It was Christmas eve, and it was just me, my little Toyota and open road. I was headed for legendary Pipeline Road, one of the world-famous birding sites. I was envisaging a merry old time with lots of birders to link up with and lots of great times.
But the only guest at the famous Casa del Senor Mateo was me, and Pipeline Road was deserted (I was the only actual birder there).
Nevertheless, I was determined to have a good time and find some lifers. I set out on foot, in the dark, hoping to spot an owl since I'd heard some during the night. No owls, but a Rufescent Tiger Heron was spotlighted in the marsh. I spotted a lot of songbirds in the dark with my headlamp, like a Red-throated Ant-Tanager and a Blue-crowned Motmot. I had no idea what these birds were because I had done no preparation for this last-minute trip - I was figuring it out along the way!
Over at the Rainforest Discovery Center; the plan was to get some intel about difficult species, like the Rufous-vented Ground Cuckoo. But the place was completely deserted on account of it being Christmas. At least I could skip the $30 entrance fee, so I enjoyed the hummingbird feeders and trails 'on the house.'
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| white-necked jacobins |
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| Plain-brown Woodcreeper |
I was exhausted, so I had a nap on a bench by the pond, and half-asleep, heard what I knew to be a Tinamou. Sneaking across the boardwalk, I was able to creep on a Little Tinamou in the bushes. While not the rarest of its family, it was my first Tinamou so I was pretty stoked.
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| View from the canopy tower - quite impressive |
For the next morning, I was indecisive and kept changing my plans. I asked myself whether I wanted to head to Achiote and get some different birds there or stay on pipeline, or try Old Gamboa Road for some slightly different species. I decided that a place as famous as Pipeline warrants at least 2 days. Plus, I wanted to see the Streak-chested Antpitta so I decided to return. When you're focused on listening for just one target, it makes things so much easier! This singular focus allowed me to find a Streak-chested Antpitta; I bushwhacked in its direction for crippling views.
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| White-whiskered Puffbird |
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| The food situation in Gamboa |
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| Black-and-white Owl |
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| Cayman |
While heading out of the bush, I reached for my phone but it wasn't there. Then my speaker's bluetooth started beeping (indicating I was getting out of range). Oh no...where was my phone? I kept the blue tooth on and tried re-tracing my steps, knowing that if the speaker started beeping I was about 10 meters from the phone. Luckily, some passing tourists helped me look for it and a lady found it in the ditch! Thank goodness.
Later that day I experienced some kind of crazy tropical fever, with splitting headache, crippling fatigue, diarrhea, an urge to vomit (which never came), violent shaking and alternating chills and hot sweating all through the night. I had barely enough energy to get up and bird. Anyway, after sleeping it off, I headed to the nearby resort to use their WiFi and google symptoms of malaria, since that is what I thought I had, although Mateo and Beatriz from the guest house argued fervently that it was impossible to get malaria in Panama. In fact, it is present in the Darien so I wanted to get tested. Still extremely weak, I drove myself to Panama City with a list of clinics written down on a piece of paper and my MapsMe app. Once at the edge of the city, I parked and used public transit because I was too weak to drive. I'm glad I did that because I witnessed an accident immediately after.
While in the mall, I got a sim card which was helpful since I then had data. I parked the car here because I didn't feel well enough to drive, so I took the public bus. Asking strangers for directions in Spanish was quite difficult as everything about me slowed down, it was difficult to think or walk. Eventually, the fourth clinic I tried told me I could get a malaria test. It was the Laboratorio de Medicina Tropical Gorgas. I was to call them the next day to find out my results. They charged me no money.
The next morning I made a half-hearted effort to bird Old Gamboa Road, but I was not in the right area apparently nor in the right mind, so I missed all the good species (like Jet Antbird or Boat-billed Heron). The morning was a complete flop. I decided to drive up to Achiote but by the time I got there (it took a long time), the morning was dead, so that whole day a flop - but I visited Fort San Lorenzo which I'd read about in John Steinbeck's Cup of Gold which was pretty cool to see in real life, and had a chance to jump in the Atlantic Ocean.
At least I found out I didn't have malaria (it was difficult to understand the guy on the phone as he didn't speak english, but he definitely said the word "NEGATIVO"). Maybe it was that chikungunya fever, dengue or something else. In any case, it went away after a couple of days but took its toll on my energy.
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| Black-throated Trogon |
Back at Mateos I shared the good news about not having malaria, and said my goodbyes, after seeing a beautiful Fasciated Antshrike in the garden. I wanted to feed the monkeys but didn't feel like waiting around and still felt like crap, so I headed on toward my next stop, Alfred Raab's house in Altos del Maria which was a way longer drive than I'd anticipated!
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| Fasciated Antshrike |
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| Rufous Motmot |
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| Blue-crowned Motmot |
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| Fort San Lorenzo |
Alfred Raab is a really nice dude from Ontario. He and his wife Brigitte decided to buy a retirement house in Panama, in Altos del Maria. It is a kind of strange gated community that encompasses an entire mountain. The birding is quite good but only if you have an expert guide. Luckily Alfred knew where all the good stuff was. First, we tried Rosy Thrush-tanager in his back garden. We heard it briefly, but gave up after about an hour, since he wanted to drive me to some other sites and wouldn't be around the next day to do so. "Try the Thrush-tanager when I'm gone" he said. Alfred is a very practical and efficient person.
The standout highlight of our morning was the Snowcap, probably the smallest bird I've ever seen in my life.
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| Spotted Barbtail |
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| Scale-crested Pygmy-Tyrant |
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| Snowcap male |
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| Snowcap female |
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| Buff-rumped Warbler |
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| An uninvited roommate |
On the second day, Alfred was away, leaving me to try for Rosy Thrush-tanager in his garden. After an extremely boring 4 hour stake-out (I was watching House on my phone) I finally heard one calling. They do NOT respond to playback, and the ones here were giving a pretty unique call that I had a recording of from Alfred. Also, they call at random times throughout the day with sometimes 1 or 2 hours of silence in between. I climbed up the hill through the bracken and bushes and sat motionless in the thick tangles for about half an hour. Then I heard one calling very near. I gave one quick call with my phone and for just 5 seconds, a beautiful male Rosy Thrush-Tanager popped up, had a look at me, then popped back down never to be seen again. I couldn't have gone for the camera because the slightest movement would have spooked it! The quick playback was just enough to elicit its curiosity but it failed to work a second time.
Satisfied, I headed onward to stay at a hostel in El Valle, which was a long and windy road with only a couple new birds.
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| Orange-bellied Trogon |
I was up bright and early to drive Juan Hombron Road for the endemic Veraguan Hummingbird, but their specific flower was not in bloom so they were absent and it was a pretty boring morning with not much to write about, except some Crested Bobwhites and a chance to jump in the Pacific ocean. That area would have been worth skipping.
On to the final stage of my quest - to Mt. Baru for main targets Resplendent Quetzal and Unspotted Saw-whet Owl.
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| Garden Emerald |
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| Crested Bobwhites |
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| Crested Caracara |
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