Oct 29 2008
Moving Too Fast
On the recent Panama press trip, all our days were full ones, but the one that stands out as the fullest was the one we spent along the canal’s east side in the Albrook/Gamboa/Pipeline Road area. It would have been tight to cover this much territory in four days–doing it in one was way, way too fast, but so, so much better than nothing.
We watched the sun bolt into the sky, as it does in the tropics, from the observation tower at the new Panama Rainforest Discovery Center. Click that link for a lovely aerial photo of the tower. In the photo above, Bill Thompson III is watching a treeful of toucans. Lisa White is praying for deliverance–heights aren’t her favorite thing. But she was a trooper, as she always is, and enjoyed the awesome view and fine birding. Below, the three of us, plus Yenia and two of the center staff pose for a quick portrait.
Though we saw some nifty things (Cinnamon Woodpecker, White-necked Puffbird, Blue Cotinga, lots of parrots) most of it was far enough away that photography was impractical, especially with a dozen or so excited birders clambering from one side of the deck to the other as each new discovery was announced. As pure birding, though, it was great. Photographic opportunities were more numerous around the visitor center, where there was yet another fine bank of hummingbird feeders.
A male Blue-chested Hummingbird chooses an appropriately colorful perch, alighting on a Heliconia flower, while a female of the same species appears content with less spectacular substrate.
Both are eclipsed by the impossibly rich iridescence of the male Violet-crowned Woodnymph. If I had to choose, I might well pick the woodnymphs as the most beautiful of the hummingbirds. Fortunately, I don’t have to and there are dozens of species I’ve yet to see, so I’ll reserve judgement. Suffice it to say that this photo comes nowhere near doing justice to its beauty.
This one’s closer, but still falls way short. Check out that big, dark eye.
We were in and out of there as fast as hummingbirds, too, or so it seemed. We hit another few prime spots around Gamboa, returned to the Albrook Inn for lunch, and then went on to Parque Metropolitano. There, we saw a number of newly-arrived warblers, including a Mourning, in addition to Lance-tailed Manakins, White-bellied Antbird and Crimson-crested Woodpecker. We heard a Rosy Thrush-Tanager (yes, it lives up to its name, vocally and visually) but couldn’t spot it.
Above, Liz Payne, Lisa White, and Cristina Cervantes stroll back down the hill.
Bill & Mike do the same. Though the day was overly full, it was still kind of relaxing–a testament to our tour organizers. And we weren’t done–we worked in a visit to a crafts market and a dinner with some of the local tourism officials. Whoo! What a day.
That male Violet-crowned Woodnymph is amazing. I’m loving the Panama posts.
[...] mid-October’s press tour with the Panama La Verde group. When I left off, we had just had a whirlwind day in the Albrook-Gamboa area. We only had two more days, one to bird the Caribbean slope near Achiote [...]