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Message: <blockquote data-quote="dwatsonbirder" data-source="post: 2816646" data-attributes="member: 92203">10/07/13 – 15/07/13 Bocas del Toro, PanamaOur first impressions of Panama were not particularly positive: On the Costa Rican side of the Sixaola River was a fairly affluent community and dockyard. Across the river was another story though, as for as far as they eye could see stretched a shanty town. The living conditions for the people opposite were obviously appalling; sewage flowed freely into a dirty river mixing with rubbish and deceased canines, whilst much of the housing was constructed out of corrugated iron.We set off on the hour long transfer across to the archipelago, on the way we saw Brown booby, whilst at the docks tens of Magnificent frigatebirdsfought over scraps with Brown pelican. Whilst we watched this chaotic scene a smaller bird appeared, my first thoughts as it approached was that it may be some kind of gull, but as it approached it transformed into the familiar buoyant shape of an adult Arctic skua. This struck me as odd, given our location and time of year, but here it was, a bird I had seen hundreds of times before in Europe, flapping about with the Pelicans and frigatebirds! This is an extremely rare vagrant to Central America, and is probably the rarest bird I have ever found, though I’d rather swap the skua here for a frigatebird back in Norfolk!Bocas was a really enjoyable leg of our journey, and we even went out drinking one night, with a beer costing less than a dollar, and cocktails costing $3! We also went on a few excursions where we snorkelled and sunbathed. One of our trips took to us to the “world famous” Red frog beach, unfortunately for us however, the beach didn’t look quite so beautiful in the persistent drizzle on the day we visited, but we did see a few new birds: American black tern, Tawny crested tanager, Blue dacnis, White collared seedeater and Tiny hawk.Before we knew it our five nights in Bocas had come to an end, and we boarded a boat at 10am for the mainland. We then headed straight inland from the coast, and up into the mountains aboard a minibus. It took us 6 back breaking hours to reach David on the Pacific side of Panama, but my excitement was tangible. Firstly we were heading for the Cloud Forest and (hopefully) what would be the birding experience of the trip, and secondly after nearly a month we climbed aboard an old American school bus. All I needed now was a new bird and I would be content for the rest of the journey. Looking out of the window, it seemed that today would be my lucky day, as Crested caracara and Swallow tailed kite appeared in quick succession.We arrived around 6pm and checked into out hostel for the evening, as we handed over our passports another new bird hopped down into a nearby bush to welcome us – Rufous collared sparrow – and our owner offered us a cool beer. We relaxed for a while, and he invited us to play poker with him. We politely declined as we had an early start the next day and we were very tired. The scenery on the way up to Boquete was sublime, and I had astronomical hopes for our time in this area. Would it deliver? 16/07/13Boquete, PanamaThis was it, the big day of the trip (for me at least!), Kathi had very kindly hired John Tornblum of Boquete Custom Tours and we had a full day’s guided birding in the cloud forest ahead of us. Or at least we would have done if we hadn’t have been locked in our hostel. The owner (who had been up playing poker and being generally loud and obnoxious the night before) had closed a one way door in a drunken stupor the night before and we were now trapped inside. After being kept awake for much of the night despite telling the owner we had an early start AND asking him to keep the noise down three times, I was already in a less than chirpy mood. Our situation was not only a serious breach of fire regulation law; it also had the effect of transforming me from a mild mannered scruffy guy from Norfolk into the most enraged man in Western Panama. Outside I could see John’s car, but despite shouting out of the window he couldn’t hear me. It was now 07:20, twenty minutes later than we had arranged to meet. At this point I sort of blacked out. Kathi said that I kicked the door so hard not only did the lower part of the door split, but the doorframe actually moved releasing a fine stream of cement dust onto the floor. My birthday had been ruined by a drunken Canadian, a day before it was actually my birthday! I am still a bit fuzzy on what actually happened but apparently my “upset” had attracted the attention of a member of staff who let us out and didn’t even mention the structural damage out of pure fear. For those of you reading who don’t know me I look a bit like an unshaven Harry Potter, quite the terrifying prospect!I felt very embarrassed not only of Kathi having to see me like this, but also of them fact that poor John had been sat outside for half an hour. As we greeted him, all the mornings’ events faded away. John is a great chap, with a soothing nature and a dry sense of humour, he told me not to worry, and that the Quetzal’s would have long gone. He winked. Today was going to be great.We climbed up into the mountains, and higher still until we reached a bridge that lead to a track through the cloud-forest. We had our first birds even before John had turned off the engine, with his sharp eyesight picking out Silvery throatedand Common bush tanager’s in some bushes in front of the vehicle. Immediately out of the car, a hummer appeared at some flowers to our left, its glossy purple plumage and down-curved bill could mean it was only one species: Violet sabrewing a real stunner, which zipped off into the forest as quickly as it had appeared from it. John led us over the bridge and straight into the action, the vegetation was alive with birds. More Silvery throated tanagers were flicking around, and mixed in with the group was Prong billed barbet and a Woodcreepersp. that disappeared before we could get a clear view. John drew our attention to a sooty coloured passerine with a black mask and bright orange beak – Black faced solitaire – what a beauty! Next up were several hummingbird, each more spectacular than the last. A Bee hummingbird sp. zipped around us calling, but didn’t settle long enough to be pinned down. Its minute proportions were smaller than some of the wasps we had encountered! Up next was Purple mountain gem which not only has the eponymous purple throat, but a turquoise cap complementing its green plumage and white eyestripe. A White throated mountain gem also put in an appearance, but all of the above were outdone by the White crested coquete, which was one of my target species. On any other day this would easily have been bird of the week, but the day was still young. In between all of these miniature hyperactive beauties we also saw Slate throated and Collared redstarts, Yellow thighed finch, Tufted and Yellowish flycatchers, Black billed nightingale-thrush and Sulphur winged parrot.The next bird we saw was “the Holy Grail” bird for me. Whilst watching the hummers, Kathi and John saw an unmistakable flash of metallic green and vivid red fly over; “QUETZAL” they both called in excited tones. Sadly I missed this initial sighting (a female), but John told me not to worry, and that good things will come to the patient. Walking slowly back down towards the car for breakfast I suddenly saw a bright green a red bird, roughly the size of a woodpigeon flying towards me. This could only be one bird, and for the second time today I exploded and the valley was filled with the worst language uttered since that last time Jim Davidson did stand-up (minus the racist bigotry!). To my amazement here in real life and Technicolor was a male Resplendent Quetzal. Such a name and such a bird I will write it again. Resplendent Quetzal.Even more amazing than seeing this bird however, was the fact that this otherworldly creature perched up less than 5 metres from us, despite my loud, unrefined English vernacular. I enjoyed scope filling views and even managed some half decent shots, but this was too much for me, and tears welled up for the second time today as I thanked John and Kathi for sharing this experience with me.If you have not seen an image of this bird before I suggest you check it out, but I warn you that if you do, I won’t be responsible when you find yourself booking a trip to Panama the very next moment. This really was one of those moments that transcend bird watching, and it becomes a moment where you marvel at the pure beauty of this creature, clinging on high up in pristine remnants of forest in the roof of the world and you almost feel unworthy to be observing this bird as you are part of a species responsible for the decline of not only this bird, but many others across the globe.Back to the other birds, and atop a tree we saw a stonking Black thighed grosbeak, a vision of black and gold, with an outrageous bill. A Mountain robin sulked in vegetation along the path, as did a Southern Nightingale-wren. A pair of Hairy woodpecker shot across the footpath, whilst a Spangle cheeked tanager joined a group of Common bush tanagers. This was another stunning species, with a black mantle, face and throat, purple wings, green rump, an orange-red mark on its crown, red underparts and fine white “spangling” on its cheeks. New birds came thick and fast; Golden browed chlorophonia - which looked every bit as impressive as its name sounded - Yellow bellied siskin, Brown capped vireo, Golden bellied flycatcher and Chestnut capped nightingale-thrush all vied for our attention as we headed back to the car. We stopped and had lunch sitting on some rocks next to a fast flowing stream; more birds appeared with American dipper and Torrent tyrannuletdipping and flycatching respectively from rocks mid-river.Our next bird was to be a real toughie, and sadly it was our only dip of the whole trip. We climbed ever higher into the cloud forest until we reached a rangers station. Here John hopped out to get some gen whilst we birded the car. Whilst I was straining the greens, Kathi saw a green hummer with a really long bill –Green fronted lancebill. Sadly for me this species didn’t reappear, though I was happy enough to find a pair of Acorn woodpecker by means of consolation. John reappeared, but with more bad news, apparently our target bird – Three wattled bellbird – hadn’t been seen for a couple of days due to a higher than usual number of hikers in a regular area for the bird. It was a shame to miss out on this unique bird, but I didn’t want to get greedy after the Quetzal-fest earlier, and besides it’s another reason to return in the future.As we descended back down the volcano, John picked out a green flash in a tree across the road – we surely couldn’t be this lucky could we?! A quick scan revealed that the birding gods were smiling down on us today as a female Quetzal had landed in a tree just 5 metres away. We crept forward in our 4x4 until we were some 6 feet away and just took the bird in. Kathi leaned forward and whispered in my ear “does a female usually have such a long tail?” and it was at that point we realised that there was a pair in this tree, this was unbelievable! We watched the birds for about 10 minutes, taking as many photos as we dare, before we carefully pulled away to let them continue going about their business.Magic.Our next port of call was to be another site where John said we could find Bellbird and Flame throated warbler, but sadly we never made it there as a seal on the cooling system popped and the car ground to a halt. John was understandably upset, but I really didn’t mind as I was in birding heaven, and having seen no less than seven Quetzal nothing was going to dampen my mood. Whilst we waited for the replacement car to arrive I scanned the coffee plantations and located White winged tanager, Lesser goldfinch and Yellow faced grassquit. By the time the replacement vehicle had arrived we were feeling rather tired and decided to call it a day, there was no way we would top the Quetzal. We went back and freshened up and then went for a fantastic meal and a few drinks to celebrate. What a day.</blockquote>

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