PANAMA!

But it’s not just a canal!

What a place for birds… almost 950 species.  The birders in the group logged about 300of them in 8 days.  Not so good for the photographer (me) as the bulk of the birds were either high in the rain forest canopy or flitting through the dense undergrowth making finding, focusing, and photographing a real challenge.  Still…I got images of almost 50 species (that included 9 species of raptors), 7 mammals and various butterflies.

It was hot, humid and rained a lot but well worth the discomfort.

Lots of rainy days.

Finding a bird in here and trying to focus and get an image is easy…Right?

Open lands in the valleys provide extensive wetland habitats.

Here’s a smattering of the images I got:

RAPTORS

Ornate-hawk-eagle-The grand prize of the trip.

White & Black Hawk-eagle

Black Hawk-eagle

Yellow-headed Caracara

Plumbous Kite

Savannah Hawk

Pearl Kite

Snail Kite-Coming in a close second

Striped Owl

 

WATER BIRDS

Common Moorehen

Pied Water-tyrant

 

ARBOREAL BIRDS

Purple-throated Fruit-crow

Golden-collared Manakin

Slaty-tailed Trogon

 

Smooth-billed Ani

Orange-chinned Parakeet

Linneated Woodpecker

Blue-crowned Motmot

Chestnut-headed Oropendola

 

HUMMINGBIRDS

Black-throated Mango

White-necked Jacobin

Purple-throated Starfrontlet

Snowy-bellied Hummingbird

 

MAMMALS

Tamandua-Very exciting to spend 10 minutes following this small anteater through the rainforest.

2-Toed Sloth

3-Toed Sloth with baby

Sloths don’t move much so where they are when you see them, that’s where they stay.

Geoffery’s Tamarin-Only 9 inches tall with a 15 inch tail, they were lured with bananas

White-faced Capuchin

Black Howler Monkey

Unidentified Bat

And the ubiquitous Agouti