| Begins in Panama City Saturday evening |
 |
$2575 |
Feb 13-21, 2010 (9 days, 8 nights)
Single Supplement = $400 |
Our Panama Canal Zone birding tour visits many of the best birding locales in the central isthmus of Panama around the Panama Canal. Highlights include Darien specialties near San Blas, rainforest birding along Pipeline Road, dry forest birds of Metropolitan Nature Park, and Caribbean side specialties along Achiote Road. We can expect to see over 275 species during the tour. This tour can be combined with our tour to the Chiriqui highlands of western Panama. Those not wanting to visit the more rustic lodge on the edge of the Darien or want a tour lasting less than 2 weeks while still going to Chiriqui may join the tour after we return to Panama City from the San Blas area at reduced price.
DAY 1 - PANAMA CITY
International flights arrive in the afternoon or evening. Participants gather at the comfortable Balboa Inn, reached by a 45-minute taxi ride from the airport. Everyone is met at the hotel by our tour leader. Those arriving a day early have free time to explore the city or relax at the inn.
DAY 2 - SAN BLAS FOOTHILLS
After an early breakfast, we'll drive east past Tocumen International Airport towards San Blas, stopping at Tocumen Marsh and other sites en route. Notable birds we hope to see include Capped Heron, Cocoi Heron, Pearl Kite, Pale-breasted Spinetail, and Yellowish Pipit. We'll arrive at Burbayar Lodge mid-day. The lodge is quite rustic but offers adequate accommodations better than anything in the Darien itself. Hummingbird feeders attract Little Hermit, Garden Emerald, and Black-throated Mango. Other feeders bring in Brown-hooded and Blue-headed Parrots, Keel-billed Toucan, Golden-hooded Tanager, Sulphur-rumped Tanager, and Flame-rumped Tanager. We'll spend late afternoon birding a trail near the lodge.
DAY 3 - NUSAGANDI NATIONAL PARK
We'll devote all day to birding nearby Nusagandi National Park on the crest of the San Blas foothills adjacent to Kuni Indian lands. Trails are steep and narrow but offer superb birding. The most prized species we hope to see are the very range-restricted Speckled Antshrike and Broad-billed Sapayoa, both regularly seen in the area. Other Darien specialties we hope to see include Red-throated Caracara, Tawny-faced Quail, Olive-backed Quail-Dove, Russet-crowned Quail-Dove, Blue-fronted Parrotlet, Stripe-cheeked Woodpecker, Black-crowned Antpitta, Spectacled Antpitta, Dull-mantled Antbird, Black-headed Antthrush, Green Manakin, Slate-throated Gnatcatcher, Stripe-throated Wren, and Rufous-winged Tanager.
DAY 4 - NUSAGANDI NATIONAL PARK
We'll depart early and bird the Darien road where we'll look for several lower elevation specialties. The birding will be easy with limited walking. Target birds include Purplish-backed Quail-Dove, Striped Woodhaunter, White-ruffed Manakin, Sulphur-rumped Tanager, Tawny-capped Euphonia, and Black-and-yellow Tanager. We'll spend the remainder of the morning and much of the afternoon birding the Bayano Valley and Bayano Reservoir. Some of the prized birds we hope to see there include Barred Puffbird, Gray-cheeked Nunbird, Red-billed Scythebill, Rufous-winged Antwren, Black Antshrike, White-eared Conebill, and Orange-crowned Oriole. In late afternoon we'll return to Panama City. arriving before dark at the Balboa Inn where we'll spend the next two nights.
DAY 5 - PIPELINE ROAD & PLANTATION TRAIL
Pipeline Road traverses primary rainforest in Soberania National Park and offers some of the best rainforest birding in Central America. Walking is easy along this level, restricted-access road. The possibilities are too numerous to list. We regularly see Harpy Eagle, which was re-introduced to the area several years ago. We should see 3-5 species of trogons, Great Jacamar, Black-breasted Puffbird, various woodpeckers, antbirds, flycatchers, Golden-collared, Red-capped, and Blue-crowned Manakins, numerous tanagers such as Gray-headed Tanager, White-shouldered Tanager, Tawny-crested Tanager, Red-throated Ant-Tanager, Crimson-backed Tanager, Bay-headed Tanager, Golden-hooded Tanager, and several species of Euphonias.
In late afternoon we'll bird Plantation Trail, which traverses mostly secondary growth forest and is more open than Pipeline Road. It's sometimes good for raptors such as King Vulture, Gray-headed Kite, White Hawk, and the rare Black Hawk-Eagle. It's an excellent place for understory birds such as Scaly-throated Leaftosser, Plain-brown Woodcreeper, a variety of antbirds, and manakins.
DAY 6 - METROPOLITAN NATURE PARK
This morning we'll bird trails through the dry forest of Metropolitan Nature Park. The trails are wide and fairly easy but not entirely level. The park is an excellent place to find the secretive Rosy Thrush-Tanager and the rare endemic Yellow-green Tyrannulet. We also hope to see the striking Lance-tailed Manakin. That afternoon we'll drive to the Caribbean side of the Canal Zone, birding en route and arriving at Nattur Nature Center by mid-afternoon, where we'll spend 2 nights.
Following check-in, we should have time to view hummingbirds visiting lodge feeders. Some of the hummingbirds we may see are Little Hermit, Band-tailed Hermit, Violet-bellied Hummingbird, Blue-chested Hummingbird, and Purple-crowned Fairy. We may also have time to bird the grounds looking for a variety of trogons, woodpeckers, flycatchers, and tanagers around the lodge.
DAY 7 - ACHIOTE ROAD & FORT SAN LORENZO
Achiote Road is a famed birding locale offering superb opportunities to see Caribbean slope specialties such as Spot-crowned Barbet, Pied Puffbird, Black-tailed Trogon, Keel-billed Toucan, Olivaceous Flatbill, Blue Cotinga, Bay Wren, and Red-breasted Blackbird. The area is also an excellent place for raptors, among them Hook-billed Kite, Double-toothed Kite, Plumbeous Kite, Plumbeous Hawk, White Hawk, Great Black-Hawk, and Gray Hawk. Groups staying around Gamboa have to get up very early to make the 2½ hour drive and still arrive by 6:00 AM. We won't have to get up so early because we'll be staying much closer to the area these two nights. That afternoon we'll bird several locales north of the Gatun Locks in Fort San Lorenzo National Park before returning to our lodge. There we'll look for Mangrove Black-Hawk, Saffron Finch, and other species of more open and wetland habitats.
DAY 8 - SOBERANIA NATIONAL PARK
We'll depart early for our return to the western side of the isthmus, birding several sites en route. We'll spend the remainder of the day birding revisiting Pipeline Road, Plantation Trail, or possibly other areas within the park to look for species we may have missed earlier in the tour.
DAY 9 - END OF TOUR
Tour ends with breakfast at the hotel. International flights home.
For more information on the places we stay, please click on the ACCOMMODATIONS tab above. Feel free to call us any time at 877-247-3371 (inside US) or 303-325-5188 (outside US) with any questions you may have or to register for this memorable tour.
