Before birding Veraguas these are the locations we enjoyed.
INTRODUCTION TO BIRDING VERAGUAS
The time had arrived to fly the nest. No more will we wake up and walk to a table where the coffee is ready and a hot breakfast is placed in front of you, ditto for lunch and dinner. No more will we be escorted to the best birding locations that years of local knowledge have uncovered. No more will we follow the top guides in Panama around that hear and track down every little tweet in the jungle and provide 100% confidence in the identification of the birds that we see. Those days are over. It is time for Birding Veraguas!
To be clear, having a guide in places where you are unfamiliar with the avifauna is essential. To also be clear, I am not a person that gets much satisfaction to adding a bird to my list that I did not personally identify. Sounds are not my strength, but I feel pretty good about my visuals, field marks, habitat, behaviors. I study hard before a trip. If a bird is called out by the guide on sound, I always check my app and confirm the sound. If a bird is called out by the guide that is visible and my look at it was poor and insufficient for my identification, it does not go on my list.
So it was that we said our goodbyes to the Canopy Lodge and were dropped off at the bus station in Penonomé. We boarded a large and comfortable bus and headed to Santiago for birding Veraguas province.
THE HIGHS OF BIRDING VERAGUAS, High Altitude
Arriving at Santiago, it was time to eat and find a rental car for the trip up to Santa Fé de Veraguas. The cafeteria style meal at the bus station gave me a small victory in the war against endless price escalation. I believe it was $3.25 for two pieces of baked chicken, rice and beans, lettuce and a tomato slice on a paper plate with plastic utensils and a napkin. I was thinking that if Santa Fé wasn’t an hour away, I would eat every dinner there.
I went for the rental car and returned to pick up Mirka and our luggage and we headed up the slopes to bird Santa Fé de Veraguas. The road to Santa Fé is notoriously poorly maintained. The blacktop has random potholes, some quite large, with potential to damage a little compact car like ours. To me this was the biggest risk. There are also a few sections where there is no blacktop, and the going is slow and rough.
COFFEE MOUNTAIN INN
What a great name! It just lures you in. Will it live up to its name, Coffee Mountain Inn?
We selected this location for two reasons. It was where the Canopy Family guides had stayed for there outing a week before and it was on the outskirts of town so the birding around the inn should be good. Price was not a consideration. This was the most expensive place in Santa Fé de Veraguas at $100 per night.
The accommodations were very nice, and the price of the room includes a breakfast served at the room on the private porch. Unfortunately, this breakfast is served precisely at 7:30am, which generally, does not fit the schedule when birding Veraguas. I must mention the following because I found it to be so strange. The lady who owns the inn with her husband (partner?) does not exhibit the personality that you would expect an inn keeper to exhibit. What traits might you expect from an inn keeper? Friendly, approachable, attentive, smiling, engaging. Nope, not here. Let’s just say, dryer than the Sahara.
After getting checked in, I wanted to walk around the property a little and see what was there. There were eBird reports indicating that the Ferruginous Pygmy Owl was somewhat common in the area. To my delight, it did not take long for me to hear this bird. In an hour of walking around the property I logged 17 birds. At one point, I noticed the owl sitting in the open on a lower limb right in front of me. I had no camera, and it was gone when I returned with it. Opportunity lost!
TWO DAYS WITHOUT A GUIDE
The next morning, we ate our breakfast on the porch and enjoyed the view across the Veraguas meadow before heading out for some birding Veraguas style. First stop on the agenda, Cascada de Piedras trail. It was a beautiful jungle hike leading to a lovely stream with waterfalls. The birding along this trail was fantastic. It was at this location that I got both Eastern and Western Wood-Pewees together. These birds are mostly indistinguishable from each other except by vocalizations. They migrate from North America where they have little range overlap, but in Central America, they are all mixed up after their southerly journey and you need to hear them to know the difference.
PEWEE STORY
There are 15 members of the genus, Contopus, which are Pewees. Most are non-migratory, and many are range restricted and endemic to their local, for example, Cuban Pewee, Hispaniola Pewee and Jamaica Pewee. There are five Pewee’s that are found in Panama. Add Northern Tropical, Ochraceous and Dark Pewee to the Eastern and Western. Fortunately, unlike the Empidonax flycatchers, there is a limited amount of range overlap amongst the species in their breeding ranges making ID much easier.
BACK TO SANTIAGO
After the hike we realized that fuel in the car was an issue. I should have filled up before leaving Santiago instead of assuming there was a gas station in Santa Fé de Veraguas. Update: There is gas available from private sellers at a premium price, just ask around. On the journey back from Santiago, some birds caught my eye in a field, and I had to stop to look. It turned out to be a great stop. From the roadside I got my best views of Red-breasted Meadowlark and Fork-tailed Flycatcher. I also had a good look at an Eastern Meadowlark. I get a kick out of seeing common North American birds in the tropics. I imagine what their trip was like, what hazards did they encounter, did they lose any friends along the way, did they make any friends along the way. Bird migration is an amazing phenomenon.
BIRDING VERAGUAS HIGHLANDS
The next morning, we were up and out early, no breakfast. We were off to the Santa Fé National Park. We were advised that there was good birding along the main road heading to the ranger station around the 2nd and 3rd Brazos (bridges). They are marked. We stopped here for a little while and then made our way to the ranger station near the mountain pass where there are established trails and several species reported that would be new to me.
The ranger station is at about 700 meters elevation. The temperature was pleasant. Upon arrival we met a couple of gentlemen who were in charge, and we signed the book and asked about the trails. They were very friendly and helpful. The first thing that caught my attention was a fruiting tree right out front that had lots of birds moving in and out. I stared at that tree for about 45 minutes. Beautiful photos of Yellow Warbler and Bay-headed Tanager (a life bird) were taken.
On the trail, I had a few main targets to add to my life list: Ochre-bellied Flycatcher, Olive-striped Flycatcher, Carmiol’s Tanager, Scarlet-rumped Cacique and Emerald Tanager. I am happy to report that I got all these birds and more. I also found and photographed a Green Hermit and a White-vented Euphonia.
It was a good day with 8 new lifers.
DO I NEED A GUIDE?
Due to my interest in finding a few specific birds such as the Northern Emerald Toucanet (quickly becoming my nemesis bird in Panama), I asked the innkeeper about a guide for the next day and gave my list of targets. They found a guide and gave a reasonable price, $90, for a long morning of birding. We left early the next morning and stopped at the 2nd Brazo. As we walked to the stream where Mirka and I were the day before, there it was, a Sunbittern, photos and all. A great start. We sat on the rock at the stream side and ate our breakfast which was part of the deal. Our guide advised us that there was also a Green-fronted Lancebill nesting under the bridge. We soon got some good looks and photos of this bird.
With two of my target species already down, we moved on to look for Snowcap. This tiny hummer, has as you might expect, has a white cap contrasting with a darker body. We hiked into an area where the guide thought we could find them. We waited around the flowering plants that they feed on. After thirty minutes of waiting, we accepted defeat and moved on. We went to the ranger station where we timed our arrival with the passing of a large mixed species flock of foraging songbirds. It was a sight to behold. I added several new Veraguas birds and a couple of lifers: the Black-and-yellow Tanager and Tropical Parula.
The last stop for this guided day was the Sendero del Tucán to look for that Northern Emerald Toucanet. It must be here, after all, why would they name the trail that if it wasn’t? Well, it wasn’t. It was still a nice walk and I got great photos of a Gartered Trogon and a White-tailed Emerald (a new life bird).
NOT ALL GUIDES ARE CREATED EQUAL
This morning showed me the difference between a professional birding guide (like Canopy Family hires) and not. There was a clear difference. I cannot fault a Panamanian for not speaking English, but if you want to make a living by guiding tourists you should know the English names of the birds beyond the generic Oriole or Flycatcher. Also, I had to correct at least three of his IDs of common birds, Gartered Trogon, Flame-rumped Tanager and White-tailed Hummingbird. Turns out this guide is also a handyman who works at the Coffee Mountain Inn, hmm.
I NEVER KNEW BIRDING VERAGUAS COULD BE SO EXCITING
That afternoon we decided to go to a different area outside of Santa Fé by following google maps to an area that looked promising. We turned off the blacktop road and went on a hard packed dirt road. It was mostly downhill, and we ended up going down one spot that was quite steep. As I went down it, I thought, wow this is really steep! it might be a problem getting back up with this little car with a single narrow wheel accounting for all of the traction. I stopped at the bottom of the hill and looked around for birds and looked back up the hill afraid of my thoughts. Not much new and now it is raining. Let’s get out of here before we can’t.
Too late. That 200’ section of road was just too steep, rain or no rain, for the car to ascend. After three attempts, it was clear we needed to be towed up. Naturally, there was no cell signal. We drove down the road until we found a house with people. By now it is torrential rain. The family we met was very nice and had a son that could help. He would come after the rain stopped. We chatted with them until we knew their life story.
I looked at the car to see how we could connect a tow strap to the front end without risking damage to the vehicle. Not possible. Fortunately, there was a welded eye ring underneath the rear of the car. I was going to have to go backwards up the hill.
The son arrived with his 2WD pick-up with wide, mostly bald, tires. I was doubtful this would work. Amazingly, he had a proper tow strap. I think I was not the first gringo to blunder down that hill. We staged, hooked-up and discussed the plan. I don’t think he ever pulled anyone up that hill backwards before.
The next 45 seconds were some of the most exciting seconds of my life. Wheels spinning, gravel flying. Did I mention that the incline also included a turn, a steep ditch on one side and dangerous 20’ drop-off on the other side. Oh, and the road was fairly narrow. Survived. We gave them $40 for their help and said goodbye.
We loved Santa Fé de Veraguas and would return. There is now a road past the ranger station that goes all the way to the Caribbean coast. I would like to make that trip before the area is developed.
THE LOWS OF BIRDING VERAGUAS – SANTA CATALINA (LOWLANDS)
Saying goodbye to Santa Fé de Veraguas we made our way to Santa Catalina on the Pacific Coast of Veraguas. This entailed a small bus at a roadside bus stop which takes you to Soná. Get off the small bus when it stops across the street from a small bus station (not the main one) where you catch another small bus with a very limited schedule down to Santa Catalina.
Santa Catalina is a small town that caters to tourists. Mostly young backpacker types looking for adventures and parties. We got a private room in one of the many hostels in town. I think it was $25 per night. No hot water, small room but totally acceptable.
After checking into our room at Sunset Catalina our mission was to make arrangements for the main attraction. A trip to Isla Coiba. There are lots of tour operators to choose from with prices between $80 to $100 per person for all day snorkel trips. I was looking for something more geared towards birding, but since there were not many people interested in such a trip, I would have to do a private tour. This was going to be in the $500 range, so we opted for the $80 snorkel trip.
ISLA COIBA
The trip to Isla Coiba was amazing. The snorkeling was amazing and the birding was not bad considering that was not what the trip was about. On the drive out to the island, I managed a couple of lifers. Bridled Terns were fairly common and several came close enough to ID. A Galapagos Shearwater also made a close enough pass to be certain of its identity.
After a couple of snorkeling stops, we landed on Isla Coiba at the ranger station. There are some cabins there that can be rented but they had not reopened since the pandemic and needed some repair.
We had a nice lunch and then went for a little walk as a group. We hiked up a short trail to a wonderful vista of several other islands and enjoyed the view for a few minutes. The group left and I stayed behind to try to identify some little birds in the bushes. When I was done, I started down the trail and was overwhelmed by the loud raucous sounds of, you guessed it, Scarlet Macaws. I looked up and saw nothing and the calls stopped as quickly as they started. When I reached the bottom, one of the other members of our group asked me if I saw the parrots. I pointed to a painting of a Scarlet Macaw on the wall and asked if it was this one. Yes! I missed a visual on the main birding attraction of Isla Coiba because I lagged chasing some plain little brown bird. Ugh! Just my luck.
As consolation to this I was treated to amazing views and photos of a Bare-throated Tiger-Heron (lifer) and a perched King Vulture before leaving the island.
As a note, there is only one endemic bird on Isla Coiba, the Coiba Spinetail. If I make it back to Santa Catalina in the future, I will do whatever is necessary to have a more focused birding trip to Isla Coiba with the targets being the endemic spinetail and of course the Scarlet Macaw.
PLAYA ESTERO
The following day, our last full day of birding Veraguas, we walked to Playa Estero. What a beautiful beach. There was plenty of shorebird action at the beach. Along the road there were plenty of other birds as well, including the Yellow Tyrannulet, a life bird. In total, about 40 different birds on the walk to the beach, at the beach and the walk back.
The total of new life birds added while birding Veraguas was 20, bringing the total count to 1101 woldwide!
So ends Birding Veraguas and now on to Chiriqui Province where we meet with family to do the highest altitude birding to date in Panama.
I have really, really enjoyed your birding adventures. My Dad is so proud of you for your birding interest and knowledge.
Thanks Linda.