Carrot Cake, Coffee and The Mist

               

I went from one end of Panama to the other. A day's drive from Panama City took me to the place known as Boquete.  It was there I wanted to get lost in the misty rain forest. 

                           Flame-colored Tanager

The bus ride is long but worth it.  The highlands are cooler and also much rainier.  Coffee plantations are plentiful and so is the coffee!  I wanted the last part of my trek to Panama to be relaxing.  

During the morning, I'd get up and have a fresh cup of coffee and then go for some local food around town. Later, I'd work on bird ID's and do something not birdy at all.  The town has so much to see and experience.  Often I'd find myself on a loft watching people walk by the coffee shop. 

                              Streaked Saltator 

I found some great birds there while doing my garden visits around town. It rained often and sometimes the entire day.  That didn't stop me from bringing my umbrella and enjoying a fantastic rain event. The birds loved the rain there.  That's when they were most active. 

In the Darien, I studied how the Emberá were changed by western civilization. The same was also true of the Ngäbe-Buglé tribes in Boquete.  While my mission was for birds primarily, I also studied the indigenous peoples around tourists and locals.  Some traditional wardrobe is still maintained. Also the native languages these tribes speak also continue with little Spanish interference.  On the river system in the Darien, I noticed the younger groups would bathe in the river with some clothing while the older generations were completely naked.  With the Ngäbe-Buglé tribes, it was the women who kept their traditional dress and the men who sometimes wore modern items like t-shirts. Most often they'd wear boots for the muddy conditions. I'd sit in the center of town in Boquete and pretend to be looking at my phone while listening to their dialect and interactions with people. 

Again, like most towns, a lot of the local attractions were closed or not maintained.  I remembered them 10 years ago being popular destinations.  But things have changed.  And some things are unkept. 

While there, I discovered the American Dipper!  I had no idea that they hung out this far down in Central America.  That was so cool. Their range is indeed extensive!  

                                                           White-throated Mountain-gem

While I did my studies, I'd often stop for a small lunch and just observe the world around me during these covid times. My host said that I didn't have to disappear all the time.  He was a nice German guy who ran this beautiful hostal but I wasn't wanting to connect with other tourists.  I was there to get my fluency in Spanish back to normal again.  Barely anyone at the hostal spoke Spanish so I took off and had more lunches and dinners in unknown parts away from the tourists.  I went where the locals went and absorbed everything. 

One of my favorite species of birds is the Rufous-collared Sparrow.  It's one of the few colorful sparrows they have down there in Panama.  It wasn't a lifer but it's one of my favorites so I'd often watch them zip around me on the trails and road.  They are very common and allowed for really accommodating close observations. 

                                                                        Rufous-collared Sparrow

I did a great job getting all my lower level cloud forest birds like the Scarlet-thighed Dacnis.   However, I needed to go above 5000 feet in elevation for my other birds.  And for that, I treated myself to a one-on-one day with local guide Jason Lara. From a birder's point of view, I imagine it to be like treating yourself to a spa day. I had a blast as he took me to some great upper level locations for birds.  He picked me up from my place and we enjoyed a full morning of great birds. 

                                                                  Mistletoe Tyrannulet

Some of the trails were closed due to dangerous conditions from not being maintained during covid.  A sky bridge collapsed on the Quetzal trail and it was off limits.  Much of my trip to Panama was like this.  So as we do, we bird around these locations.  At the worst, we miss out on those native birds that only like the dense forest.  But we try to coax them out of the woods along the perimeter for a view.  We had several really nice views of the Rosy Thrush-Tanager and the Golden-bellied Flycatcher.  

On that rainy misty morning, Jason stopped for coffee and showed me some truly excellent spots to bird.  We went to the entrance of the Sendero Quetzal where we saw a White-tailed Emerald(below) and Streaked Flycatcher. 

                                                                      White-tailed Emerald

I just stood there with my coffee smiling.  Talk about perfection! We watched the misty clouds crawl over the mountains.  It was fantastical!

My favorite and most memorable spot from the morning was a visit to a coffee plantation called Finca Lérida.  I ended up with so many lifers there which included this Chestnut-capped Brushfinch.  I also was able to spy on some Sulphur-winged Parakeets.  THOSE were beautiful birds. 

                                                                          Chestnut-capped Brushfinch

First.  Finca Lérida is one good looking and bird friendly spot.  It's safe and easy to see birds. 

Second.  They serve coffee.  Because coffee is life. 

Third.  The weather was SO comfortable. 

Fourth.  They serve carrot cake with a side of Flame-colored Tanager. 

We'd walk on paths like this and watch flowerpiercers zip around blossoms. 

For some reason or another, I really wanted to see a Scintillant Hummingbird.  Maybe it was the name?  It's just a teeny tiny little hummingbird with a lot of personality.  Aren't they all?  

 

                                                                              Scintillant Hummingbird

This video sums up my experience at Finca Lérida.  So. Much. Fun.  If you don't mind Flame-colored Tanagers eating the frosting off your carrot cake.  

A special thank you to Jason Lara for helping me out with transportation and locating specialty birds.  People who have been following these adventures have wondered if there are any really nice places to bird during the rainy season in Panama.  The answer is yes. It's Boquete and the Anton Valley.  Everything else is a physical workout that makes you sweat like an overweight man from Wisconsin on a hot humid day in summer.  More to come from Panama and other places.  Birding is an adventure.