Panama trip to the southern canal zone and Cerro Azul -Dec 13-16

Rufescent Tiger Heron, Ammo Dump Ponds, Gamboa, Panama, Dec 13, 2023

White bellied Antbird, Pipeline Road, Gamboa, Panama, Dec 13, 2023

Spot crowned Antvireo, Pipeline Road, Gamboa, Panama, Dec 13, 2023

Black breasted Puffbird, Pipeline Road, Gamboa, Panama, Dec 13, 2023

Green Shrike Vireo, Pipeline Road, Gamboa, Panama, Dec 13, 2023

Bay breasted Warbler, Pipeline Road, Gamboa, Panama, Dec 13, 2023

Black crowned Antshrike, Pipeline Road, Gamboa, Panama, Dec 13, 2023

White shouldered Tanager, Pipeline Road, Gamboa, Panama, Dec 13, 2023

Rufous Motmot, Pipeline Road, Gamboa, Panama, Dec 13, 2023

Spotted Antbird, Pipeline Road, Gamboa, Panama, Dec 13, 2023

Fulvous vented Euphonia, Pipeline Road, Gamboa, Panama, Dec 13, 2023

Red capped Manakin, Pipeline Road, Gamboa, Panama, Dec 13, 2023

After my time in Brazil I decided to break up the trip home with a few day stop in Panama in the area of the lower canal and Cerro Azul. I had never been to Panama before and my target list contained a bunch of species with the big hope of finding a Tacarcuna Warbler on Cerro Azul. This was a lofty goal and one I was unlikely to realize but I wanted to try nonetheless (more on warblers for the trip at the following link: Panama warblers). Tacarcuna Warbler is one of two very range restricted warbler species that occur almost exclusively in the depths of the Darian Peninsula on the Panama/Colombia border (the other warbler there is the Pirre Warbler). Historically there are a few reports of Tacarcuna Warbler from a few mountains further north, with one of the mountains being Cerro Azul.  I took a red eye flight from São Paulo to Panama City and got little to any sleep. Thankfully the flight actually arrived into Panama City a little early and I was through immigration around 6:30am. I met my guide from Whitehawk Birding, Edwin, for the next few days and we headed through the traffic of the city on our way to Gamboa and the famous Pipeline Road. On our way we made a stop at the Ammo Dump Ponds and added Rufescent Tiger Heron as a lifer there. We then arrived at the entrance to the Pipeline Road and added a half dozen lifers including Black breasted Puffbird and Brown capped Tyrannulet. We also had good looks at other species including my best ever view of a Green Shrike Vireo plus several others (great numbers of overwintering Bay breasted Warblers were neat to see). Once on the Pipeline Road (list #1 and #2) we walked awhile along the road (reminding me of my many walks along the road at Rio Magnolia Lodge in Costa Rica). Despite the heat, a bit of a breeze and my total lack of sleep, the stop was well worth it with eight new life birds. By the time we finished along the road it was past noon so we headed to nearby Gatun Lake to have lunch outside and added a final lifer for the day with a pair Lesser Kiskadees. I was totally beat so called it a day and headed to my Airbnb condo. Managed a total of 17 life birds for the roughly half day effort. 

Tody Motmot, Maipo Trail, Cerro Azul, Panama, Dec 14, 2023

Bicolored Antbird, Maipo Trail, Cerro Azul, Panama, Dec 14, 2023

Plain colored Tanager, Cerro Azul, Panama, Dec 14, 2023

Yellow throated Warbler, Cerro Azul, Panama, Dec 14, 2023

Crimson backed Tanager, Cerro Azul, Panama, Dec 14, 2023

Yellow eared Toucanet, Cerro Jefe, Panama, Dec 14, 2023

Violet capped Hummingbird, Cerro Jefe, Panama, Dec 14, 2023

Bay headed Tanager, Cerro Azul, Panama, Dec 14, 2023

Stripe cheeked Woodpecker, Cerro Azul, Panama, Dec 14, 2023

The first full day in Panama found us headed to Cerro Azul in a long shot chance of finding the Tacarcuna Warbler. I got picked up at 5:30 and we made the drive up to the mountain where we arrived around seven and started birding. Unfortunately it was quite windy for most of the day which made tracking down stuff a bit difficult at times. Not surprisingly we had no luck with the warbler. However we still found some good birds including a Tody Motmot, a new species for me and one that guide had not had on Cerro Azul before. Many areas were quiet but we did find a few mixed flocks that contained a nice selection of both resident species and migrants. Other highlights included a Yellow eared Toucanet that showed well in the scope and Stripe cheeked Woodpecker that eventually showed up after a lot of effort. We ended our day in mid afternoon and had 65 species with five life birds for me. 

Tawny capped Euphonia, Cerro Jefe, Panama, Dec 15, 2023

Speckled Tanager, Cerro Jefe, Panama, Dec 15, 2023

Bronze tailed Plumeleteer, Cerro Jefe, Panama, Dec 15, 2023

Rufous winged Tanager, Cerro Jefe, Panama, Dec 15, 2023

White winged Becard, Manglares de Juan Díaz, Panama City, Panama, Dec 15, 2023

The final day of birding in Panama found us heading back up to Cerro Azul once again. We stopped at a small river (Rio Mono) on the way up the mountain and found a few new species for the trip. The winds from the day before continued today but they didn’t seem quite as bad overall. We went high up the mountain and walked a different dirt road before plunging off into the jungle for a little bushwhacking trying to track down the warbler as well as other species. No luck with the warbler but we did have a small mixed flock near the end of the walk in the jungle that contained a pair of Black and Yellow Tanagers. A bit further down the mountain we turned up a couple of Rufous winged Tanagers…two life tanager species is a good way to start the day. After a few more brief stops we decided to head down to the coast to look for a few more new species in one of the few remaining patches of mangroves and we had success in the blistering heat with Lance tailed Manakin and Straight billed Woodcreeper. I finished my time with the guide in early afternoon and then spent some time checking out the habitat around my Airbnb and had more good luck there with a couple more life birds, bringing me to a half of dozen for the day. I had an early flight out from Panama City to Miami on my way home and managed to add one more life bird with a few Cattle Tyrants at the airport, which brought my total of new species during my time in Panama to 29. Overall I had 178 species for my short stay in Panama. My total species for the two trips combined came to 458 species with 242 new species bringing my life total to 1993.