Thursday, November 17, 2011

SWF>>>>Birding Panama

For my Skywatch Friday post I have some photos of our visit to Panama's Rainforest Discovery Center. Hubby and I arrived in Panama a day early so we could take a guided bird tour on the famous Pipeline Rd. Our guide Justo of Just Adventures was wonderful and of course I saw a lot of new Panama birds.

We woke up early on a cloudy Saturday morning to meet our guide at 6am Justo was taking us to see the Discovery Center's tower our first stop for birding. So you could see the tower we climbed up to get a birds eye view, I scanned a copy of the photo from THE VISITOR newspaper. We were lucky it was only cloudy,  it is their rainy season.


Hubby was happy to be above the tree line looking at the rainforest below us and I was excited to see some new birds. At the top of the tower we were almost in the clouds, we did manage to find a Bat Falcon and a Black Vulture perched in a tree together. Also, we watched a woodpecker fly away, it was either the Linneated or the Crimson-chested. they both remind me of the Pileated Woodie I see at home. We could  hear the Howler monkeys in the distance.







Above, an awful capture of my lifer the Bat Falcon.



A lot of winding steps up but it was well worth the climb to see the view at the top of this tower.


We were always looking up and this time we saw the Capuchin monkey and we also saw a sloth.


The boardwalk trail leading to the Canopy Tower

Hubby is always amazed and says it is my luck that the skies usually turn out for the better while we are on vacation. I was happy to see the skies turn blue while out on our birding walk.


Back down on the trail, we saw another one of my lifers the White Whiskered Puffbird.

During the week of our vacation in Panama I saw at least 63 species of birds. I have not counted up all my lifers yet but I am sure I saw many new birds. But, a few were some of the same birds I saw in Costa Rica.

I hope you enjoyed my Panama Skywatch Friday post and to see more please click on the link.

Thanks to the hosting group at Skywatch Friday : Sylvia, Wren, Sandy and Fishing Guy.
Also, thank for visiting my blog and post. I always appreciate the visits and comments.
Have a great weekend and Happy Birding!!!

51 comments:

Carver said...

What a wonderfully diverse place to view nature. Great shots.

rainfield61 said...

The Capuchin monkey is more handsome than the monkey I can see here.

grammie g said...

Hi Eileen...What a great trip and opportunity you all had to see this amazing place...I love that Puffbird : }!!
I want to tell you though..you would not get me up on that tower..I would have froze right on the frist step...lol..I don.t do height well! ; }

Lovely photos of a intriquing place !!

Grace

Anonymous said...

What a wonderful adventure you've been on!

TexWisGirl said...

what a cool experience! that tower looks like a great place to bird and skywatch!

Jen Sanford said...

Oh wowzer, what an awesome place! That tower is cool but I'd be a little nervous up there. Maybe the birds would distract me. Love the monkey and the puffbird!

936000 said...

Wow!

Phil Slade said...

White Whiskered Puffbird! Wow that's some name Eileen. Looks like a great place to go when the sun is out and the clouds high but even with a bit a cloud it must have been a wonderful experience.

Rajesh said...

Beautiful shots of scenic place.You have got click of the bird on your way down.

Bob Bushell said...

You can watch everything from that tower, and the Puffbird, it is fantastic.

Karen said...

Oh wow, what a fabulous adventure! Thanks for sharing.

VALKYRIEN said...

What an interesting place! Looks like you had some different weather, fog and sunny! Love the little monkey - cute!

Joyful said...

Beautiful photos. What a wonderful travel experience.

Steffi said...

Wow...cool photos Eileen!

Unknown said...

Wow that last one is a beauty!! Boom & Gary of the Vermilon River, Canada.

EG CameraGirl said...

You do go to wonderful exotic places, Eileen! Glad you bring back plenty of photos for us to enjoy.

Quiet Paths said...

Thank you for sharing some of your wonderful trip. It's such a lush landscape. The birds are amazing. So glad the sky cleared up for you.

Anonymous said...

Hi Eileen, How wonderful! I love the picture of that monkey. I also think that the White Whiskered Puffbird is quite lovely. Have a great evening!

Martha Z said...

What a wonderful experience. I'd love to take a trip in the rainforest canopy.

Ebie said...

I love your adventure to different countries. Places I don't get to see pictures so often. You now have a nice collection of bird photos.

Anonymous said...

what an incredible experience. love to see above the tree line.

NatureFootstep said...

we were at that center but had no time to visit the tower. At that place I saw the biggest damselfly I´ve ever seen. And I didn´t get a shot. I was so surprized I even forgot my camera. :)

LifeRamblings said...

that must have been a wonderful adventure. i enjoy your photos. thanks for sharing.

Sylvia K said...

What a fabulous trip, Eileen! And what a beautiful place! Your photos are superb as always!! Thanks for sharing the beauty! Hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Sylvia

Laura said...

Wow Eileen, it must have been an amazing trip! Your photos are beautiful.

joo said...

What a fascinating place Eileen!
Happy SWF:)

Al said...

Great shots. I'd love to climb that tower!

Kay L. Davies said...

Climbing up to the sky for SkyWatch Friday! Bravo for you, climbing that tower.
I'm afraid of heights, and no number of bat falcons could have dragged me up there, but if someone promised me a sloth at the top, I might think about it. How wonderful you saw a sloth in the wild. As you probably remember from Costa Rica, they're not easy to find. Of course, once you've found them, they don't exactly run away, do they?
Thanks for sharing Panama with us.

Kay, Alberta, Canada
An Unfittie’s Guide to Adventurous Travel

Debbie said...

looks like an amazing trip, and a wonderful adventure!!

i'll bet that view is incredible!!

Living In Williamsburg Virginia said...

What a fantastic series of photos. This must have been a great trip.

Darryl and Ruth :)

Jim said...

Interesting discovery centre platform.
Sydney - City and Suburbs

Chubskulit Rose said...

Thanks for sharing these beautiful images of your trip Eileen!

Stewart M said...

Hi - what a great looking place - I think the tree tops walks are always worth doing - esp. if you can get up there early in the morning.

Cheers - Stewart M - Australia

Thomas Lee said...

Nice capture,lots of wildlife.

My SWF

magiceye said...

that was lovely!

Diane AZ said...

How wonderful to view the rainforest from the tower. I love the lush vegetation, the monkey and the puffbird. Thanks for sharing your travel photos!

Kim, USA said...

A perfect place for birding. I like that tower it looks safe and people can't distract animals and other creatures because they have one place to stay. Awesome!

SWF

forgetmenot said...

I have been to Costa Rica but would love to go to Panama- thanks for the "mini" tour. A sloth, a capuchin monkey, and tons of birds--how could it get any better!!!! What a great trip. Have a lovely weekend. Mickie ;)

Francisca said...

What an exhilarating trip this must have been for the two of you! 63 bird species in one week! That's almost ten a day! Sweet capture, the Puffbird. I relate to having the luck of good weather... I seem to have it too, knock on wood!

Ms. Becky said...

these photos take my breath away. my fear of heights would ensure that the trip up to the top of that tower would be a white knuckle one. but so worth it. such an exotic place you travel to. I love the Puffbird. great shots all Eileen. happy weekend to you.

Tania said...

Wonderful green place and what a cute little monkey.
Great post:-)

The French Hutch said...

Hi Eileen, What an amazing trip this must have been. I love nature shots and your photographs are beautiful. I love the rainforest shots and wow, the tower. Great post.
Happy Thanksgiving.

~Emily
The French Hutch

DeniseinVA said...

What a neat trip Eileen. Your photos are awesome and I am looking forward to catching up on the others.

Thanks for stopping by. Unfortunately the Raptor Conservancy is not open to visitors. That was the first thing I asked :(

Ann, Chen Jie Xue 陈洁雪 said...

That Tower is so interesting. For promotional purposes, out Yellow pages built a tree top restaurant.

Lew said...

Quite a climb to see the birds in the tree tops! Looks like it was a fun trip!

Irene said...

Lovely shots, Eileen! A perfect place for birdwatching. Still grey and foggy around here, so I guess I will catch up with the housework instead of hiking with my camera :)

Wish you a great weekend!

Irene, Norway

Kilauea Poetry said...

I left your site open to go make breakfast (lol)..well what I wanted to say was your header is lovely and this exotic trip you two took is just too cool! I'm off the page but wondered if that pretty orange bird posing is the puff with the white whiskers? Your good at remembering all those names! That tower is spooky but I'd still have to get up there! Anyway, a great share..love the monkey's and the that photo of your bird made a nice silhouette!

fergiesfabfotos said...

Hi there! You have some great photos and obviously some great memories too. I thought you might be interested in a bird blog I have recently started on the birds I have had the pleasure to and photograph around the area where I live.
My email is:
ken@fergiesfabfotos.com.au

Sallie (FullTime-Life) said...

fab uous trip -- I'm coming back to look again when we get settled down for a while -- out of time this morning@ I know what you meant when you said "awful capture", but in my opionion you could spell that word AWE-FULL and it would definitely describe the whole post. I know I am in AWE!

Anonymous said...

Lovely shots of bird and monkey.

~Cheryl said...

I would get up at 6 just to climb that tower! How amazing.

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