The Window of Opportunity

 It took 2 years of planning to make this dream happen. We took our chances.  We got vaccinated and we went for it.  Our Panama adventures were about to get started. 

                                                              Hoffman's Two-toed Sloth

It was a strange and wonderful experience to feel alive again.  To discover and learn again.  It was hard giving myself permission to travel, but after the year we've all had, I took this window of opportunity to celebrate birds and travel once again. 

                                                          Black-tailed Trogon-lifer and quite common

As I flew into Panama City, I was so excited to get back on the ground running again.  I didn't care that I had to wear a mask. I didn't care that it was the rainy season and that photography was going to be almost impossible.  I just wanted to explore again.  And I wanted to get lost.  

Predicting human behavior, our group saw a window of "safer" travel.  I had scheduled a trip to Colombia this year in October but after watching what unraveled in Panama during my last few days with the Delta and Lambda variants, I canceled the trip.  We were all anxious arriving into Panama City.  We paid several thousand dollars for our trips.  What if someone tested positive for covid in the airport?!  It was a gamble, but it was worth the risk.  And yet, we could have lost our money to a simple positive test. 

Thankfully we all passed the test and we began our exciting challenge of ID'ing birds.  It rained.  We sweat.  It rained some more.  And we sweat even more. Our cameras had a hard time like we did adjusting to the very humid conditions.  Too dark. Bump up the ISO.....but to what levels?  Lens fogging.  Rain downpours.  Lens refusing to focus. Birds in very poor light. And it went on and on. 

                          So many Euphonias!  Here is the Thick-billed Euphonia at our hotel

We waited for the entire group to show up.  It was a nice wait with great a/c at the Riande hotel.  I knew we wouldn't have it for much of our journey to the Darien Gap.  Everyone in our crew took their covid tests and we all passed level one.  Anxiety gone. 

We explored several urban spaces in Panama City which included El Parque Metropolitano and the Causeway.  It's all we had time for on our short stop in the city. 

It was a lot of fun and it was great revisiting this part of the city.  As I'd soon discover, many of the places were closed due to covid.  While many Panamanians want their vaccines, a lot of them have had to wait.  Everyone was really good about wearing masks.  Someone told me that if you got caught not wearing your mask in the city, it was a 50 dollar fine!  

                                                                  Southern Bentbill-a really cool lifer

We often found ourselves in wild spaces and alone.  Therefore the mask wearing didn't happen as much. A lot of us just clipped the mask under our chins.  

This year I celebrate my 10th year as a birder. Never in my life have I experienced so much change in this decade's long chapter. So many wonderful friends.  Some still here.  Some gone.  And some still waiting to be made. 

                          El Mirador inside of El Parque Metropolitano, which is open to the public

I stayed with our group for a week before leaving them to do my own thing.  For me to be a really good Spanish teacher, I need to immerse myself in the local culture away from what is known.  I need to be sharp for my AP students and stay on top of the game.  

                                      I've seen it often, but I love the Barred Antshrike

This trip was physically exhausting but after all the training I did, it paid off. It's hard work but I am feeling so much better.  Panama is not easy birding.  It's probably one of the most challenging places on this planet to see birds.  Often times, we'd see great birds against poorly lit skies.....or rainy skies.....or dark skies.....or inside a dark forest.  You get my point:)  But a birder has to keep focused.  Not every bird will be photographed, but almost every bird needs to be seen with a few counted only as heard. 

                                                            Another lifer, the Scrub Greenlet

But with any neotropical forest birding adventure, there are always success stories.  Maybe a birder doesn't see one particular bird species well in Costa Rica, but on this trek to Panama, they finally get those stunning views the second time around. And there were birds like that for me.  I was able to get rid of that "better views desired" part in my notes. 

Oh did the birds like to hide.  They were sooooo good at it.  While we observed them, we had to watch out for sneaky reptiles, biting bugs, pointy plants and not slip on the slick mud. I carried in my backpack a lot of water, an umbrella, and a walking stick.  I also carried toilet paper, band aids, bug spray and sunblock.  

                                                                    The Isthmian Wren-lifer

I think if I lived in Panama my entire life, I would NOT bird during the summer as it is very uncomfortable.  My thoughts kept going to my Washington trip and how comfortable that was. THAT'S my kind of birding.  Coffee, cold and the ocean....or mountain snow! 

         I love Variable Seedeaters!  I learned that there is a Pacific subspecies with a white collar.  

I saw how age and physical shape can impact birders.  I was so proud of our group.  They were amazing.   We were like kids wanting to see the next bird or mammal or.....whatever. It didn't matter how hot or sweaty we were because there were so many wonderful things to see! We were living again.  And it felt so good to be alive. 

                                                                       Geoffroy's tamarin