Our Panama photo tour combines excellent opportunities to photograph lowland tropical birds in the Canal Zone with a visit to the western highlands where we'll seek out and photograph Resplendent Quetzals and other specialty birds found only there and nearby southern Costa Rica. Those arriving a day early can optionally take a partial transit of the Panama Canal, a memorable experience not to be missed by those who have never traversed the canal before.
CANAL ZONE
We'll spend our first 3 nights at comfortable B & B La Estancia on Cerro Ancon north of Panama City city center.. During our stay we'll spend 2 full days in nearby Soberania National Park photographing lowland tropical birds.
We'll spend our first day visiting Pipeline Road, one of the best places in Central America to see and photograph birds. It's possible to photograph the rarely seen Harpy Eagle along this road, and our guide will find many opportunities for photographing trogons, puffbirds, tanagers, and other species. Among the possibilities are Northern Violaceous Trogon, White-necked Puffbird, Lineated Woodpecker, Orange-collared Manakin, Blue-crowned Manakin, and Yellow-tailed Oriole. We'll spend a second day in the park visiting Gamboa and Plantation Trail, where additional opportunities for making photographs will present themselves. During mid-day we'll stop at nearby Miraflores Locks to view and photograph ships going through the locks.
While at Sierra Llorona Lodge on the Caribbean side of the Canal Zone, we'll photograph a variety of new birds not found on the Pacific side of the isthmus. Among the possibilities are Keel-billed Toucan, Chestnut-mandibled Toucan, Black-breasted Puffbird, Pied Puffbird, Blue Cotinga, and a variety of tanagers. The lodge also has several hummingbird feeders, and we'll spend some time making photographs of hummingbirds that visit the feeders. Among the possibilities are White-necked Jacobin, Green-crowned Woodnymph, and Violet-bellied Hummingbird. The access road to the lodge and several areas south of Colon and the Gatun Locks offer excellent opportunities to see and photograph birds. We will likely be able to photograph raptors such as Mangrove Black-Hawk, Roadside Hawk, and perhaps several species of other kites and hawks. These areas are where we'll seek to photograph toucans, puffbirds, cotingas, tanagers, and other birds during our visit.
WESTERN HIGHLANDS
The western highlands of Chiriqui Province offer superb opportunities for photographing the near endemic birds found only in western Panama and nearby southern Costa Rica. We'll fly into David from Panama City and transfer immediately to our hotel in the village of Volcan. During our 2-day visit we'll concentrate on photographing birds that are specialties of the region. Our birding/naturalist guide is an expert at finding birds such as the extraordinary Resplendent Quetzal, as well as Fiery-billed Aracari and Long-tailed Silky-Flycatcher characteristic of the highlands. Other species we hope to see and photograph include Orange-bellied Trogon, Black-and-yellow Silky-Flycatcher, Yellow-thighed Finch, and a variety of tanagers.
