When I was asked if I would like to join a trip to Panama, the answer was quite simple, when do we go. I left the UK with my good friend Steve Cale, from Norwich to Amsterdam on 14th October 2024. We met up with the rest of the crew in Amsterdam and arrived in Panama late afternoon on 14th. The trip was organised by Steve through Birding Panama who did an amazing job of sorting out all the logistics, and stepping in when one of our buddies flight plans went skew-wiff.
After meeting up with Jose from Birding Panama and settling in at our hotel, we spent the rest of the day taking things easy ready for the big trip to the Darien on 15th. Between 15th and 31st October we visited over 30 sites, all the top locations right across Panama. Full details of the trip are far to extensive so I’m hooking up the LINK to my Panama Gallery on FLICKR where you can get a taste of what we saw. Highlights – had to be stunning views of Harpy Eagle on the nest with a very young chick, many species of Hummingbird, Trogons, Motmots, North American wood warblers, Tanagers and so much more. But for me the star birds apart from Harpy Eagle were Ocelated Ant-bird, Black-crowned Antpitta, Streak-chested Antpitta, Spot-crowned Antvireo and Ruddy-capped Nightingale Thrush. I saw 492 species during the trip. – Please go to this LINK – https://www.flickr.com/photos/spinney_birder/albums/72177720321855268/
