Going through photos of last year and I found a Panama woodpecker that I didn’t post: This is a Central American cousin of the pileated woodpecker and about the same size. I ended up seeing them on field trips based both from Canopy Tower and Canopy Lodge. They weren’t super common but, like a pileated, [ Read More ]
Believe it or not, it can be a tad humid in Panama leading to a great deal of fog in the upper elevations early in the morning. It was like walking in a strange dreamland and were surrounded by strange sounds. One of them was a bird that excited our guide Tino (the Human iPod) [ Read More ]
There’s a tropical screech owl hidden in this photo: Do you see it? I think if you look hard, you can make out the small owl’s tail. See it? Okay, here’s a hint: Here’s a digiscoped image of the little owl. We so would not have seen this little guy had it not been for [ Read More ]
I have no patience. I had this idea that I would go through my Panama trip chronologically using my words, photos and even some edited HD video. But I’m too excited about this baby sloth! I blogged way too early about sloth in Panama. I didn’t think my look at a sloth was going to [ Read More ]
I’m very excited, I just got a 2 pound package of shade grown coffee that I ordered in the mail: I’ve always been a fan of shade-grown coffee on paper, but generally found the taste of most of them lacking–and I’m not a coffee snob, I’ll drink gas station coffee. But generally the flavor of [ Read More ]
Here’s a preview for a coming blog entry about going out with Tino one of the guides from Canopy Lodge. Raul the owner told me that Tino is known as the “human iPod” for his ability to mimic the many bird calls of Panama–it’s no exaggeration. Here’s is a few minutes of Tino in action. [ Read More ]
When I arrived in Panama, it was dark. I couldn’t see Panama City when I landed or any of the terrain as the driver took me to Canopy Lodge. Had I not been so exhausted from travel, the sound of running water, frogs and wind would have forced my brain awake, so much of the [ Read More ]
Check out this short clip of yellow-rumped caciques (pronunciation here) in full display mode–you must listen to this crazy sound! I’m in the process of editing video and photos from Panama…wow, HD video takes up a lot of space on my poor laptop, but I got some cool stuff. Panama is a birding wonderland. I’ve [ Read More ]
Because I have so many sloth photos, I have to post a bit more on them–right? I know this is a birding blog, but c’mon–sloths are so cool, so iconic, attention must be paid! I wonder, are they big enough to be considered charismatic megafauna? They are bigger than many mammals and they have a [ Read More ]
Thanks to that Wingscapes Cam, I now have an inordinate amount of clay-colored thrush photos–most of them om nom noming bananas. I have so many that I may have to create a gallery or animated gif when I get home. There will be other species too but my goodness–there are tons of big brown robins [ Read More ]
