Posts in Category: Panama

Scarlet-rumped Cacique

Scarlet-rumped Cacique: Canopy Tower, Panama, July 2022 — The Scarlet-rumped Caciques visited the Tower every day…though catching a look at the scarlet rump was not easy. Caciques are members of the same family as orioles and oropendolas. I was told in the Amazon that the name means “Indian Chief” or “king”, and a brief search on Google this morning confirms that. Sony Rx10iv at 500mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 800, 1000, and 1250. f4 @ 1/500th.

Slaty-tailed Trogon

Slaty-tailed Trogon: Gamboa, Panama, July 2022 — On our walk near the Gamboa Sloth Santuary, Igua and I found a pair of Slaty-tailed Trogons along the road. We saw the female (without the eye-ring) on the way in and the way out, and the male on the way out. Panama has 10 species of Trogons, including the Resplendent Quetzal. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Male ISO 800 @ f4 @ 1/500th. Female ISO 1000 @ f4 @ 1/500th, plus 1EV exposure compensation.

Antbirds

White-bellied Antbird, Chestnut-backed Antbird: Gamboa, Panama, July 2022 — There are 11 species of Antbirds in Panama. We saw two of them, the White-bellied Antbird and the Chestnut-backed Antbird, working the shrubs at the edge of the same brushy field near the Gamboa Rainforest Resort. Two in our group were visiting the the Gamboa Sloth Sanctuary, while Igua, our guide for several days at the Canopy Tower, and I walked some trails near the Sanctuary looking for whatever we could find. 🙂 The light was not great, and these are more or less for-the-record shots, but interesting birds none-the-less. Sony Rx10iv at 600 and 580mm. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications and multi-frame noise reduction. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. Nominal exposures: White-bellied at ISO 2000 and 2500 @ f4 @ 1/500th. Chestnut-backed at ISO 6400 @ f4 @ 1/60th.

Black and White Owl

Black and White Owl: Gamboa, Panama, July 2022 — This is a companion shot to the one I shared on International Owl Awareness Day a few days ago. Wikipedia says the Back and White Owl is “not afraid of living near human habitations” and my experience of them certainly bears that out…the only one’s I have ever seen were in a city park in Honduras, and this one in a semi-abandoned housing development on the old base at Gamboa, Panama. In this shot the bird seems to be “looking down it’s nose” (or beak as it may be) at me. 🙂 Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications with multi-frame noise reduction. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. Nominal exposure: ISO 1600 @ f4 @ 1/500th. Plus .7EV exposure compensation.

Cinnamon Woodpecker

Cinnamon Woodpecker: Canopy Tower, Panama, July 2022 — Among the most frequent visitors in the canopy around the Canopy Tower is the Cinnamon Woodpecker. It was always in the area, and always visible from the observation deck, working the tree tops. During my 5 days at the Tower, we only saw females, but I am sure the males were around. In North America we are used to our woodpeckers in basic black and white, with a maybe a touch of red, so the Cinnamon is a striking bird. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm and 500mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. The photos were taken on two different mornings in differing light. ISO 2000 and 640 @ f4 @ 1/500th. Plus 1 and .7 EV exposure compensation.

Bird for today: Blue Cotinga!

Blue Cotinga: Canopy Tower, Panama, July 2022 — One of the most sought after birds of any visit to the Canopy Tower (or elsewhere in Panama) is the Blue Cotinga. It features in the Canopy Family logos, on their tee-shirts, and on the covers of their publications. If you look at the range maps, the Blue Cotinga has a very limited range, from Central Panama down along the lowlands of the extreme northwest corner of South America in both directions. I forget, between Cotinga sightings, just how big many Cotingas are. They are certainly much closer to the size of a Crow than they are to a Tanager. When I was at the Tower, the male had not been seen for several weeks, and it visited us only for a few moments one morning before the mist at canopy level had burned off. Still, it eventually came in close enough to the observation deck around the old radar dome at the top of the tower for a few good shots. The Blue makes my 3rd Cotinga: Lovely in Honduras, Snowy in both Costa Rica and Panama (north-east Panama in Bocas del Toro), and the Blue at Canopy Tower (and that is not counting the Fruiteaters, Fruitcrows, Cock-of-the-rocks, and umbrella birds I have seen, which are also members of the 66 speices family of Cotingas). Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 400 @ f4 @ 1/500th. Plus 1EV exposure compensation.

Night Monkey!

Panamanian Night Monkey: Canopy Tower, Panama, July 2022 — On a good night, the Night Monkeys also come to the bananas the kitchen staff put out at the Canopy Tower. They will not come if the Kinkajou or Olinguito is there, as both are more aggressive (and larger as well). They are very active, so photography is difficult, and they don’t come every night, so these are my best shots. Sony Rx10iv at 573mm and 247mm equivalents. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications and multi-frome noise reduction. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. Nominal exposures ISO 6400 =@ f4 @ 1/160th.

Kinkajou

Kinkajou: Canopy Tower, Panama, July 2022 — The kitchen staff at the Canopy Tower have a little pulley system that allows them to run bananas out to a tree at eye-level from the third floor dinning hall, just below the canopy. During the day they attract a couple of families of Geoffroy’s Tamarins…smallish monkeys of the rainforest. After dark they hope to attract Olinguitos and Night Monkeys, as well as the Kinkajou. The Kinkajou is somewhat related to raccoons, but with a long prehensile tail. I have mostly seen Kinkajous as reflections of the eyes high in the canopy of Honduras and Costa Rica, so it was a real treat to see them at eye-level in light of our powerful flashlights. Sony Rx10iv at 214mm equivalent (the tree is close). Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications and multi-frame noise reduction. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. Nominal exposure ISO 6400 # f4 @ 1/200th and 1/60th.

Whooping Motmot

Whooping Motmot: Rainforest Discovery Center, Pipeline Road, Panama, July 2022 — Once upon a time, not so long ago (certainly when I first visited Central America) there was a bird called the Blue-crowned Motmot that had an extensive range from Mexico south through all of Central America and down the southern reaches of the Amazon basin, from lowland rainforest to the highlands of the Andes. Then in 2014 a study was published suggesting that the Blue-Crowned Motmot was actually 5 different species, with several dozen subspecies among them. The split became official in 2016, when it was recognized by the American Ornithological Union. (The Motmots had already been split a few times before that.) It appears that motmots have difficulty crossing any kind of substantial water barrier…lake or even major river…and this contributes to the fragmentation of the motmot complex into isolated populations, sub-species, and species. If our guide had not been there to correct me, I would have called this bird, which hopped out into the road where we were stopped by a mixed feeding flock on our way back from the Rainforest Discovery Center, before we got to Pipeline Road, a Lesson’s Motmot, which I have seen in Honduras, Costa Rica, and far north-western Panama (though on the Caribbean side). At first look, there is very little to distinguish it as a separate species. It is, however, at least east of the Canal in Panama, a Whooping Motmot. The Whooping Motmot ranges from eastern Panama down through northern Columbia and just into Venezuela, with an isolated population in lowland Equator and Peru west of the Andes. (Yes, that is strange, but that is the motmot mess in a nut-shell.) Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications and multi-frame noise reduction. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. Nominal exposure: ISO 5000 @ f4 @ 1/500th. Plus .7EV exposure compensation.

Blue-chested Hummingbird

Blue-chested Hummingbird: Rainforest Discovery Center, Pipeline Road, Panama, July 2022 — there were Blue-chested Hummingbirds coming to the feeders at the base of the Canopy Tower, so, even though it was a new hummer for me this trip, I was not surprised to see it at the Rainforest Discovery Center on Pipeline Road. They seem to be relatively abundant, and among the more aggressive defenders of feeders. And, they seem to have favored perches where they return time and time again. This one was determined that I get its “best side” in the photo while it did its display. Sony Rx10iv at 567mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications and multi-frame noise reduction. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. Nominal exposure: ISO 6400 @ f4 @ 1/200th. Plus .7EV exposure compensation.