Sunrise out our window on the third day of our trip to Canopy Tower, Panama

Blue-headed Parrots in the distance
Seen from the deck at Canopy Tower, Panama, before breakfast

Barbara, Kannan and Mia pose for a sunrise photo
on the deck of Canopy Tower, Panama

Adult light Short-tailed Hawk
flying over Canopy Tower, Panama

Our main guides, Carlos and Alex
on the deck at Canopy Tower, Panama

Male Green Honeycreeper
eating Cecropia seed pods off the Canopy Tower deck

Male Green Honeycreeper

Kannan took this photo of the group headed down Semaphore Road
L back to front: Bob, Argie, Paul, Debbie, Mia, Larry, David, Steve
R back to front: Sara, Bob, Cindy, Bill, Jim, Mary, Kirti, Jane

A look at the forest canopy overhead

A big palm beside the road

Along Semaphore Road, Carlos points out a bird while the group tries to catch a glimpse of it: Steve, Carlos, Kannan, Larry; Jim and Cindy behind; Alex, Bill, David, Kirti, Paul, Debbie

There must be a bird in there somewhere.

Black cup-shaped fungi

An interesting insect nymph

Our group on Plantation Road on the trail of the next bird

Kannan stomped above a large leaf-cutter ant mound to call out the larger guard ants.

Yellow flower

Black-throated Trogon

Black-throated Trogon

Crimson-crested Woodpecker

Crimson-crested Woodpecker
Small black and white patch on side of head

Black-breasted Puffbird

Black-breasted Puffbird

Black-breasted Puffbird

Sign along the steep and winding Semaphore Road to Canopy Tower

Entrance to Stingless Bee nest
Stingless Bees have built a nest in a concrete bridge abutment.

They built another nest in an embankment across the road.

Broad-billed Motmot
No rufous feathers below breast

Kannan went off the road to show us this Chestnut-headed Oropendola
but it was very shy

Back and tail of the Chestnut-headed Oropendola

Another blurry view of the Chestnut-headed Oropendola

And one more

Back out on the road, Jane was looking for the source
of some fallen flowers and found them on this vine.

Close-up of one of the flowers

Fallen vine flowers

We crossed this stream on Semaphore Hill Road.

Possible young male Checker-throated Antbird

Possible young male Checker-throated Antbird

Male Spotted Antbird

Male Spotted Antbird

Damselfly

Damselfly

"During the construction of the canal, a three mile improved road was constructed from the town of Empire to the Las Cascades plantation. This was the first paved road in the interior of Panama. This trail is the remnant of the Plantation road and along it you may still find remnant cacoa, rubber trees and coffee plants."

"Usted esta aqui." A map of Plantation Road and Semaphore Road in Soberania National Park, Panama

Map of Soberania National Park, Panama
on our path along Plantation Road

An invitation to walk the Plantation Road.

Jane, Mia, Alex, Carlos, Jim, Larry, Cindy, Sara, Bill, Argie, Paul, Debbie

Gray-headed Kite in the trees above us

Gray-headed Kite

Toadstool

Leaf-cutter Ant

More of those little toadstools

Close-up of the toadstools

Robber fly alongside the trail

Curious cut leaf pattern, unlike what we saw Leaf-cutter Ants doing

Plain Brown Woodcreeper

Male White-whiskered Puffbird

Back of the male White-whiskered Puffbird

Female and male White-whiskered Puffbirds

Female and male White-whiskered Puffbirds

Slate-colored Grosbeak

Slate-colored Grosbeak

Back view of the Black-tailed Trogon

Black-tailed Trogon

Front view of Black-tailed Trogon
White stripe distinguishes it from Slate-tailed

Roseate dragonfly

Roseate dragonfly

Helicopter damselfly
It takes spiders or their prey from spider webs

Helicopter damselfly at rest

One Leaf-cutter Ant going against the flow of Army Ants
Our guides noticed a lot of bird activity at the side of the road
as we returned to Canopy Tower, then noticed the wide trail of ants roadside.
The birds were eating ants and other insects stirred up by the ants.

Black-headed Tody-flycatcher
from the deck of Canopy Tower

Black-headed Tody-flycatcher

Black-headed Tody-flycatcher

Northern Barred Woodcreeper

White-whiskered Antbird

what is this bird???

Spotted Antbird?

Back at Canopy Tower, we found this little Stripe-throated Hermit at the feeder.

In the afternoon, we rode into Gamboa and found these Fork-tailed Flycatchers in an overgrown soccer field.

Fork-tailed Flycatcher, Gamboa, Panama

Fork-tailed Flycatcher at a soccer net

Fork-tailed Flycatcher perched on a soccer net, Gamboa, Panama

We went to the Canopy B & B where our guides put bananas on feeders.
Plain-colored and Palm Tanagers were among the many birds drawn in.

Orange-chinned Parakeet eating a banana, Gamboa, Panama

Orange-chinned Parakeets, Plain-colored and Palm Tanagers

Blue-gray Tanager waiting for a place at the table.

Orange-chinned Parakeets with a Clay-colored Thrush and Palm Tanager in the background

Orange-chinned Parakeets

Male Crimson-backed Tanager

Six Palm Tanagers and one Blue-Gray

Orange-chinned Parakeet, Blue-gray Tanager and Palm Tanager

Crimson-backed Tanager

Rufous-tailed Hummingbird, Canopy B & B, Gamboa, Panama

Front view of Rufous-tailed Hummingbird

Four kinds of tanager
Blue-gray, Palm, Plain-colored, Crimson-backed

Blue-Gray, Palm, Plain-colored and Crimson-backed Tanagers

The Blue-Gray Tanagers manage a momentary coup.

Blue-gray Tanagers, Canopy B & B, Gamboa, Panama

Rufous-tailed Hummingbird

Flowering tree across the street from Canopy B & B

Iguana in a tree at the parking area at Gamboa resort

House Wren scurrying into the undergrowth near one of the buildings.

Crimson-backed Tanagers and a flycatcher bathing and drinking at a puddle in the gravel road.

Pale-vented Pigeon

Tropical Mockingbird

Male Red-legged Honeycreeper

Male Ruddy Ground Dove

Male Ruddy Ground Dove

Yellow Warbler at the bathing pool

Female Flame-rumped Tanager
in the deep evening shade above a feeder with bananas

Back out in the sun at the edge of the lake,
we found some Wattled Jacanas wading.

Wattled Jacanas at the edge of the lake at a Gamboa resort

Wattled Jacana

Wattled Jacana

Blue-gray, Palm and two female Flame-rumped Tanagers at a feeder

Male Flame-Rumped Tanager

Female and Male Flame-rumped Tanagers

Male Crimson-backed Tanager

Common Tody-flycatcher

??? sturdy bill, yellow-green color above

???

Common Tody-flycatcher

Female Flame-rumped Tanager

Keel-billed Toucan
Mary and others also saw the Chestnut-mandibled Toucan here.

Little Blue Heron wading in marshy water

Adult Rufescent Tiger-Heron
We were walking along a path near the edge of reed-filled water.

Adult Rufescent Tiger-Heron

Immature Rufescent Tiger-Heron
Just a short distance farther down the path, we saw this young bird.

Immature Rufescent Tiger-Heron

Is this a Buff-breasted Wren???

Parrots flying over

Buff-breasted Wren???

First glimpse of the Collared Aracari

I kept moving around and the Collared Aracari finally turned around.

We left the area with individual buildings a drove along a road that took us between the Gamboa resort condominiums above and these Capybaras below. Can you see the two birds?

The Yellow-headed Caracara flew onto the back of the Capybara, apparently to eat insects off its back.

Yellow-headed Caracara sitting on a Capybara lying on its side.

Caracara and Capybaras with a Purple Gallinule in the background
A second Caracara flew in and the group started Seussian rhymes about
"a pair of caracaras and a bunch of capybaras."

A birdy tree next to us by the road contained this Golden-hooded Tanager,
though it was too dark by then to do its colors justice.

Also in the tree, this Yellow Warbler

Back to the Capybaras and Yellow-headed Caracara

Two males and a female Red-legged Honeycreepers were also in the tree at Gamboa resort.

And the Yellow Warbler again

Tropical Kingbird in the same tree at Gamboa resort

Female Red-legged Honeycreeper
Singing in the tree below the Gamboa resort where we saw Capybaras

We stopped before getting onto the highway to go back through Gamboa to Canopy Tower and spotted several birds soaring overhead, including this hawk.

Snail Kite
If you look closely, you can see its hooked bill.