Summer at El Valle's Canopy Lodge Aug 09—14, 2008
Posted by Michael O'Brien
Michael O'Brien
Michael O'Brien is a freelance artist, author, and environmental consultant living in Cape May, New Jersey. He has traveled extensively throughout North and Central Ame...Related Trips
Nestled in the crater of an extinct volcano and at an elevation of nearly 2,000 feet, El Valle is both picturesque and refreshingly cooler than the lowlands of Panama. It also has a great diversity of birds, including many species not found around the Canopy Tower. Run by the same owner as Canopy Tower, the food here is just as exquisite and the accommodations are very comfortable.
At the conclusion of our Canopy Tower tour, those of us continuing on to El Valle enjoyed a final delightful morning atop the Canopy Tower. A late morning departure brought us to El Valle's Canopy Lodge around lunchtime. Right away we were greeted by a flurry of birds around the garden and feeders. Violet-headed, Snowy-bellied, and Rufous-tailed hummingbirds, Garden Emerald, and White-vented Plumeleteer were all buzzing around the garden. Bananaquit; White-lined, Crimson-backed, Lemon-rumped, Blue-gray, and Palm tanagers; Green and Red-legged honeycreepers; Streaked Saltator; and dozens of Thick-billed Euphonias were crowding the feeders. Bay Wren, Rufous-capped Warbler, and Black-striped Sparrow were lurking in the surrounding vegetation. All this as we were settling into our rooms and waiting for lunch to be served! Each day the grounds would be similarly active with many of the same species becoming familiar friends, and occasionally a new one thrown into the mix.
After lunch, we headed for the nearby Canopy Adventure Trail. Though afternoon walks can often be a little slower than birding first thing in the morning, we found a marvelous mix of birds including Gray-headed Chachalaca, Tody and Rufous motmots, Fasciated Antshrike, Black-chested Jay, Long-billed Starthroat, Rufous-breasted Wren, Buff-rumped Warbler, Tawny-crested and Bay-headed tanagers, Red-crowned Ant-Tanager, Orange-billed Sparrow, Buff-throated Saltator, and Blue-black Grosbeak. Everyone's favorite, however, was the pair of Mottled Owls that sat motionless in their daytime roost, watching us as we watched them.
Day two began with a few exciting sightings right on the grounds including a Green Thorntail and a pair of Great Antshrikes. We also enjoyed watching (from a safe distance!) a fer-de-lance as it slithered along the stone wall by the footbridge. Our main destination this morning was Las Minas Trail, a mix of forest and grassland a short distance uphill from El Valle. As it turned out, this outing would be abandoned due to heavy rain, but not before we found a few nice birds including Blue-throated Toucanet, Yellow-bellied Elaenia, Spotted Woodcreeper, Silver-throated Tanager, and Black-headed Saltator. Back at the lodge, we watched the feeders as the rain intensified. Birds were surprisingly active there except during the heaviest downpours. Despite less than optimal conditions, we were thrilled to find the very scarce Spot-crowned Barbet seeking shelter under a cecropia leaf!
After a quick shopping spree at the El Valle market, our afternoon destination was Cara Iguana Trail at the south rim of the El Valle crater. The rain held off for much of this walk, allowing us to find several nice birds including Violet-crowned Woodnymph, Yellow-green Vireo, Rufous-and-white Wren, and Yellow-crowned Euphonia. The real prize though was the Rosy Thrush-Tanager, a simply spectacular bird that gave us a prolonged scope view.
Due to a bleak weather forecast for the highlands, on day three we headed south to the Pacific Coast around El Chiru. Visiting a variety of sites from open grassland to agricultural fields to orchards and second-growth forest edge, we found an amazing diversity of birds, and most we saw very well. Among the many highlights were Lesser Yellow-headed Vulture, Pearl and White-tailed kites, Crested and Yellow-headed caracaras, Aplomado Falcon, Plain-breasted and Blue ground-doves, Brown-throated Parakeet, Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl, roosting Common Pauraque and Common Potoo, Barred Antshrike, Panama and Fork-tailed flycatchers, Lance-tailed Manakin, Scrub and Golden-fronted greenlets, Rufous-browed Peppershrike, and Red-breasted Blackbird. We had lunch at a private residence along the Pacific shoreline where, under the palm trees, we enjoyed watching Brown Booby, Magnificent Frigatebird, and mixed flocks of Black and Sandwich terns offshore, and a beautiful Sapphire-throated Hummingbird in the garden. On the drive home, we stopped for up-close views of a Crested Bobwhite that had paused along the roadside!
On day four, with more promising weather, we headed back to Las Minas Trail to see what we had missed in the rain two days earlier. It turns out we had missed plenty! A long walk through mixed forest and pasture produced many nice birds including White Hawk, Orange-bellied Trogon, Spotted Woodcreeper, Lesser Elaenia, Paltry Tyrannulet, Scale-crested Pygmy-Tyrant, Tufted Flycatcher, Tropical Pewee, White-ruffed Manakin, Gray-breasted Wood-Wren, Pale-vented Thrush, Common Bush-Tanager, Hepatic and Golden-hooded tanagers, Yellow-bellied Seedeater, Thick-billed Seedfinch, Tawny-capped Euphonia, and (though not a bird at all!) fine views of a brown-throated three-toed sloth. In the afternoon we visited La Mesa, just uphill from Las Minas Road. Though we had spells of heavy rain to deal with again, we did manage to see a number of nice birds including Wedge-billed Woodcreeper, Spot-crowned Antvireo, Bran-colored Flycatcher, and White-breasted Wood-Wren. Best of all, we enjoyed a prolonged study of a perched subadult Barred Forest-Falcon.
On our final morning, we loaded up in 4-wheel-drive vehicles and followed a rough dirt trail all the way to Altos del Maria. Here, in the cloud forest, we found White Hawk, Orange-bellied Trogon, Blue-throated Toucanet, Black-cheeked and Stripe-cheeked woodpeckers, Plain Antvireo, Rufous Mourner, Thrush-like Schiffornis, Black-and-yellow Tanager, and one of the cutest mammals you'll ever see, the Alfaro's pygmy squirrel. We also heard Black-crowned Antpitta and saw a nice kettle of soaring Swallow-tailed and Plumbeous kites. After a final fabulous lunch and some more garden-watching, we transferred back to Panama City in the afternoon.