PANAMA 8–19 January 2009 Leaders: Steven and Magdalena Easley

Panama has the richest avifauna of any Central American country with around 972 species. This innovative new tour will combine seven nights in luxury apartments at the superb Gamboa Rainforest Resort with a three-night stay in a good standard hotel on the edge of Panama City to ensure that we visit as many types of habitat as possible.

Day 1 We fly from London to Panama City and transfer one hour by road to the superb Gamboa Rainforest Resort, located on the edge of the Soberania National Park and our base for the next seven nights. Accommodation will be in apartments set in a quiet part of the resort on the edge of the forest and will comprise a fully air-conditioned bedroom, lounge (with satellite TV), kitchenette (with fridge, honesty bar and tea and coffee making facilities) and a luxurious bathroom. The resort boasts a range of fabulous facilities including two swimming pools, a choice of restaurants and bars.

Days 2–7 Over the next six days we will visit a variety of habitats seeing a large number of common, hard-to-see and highly-localised species. Our first full day will start with a dawn watch as the sun rises above the forest surrounding the resort with the air is filled with bird song and Red Howler Monkeys calling in the distance, an experience that will remain with you for you’re the rest of your life. The resort is set in forest and has it’s own trails which we will explore, as well as visiting the following sites:

Pipeline Road and Gamboa Pond Pipeline Road extends for 18km and has nearly 400 species to its credit! We will look out for swarms of Army Ants as well as searching for some of the more localised species along the road and in the adjacent forest including Little Tinamou, Pale-vented and Short-billed Pigeons, Mealy and Red-lored Parrots, Garden Emerald, Long-billed Hermit, Black-cheeked, Cinnamon and Crimson-crested Woodpeckers, Plain Xenops, Black-striped, Cocoa and Wedge-billed Woodcreepers, Collared Aracari, Chestnut-mandibled and Keel-billed Toucans, Slaty-tailed and White-tailed Trogons, Broad-billed Motmot, Pheasant Cuckoo, Southern Bentbill, Black-faced Antthrush, Streak-chested Antpitta, Chestnut-backed Antbird, Checker-throated, Dot-winged and White-flanked Antwrens, Fasciated Antshrike, Western Slaty-antshrike, Black-crowned and Masked Tityras, Rufous Mourner, Dusky-capped, Ochre-bellied, Ruddy-tailed and Sulphur-rumped Flycatchers, Purple-throated Fruitcrow, Golden-collared and Red-capped Manakins, Bay, Buff-breasted and Song Wrens, Brown-capped and Paltry Tyrannulets, Black-headed Tody-flycatcher, Blue-grey, Golden-hooded, Palm and Plain-coloured Tanagers, Blue Dacnis, Red-legged Honeycreeper, Fulvous-vented and Thick-billed Euphonias, Blue-black Grosbeak, Scarlet-rumped and Yellow-rumped caciques and Chestnut-headed and Crested Oropendolas. At Gamboa Pond, Least Grebe, Rufescent Tiger-heron, Limpkin, Purple Gallinule and White-throated Crake can all be found.

Summit Ponds Boat-billed Herons nest here, and on the way the road passes through a variety of habitats where Blue Ground-dove, Great Antshrike, Jet Antbird, Greater and Lesser Kiskadees and Black-tailed Flycatcher and Northern Royal-flycatcher can be found. Nearby, flowering hedgerows and scrub may hold the restricted-range Sapphire-throated Hummingbird and Northern Scrub-flycatcher.

Semaphore Hill We will make a day visit to the nearby Canopy Tower where we will watch the hummingbird feeders, which may have White-necked Jacobin, Black-throated Mango, White-vented Plumeleteer and Blue-chested and Violet-bellied Hummingbirds on them. Walking down to Plantation Road we will look for a great variety of species including Great Tinamou, Bicoloured, Tiny and White Hawks, Marbled Wood-quail, Great Jacamar, White-whiskered Puffbird, Olivaceous Flatbill, Bay-headed Tanager and Slate-coloured Grosbeak. Along Plantation Road, we will look for a swarm of Army Ants and as we have a good chance of finding one we hope to see Northern Barred-woodcreeper, Plain-brown and Ruddy Woodcreepers, Spotted and Ocellated Antbirds and Grey-headed Tanager. Golden-crowned Spadebills are regular around the creek, White-breasted Wood-wrens easy to see and if we are really lucky, we may find the shy Sunbittern.

Atlantic Coast A full day trip to the Atlantic Coast in search of species found in this different habitat. Along the Achiote Road, where the habitat is more open, an amazing 380 species of bird have been recorded in just one day by the Panama Audubon on their Christmas Bird Count. Although we won’t see this number of course, we will be specifically looking for Snail Kite, Lesser Swallow-tailed Swift, Black-throated Trogon, Black-breasted and Pied Puffbirds, Spot-crowned Barbet, Montezuma Oropendola, Fasciated Antshrike, Bare-crowned and Bicoloured Antbirds, White-headed Wren, Red-breasted Blackbird, Yellow-rumped Tanager, and Black-headed Saltator.

We will spend at least one evening looking for owls, nightjars and nocturnal animals. Possibilities include Black-and-white, Crested and Mottled Owls, Vermiculated Screech-owl, Common Pauraque and Common and Great Potoos. As well as Two-toed Sloth, Kinkajou and Rothschild’s Porcupine.

Day 8 We travel back to Panama City where we will spend most of the day at the Metropolitan National Park. Here the forests are much drier than around Gamboa so consequently support a different range of species. The beautiful Rosy Thrush-tanager is common here together with Red-throated Ant-tanager. Other birds we may see include Grey and Roadside Hawks, Squirrel Cuckoo, Lineated Woodpecker, Streak-headed Woodcreeper, Boat-billed, Sepia-capped, Streaked and Yellow-olive Flycatchers, Dusky and White-bellied Antbird, Lance-tailed Manakins, House, Plain, Rufous-breasted and Rufous-and-white Wrens, Tropical Mockingbird, the endemic Yellow-green Tyrannulet plus Southern Beardless, Yellow and Yellow-crowned Tyrannulets, Common and Slaty-headed Tody-flycatchers, Golden-fronted and Scrub Greenlets, Tropical Gnatcatcher, Yellow-backed Oriole, Crimson-backed Tanager and Ruddy-breasted Seedeater. At lunchtime we will check into a comfortable hotel in the city for a three-night stay. In the afternoon, we will revisit the park.

Day 9 Because the high cloud forests of Cerro Jefe and Cerro Azul are subject to inclement weather we have allowed two days to cover as much of the habitat as possible, and can reverse the itinerary with tomorrow’s if necessary to ensure that we spend our time as productively as possible. Today, we plan to visit to bird in the forests in the foothills of Nusagandi where we will look for some of Panama’s most sought-after birds. In the mountains we will look for the highly-localised Speckled Antshrike. Another elusive bird here is the Broad-billed Sapayoa, a bird of uncertain taxonomy found in the understorey. Other special birds found in this bird-rich habitat include Swallow-tailed Kite, Semiplumbeous and Broad-winged Hawks, Slaty-backed Forest-falcon, Spotted Woodcreeper, Spot-crowned Antvireo, Dull-mantled Antbird, Black-capped Pygmy-tyrant, Thrush-like Schiffornis, Tawny-faced Gnatwren, Bananaquit, Green and Shining Honey- creepers, Dusky-faced, Tawny-crested and the near-endemic Sulphur-rumped Tanagers. In the afternoon we shall visit a patch of woodland in the upper Bayano Valley where we should find the restricted-range Black Antshrike.

Day 10 The heights of Cerro Jefe and Cerro Azul are home to many interesting species, some of which are shared only with the inaccessible summits of Cerro Brewster and Cerro Tacarcuna in eastern Panama. The top of these isolated mountains are covered with elfin forest where our primary targets are Violet-capped Hummingbird and Tacarcuna Bush-tanager. In addition, we will look for Scaled Pigeon, Violet-headed Hummingbird, Scale-crested Pygmy-tyrant, Grey-breasted Wood-wren, Long-billed Gnatwren, Slate-throated Redstart, Scarlet-thighed Dacnis, White-vented and Tawny-capped Euphonias, Highland, Hepatic and Black-and-yellow Tanagers, Black-striped Sparrow, Lesser Seed-finch and Yellow-faced Grassquit. In more sheltered forest patches downslope we may find mixed flocks containing Bay-headed and Speckled Tanagers and possibly even the elusive Rufous-winged Tanager. If we are extremely lucky, we may even find the elusive Blue-fronted Parrotlet.

Day 11 Although there may be some time for early morning local birding, sadly, we have to leave Panama and catch our lunchtime overnight flight back to the UK.

Day 12 Arrival back in the UK.

General Information The climate can vary from hot and humid in the lowland rain-forests to cool in the mountains. Some rain is possible. The tour pace is moderate with generally easy walking, although at altitude some extra effort is needed. There are some health requirements, for which you should refer to your GP.

Group size Minimum number for tour to go ahead: 8; maximum group size: 12 with 2 leaders.

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