While it may seem that Panama is a small country and therefore only one trip would be necessary to see its special birds, it turns out that there is much more to be seen and experienced beyond the Canal Zone and the western highlands. In fact, this trip, scheduled for February and the beginning of the “dry” season, was originally intended to visit the far eastern border of Panama, an area known as the Darien. However, extraordinarily heavy December rains washed out the remote airstrip into which our chartered plane would fly, and so, at the last minute, our Field Guides tour was radically rearranged. My best birding pal, Virginia Willcox, and I were really disappointed - the prospect of climbing Cerro Pirre to camp for two nights, awakening in the rain forest and birding from our tents, had been eagerly anticipated. However, we had also planned to visit two lodges on our own after the tour, so we still had two great weeks of birding planned and decided to go for that regardless - we both are glad we did!
	Awakening on the first morning in Panama, I had spectacular views overlooking the Pacific end of the Panama Canal from my room at the Country Inn & Suites. It was warm and humid, and bound to be more-so by the late afternoon, but the morning was perfect for breakfast outside and 3 hours of easy birding in nearby Metropolitan Park. That evening we met the Field Guides group for dinner - they would join us at our first lodge, Burbayar, for 5 of our 7 days of birding there. A one and a half hour drive out of the city and along the Pan American Highway brought us east to the only road leading up and over the Serrania de San Blas, a coastal range which catches Caribbean moisture and offers splendid views to both the Atlantic and the Pacific. The city’s skyline was astounding to me, as it has grown so since my last visit several years ago.
	But it was great to get into the countryside, and we arrived at our lodge just before the rains came. As it turned out, we had rain every day, though usually the precipitation was composed of brief, light showers, spiced up by one or two real downpours. While cabins were rustic, with cold water showers and electricity by generator for only a few hours each day, we were very well looked after by a staff of 3 plus our local guide, Jose. There were few if any insects, so screens weren’t needed and the temperature was almost always in the 70's - nice! There were some good birds to be seen right from the lodge, and in the surrounding forest as well. The monotypic species, Sapayoa, and a confiding Streak-chested Antpitta were among the favorites. However trails were very rough and steep, as the terrain is hilly and a bit of mud adds to the tricky footing. We worked hard for the birds we saw on our hikes. At the end of a week, my knees were letting me know about that! We spent a good portion of each day searching for a very special bird, the Speckled Antshrike (Xenornis setifrons), known primarily from this area and favoring steep-sided, clear forest streams. Burbayar is known to be one of the best places to see this very range-restricted bird, but, alas, we never even heard it though we gave it our best shot for 7 days. Such is birding - no guarantees! It could be that we were there when the birds were nesting and therefore not vocal, or it could be that they just weren’t there...
	Two day trips to Lake Bayano gave us some nice, dry lowland species as well as some water birds. Coming back up to the cooler climes of Burbayar felt so good at the end of each day!
	One highlight of our time here was a massive Army Ant swarm which crossed the trail in front of us, offering brilliant views of two species of antbirds hard at work. Both Bi-colored and Ocellated Antbirds are obligate ant-followers. That is, they feed on the insects that are frantically fleeing the onward thrust of the foraging ants. As you will see in this video, it’s a chaotic scene, with every twitch of a leaf indicating an antbird snatching up an insect. If you look closely, you will see the army ants climbing a small gray tree trunk toward the left side of the picture - they scour the forest very effectively! My still photos did not come out well as the birds were constantly in motion, so this Ocellated Antbird photo is not mine, but it’s such a neat bird that I had to include a shot!
	There were some interesting critters along the trails as well. Leaf-mimic frogs are small, and their method of camouflage is very effective. As for this Hog-nosed Viper, it is quite difficult to see as well, in the dark, shady litter of the forest floor. The first time we came across it our guides had spotted it well before we got too close. Jose tossed it off the path with a long stick after we all had a cautious look. However, a few hours later as we retraced our steps, it was back in exactly the same spot, as one of our group discovered when he almost stepped on it!
	A far more attractive finding was this tiny (fingernail-sized) Poison Dart Frog. It’s glowing blue-green spots showed teal green in the shade and aqua blue in the sunshine - a tiny gem of the rainforest.
	We also birded along the road, where more open views allowed us to enjoy Swallow-tailed Kites migrating in large numbers. As this road is the only land connection to the Kuna Indigenos who live on the San Blas coast, there was regular traffic from 4WD “taxis” hauling people and supplies. The road had only been paved a few years before, and it may be this increased disturbance which accounts for some decrease of bird activity in the area.
	The day before the Field Guides group was getting ready to depart, we received word that the Pan Am Highway was being blockaded not very far west of us. The indigenous tribes were protesting the destruction of their lands and threats to their health caused by several large, foreign mining companies. As the government had failed to perform on its promises to deal with the situation after a similar protest a year earlier, they were determined to make their point this time, and traffic was effectively halted nationwide with 4 different strategically placed blockages. In the end, after a few days, the government negotiated a settlement, and the group was able to leave. Virginia and I, however, had two more days to search for both Xenornis (no luck) and the Black-crowned Antpitta, a regional endemic. Success!! We found two individuals along a seldom visited trail and though I was too busy observing these gorgeous birds to take my own photos, I wanted you to see this scalloped beauty, so have borrowed one from the Internet. You can see from the following photo that I was a very happy camper!
	Back to Panama City for one night, the delights of a hot shower and more views of the Canal, and then off we went to the Canopy Lodge, about 2 hours west of the city.
	We had been to the Canopy Tower on our first trip to Panama, and had found it both comfortable and quite “birdy”. The newer Lodge, conceived, owned and built by the same man, Raul Arias de Para, proved even better. After a beautiful drive up the hills and through the pleasant town of El Valle (a popular second home area for Panama City dwellers), we arrived at the lodge to be greeted by our guide, Danilo, who would be with us for the next five days. As we walked across the bridge to the lodge, we found quite a “welcoming committee”! The tray feeders were full of fruit and birds were everywhere - what a delight!
	A quick bit of birding before a lovely lunch (great salads every day, plus soup or pasta or other excellent fare) and we headed out again on trails right around the lodge. Owls were perched well up in the shaded canopy, but I was able to get decent shots of the three species we found, thanks to Danilo. We also found a Rufous-crested Coquette perched above the stream on our return to the lodge that afternoon. Though not a new species for me, this was an excellent look at a perched bird. Again, I wasn’t able to get a photo but wanted to share this stunning hummer with everyone, so another Internet photo follows.
	One day we drove for well over an hour to the other side of the crater rim, an area under development called Altos de Maria (the Rio Maria runs through it). The infrastructure is impressive, with miles and miles of paved roads, underground utilities, signage, and so far, very few homes in the upper reaches. I wonder if there isn’t some money-laundering going on here! Despite the development, we still managed to see some really good birds, including this Yellow-eared Toucanet. The blue-green around its eye is bare skin, but the yellow “ear” is feathers. It follows fruiting trees and the right species were just ripening here, so we were the first in 6 months to see this species. As you will see from my video, it puts on quite a fine show! If you turn your sound up high, you can hear the amazing call it gives while performing.
	The El Gaital and La Mesa trails, closer to the lodge, proved quite productive too. The orchids and flowers were gorgeous, and the birds plentiful. A Three-toed Sloth was carrying its baby as it enjoyed a good, but slow, scratch. White-tipped Sicklebill Hummingbirds were zooming around the bounty of heliconias blooming in the lush forest. Again, I had to resort to a net photo to show you this one, whose bill is specially adapted to feeding on the flowers of the heliconia.
	On our final afternoon in the steep Las Minas trail area, the skies were brooding but the view towards the Caribbean was still lovely and the birds and the wind were the only sounds we heard. The next morning, an incipient ant swarm we had been checking for several days finally began to swing into action. The thousands and thousands of Army Ants had been “bivouacked” in a football-sized mass inside a hollow tree, but as they streamed out and began to forage, we watched quietly and waited for a Rufous-vented Ground-Cuckoo to appear. Again, no guarantees - and no show for that one, but the three of us still spent the better part of four hours as more than 20 species of birds came in to dine - it was like standing in our own private aviary! What a fine way to end our trip!
	We left the Canopy Lodge with the resolve to return one day - and a request to Danilo to let us know when the Ground-Cuckoo next was seen! Our two week trip had grown my life list by 26 species, now crossing the 5700 mark. More than that, however, was the chance to experience many hours of leisurely, quiet birding with time to observe and appreciate more than 302 species. And too, to appreciate the beauty of Panama’s scenery and people. There’s a lot more to Panama than just the Canal!
	Note: Photos are all mine except for those marked with an asterisk* - see captions