Alfred me asked why it was necessary for me to climb Mt. Baru just for one lifer (Unspotted Saw Whet Owl), a highly elusive species on a remote mountaintop accessible only by overnight hike, when I could easily go elsewhere and get a whole bunch of lifers relatively easily. "Because it will be epic" I replied.
I started on the far western slope of the mountain, at the picturesque Los Quetzales ecolodge, a place I'd highly recommend although there were zero birders there during my stay. Their new years feast was epic - the rest of the food in Panama had been the most plain of any country I've visited. The garden was chalked full of hummingbirds and other nice birds.
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| Scintillant Hummingbird |
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| White-throated Mountain Gem |
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| Slate-coloured Flower-piercer |
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| Los Quetzales lodge |
My early morning mission was to try for Resplendent Quetzal on the Los Quetzales trail, a famous spot for them. But despite listening for the call along many km of trail, I did not locate any. It seems outside the breeding season they're super quiet and sedentary. I did however witness magnificent highland forest and a few of the special species. I especially enjoyed the Long-tailed Silky-flycatcher, Silvery-fronted Tapaculo and the Golden-browed Chlorophonia. By the ranger station a Fiery-throated Hummingbird stunned my senses with its ridiculous throat accoutrements, looking drab and black when perched in the shade but exploding into a ball of fire when foraging in the morning sun. Definitely the snazziest hummer I've ever seen!
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| Silvery-fronted Tapaculo |
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| Golden-browed Chlorophonia |
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| Volcano Hummingbird |
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| Fiery-throated Hummingbird |
After a couple of mornings there, I gave up on the Quetzal and drove to Boquette, where I needed to park the car somewhere safe while doing my Baru overnight hike. I asked around and it was difficult to find parking, before a helpful person suggested parking in front of the police station for the 3 days I'd be in the bush. That was a genius idea. The officer on duty assured me my car would be safe there!
So I got a taxi to drop me off at the eastern trailhead for my big hike. It was late in the day by the time I'd found parking, bought supplies, etc. so I didn't make it up the habitat on the first day, but it was super windy anyway. I camped in an abandoned rest area near the start of the forest which was infested with Dusky Nightjars which were hunting in the windstorm, about 4 of them.
I was up mid-morning to finish off my hike, which was quite grueling to be honest! Lots of switchbacks and a steep grade meant me resting frequently like an old man. Plus my pack was heavy with camera, water, wine, etc.
I made camp and took a trip to the summit, without the burden of my gear, and shared the wine with a stranger. The settled in for the long night, my only chance for the Saw-whet. I slept the rest of the afternoon, it was the most tired I've ever been in my life. I think it was the long flights, the solo driving, the recent tropical fever I'd had, and the 4 months of highly intense work I'd survived during the fall term.
I awoke at 10pm to the unmistakable sound of the still unspotted Saw-whet tooting away in the cold night. I was a little cold myself - I had lent my long johns and my down jacket to a foolish Canadian girl who had come up the mountain without a sleeping bag - only a sad little blanket for the night. I didn't want her to get hypothermia or have to spoon with her weird friend. I waited and tried gingerly coaxing it in with my phone (no speaker) but 1 hour of this had failed to produce the owl, despite it seeming to be extremely close a couple of times. Maybe my light scared it, and my bushwacking. It was impossible to get close without making a lot of noise while penetrating the thick bushes. Even the tree canopy was thick with foliage and drooping lichens, trying to spot an owl the size of a child's fist would not be easy. But I was super cold and creeped out that a mountain lion or jaguar was gonna jump me or something. I went back to my tent and decided to try again later. Two more times during the night I tried for about 30 or 40 minutes, but the quest ended in failure and me even more exhausted. Finally I heard bird song and the sunlight put an end to my failed quest. I hope some day I can return to the mountains of central America and get revenge on this evil little owl.
Since the hike up the eastern side had been rather boring, I decided to hike back down the western side until I hit a town, then catch a bus back to Boquette where my car was. It was a much more beautiful hike although equally grueling with lots of switchbacks again but with roots, rocks, fallen trees, etc. But I got a pretty sweet consolation prize: I lured in a spritely little Costa Rican Pygmy Owl with my phone, perched about 2 or 3 meters in front of my face and being attacked by a Volcano Hummingbird!
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| Costa Rican Pygmy Owl |
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| Black faced solitaire: easy to hear, much harder to see! |
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| The epic'new year's buffet' at Los Quetzales lodge |
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| Finally some great food! |
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| Unspotted Saw-whet Owl habitat |
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| Baru summit |
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| I found, and slayed, the perfect papaya |
I had only one more morning left in my trip before I had to drive back to Panama City, so I chose the Pipeline Trail north of Boquette. It turned out to be a good choice because I linked up with some Danish birders and together we added many lifers to my list: Red-headed Barbet, Mistletoe Tyranulet, Talamanca Hummingbird, Smoky Brown Woodpecker, Dark Pewee to name but a few. After painstaking searching we finally spotted a drab female Quetzal by its dainty call. A local guide called John told us he'd heard the male but by the time we got there it had quieted down, possibly due to a soaring Ornate Hawk Eagle above. During the hike I had one of the most epic waterfall showers I've ever experienced with a rainbow of morning mist embraced my sweaty body.
The hike almost climaxed with a group of spotted wood quail, which sounded like they were 2 meters from our feet but we could not see them - they must have been buried under the dirt! I couldn't believe it. At last it was time to drive back to Panama City, one of the longest drives in my life because the speed limit on the national highway is 80km/h! I am not used to driving that slow on a highway and somehow got sniped by a speed trap from like 1km away going 108km/h, allegedly. Using google translate, I asked him if he could reduce the $100 ticket if I paid him on the spot in cash. He said $50 would do the trick and eliminate the need for paperwork, which could make my last day uncomplicated, without administration fee from the rental people, etc. Luckily I had a $50 bill left from my shopping outing in Boquette.
I didn't get to my hotel until 10pm and fell straight asleep. I had planned on visiting the metropark wich is THE place to get Rosy Thrush-Tanager and that endemic something something Tyrannulet, but I was so tired and lazy plus I'd already seen the RTT at Alfred's place so instead I just finished marking my grade 12 mocks and enter the grades while eating banana pancakes. It was actually a good thing I did that because one of my bags which contained the mocks (and a sculpture I had bought) disappeared during one of my layovers on the way home. I have no idea what happened to it other than when I got home, I didn't have it. Good thing I'd entered the grades! I had one day to rest before heading back to work, and I felt hardly rested from this 'holiday' if you can call it that! Getting diagnosed with Leishmaniasis a month later was a huge pain in the ass with the treatments and recovery, it left me reflecting on whether the whole trip was worth it, especially since I had spend way more money than I should have spent on a trip of that duration. I will almost certainly stay home next Christmas as it is just too expensive to travel! Anyway, focusing on the positives, I did have some pretty sick moments so here they are:
1. Hiking into the Darien with Isaac, one of the most untouched and wild tropical rainforests in latin America; seeing the majestic Harpy Eagle and the legendary Bushmaster. Too many bird highlights to list!
2. Slaying the ultra-shy Rosy-thrush Tanager in Alfred's yard after 4 hours of sitting motionless in the forest - while watching movies on my phone!
3. Hiking to the summit of Baru, even though I missed most of the alpine species like Unspotted Saw-whet and Volcano Junco, it was till worth it for the spectacular scenery.
4. Experiencing the world famous pipeline road for myself
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