So up the hill we walked, venturing deeper into Parque Nacional Volcán Baru along the stone strewn path that cut through the dense green forest. The rain was only intermittent at that hour of the morning – a pattern that we would come to notice throughout our stay in Panama from the highlands to the foothills. It became immediately apparent that the advice I had been given by Julie Zickefoose only a few months earlier, to wear boots with ankle support, was advice I did well to heed.
Our quest was the famous Resplendent Quetzal, Pharomachrus mocinno; a bird that if we did not find on this day, we would not be given another opportunity to find during the rest of the trip. The quetzal is not only a prize among bird watchers; it has been a symbolic, almost mythic bird for centuries to those who have lived within its traditional range.
There are two things about birding in the tropics that are nearly overwhelming to the first time visitor: the astonishing variety of bird species in any given location and the seemingly unfathomable level of density of the forests. Prolonged study of the appropriate field guides can help the first-timer somewhat overcome (emphasis on the word “somewhat”) the first of these but for the second there is absolutely no reasonable way to prepare. The number of visual layers present when looking into any given slice of forest at Volcán Baru was seemingly infinite, providing the birds myriad places from which to emerge and just as quickly disappear.
Some, such as the seemingly ubiquitous Mountain Robin, Turdus plebejus, were not particularly troublesome to see despite their drab, shadow-like coloration. Others, such as the Flame-throated Warbler, Parula gutturalis, were next to impossible regardless of a patch of brilliant color that would be thought unable to be overlooked (it took me four appearances of this bird to get a good look at it). Then of course there are the species, nearly mundane to the North American bird watcher, such as Wilson’s Warbler, Wilsonia pusilla, and Acorn Woodpecker, Melanerpes formicivorus, that took on an entirely new appearance in this new environment.
Other bird species seen by the party included:
Spot-crowned Woodcreeper, Lepidocolaptes affinis
Black-cheeked Warbler, Basileuterus melanogenys
Ruddy Treerunner, Margarornis rubiginosus
Yellow-thighed Finch, Pselliophorus tibialis
White-throated Mountain-gem, Lampornis castaneoventris
Magnificent Hummingbird, Eugenes fulgens
Collared Redstart, Myioborus torquatus
Rufous-collared Sparrow, Zonotrichia capensis
Yellow-faced Grassquit, Tiaris olivacea
Dark Pewee, Contopus lugubris
Ruddy Pigeon, Patagioenas subvinacea
Yellow-winged Vireo, Vireo carmioli
The reader will note that the quetzal is missing from this list. This is not to say that the bird was not seen, for it was. A juvenile flew to the uppermost part of a tree just off the trail as we were descending, however despite it being a largish bird, the combination of the dense forest and the brevity of its stay rendered it unviewable to me and I found myself leaving Volcán Baru sans quetzal.
However the day’s adventures we not concluded. It had not begun to rain in earnest yet…
Peace and good bird watching.
Other “members of the expedition” also blogging about the Panama la Verde Birding Circuits trip (one of whom was most certainly not wearing ankle supporting boots):
Bill at Bill of the Birds
Jeff at Jeffery A. Gordon
Mike at Birding to the EDG
