8/3/2019 SVBC Visits the Chiriqui Highlands in Panama, from SVBC Newsletter, Vol 4- No 1 (Aug 2009)

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SVBC Visits the Chiriqu

Highlands in Panamaby Judy Richardson

Te dawn was crystalclear when Alisonand Michael Olivieri,

Julie Girard and Dave Woolley, Gail andHarry Hull, Fredand Jean Schroeder, Judy Richardson, KateDesvenain, and our guide extraordinaire, JimZook, piled into three cars and headed tothe Chiriquhighlands o Panama or a two-night, SVBC eld trip, Feb 27-March 1.

Despite a slow border crossing at Rio Sereno, we checked in at the Cielito Sur B&B inNueva Suiza in time to enjoy a picnic lunchin its lovely gardens. Green Violet-ear, Stripe-

tailed, White-t h r o a t e dM o u n t a i n -gem, VioletS a b r e w i n g ,Snowy-bellied,

and that tiny hummer othe highlands, the Scintillantnot muchbigger than a beeentertained us at nearbyhummingbird eeders.

First stop afer lunch, and a ew wrongturns, was Finca Dracula, set in Swiss Alps-like countryside with terraced elds o cool

weather crops: lettuces, cabbages, onions,potatoes. Finca Dracula is one persons labor-o-love collectiono thousands oorchids. Mostbeguiling were theso-called Dracula

varieties, noddingtheir heads low in

day, but waking, blooming at night as did thecount or whom they are named.

We also birded Finca Draculas splendidgarden and trails. Barred Becard and Flame-colored anager were highlights, along

with Chestnut-capped Brush-Finch, andtiny Ochraceous Wrens. Te last bird o theday was a handsomeBat Falcon high atopthe pine back at theentrance to Cielito Surat dusk.

A delicious breakastthe next morning wasollowed by the mostincredible birding othe trip. Starting at theLos Quetzales rail

entrance to ParqueNacional Volcan Baru,

we had hardly walked30 yards and there they

were, Christmas greenand red with a long owing tails: ResplendentQuetzals, chasing each other and enjoying abanquet o their avorite ruit, wild avocado.For some, a lie bird, or others, perect viewso the sacred bird o the Incas.

Ten on to the Parque Internacional LaAmistad near Nubes at the north end o thismountain valley and a hearty lunch at therestaurant run by local

women just inside the park. Afer a loop walkin drizzly orest near theranger station, our groupsplit. Some returned to

Cielito Sur toenjoy a sunnierafernoon. Others,like me, walkedor another couple o hours in coolmists, reveling in the magnicent old-growth orest and its gigantic oaks

and in sightingso hard-to-seebirds: Wrenthrush,Spotted Barbtail.Most had o ushad lie looks.

Ten dancingocks o Black-cheeked Warblers,S o o t y - c a p p e dBush-anagers, andY e l l o w - t h i g h e dFinches. My avorite: Buy ufedcheek, aFurnariid with smart colors o brown andrusset and spectacular bu cheeks that u up

as he looks in your direction.

Our last morning we made a brie

reconnoitering stop at the Lagunas de Volcanbeore driving back to San Vito: we needed

to get to the border beore the authorities onboth sides went to lunch!

What a great trip! A special thanks to JimZook, our excellenand un guide. Most ous would have missedseeing hal the birdi not or his skill and

patience.

NewsletterAugust 2009

Volume 4

Issue 1

The group gathered round at Rio Sereno.Photo: Dave Woolley

Dracula orchid. Photo: Harry Hull

Quetzal. Photo: Girard/Woolley

Cerro Punta rainbow.Photo: Alison Olivieri

Gad-zooks!

Photo: Alison Olivieri

Cerro Punta valley. Photo: Harry Hull

Downtime? Photo: Alison Olivier

Lagunas de Volcan. Photo: Harry Hull

The author with backup...Photo: Dave Woolley

Photo: Dave

Woolley

Cerro Punta pastoral.

Photo: Kate Desvenai

8/3/2019 SVBC Visits the Chiriqui Highlands in Panama, from SVBC Newsletter, Vol 4- No 1 (Aug 2009)

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SVBC Visita las Tierras

Altas de Chiriqu, Panampor Judy Richardson

En un amanecer claro como el cristal, Alison yMichael Olivieri, Julie Girard y Dave Woolley,

Gail y Harry Hull, Fred y Jean Schroeder, Judy Richardson, Kate Desvenain, y nuestroextraordinario gua, Jim Zook, llenaron trescarros y se dirigieron a las tierras altas deChiriqu, Panam, por dos noches, 27 deebrero al 1 de marzo, la gira de campo delSVBC.

Despus deun crucede ronteralerdo en RoSereno, nosregistramos

en el CielitoSur B&B enNueva Suiza,a tiempo paradisrutar deun almuerzotipo pic nic ensus hermosos

j a r d i n e s .En los

comederos cercanos nos entretuvieron loscolibres orejiviolceo pardo, el colirrayado,

el colibr montas gorgiblanco, el ala desable violceo, la amazilia ventriblanca, y lachispita gorginaranja, el pequeito colibr delas montaas no ms grande que un chiquiz.

Despus de almuerzo y de varias vueltasequivocadas, la primera parada ue FincaDrcula, ubicada en un paisaje parecido a los

Alpes suizos con terrazas con cultivos del ro:lechuga, repollo, cebolla, papas. La FincaDrcula es una coleccin de miles de orqudeas,que es la nia de los ojos de una persona.Las ms cautivadoras ueron las variedadesde Dracula, con sus cabezas adormecidas en

el da, pero despiertas y oreando de noche,como la historia que les da su nombre.

ambin observamos aves en los esplndidos jardines y senderos de Finca Drcula. Losatractivos ueron elcabezn ondeado

y el cardenal,junto con el saltncabecicastao y elsoterrey ocroso. Elultimo ave del daue un hermoso

halcn cuelliblancoen lo alto de un pino en la entradade Cielito Sur alatardecer.

A la maana siguiente, un delicioso desayunoue seguido de la ms increble observacinde aves del viaje. Empezando en la entradadel sendero Los Quetzales hacia el ParqueNacional Volcn Bar, no habamos caminadoni 30 metros y ah estaban, verde y rojo navidadcon una cola larga y ondulante: los quetzales,

persiguindose y disrutando de un banquetede su ruta avorita, aguacatillos. Para algunos,

primera vez en su lista de vida, para otros,vistas perectas del ave sagrada de los Incas.

Luego, hacia el Parque Internacional LaAmistad, cerca de Nubes al extremo norte de

este valle montaoso, y un entusiasta al-

muerzo dentro del parque, en el restaurantemanejado por mujeres locales. Despus deuna caminata en el bosque alrededor de laestacin de guardaparques, nuestro grupo sedividi. Unos regresaron a Cielito Sur paradisrutar de la tarde veraniega. Otros, como

yo, caminamos por otro par de horas entrchubascos, extasindonos en el maravillosobosque y sus gigantescos robles y encontrandoaves diciles de ver la zeledonia, y el subepalomoteado. Para la mayora de nosotros, estaueron primeras veces para nuestra lista de

vida. Luego, grupos danzantes de reinitacarinegras, tangaras de monte cejiblanca ysaltones de muslos amarillos. Mi avoritoel trepamusgo cachetn, un urnariidocon brillantes colores ca y chocolate yespectaculares cachetes marrn que se hinchancuando mira hacia ti.

En nuestra ltimamaana, antes demanejar de vuelta aSan Vito, hicimosuna breve paradade reconocimientoen Lagunasde Volcn: n e c e s i t b a m o sllegar a la ronteraantes de que lasautoridades se

ueran a la hora delalmuerzo!

Que viaje ms bello! Gracias especiales a JimZook, nuestro excelente y divertido gua. Lamayora hubiramos allado en ver la mitad delas aves si no uera por su habilidad y paciencia

NewsletterAugust 2009

Volume 4

Issue 1

Jean & Fred Schroeder at Haras

Cerro Punta. Photo: Harry Hull

Thick-billed Euphonia.Photo: Julie Girard

Quetzale hembra.Photo: Harry Hull

International Migratory Bird Day has a

great web site: http://www.birdday.org/

SVBC local member, Kate Desvenain, andher husband, Patrick, are in the process of

building a restaurant and guesthouse 45minutes south of San Vito. There are ex-

tensive trails for birdwatching, and a GreatCurassow and Bairds Trogon have recent-ly been sighted. Kate has been blogging

about the triumphs, trials and tribulationsof building in Costa Rica at:

www.costaricajungleblog.blogspot.com.

Visit the websites of our associate

organizations:

OTS/OET Wilson Botanical Garden/LasCruces Biological Station.

La Asociacin Ornitholgica de Cosa

Rica.

The National Aviary (USA).

Point Reyes Bird Observatory.

Connecticut Audubon Society

Cielito Sur--a wonderful B&B in Nueva

Suiza near Cerro Punta, Panama: http://www.cielitosur.com/

Finca Dracula in Cerro Punta, Pana-ma, has an interesting website about

their orchid collection: http://www.fncadracula.com/Welcome.html

Visit the San Gerardo Biological Sta-tion and the Santa Elena Cloudforest

Reservewebsites for more information.

http://www.birdday.org/http://www.costaricajungleblog.blogspot.com/http://www.ots.ac.cr/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=220&Itemid=422http://www.ots.ac.cr/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=220&Itemid=422http://avesdecostarica.org/http://avesdecostarica.org/http://www.aviary.org/index.phphttp://www.prbo.org/cms/index.phphttp://www.ctaudubon.org/http://www.cielitosur.com/http://www.cielitosur.com/http://www.cielitosur.com/http://www.cielitosur.com/http://www.cielitosur.com/http://www.fincadracula.com/Welcome.htmlhttp://www.fincadracula.com/Welcome.htmlhttp://www.acmcr.org/sangerardo_biological_station.htmhttp://www.acmcr.org/sangerardo_biological_station.htmhttp://www.reservasantaelena.org/index.htmlhttp://www.reservasantaelena.org/index.htmlhttp://www.reservasantaelena.org/index.htmlhttp://www.reservasantaelena.org/index.htmlhttp://www.reservasantaelena.org/index.htmlhttp://www.acmcr.org/sangerardo_biological_station.htmhttp://www.acmcr.org/sangerardo_biological_station.htmhttp://www.fincadracula.com/Welcome.htmlhttp://www.fincadracula.com/Welcome.htmlhttp://www.cielitosur.com/http://www.cielitosur.com/http://www.cielitosur.com/http://www.cielitosur.com/http://www.cielitosur.com/http://www.ctaudubon.org/http://www.prbo.org/cms/index.phphttp://www.aviary.org/index.phphttp://avesdecostarica.org/http://avesdecostarica.org/http://www.ots.ac.cr/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=220&Itemid=422http://www.ots.ac.cr/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=220&Itemid=422http://www.costaricajungleblog.blogspot.com/http://www.birdday.org/