simmojunior
Well-known member
I have just returned from an excellent 17 days in Panama, which was my first overseas trip since Covid. I am not doing a full trip report but wanted to post to recommend two excellent guides we used.
Domiciano Alveo: Domi was outstanding. He guided us for the first 7 days to visit the Darien lowlands, Cerro Azul, Nusagandi and the wonderful San Francisco Reserve. During the week, I saw over 310 species including 3 (!) Harpy Eagles, Wing-banded Antbird, Dusky-backed Jacamar, Choco Screech Owl, Stripe-cheeked Woodpecker and many other spectacular species. A particular highlight was a special morning at Nusagandi, where, with Domi's help, we saw a superb Black-crowned Antpitta, Yellow-eared Toucanet, 2 Sapayoa, Ornate Hawk-Eagle, Tawny-faced Quail, Black-and-yellow Tanager amongst many other great species. Domi knows all calls, is friendly, easy going, a good driver and has expert knowledge of key birding spots. You can contact him:
Jose Perez: We were struggling to find our own birds around Pipeline and El Valle so Domi put us in touch with Jose Perez. Jose is also an excellent guide and we used him one day at El Valle and one day in the pacific lowlands. We gave him a list of 6 difficult target species (White-tipped Sicklebill, Rosy Thrush Tanager, Snowcap, Tody Motmot, Sunbittern and Rufous-vented Ground Cuckoo) and he found us the first 4 of them. We also followed his advice to find a singing Sunbittern on our final evening. The ground-cuckoo will have to wait to a future trip!
You can contact him:
If anyone is interested, my full lists from the trip are on ebird: https://ebird.org/tripreport/33804
Domiciano Alveo: Domi was outstanding. He guided us for the first 7 days to visit the Darien lowlands, Cerro Azul, Nusagandi and the wonderful San Francisco Reserve. During the week, I saw over 310 species including 3 (!) Harpy Eagles, Wing-banded Antbird, Dusky-backed Jacamar, Choco Screech Owl, Stripe-cheeked Woodpecker and many other spectacular species. A particular highlight was a special morning at Nusagandi, where, with Domi's help, we saw a superb Black-crowned Antpitta, Yellow-eared Toucanet, 2 Sapayoa, Ornate Hawk-Eagle, Tawny-faced Quail, Black-and-yellow Tanager amongst many other great species. Domi knows all calls, is friendly, easy going, a good driver and has expert knowledge of key birding spots. You can contact him:
Jose Perez: We were struggling to find our own birds around Pipeline and El Valle so Domi put us in touch with Jose Perez. Jose is also an excellent guide and we used him one day at El Valle and one day in the pacific lowlands. We gave him a list of 6 difficult target species (White-tipped Sicklebill, Rosy Thrush Tanager, Snowcap, Tody Motmot, Sunbittern and Rufous-vented Ground Cuckoo) and he found us the first 4 of them. We also followed his advice to find a singing Sunbittern on our final evening. The ground-cuckoo will have to wait to a future trip!
You can contact him:
If anyone is interested, my full lists from the trip are on ebird: https://ebird.org/tripreport/33804
