Panama: Chiriqui Highlands Jan 28—Feb 03, 2008
Posted by Kevin Zimmer
Kevin Zimmer
Kevin Zimmer has authored three books and numerous papers dealing with field identification and bird-finding in North America. His book, Birding in the American West: A Han...Related Trips
Once again, the highlands of Chiriquí, Panama dished up a wonderful mix of great birds, pleasant weather, lovely accommodations, and good food, made all the better by the superb hospitality of Carlos and his staff at Los Quetzales. We ended up with 238 species in just five days of birding, a higher species total than the past few tours with the same itinerary. More important, we encountered nearly 40 species of regional endemics, the vast majority of which are found only in the highlands of Costa Rica and western Panama.
After a one-hour flight from Panama City to David, we hit the ground running. Open country near David yielded dueling male Garden Emeralds, scope views of a perched Sapphire-throated Hummingbird, Brown-throated Parakeets, Red-breasted Blackbirds, and other lowland species. Subsequent stops in the foothills produced a male Charming Hummingbird on a song-perch, and a sprinkling of wintering warblers and resident tanagers.
The next morning saw us greeting the dawn at the upper cabins above Los Quetzales. Birding from the cabin decks was most enjoyable, and the opportunity to duck inside for some coffee and hot chocolate or to warm our hands at the fire was also welcome—it may be Panama, but the mornings are chilly in those mountains! Yellow-thighed Finches, with their comical pantaloons, and animated Collared Redstarts entertained us on the deck, as did the constant parade of flashy hummingbirds at the feeders. The feeders were dominated by hordes of Magnificent Hummingbirds, while even flashier Violet Sabrewings, White-throated Mountain-gems, and Fiery-throated Hummingbirds were regular infiltrators. Our studies of a perched Fiery-throated were particularly noteworthy—that bird is sensational when viewed in the proper light! The forest above the cabins produced multiple mixed-species flocks, with such treats as Buffy Tuftedcheek, Ruddy Treerunner, Black-cheeked Warbler, and Flame-throated Warbler, and it was here that we encountered our first Resplendent Quetzal, albeit a female. An afternoon vigil at a fruiting tree on the Respingo road produced dazzling male quetzals, one of the true glamour birds of the New World tropics.
Finca Hartmann provided us with a somewhat different assemblage of foothill birds, along with a fascinating glimpse into the behind-the-scenes operation of a shade-coffee plantation. The hospitality of Aliss and the rest of the Hartmann family, and their efforts to produce environmentally friendly coffee while retaining as much remnant foothill forest as possible were especially heartwarming. The birding around the clearing was so good that we found it difficult to pull ourselves away to bird the forest trail. Highlights here included fabulous views of the range-restricted Fiery-billed Aracari and Turquoise Cotinga, along with scope views of perched Sulphur-winged Parakeets, a family group of Olivaceous Piculets, a lovely pair of White-winged Tanagers, great views of Emerald (= Blue-throated) Toucanets, and an interesting assortment of birds at a small army ant swarm.
Bajo Frio treated us to Crested Guans, Scarlet-thighed Dacnis, dazzling Bay-headed Tanagers, scope-filling Scaled Pigeons, and a variety of edge-species. A stop at Cielito Sur provided another spectacular hummingbird show, this one dominated by Violet Sabrewings, surely one of the flashiest of all hummers. Lagunas de Volcan yielded a number of goodies, including Red-headed Barbet, Red-faced Spinetail, Collared Trogon, Slaty Antwren, and White-throated Spadebill. That evening we made a short excursion to look for Dusky Nightjar, an endemic nightjar of the highlands. We ended up with nice, spotlighted scope views of a singing male.
We finished with a flourish, by returning to Respingo on our last morning. A particularly chilling dawn vigil netted us Black Guan and at least three male Resplendent Quetzals that alternately gorged on fruits and chased one another through the trees, long trains wafting behind as they went. Working our way up the road, we had a nice encounter with a Zeledon's Tyrannulet, a rarely seen little flycatcher of the cloud forest canopy of the Costa Rica/Panama highlands. Up at the top, we basked in the welcome sunlight before heading down the trail. Previous attempts at the much-wanted Wrenthrush had resulted in multiple heard, but unseen, birds. This time we hit on a responsive individual, and soon had marvelous point-blank views.
We had reached our turn-around point, and were started back, when Ito spotted an interesting flycatcher in the midstory. Closer inspection showed it to be a rare Ochraceous Pewee, a regional endemic that Ito and I had seen on only a handful of previous occasions. The bird flew before most people had a good view, but my tape brought it back, and the bird soon settled in to foraging right above the trail, providing us with wonderful scope studies.
A short time later, a soft, froggy-sounding call from above the trail brought us to an abrupt halt. Golden-browed Chlorophonia! This was a real target bird that had been uncharacteristically inconspicuous to this point (a single female having been seen by just a few of us on the first afternoon). Now, we were staring point-blank at a dazzling male that was intent on feeding, allowing all in the group superb, prolonged views as it dropped to a few meters above the ground. This was a dramatic finish to a great few days of highland birding, and one that leaves me looking forward to my return to the land of Resplendent Quetzals, great coffee, and loads of highland endemics.