| Panama is a birder's paradise. From walking the trails | | | | including all my time in Costa Rica where you're |
| of its numerous jungle canopies, to exploring the paths | | | | supposed to be able to see them left and right. These |
| of Metropolitan Park (located within Panama City limits), | | | | three quetzals though were just hanging out, doing this |
| to even simply meandering around Panama City itself, | | | | absurdly acrobatic reach that they're known for. They |
| you are bound to be impressed by the country's | | | | were so close that I felt like I could reach up and touch |
| aviary array. | | | | them: you know, tap them on the back and ask why |
| Sitting on the rooftop deck of a popular hotel in | | | | they're such Machiavellian little creatures. I snapped |
| Panama City, I saw what appeared to be two bullets, | | | | several photos and left with a little tingle in my heart. |
| whiz past my head. I ducked and shouted that | | | | I have lots of birding friends who come to visit all the |
| someone had a gun, but after asking the experienced | | | | time and they agree: Panama is an unknown and |
| birder beside me they were, we investigated and | | | | unexpected birders paradise. My favorite place to |
| discovered them to be masked tityras: velvet red | | | | catch views is at The Canopy Tower: this beautiful |
| heads and a light gray wash on their backs. I couldn't | | | | structure reaching up from dense jungle. The views |
| believe these kinds of tropical species were hanging | | | | are outrageous and it was there that I saw my first |
| out, like me, at the downtown hotel pool deck! | | | | Crested Owl, a bird that I have the utmost respect for. |
| This was not the first time I had seen a rare bird on | | | | Kingbirds float around this place all the time, as do |
| the roof deck before. As almost every time I'm up | | | | various other rare birds that you'd never expect to be |
| there, a new and colorful flying friend appears in what | | | | fluttering so close to cosmopolitan Panama City. |
| seems like some sort of show. They'll sit on a palm | | | | Because tourism in Panama is not fully booming, you |
| tree branch, chirp a little bit as if to call my name, then | | | | can still find tremendous deals and if you're like me, |
| fly off with the same swiftness they arrived. I've seen | | | | you'll appreciate being one of the only birders in the |
| a gamut of birds up there this way: Blue-crowned | | | | area. Regions like Boquete, Volcan, El Valle, and |
| Manakins, Green Shrike-Vireos, Rosy | | | | various other mountainous regions can offer |
| Thrush-Tanagers, Slate-colored Grosbeaks. They're all | | | | tremendous birding experiences not yet exploited by |
| there, just hanging out waiting for their day to unfold. | | | | development or loud foreigners. Try it out, and you |
| I was up in the mountainous region of Boquete last | | | | may see me there too, with binoculars around my |
| weekend when I saw three quetzals. The Trifectors I | | | | neck and a guide wedged beneath my belt. Simply |
| called them. I had never before seen a quetzal, | | | | enjoying the scene. |