April | 2014 | deansshots

PANAMA! The far end of Central America; the famous canal; and OVER 800 SPECIES OF BIRDS. Eight days there produced images of over a hundred species on my digital cards.

Canopy Tower

Four nights at the Canopy Tower, a WWII military observation facility with a viewing deck above the tops of the forest trees converted for bird nuts, like me. A great place to look at birds (and other critters) in the morning until the heat of the sun drives you under cover.

Keel-billed Toucan

Violaceous Trogon

Black-breasted Puffbird

Squirrel Cuckoo

Long-billed Hermit

Howler Monkey

Green Iguana

Then it was off to treks each day to different areas where different birds occur. There seemed to be no end to the variety.

The watchers

Under the Canopy

Collared Trogon

Broad-billed Motmot

Sunbittern

As we had hoped, we found an ant swarm and that attracts a lot of different bird species that feed on the ants. Very hard to photograph as they’re in the dark forest floor vegetation and moving swiftly.

White-whiskered Puffbird

Bi-colored Antbird

Brown-billed Scythebill

Rufous-vented Ground Cuckoo

A big bonus was our guide finding two species of owls roosting during the day.

Mottled Owl

Spectacled Owl

Then on to four nights at Canopy Lodge in an area higher elevation and much cooler. There were an abundance of bird species right there on the grounds.