Notes from the Tower (Panama)
For 2025 we again offered a slightly shortened Canopy Tower week to lead in to the Western and Eastern Panama Tours. Over the course of five and a half days around the world-famous Canopy Tower we saw 260 species of birds and 16 species of mammals. Around the tower on the first day, we marveled at the busy hummingbird feeders that were hosting an assortment of eight species including lots of pugnacious Snowy-bellied and Blue-chested Hummingbirds and White-necked Jacobins, a single female Sapphire-throated Hummingbird and several Long-billed Hermits. Our first full morning provided a whirlwind of new birds, from White-whiskered Puffbirds and Broad-billed Motmot in the understory, tower-top views Green Shrike-Vireo Masked Tityra, Bright-rumped Atilla and a host of migrant and wintering species from the north. The Ammo Dump Ponds that afternoon produced lots of open-country and marsh birds, including a surprise American Pygmy-Kingfisher, perched Gray-lined Hawk, lots of Wattled Jacanas and a hunting Rufescent Tiger-Heron. On the second day we spent most of our time around the Gamboa resort grounds along the Chagres River, where we enjoyed exceptionally good views of Streak-chested Antpitta and Black-faced Antthrush, as well as an impressively large mixed flock that contained over two dozen species! On another day we were treated to an amazing pair of Crested Owls (a write-in species for the trip) near the bottom of the tower hill.
Pipeline Road was quieter than normal this year, with heavy overcast skies and still conditions making it dark and close in the understory. Nevertheless, we picked up a nice group of birds attending an antswarm, with Spotted Antbird and Black-striped Woodcreepers perhaps being the standouts.
Our daytrip out to the Atlantic coast was excellent as usual with an out-of-range Barred Puffbird, White-tailed, Slaty-tailed and Gartered Violaceus Trogons and well over a hundred species of birds. We did particularly well with wrens, seeing White-headed, Black-bellied, Bay, Isthmian, Song and Southern House over the course of the morning.
Our last day out around the highlands of Cerro Azul revealed a host of tanagers including such gems as Bay-headed, Rufous-winged, Speckled and Golden-hooded as we walked around the roads. The feeders at our lunch stop held a bewildering number of honeycreepers and hummingbirds (10 species) all whirling around in an ever-changing kaleidoscope of colour. And up on Cerro Jefe we lucked into flowering tree that was hosting a half-dozen dazzlingly green Violet-capped Hummingbirds and a male Stripe-cheeked Woodpecker.
We finished the trip on the shores of Panama Bay, with thousands of shorebirds and herons plying the exposed mudflats, with stately Cocoi Herons, a single Wilson’s Plover and adult Roseate Spoonbill likely the standout species. This tour continues to impress me, as the diversity and richness of the region, paired with ease of access and the comforts of the lodge make for a truly wonderful quick getaway.