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Kath Giel The goal of the December 2024 LAS Panama birding trip was to explore the famous Gamboa area and the remote Darién wilderness to encounter some specific birds including the iconic Harpy Eagle. Ten birders (Suzie and Dave Reynolds, Judy Duffy, Mary Braun, Barbara and Chad Arnold, Gloria Tomich, Jo and Paul Glaves, Lori Austin) plus several guides including Mario Córdoba, Eliecer Rodriguez, and Kath Giel accompanied the group and over the 11 days we saw nearly 300 bird species as well as a female and month-old chick Aguila Harpia or Harpy Eagle.  December 2024 Panama Group The trip started out at the Riande Airport Hotel in Panama City which has some lovely grounds surrounded by the airport, roads, and development. After a welcome orientation and dinner, the next morning we birded the grounds and were treated with seeing a pair of Pearl Kites. After breakfast our hosts from the Canopy Tower arrived to take us to our amazing accommodation in a refurbished radar tower. We were warmly welcomed at the Tower and spent some time on the viewing deck more that 100 feet above the ground. Our favorite bird there was the magnificent Blue Cotinga.
The next day before breakfast we saw many birds from the rooftop deck, a highlight being the Green Shrike Vireo. In the morning we drove to Semaphore Hill Road, a famous birding area. We saw 3 trogon species — Slaty-tailed, Black-tailed, and Gartered. In the afternoon we birded along the Summit Ponds and were lucky to see 3 different kingfishers: American Pygmy, Green, and Amazon Kingfishers. We also had a wonderful sighting of the White-whiskered Puffbird that stayed in one place for a long time so that we had some wonderful views. We returned to the Tower for another delicious meal and a dessert of pineapple cobbler!
December 6th was our final day to bird in the area so we spent time on the famous Pipeline Road. We left the Tower before 7 and spent about 4 hours birding. Immediately upon parking, a tayra, a member of the mustelid family that resembles a slender wolverine, ran across the road and up into a tree to raid a beehive. We watched the honey raiding for about 15 minutes. Soon afterward we were rewarded to see a swarm of army ants in the forest and the corresponding bird life that is attracted to what the ants disrupt including the Ocellated Antbird, Spotted Antbird, Rufous Ant Thrush, Plain Creeper, and Gray headed Tanager. We left Pipeline Road just in time to miss getting caught in a downpour; instead we were enjoying a lunch of salad, tilapia, and melon ice cream. In the afternoon we went out again and got our great views of the Broad-billed Motmot. On this day we saw 103 different species.  Ocellated Antbird, ©Mario Cordoba December 7th we enjoyed coffee and birding at Canopy Tower before departing for the Daiu. Along the way we stopped at Bayano Lake where we saw a number of egrets and the Yellow- faced Grassquit. We continued on to our lunch spot where we were treated with hummingbird feeders right next to our table and had our first glimpse of the Long-billed Starthroat. In late afternoon we arrived at Canopy Camp and settled into our tents in the jungle/rainforest. The grounds and setting were lovely. We were almost immediately treated to the usually elusive Golden-headed Manakin; a decorative bush planted next to the patio area was in fruit and the manakins were all over it! The hummingbird feeders were busy with the White-necked Jacobin, Black-throated Mango,Long-billed Starthroat, and several more. It was difficult to put the binoculars down
The next day we had coffee on the deck and enjoyed sightings of Whooping Motmots and a variety of hummingbirds. We spent the morning birding around Canopy Camp. Three highlight birds were the Yellow Barbet, Gray-cheeked Nunlet and the majestic King Vulture After lunch we took a drive along the Carretera Interamericana (Pan-American highway) for some targeted birds including the Spot-bellied Woodpecker and a Donocobius.  King Vulture, ©Mario Cordoba December 9th was our banner day to search for the Harpy Eagle. We had breakfast at 4:!5am before departing in the van for the end of the Carretera Interamericana. Once there, we boarded a boat for a 45 minute ride, seeing many egrets and herons. Upon arrival near the National Park, we boarded 4x4 Vehicles for a half-hour ride to the start of our trek and entrance to Darién National Park. We met up with some guides, porters, and horses to assist us on our nearly 7 mile muddy return hike to the Harpy Eagle nest viewing area. We were lucky with the weather as it was not raining or excessively humid and we did some light birding along the way. When we finally arrived at the viewing site, we saw the female Harpy Eagle on the nest. It was a thrill seeing this bird, the most powerful eagle in the world. We stayed for over an hour and even captured a video of the one-month old chick popping up above the nest when the mother lifted her wings. On the way back we were gifted with a sighting of several red green macaws high in the canopy. We arrived back exhausted at Canopy Camp at 6pm - a 14 hour day, but the trip of a lifetime
The next day we had a slightly later start and went to bird along the El Salto Road. It was an overcast muggy morning so we encountered more bird calls than sightings. But we did see a Pygmy Three-toed Sloth with her baby wrapped closely to her chest. In the afternoon we went birding along the Quebrada Felix Abajo, where we saw two Spectacled Parrotlets at close range. We were also serenaded by a Barred Puffbird that followed us along the road.  Spectacled Parrotlets, ©Mario Cordoba December 11 morning started early with a drive and then a boat ride in two dugout canoes to search for the geographically restricted Dusky-backed Jacamar. At the same place we saw a Rufous Jacamar; it was amazing to be able to compare the two in the same place. We then traveled to an Emberá village to witness the culture and hike to a small pond; we were rewarded with sightings of a juvenile Agami Heron. Later in the day, and after many days of searching we were successful in locating the Red-Billed Scythebill along the Calle Lirial. We finished the day along the road with a magnificent flyover of Blue-and-Yellow Macaws. Reluctantly, the next day we started our journey back to Panama City. En route we stopped to bird along the Tortí River. We saw Gartered and Black-Tailed Trogon in addition to a variety of birds in a mixed flock and then had a wonderful sighting of the elusive yet loudly singing Bay Wren. We arrived back at the airport hotel where we had a farewell dinner and our final species count was made — 292 species! It was a fantastic trip with a wonderful group of people, expert enthusiastic guides, and great encounters with Panamanian birdlife.  Dusky-backed Jacamar, ©Mario Cordoba |
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