Panama: Chiriqui Highlands Jan 23—31, 2010
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. We ended up with nearly 270 species in just one week of birding, and, more importantly, we encountered more than 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, with a stop in the lower foothills near San Vicente. Although it was late morning on a sunny day, we still managed to dig out such prizes as Riverside Wren, Orange-collared Manakin, and Spot-crowned Euphonia, all of which were regional endemics. We arrived at the charming Los Quetzales Lodge (LQL), our base in the Cerro Punta region, in time for a late lunch. Once we were settled into our rooms, we headed out to Bajo Grande for our introduction to the highland avifauna. My secret hope was that we could score a Resplendent Quetzal, the iconic bird of these highlands, on the first afternoon, which would make life over the next several days much easier. Bajo Grande had been good to us the past few years as regards quetzals, and one particular aguacatillo tree had produced as many as 8–9 feeding quetzals at one time. Such was not the case this year, because, as Ito had told me upon our arrival in David, the aguacatillos were not yet fruiting this year. Sure enough, we arrived to find the big tree barren of both fruit and birds. Nonetheless, we did find a very responsive female quetzal, but she was sadly lacking in male company. No one was going to be really happy until we could find a male, a bird that many consider to be the most spectacularly plumaged bird in the New World.
The next morning saw us out at dawn, ready to begin our highland birding in earnest. We spent much of the morning at the upper LQL cabins above Los Quetzales, birding off the deck. Unlike the previous year, the weather was good, but the forest was oddly quiet, with little vocalization. In spite of this, birding from the cabin decks was most enjoyable, and the opportunity to duck inside for some coffee/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, were frequent visitors to the deck, as were a pair of smart-looking Chestnut-capped Brush-Finches. Animated Collared Redstarts, restless bands of Black-cheeked Warblers, and noisy Sooty-capped Bush-Tanagers also made several passes, and a responsive Zeledon's (White-fronted) Tyrannulet was particularly noteworthy. Most of our attention was aimed at the constant parade of flashy hummingbirds at the feeders, which were dominated by hordes of Magnificent Hummingbirds, while even flashier Violet Sabrewings, White-throated Mountain-gems, Green-crowned Brilliants, Green Violetears, and Stripe-tailed Hummingbirds were regular infiltrators. Best of all was a spectacular Fiery-throated Hummingbird, which came in multiple times, perching for extended periods within 10 feet of the deck. As good as that was, the show was stolen by the pair of elegant Long-tailed Silky-flycatchers that dropped down to near eye level in response to my playback, and then sat staring at us. Once activity off the deck slowed to a crawl, we walked farther up the road through the beautiful oak forest. Bird activity was much slower than usual, although we did hit on a responsive Wrenthrush (Zeledonia) that showed nicely. An afternoon excursion to Lagunas de Volcan netted fabulous studies of a perched Pearl Kite, along with such goodies as Buff-throated Foliage-gleaner, Slaty Antwren, Black-chested Jay and others.
The next day we ranged farther afield, to near the Costa Rican border, where 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. As always, the main clearing treated us to a continuous procession of new birds, from a tree full of Fiery-billed Aracaris to mixed-species flocks with colorful Bay-headed and Speckled tanagers, to familiar Neotropical migrants from home (although there were disturbingly fewer of these than on any of my previous visits), to flashy Blue-crowned Motmots and Cherrie's Tanagers snatching bananas from the feeder. A hike through the forest and into the coffee plantation beyond yielded White-ruffed Manakins, Olivaceous Piculet, a whacking big Pale-billed Woodpecker, and a perched Laughing Falcon. After lunch and our tour of the coffee operation, we moved up to the higher parts of the finca where we were treated to exceptional studies of perched Sulphur-winged Parakeets and an Emerald (=Blue-throated) Toucanet. But time was slipping away, and a persistent, droning chant of "CO-TINGA, CO-TINGA, CO-TINGA" from the back of the truck served as an unnecessary but dramatic reminder that we still had not seen our biggest target bird for the day, the Turquoise Cotinga. This rare and localized regional endemic, like others of its genus, is best found either early in the morning or late in the afternoon, when the electric-blue males tend to perch for brief periods on prominent branches in the tops of trees. Our morning cotinga vigil had netted nothing, and our hopes of seeing it for the trip rested on getting back to the main clearing before it was too late. Upon arriving at the clearing, we were met by Doña Hartmann, who informed us that the male cotinga had been perched in plain view for much of the last half-hour, and had just flown minutes before. The full horror of this was just starting to sink in when a male cotinga suddenly materialized back in the bare upper branches of the same tree. Over the next 30 minutes we all took turns drooling over the stunningly beautiful bird in the scope, until, as is human (and particularly birder) nature, our attention was co-opted by the next flashy bird to pop up, in this case, a Chestnut-mandibled Toucan. It was a tired, but happy busload on the drive back to Los Quetzales, and for those that could muster the energy after dinner, the long day ended with nice scope studies of a male Dusky Nightjar less than 300 m from our hotel.
The next morning, our last in the Cerro Punta region, saw us back in the highland cloud forest, searching desperately for a male quetzal. This time we tried Finca Pancho Rios, hoping that the aguacatillo trees, whose fruits the quetzal favors, might be fruiting there. But, once again, the trees were not in fruit. However, we did not leave the Finca empty-handed. I managed to tape in a Costa Rican Pygmy-Owl, which, in turn, attracted the attention of a huge group of angry passerines, among them, more than 30 Long-tailed Silky-flycatchers, numerous Mountain Elaenias, and a pair of Black-capped Flycatchers. A return to Bajo Grande also failed to yield any quetzals, although it did provide us with nice studies of a lovely male Volcano Hummingbird. Our last stop of the morning, at Finca Dracula, produced a Yellowish Flycatcher that was close enough to touch, as well as stellar views of Dark Pewee and Black-capped Flycatcher, and a tree full of Rose-breasted Grosbeaks. After lunch, and a final check of the Los Quetzales feeders (replete with a male Scintillant Hummingbird), we bid a fond farewell to Carlos, Ana Maria, and the Los Quetzales staff, and headed for Boquete. Along the way, we made a surgical strike for the Torrent Tyrannulet, which netted us not only the resident pair, but also their just-fledged youngsters. The hot lowlands outside of David were something of a shock after our time in the mountains, but they did yield a number of new birds, among them, great views of Brown-throated Parakeets, Pale-vented Pigeons, Fork-tailed Flycatchers, a Peregrine Falcon, and a most unexpected Mangrove Cuckoo that appeared to be totally lost in the middle of an open pasture. We arrived at Finca Lerida, once more in the relative cool of the highlands, in time for dinner.
Our first day in the highlands of Boquete (on the east side of the volcano) allowed us to clean up some misses among the highland avifauna that we had not seen at Cerro Punta, and get some better views of other things that we had seen. But once again, the aguacatillo trees did not seem to be in fruit, and quetzals were still missing in action. On our second day in the region, we made a day-trip to the Fortuna Forest Reserve. This reserve was created to protect the forest surrounding a hydroelectric project, and the road that runs through the reserve provides a wonderful transect through cloud forest with many birds typical of the western highlands, down through middle elevation Caribbean Slope forest that is the best place in Panama for finding a number of special birds. Unfortunately, off-road access to the forest is limited, and one is always at the mercy of the generally fickle weather and its impact on flock activity. If the weather is bad (as it often is), you can't bird, and if it is too good (as it was for us), flock activity dies down early in the morning. Nonetheless, the potential payoffs of birding this road are huge, and you are almost always rewarded with some good birds. Such was the case for us, as we picked up treats like Green Thorntail, Snowcap, White-tailed Emerald, Golden-bellied Flycatcher, Black-capped Pygmy-Tyrant, Olive-crowned Yellowthroat, Yellow-throated Bush-Tanager, Emerald Tanager (bunches of them!), Tawny-capped Euphonia, and White-naped Brush-Finch.
Despite a week of searching, our hopes of finding a male Resplendent Quetzal now rested on our last morning in the Boquete region. In over 20 years of leading tours to the highlands of Costa Rica and Panama, I had never failed to produce at least one spectacular male quetzal for a group. I really didn't want this to be the first. Ito and I decided to make our final stand at the Culebra Trail, and bank on an early start making the difference. With the group incantation of "MALE QUETZAL, MALE QUETZAL, MALE QUETZAL…" providing an almost martial musical score for the bus ride to the trailhead, it was clearly now or never for this particular tour. We worked our way slowly along the trail, noting that overall bird activity and vocalization was markedly higher than on our previous visit. Although there were no fruiting aguacatillos in the vicinity, we did find another fruiting tree that was swarming with Mountain Thrushes. A large bird in the upper branches of that tree proved to be a Black Guan, a snazzy regional endemic, and a new bird for the trip. The guan got away before everyone could see it, but its presence did lift our hopes. Throughout the walk, I had periodically trolled with quetzal tape, but my efforts had been met with silence. Suddenly, the loud "CACK-AK-AK" of a quetzal snapped us to attention. At the same time, we were hearing a distant shout of "Black Guan!" from group members who had stayed behind in hopes of getting a look at the guan. Backtracking rapidly down the trail, we came around a bend only to have Ito stop dead in his tracks and urgently say, "I've got it—male quetzal!" The next several moments were a study in quiet pandemonium, as we attempted to get everyone on the bird. Unfortunately, it flew before everyone could get it, but a blast from my tape brought in a female quetzal, which, in turn, was followed by a second male. Ito relocated the first male, and we soon had a choice of a frontal view of one male versus a dorsal view of another! Unlike the Turquoise Cotinga of several days earlier, the male quetzals knew not to overstay their welcome, and soon flew off, leaving us fulfilled, yet wistfully wanting more. Everything that followed was simply frosting on the cake—we had met the Resplendent Quetzal, and he was ours!
All in all, it was a great week of highland birding—one that left me eagerly anticipating my return to the land of Resplendent Quetzals, great coffee, and loads of highland endemics.