S2603 - OWE Off-piste Panama 26 March
- ph87gb
- Apr 10
- 4 min read
Updated: 7 days ago
Having spent a productive day in Costa Rica following our transit of the Panama Canal we returned to Colón, where we once again met up with Rafa outside the port gates and were quickly on our way to Castillo de San Lorenzo. We tried a few forest stops with limited success, although we did get some cracking views of a Cocoa Woodcreeper, but in contrast the area around the ruins of the fortification was buzzing with birds.
Crested Oropendolas were immediately obvious, and their pendulous nests clustered below the boughs of the largest tree in the grounds. This gigantic tree, littered with bromeliads, seemed to be acting like a hub, with a succession of species appearing on or adjacent to it.
A small flowering tree immediately next to it was hosting a pair of Violet-bellied Hummingbirds, they were very entertaining and we even got to see the pair mating on the wing, a frenzied buzz sound alerting you to their cavorting.
In the next tree along we found a pair of nesting Red-crowned Woodpeckers, it was difficult to keep track of their comings and goings and it’s possible this pair had a ‘helper’, a none breeding bird assisting the resident pair to raise their young.
There were three tanagers close at hand, Blue-grey, Palm and Plain-coloured, the latter coming closest for photography purposes.
There were also a few members of the flycatcher tribe, these were rather more difficult to sort out as they all looked rather similar and were somewhat restless. Nevertheless, we confirmed that Southern Beardless Tyrannulet was definitely there and latterly Mistletoe Tyrannulet, which we determined after studying our photographs.
Thankfully tityras are little easier to resolve in the moment and a very obliging bird perched atop a long-dead palm stump, situated in the castle’s former parade ground. The brightly backlit conditions and the height of the stump made for sub-optimal images, but by taking advantage of the castle ramparts we were able to get eye level with the bird and spend plenty of time photographing it as it preened. A much more pleasing aspect. It was an adult male Masked Tityra.
Shortly afterwards we chanced upon a nesting pair of Thick-billed Euphonia. Apart from a name that seems more akin to a musical instrument in a brass band, the male of this species has underparts so yellow they reach 11 on the dial. It was at this point that our natural guiding instincts kicked in; a young female tourist would play a memorable cameo role in our day, as she approached us to ask about the site, we took the opportunity to let her look at the euphonia through our binoculars. She was genuinely enthralled. A sweet moment, but it was the euphonia that stole the show.
It was time to move venue to another famous Panamanian birding site ‘Achiote Road’. The road itself has been recently upgraded, traffic that formerly trundled by now zipped past on the slick tarmac surface. There were enough corpses on the road to suggest that the local wildlife was paying a considerable price. As we birded the road we needed to keep our wits about us, to ensure we didn’t join them.
As we stepped from our vehicle, we were immediately aware of a Keel-billed Toucan. It didn’t linger long but we managed a few photos.
We headed along the road to a small walking trail that looped into the forest. Along the way we picked up the likes of Swallow-tailed Kite and Purple-throated Fruitcrow. We also stopped to try to spot a lek of Golden-collared Manakin, we glimpsed a few males, but photography was impossible. As we finally hit the trail we could hear a trogon in the distance. We tracked it down and there, sitting in characteristic motionless pose, was a male Slaty-tailed Trogon.
Tropical rainforests in the midday heat are inevitably a struggle and after about an hour for minimal reward, we headed toward the exit. Less than a 100m from the road we picked up some distinctive calls. They belonged to Chestnut-backed Antbirds, they were busy tossing leaves in the undergrowth. Seeing the movement and getting momentary views was one thing, getting a useable image was quite another. Thankfully, a White-whiskered Puffbird was the polar opposite. Sitting beautifully on a low branch, in the open, it literally begged to be photographed, so we obliged.
As we left the gloom of the forest, we crossed the road and decided on a final effort to photograph the lekking manakins. We were about to have the big highlight of our day, but it wasn’t the one we anticipated. We once again peered into the tangled mass, when a movement on our right caught our peripheral vision. A single incredulous word broke from Pete’s mouth “Tamandua”! Like a vision from another world a slow-motion ninja climbed into a small tree just a few metres from where we stood.
When you see it up-close its alternative name of Tree Anteater makes complete sense, an incredible long-nosed face, a sinuous sticky tongue and termite nest-shredding claws on its forefeet. The way it moves puts you in mind of an anteater mimicking a sloth. It is other-worldly. We were with it for twenty magical minutes; memories to last a lifetime.
We headed back to the ship. It had been another superb day of wildlife watching in Panama and as we passed Gatun Locks Rafa stopped the car one last time and we stepped out into fierce heat to photograph a family party of Capybara. A fitting finale to our Central American adventures.
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