leaders. After birding the U.S. and Mexico for over a decade, an interest in the wildli...Related Trips
As the charter plane began its descent from high over the Bay of Panama, and turned inland over the remote Darien jungles, I gazed, awestruck, at the terrain below. We passed vast marshes ringed by mangrove swamps, unbroken forest dominated by bare cuipo trees, and dark hill forest blanketing the ridges?all of it largely unexplored ornithologically. We were headed right into the heart of this region, to the old gold-mining community of Cana, nestled at the head of a narrow valley at the base of remote Cerro Pirre.
This was my first trip here in 20 years and, as we got off the plane, the memories came flooding back. I was pleased to see that things remained much as I remembered them, with one major exception: the run-down old houses with vegetation choking them were gone, and in their place sat a beautiful new lodge and dining hall on a neatly-manicured knoll with a commanding view. As we adjusted our senses and walked the short distance to the lodge, we couldn't help but begin birding right away. To one side was a large tree with a huge nesting colony of Chestnut-headed Oropendolas in full swing, with dozens of birds coming and going. To the other side were several brilliant Erythrina trees in full bloom; before we had even settled into our rooms we realized that they were attracting a constant parade of birds, from tiny hummingbirds to parakeets, tanagers, and flycatchers. This was to be a constant theme throughout our stay, and each time that we found a flowering Erythrina within viewing range it produced sightings of note, from feeding macaws to Spot-crowned Barbets, Emerald and Scarlet-browed tanagers, and even magnificent brown-headed spider monkeys.
Each day we ranged a bit further afield and explored more habitats. At the more open forest edge we laughed at a comical Barred Puffbird peering down at us, carefully studied a perched Bicolored Hawk, watched a zippy Dusky-backed Jacamar capture a fast-flying butterfly, and thrilled to near-daily sightings of a male Black-tipped Cotinga sitting prominently atop the canopy for all the world to see. The famous Boca del Cupe Trail served up a bit of everything for us, including mixed-flocks from the understory to the high canopy, glittering Great Jacamars and unobtrusive Gray-cheeked Nunlets perched right over the trail, noisy Red-throated Caracaras that flew in to check us out, and scope views of a fierce Great Antshrike and a Slaty-winged Foliage-gleaner at eye level ("I never knew a brown bird could be so pretty.").
Army ant swarms are a special feature of this region, and we were lucky to find three different swarms with birds actively feeding at them. Each was dominated by the Bicolored Antbird, the classic "obligate" ant-follower, but also seen were the shy and beautiful Ocellated Antbirds; Spotted, Bare-crowned, and Immaculate antbirds; and several woodcreepers. The ultimate ant-follower, though, was the incredible Black-crowned Antpitta at the large swarm as we descended Cerro Pirre. It was enough to make us forget our sore knees.
In many ways the most special part of our week was the camping trip up Cerro Pirre. This ridge, barely reaching 5,500 feet at its high point, is so isolated that a surprising number of endemic species are found only here. To reach them we ascended from dry tropical forest on the lower slopes to the lush cloud forests of the subtropical zone, encountering the enigmatic Sharpbill along the way, and then finding a stunning pair of rare Yellow-collared Chlorophonias in the trees right above camp, interrupting the tranquil view from the camp lookout.
Noisy Crested Guans awoke us at dawn the next morning, and soon we were working our way to the top of the ridge. Here the forest was noticeably wetter, shorter in stature, and covered in epiphytes. Birds were scarce in this zone, but everything seen was special, from the Tooth-billed Hummingbird feeding at the pink flowers to that incredible mixed-flock as the light fog rolled in. It was dominated by the chunky Pirre Bush-Tanagers, but also tagging along were all three of the upper-elevation endemics: the aptly-named Beautiful Treerunner, rather drab Pirre Warbler, and subtly beautiful Green-naped Tanager. Patience and persistence had paid off again!
A final day and morning back down below continued to produce great surprises including Marbled Wood-Quail, Stripe-cheeked Woodpecker, Lemon-spectacled Tanager, and a mantled howler monkey tenderly nursing her baby as she kept her eye on us. All too soon the plane came to whisk us away from this peaceful wilderness and back to "civilization."