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WINGS Birding Tours – Photo Gallery

Panama: Bocas del Toro and the Western Highlands

We’ll start the trip by boarding a short flight to the coastal town of Bocas del Toro.
Flying over the archipelago offers some excellent views…
…and the tiny but bustling coastal town is quite scenic as well.
Our base for the lowland portion of the tour is the very comfortable Tranquilo Bay Ecolodge, with attractive cabins…
…offering comfort in an idyllic setting.
Raucous Montezuma Oropendolas are common on the grounds…
…and our down time in the afternoon could involve snorkeling or fishing off the pier.
We’ll explore the surrounding islands by foot and by boat…
…allowing us to explore the region thoroughly, and to access
…breeding birds like the ethereal Red-billed Tropicbird.
The archipelago harbors a bewildering variety of poison dart frogs…
…and a wealth of tropical birds such as American Pygmy Kingfisher,
…boisterous Lineated Woodpeckers…
…inquisitive Squirrel Cuckoos…
…imposing Lesson’s Motmots…
…and gaudy Keel-billed Toucans.
We’ll then move up into the verdant and comparatively cool highlands near the Costa Rican border…
…where the dazzling Resplendent Quetzales should quietly lurk in the canopy of fruiting trees…
..mixed tanager flocks should include Sooty-capped Chlorospingus…
…bright Silver-throated Tanagers…
…perky Slaty Flowerpiercers…
…and Yellow-winged Vireo, among many other species.
Fruiting trees also attract the elegant Long-tailed Silky-Flycatcher…
…and range-restricted Yellow-thighed Finches.
An amazing eight species of Catharus thrushes are possible including Black-billed Nightingale-Thrush…
…but it is perhaps the hummingbirds that steal the show in the highlands, here a White-throated Mountain-Gem…
…Lesser Violetear…
…its slightly more dowdy Brown Violetear cousin…
…and, of course, the stunning Fiery-throated Hummingbird.
…to the stunning Golden-hooded Tanager…
…and Blue-gray Tanagers around the hotel before…
…before returning to the Canopy Tower for our last evening.

 

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