Birdchick

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 ]

Winter and lots of snow brings with it cabin fever. We have lots of modern conveniences that help ease that tension, like Netflix Watch Instantly and Amazon Streaming and alcohol! You don’t have to go to a rental facility, you don’t even have to wait for Netflix to arrive in the mail–you can have most  [ Read More ]

I was beginning to think the annual cold that hits me in February might miss me this year, but it arrived unannounced yesterday morning. Gr.  As I have been drinking gallons of various instant Thai soups and toddies to rid my nasal cavaties of this beast before Saturday’s Birds and Beers, I wondered what might  [ Read More ]

We should all approach life like this orange-chinned parakeet I saw in Panama

Wow, what a great Monday–we might hit 40 degrees (do I dare take out my bike), I’m going to learn how to ice fish today and I just came off a fun weekend.  I have to put in a plug for my Twin Cities readers: Non Birding Bill’s birthday was the day I flew to  [ Read More ]

There are some birds who are celebrities to me–one would be the potoo.  I was into birds as a kid, I had a ton of books and I remember sitting in my room looking at bird books and there were certain birds that were iconic that I hoped to see one day when I got  [ Read More ]

As much as I enjoyed my time at Canopy Lodge in Panama, I was really looking forward to Canopy Tower. I have heard so much about this place from other birders and from one of the guides–Carlos. It has always stuck in my mind as a place I need to go.  It did not disappoint.  [ 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 ]