Venture To The
 Panama Canopy Tower
"Superb Rainforest Birding"
 July 22-28, 2010

With extension to the Canopy Lodge
 July 28 – August 1, 2010

Reservations and prepayment are required on all Ventures. Your place on this Venture will be reserved when your deposit of $300 has been received. Please make your check payable to VENTURES, Inc. and send it to this address or call the office with your VISA or MasterCard #. This Venture is limited to 10 participants.

 

Venture Description

Imagine watching the dawn rise above the tropical rainforests from above the canopy? Grab a cup of coffee and awaken to the sound of birdsong coming from the trees below. This is the morning ritual at Panama’s Canopy Tower and one of the reasons that it is so popular. From our single base at this very comfortable spot, we will take day trips into many areas of Panama’s very bird rich Canal Zone.

Panama is the geographical crossroads of North and South America, where the flora and fauna of the Americas meet, intermingle and produce an overwhelming variety of both plants and animals. Panama covers an area of 75,648 square kilometers, somewhat smaller than the state of South Carolina, but with over 880 species of birds recorded from within its borders. This 6 day stay at the Panama Tower and 4 day stay at the very comfortable Canopy Lodge will give you a perfect introduction into the avifauna of the Panamanian rainforests.

Leader: Mark Welford

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Cost of Venture

$3,325 per person, from Panama City, based on double occupancy; single room $650

Note on Single Rooms: The single occupancy rate is for a single booking in a double-occupancy room with en suite bathroom facilities. Both the Canopy Tower and Canopy Lodge also offer smaller single rooms with shared bathroom facilities. Anyone staying in these rooms would share facilities (2 toilets & 1 shower) with up to 4 other people.

Cost of Panama Lodge Extension
$TBA per person, based on double occupancy ($TBA single supplement) Total for both portions is $TBA plus single supplement of $TBA

Price includes:
Ground transportation in Panama, all meals, taxes, gratuities (except driver & guides), entrance fees, trip information packet, bird list, and guide/leader service throughout 

Not included:
Flight to Panama City, alcoholic beverages, laundry, airport departure tax and items of a personal nature

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List of Birds We Hope to See

Sunbittern, Wattled Jacana, Spectacled and Black-and-white Owls, Slaty-tailed Trogon, Rufous & Broad-billed Motmots, Great Jacamar, Chestnut-mandibled & Keel-billed Toucans, Lineated & Crimson-crested Woodpeckers, Streak-chested Antpitta, Ocellated, Bicolored, Spotted and White-bellied Antbirds, White-necked, Pied and Black-breasted Puffbirds, Royal Flycatcher, Blue-crowned, Golden-collared & Red-capped Manakins, Green Shrike-Vireo & many more.

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Itinerary

Panama Canopy Tower & Canopy Lodge: July 22 – August 1, 2010

 

a) Canopy Tower Itinerary July 22- 28

 

Day 1: Thursday, July 22                 Canopy Tower

We will plan to arrive in Panama City around lunchtime or early afternoon (or you may also decide to fly in to Panama City the night before). We will then travel 45 minutes to the Panama Canopy Tower within Soberania National Park, our base for the next 6 nights. Once we have settled in we should have time to explore the tower and the nearby forest. Before dinner we will have an orientation about our week here in this great birding spot. The Canopy Tower is the perfect location from which to observe the birds and other wildlife of the forest canopy. Some of the bird species that could see from the observation deck are: Green and Red legged Honeycreepers, Green-shrike Vireo, Blue Cotinga, Scaled Pigeon, Mealy and Red lored-Parrots, and Keel-billed and Chestnut-mandibled Toucans. Easy options from the Tower include Semaphore Hill Road. This paved road is little more than a mile long and passes through the forest of Soberanía National Park. Here we one can see antbirds and other birds that live within the forest. Olivaceous Flatbill and White-whiskered Puffbird are common, and Slate-colored Grosbeak and Great Jacamar are possible. This road is also great for raptors: White, Tiny and Short-tailed Hawks have been seen, and during migration it's easy to see more than 10 species of warblers in one morning.

 

Day 2: Friday, July 23                       Achiote Road

Today we will head further afield to the Achiote Road. This is the site of the famous Atlantic Christmas Bird Count held by the Panama Audubon Society every year. The number of species in this area consistently exceeds 340 in a 24-hour period, the No. 1 or No. 2 spot worldwide. Habitats are a bit more open but the birding nonetheless can be wonderful. White Hawk, Lesser Swallow-tailed Swift, Black-throated Trogon, Black-breasted and Pied Puffbirds, Spot-crowned Barbet, Montezuma Oropendola, Fasciated Antshrike, Bare-crowned and Bicolored Antbirds, White-headed Wren, Red-breasted Blackbird, Sulphur-rumped Tanager and Black-headed Saltator are all regularly seen here. If time permits, we will head across towards San Lorenzo National Park to explore the forests. To get to this area we have to cross the Panama Canal which gives us a unique view of the locks from below.

 

Day 3: Saturday, July 24                  Tocumen Marsh & Cerro Azul

Tocumen Marsh, near the International Airport, offers some very different birding to the Canal Zone. We’ll head there early, hoping to see certain raptors such as Pearl Kite, Savanna Hawk, and Lesser Yellow-headed Vulture, as well as other localized species, such as the uncommon Pale-bellied Hermit, American Pygmy Kingfisher, Panama Flycatcher, Southern Lapwing, and Olivaceous Piculet.  Later in the morning we’ll travel to the foothills of Cerro Azul and will have a picnic lunch in a private residence overlooking the virgin forests of Chagres National Park. From here it is possible to see the Yellow-eared Toucanet, considered by many the most colorful of the local toucans, and the Black-and-white hawk-eagle. After lunch we’ll bird the surrounding areas in search of the tiny Rufous-crested Coquette and the White-tipped Sicklebill; also some spectacular tanagers like Speckled and Rufous-winged. Finally, if we are really lucky, we might see the Striped-cheeked Woodpecker; a Panama endemic.

 

 

 

Day 4: Sunday, July 25                     Pipeline Road

We’ll have an early start this morning and head to Pipeline Road, with a stop at the Ammunition Dump Pond. This is located just north of Gamboa, on the way to Pipeline Road and is the best place to see the elusive White-throated Crake, as well as a host of other water birds. Least Grebes, Common Moorhens and Purple Gallinules are common, and Rufescent Tiger-Heron and American Pygmy-Kingfishers are around, but are not as easy to find. Sometimes you get a Limpkin and maybe even a Least Bittern and lately a few Snail Kites have been reported. Pipeline Road is the best place in Central Panama to find forest birds, and plenty of them. Eight species of wrens, five trogons, four puffbirds, three motmots, many antbirds and even more flycatchers have been reported from the road. And if its 17 Km are not enough, there's plenty of side trails plus eleven creeks and rivers that can be followed into the forest. Army ant swarms are found frequently, attended sometimes by the very rare Rufous-vented Ground-Cuckoo, and there are many Manakin leks right beside the road. Pipeline Road is also a great place for raptors: all three Forest-Falcons are heard if not seen with ease, and Tiny and Plumbeous Hawks and Ornate Hawk-Eagles have been reported a few times. The Harpy Eagle release project is working in this area so there’s always a really good chance of seeing one of these magnificent raptors.

 

Day 5: Monday, July 26                    Pipeline Road

One cannot visit the Panama Canal Zone and only make one visit to Pipeline Road. Today will be a full day back again to the Pipeline Rd., one of the premier birding sites of the Americas. The second half of Pipeline Rd. offers the possibility of new species because of its overlap with the Atlantic Area. We will be on the lookout for ant swarms, White-necked and Black-breasted Puffbirds, Antpittas, Great Jacamar, Black-tailed Trogon, Crane Hawk, Black Hawk-Eagle, Cinnamon Woodpecker, Black-striped Woodcreeper and even a Pheasant Cuckoo. We'll have a picnic lunch somewhere in the forest. We will head back to the lodge mid afternoon to rest a while, have an early dinner before taking a night excursion into the forest. More than eight species of Owls and Potoos have been seen on the roads around the Canopy Tower and many interesting mammals, which are active mainly at night, could also be seen. For example: Two-toed Sloth, Kinkajous and Rothschild's Porcupine. If we are really lucky we could see one of the wildcats that inhabit this forest, a Jaguarundi or even an Ocelot.

 

 

Day 6: Tuesday, July 27                   Old Gamboa Road

The Old Gamboa Road is our destination this morning. At the beginning of this bird-rich area, you'll find Summit Ponds, where Boat-billed Herons nest and Capped Herons are seen regularly. Both Great and Lesser Kiskadees, and Rusty-margined Flycatchers are seen often here. The Old Gamboa Road passes through a variety of habitats, where we could see: Blue Ground-Dove, Great Antshrike, Jet Antbird, Black-tailed and Royal Flycatchers, Lance-tailed and Golden-collared Manakins and Rosy Thrush-Tanager. Going north of the pond we could see White-bellied Antbird, Yellow-bellied Elaenia, Yellow-backed Oriole, Boat-billed and Fork-tailed Flycatchers, Yellow-headed Caracara, and many more. The afternoon will be spent exploring nearby Gamboa Resort for additional species, such as both Green and Striated Herons, Southern Lapwing and other water birds.  The Chagres River is located at the east side of Gatun Lake, and we'll be walking along the banks of the river to see other water birds, for example, Amazon, Green, and American Pygmy-Kingfishers, as well as Blue-Crowned Motmot and Cinnamon Woodpecker.

 

 

Day 7: Wednesday, July 28              Transfer to Canopy Lodge

For folks that are heading directly back home, they will be transferred to the Panama City Airport. Those continuing on to the Canopy Lodge will transfer to the lodge in the afternoon. Of course we will be birding this morning and will take some time to enjoy the area immediately surrounding the lodge. Plantation Road is an easy walk through rich lowland forest with the list of species is similar to Pipeline Road.

 

B) Extension to the Canopy Lodge: July 28 – August 1

 

Day 8: Wednesday, July 28              El Valle de Antón, Cerro Gaital Trail

Today we will wake up early and go birding on the trails and roadside near the lodge. Birding is excellent and plentiful so this should give us a perfect introduction to the valley birds. Well stocked feeders attract a wide variety of tanagers and euphonias, as well as wintering species from the north. Specialties of the nearby forests include Gray-headed Kite, White-tailed Emerald, Emerald Toucanet, Orange-bellied Trogon, Rufous-capped Warbler, Tawny-capped Euphonia, Common Bush-Tanager, and Black-faced Grosbeak.  Green and Little Hermits feed on the roadside flowers, and noisy flocks of Tawny-crested and Dusky-faced Tanagers make themselves very obvious when they are passing through the undergrowth. In the afternoon we’ll head to a nearby patch of dry forest looking for Lance-tailed Manakin and Rosy Thrush-Tanager, both hard to see and localized species.

 

Day 9: Thursday, July 29                 Altos Del Maria

Set in the mountains on the continental divide east of El Valle, the Altos del Maria provides a spectacular addition to the Canopy Lodge birding package. Departing early in the morning from El Valle in comfortable 4x4 sport’s utility vehicles, we will drive back along the Pan-American Highway and then up into the mountains. As the sun rises over the highlands ahead of us, spectacular mountains, vast valleys, and towering cliffs will be revealed. Ascending an excellent paved road, we will climb a ridge to our destination for the morning, an expansive area of cloud forest at 1100 meters above sea level. Early morning birding will take us along some of the wide, gravel roads in the area. Around mid-morning, we will stop at a nature center for a rest, bathrooms, and a check of the hummingbird feeders. Afterwards, we will search some trails through the woods for additional forest birds, before returning for a picnic lunch at the nature center. Some of our target birds in this region include: Black Guan, Purplish-backed Quail-Dove, Scaled Antpitta, and Black-headed Antthrush.

 

Day 10: Friday, July 30         Valle de Antón

Another day of birding in the foothills will take us early in the morning to the northern rim of the crater to explore the trails of the Chorro Macho private reserve. Some very special birds have been sighted here: White Hawk, Tody Motmot, White-tipped Sicklebill, and Sunbittern, as well as some colorful tanagers and honeycreepers like the Silver-throated, Golden-hooded and Bay-headed Tanagers, Blue and Scarlet-thighed Dacnis. This trail will also offer good possibilities of seeing Brown-hooded and Blue-headed Parrots, Squirrel Cuckoo, Fasciated Antshrike, Black-faced Antthrush, and Black-chested Jay. In the afternoon we will visit another patch of moist foothills forest in search of any of the highland species we may have missed- alternatively you may relax at the lodge and watch the feeders (always a pleasant option).

 

Day 11: Saturday, July 31    El Chiru forest and La Zamia Trail

Today we will have an early breakfast and travel outside El Valle to visit a patch of dry forest just one hour away near the small village of El Chiru. The contrast with the lush and wet foothills of El Valle is dramatic. This habitat consists of relatively permanent growth of low and often straggly bushes and small trees interspersed with grass. It is a distinctive habitat of the Pacific lowlands and there is little of it left because most of the population in Panama has settled in the Pacific Coast. We will search for Pearl and White-tailed Kites, Crested Bobwhite, Brown-throated Parakeet, Blue and Plain-breasted Ground-Doves, Slate-headed Tody-Flycatcher, Pale-eyed Pygmy-Tyrant, Fork-tailed Flycatcher, Lance-tailed Manakin, and Rufous-browed Peppershrike among other residents of this scarce scrubby area. Bird activity is high during the first few hours then it gets hot and it will be time to return to the much cooler foothills. We will have lunch back in the Canopy Lodge and afterwards we will bird the La Zamia Trail at the base of the Cerro Gaital Natural Monument. This is an easy, level trail in which the rare Rufous-vented Ground Cuckoo was seen on our last tour. We will also look for the Little Tinamou, Gray-headed Chachalaca, Blue-crowned Motmot, Common Potoo, and Sepia-capped Flycatcher.

 

Day 12: Sunday, August 1  

After a leisurely breakfast and some last-minute-birding in the gardens surrounding the lodge, we will drive back to Panama City and catch our return flights home.

 

**Itinerary may change depending on weather conditions and the local guide

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