Canopy Tower Family Panama

Trip Reports

Cloud forest by David Tipling
Cloud forest by David Tipling
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December 27, 2011 Panama: Fall at El Valle's Canopy Lodge Nov 05—12, 2011 Barry Zimmer, VENT

Julio's phone rang (our driver), and he quickly passed it to me. "Barry, this is Moyo. We've found ground-cuckoos at an ant swarm just above the Canopy Adventure. Pick me up along the road and we'll go straight there!"
December 01, 2011 Two and a half million Raptors.... David Cohen

“Yep, two and a half million raptors were counted passing over Panama City during the month of October 2009”
“When do we go?”
And, so it was that our party of six headed off for Panama via Heathrow and Madrid on 15th October 2011. Five of us had visited Panama once before, in April 2007, so we knew we were in for a good time no matter what. We also knew a little of the raptor migration having watched from the deck of The Canopy Tower as 2,000 Mississippi Kites suddenly appeared out of the forest at 7.00 a.m., completed a circuit of the tower to make sure everyone was there, before heading off north towards the USA.

November 24, 2011 Panama: Fall at El Valle's Canopy Lodge Extension Oct 22—27, 2011 Barry Zimmer, VENT

A frantic knock on my door was followed by the two words I had hoped to hear all week, "ground-cuckoos!" Moyo, our local guide, had just been informed that one of the lodge employees had found an ant swarm with two Rufous-vented Ground-Cuckoos less than five minutes away!
October 13, 2011 Trip Report Canopy Tower and Canopy Lodge, Green Season, June 2011 by Peggy Gussman
pictures by Bill Gussman

Having birded at a few spots around the U.S., I felt it was time to try my hand at birding in the tropics. I had been considering the Canopy Tower for some time as I was intrigued by sleeping in the tree tops in a “tree house” of sorts in the middle of the Central American jungle. The offer of a special Green Season price for “The Best of Panama” birding package cinched the deal for us. We paid our deposit and immediately ordered a Birds of Panama field guide. With 978 species to learn, I had a lot of homework to do! Going during the Green Season would mean that the migrants would all be elsewhere on their breeding grounds so the number of species possible could be cut down to the breeding residents which are the ones I was really interested in seeing anyway - still a staggering number
August 17, 2011 Our Innaugural Trip to the Darien Lowlands, plus Canopy Tower and Canopy Lodge by Bram Vogels

At 08.00 am, our guides, Benny (Venicio Robinson) and Moyo (Harmodio Rodriguez) of the Canopy Tower Family, picked us up and we started to drive east, to Torti and made some stops on the way. First stop was Bayano, a bridge over a lake where we had: Pied water-tyrant, striated heron, cocoi heron, least grebe, orange-chinned parakeet, purple gallinule, neotropic cormorant, yellow-bellied elaenia, rusty-margined flycatcher, otter, howler monkey and anhinga.
June 03, 2011 24 Hours in the Darien Lowlands Carlos Bethancourt

Last week I spend 24 hrs birding the Darien Lowlands around Meteti, Canglon and Yaviza. Here is the report. Great pictures of Darien specialties, Black Oropendola, Rufous-tailed Jacamar, Spot-breasted Woodpecker, Black-capped Donacobious and others.
May 10, 2011 PANAMA - Canopy Tower and Lodge, 12 - 27 January 2011 Blake Maybank


The Canopy Tower is a former radar installation, and there is an exterior platform circling the radar dome, at eye level with the upper canopy of the forest. The tower sits on top of Semaphore Hill, at roughly 300 metres elevation, and you can look down onto the canal, and to the south to Panama City. The door to the exterior platform is opened at 0600, roughly 30 minutes before sunrise, and coffee and tea are available. So one grabs a hot beverage and heads out to watch the sun rise, and listen to the dawn chorus, dominated at first by Mantled Howler Monkeys. A Great Tinamou was calling, as was Green Shrike-Vireo, and Blue-headed and Red-lored Parrots flew by. A Keel-billed Toucan put on a nice show, and there were sightings of commoner species, such as Palm Tanagers (quite unafraid), and some Neotropic migrants, of which Bay-breasted Warbler was the most common. A distant White Hawk went on to the list, as did White-shouldered and Blue-gray Tanagers, and Scarlet-rumped Caciques.
May 02, 2011 Tamarin Tour (mostly mammals), Trip Report, April 10-17, 2011 Marc & Peggy Faucher

We were picked up bright and early at the Riande Airport Hotel and driven 45 minutes to the Canopy Tower where we joined the other guests for breakfast before heading out to San Lorenzo National Park with our guide Alexis. We stopped at the Gatun Locks for about 45 minutes to wait for two huge ships to pass through the Panama Canal. It was very interesting to watch the ships guided into position by tug boats then pulled through the lock by mechanical “mules”. Once inside San Lorenzo National Park across the Canal, it didn’t take long to spot our first mammal, a Brown-headed Three-toed Sloth. We continued past Fort Sherman, once the site of the US Army Jungle Training School and spotted another Three-toed Sloth in a tree not more than 20 feet above our heads! We parked at the Park headquarters and continued on foot along the road. A Collared Peccary dashed across the road just ahead of us and a lone White-nosed Coati also crossed ahead of us. We saw 3 more Three-toed sloths, Red-tailed Squirrels, Mantled Howler Monkeys and a Central American Agouti family to round out our mammal spotting for the day.
April 19, 2011 Talon Tours Panama Trip Report Ken Wilson

Having been welcomed at the Panama City airport and whisked off to Canopy Tower, located in the Soberania National Park, we enjoyed an excellent lunch and met with our guide for the tour, Carlos Bethancourt. After lunch we settled into our rooms and then ascended to the roof of the tower for our first spot of birding and the above-canopy views from the Panama Canal all the way to Panama City.
March 27, 2011 Stung into Action by Stuart Winter, Pipeline Road, PANAMA Stuart Winter

I open the shutters and, out of the gloom, the unmistakable shape of a long-limbed monkey comes crashing through the spindly branches of a giant cecropia tree, staring me full in the face. I forget all the advised protocols about making eye-to-eye contact with a large primate and look back - angrily. I am tired and jet-lagged. The monkey shows his displeasure by letting loose the most amazing, blood-curdling scream you can ever imagine...
March 20, 2011 Canopy Lodge and Canopy Tower trip report – March 2011 Katherine Stoltz

I recently visited the Canopy Lodge and Tower with my brother for a 1 week birding trip. We spent 4 nights at the lodge and 3 at the tower.


March 15, 2011 MASSACHUSETTS AUDUBON SOCIETY - Panama Trip Report March 2011 Bill Gette

We saw and heard a total of 224 species of birds and 10 species of mammals. We also had the opportunity to explore some very beautiful natural areas.

Included in this report are the Top Ten Birds, Trip Highlights, Location Summaries, and Bird and Mammal Checklists.
March 12, 2011 Panama's Canopy Tower Jan 30—Feb 06, 2010 Kevin Zimmer, VENT

Our first dawn vigil atop the Tower produced the requisite great views of Green Shrike-Vireo, that persistent (some would say annoying) voice from the canopy. It also netted us fine views of a tree full of outrageous Keel-billed Toucans, a close Black-breasted Puffbird, and a close pass by a Gray-headed Kite that responded to my tape. After breakfast we headed down Semaphore Hill, where we spent the rest of the morning enjoying a nice selection of typical Canal Zone birds, among them, close Broad-billed and Rufous motmots, Cinnamon Woodpecker, Slaty-tailed and White-tailed trogons, White-whiskered Puffbird, Dot-winged and Checker-throated Antwrens, and a nesting pair of Fasciated Antshrikes.
March 12, 2011 Panama: El Valle's Canopy Lodge Extension Feb 06—11, 2010 Kevin Zimmer, VENT

As always, the El Valle area treated us to some great birds, beautiful accommodations, and some unexpected surprises. If there were a theme to this year's trip, it would have to be—nightbirds. Yep, that's right, nightbirds. As voted by the group, the three favorite birds of the tour were all nightbirds. It started the first afternoon, when we visited the property adjacent to the Canopy Lodge in search of a day-roosting Mottled Owl. The bird wasn't in its usual spot, so the lodge guide, Eliecer, left us to check some other places. In minutes he returned, and said he had found the owl. It was perched low and in plain sight, but facing straight away from us. One glance told me that something wasn't right—the bird was the wrong color brown. "Eliecer, this isn't right for Mottled Owl," I said. "It's more the color of a Crested Owl." Almost on cue, the bird swung its head towards us, revealing a white forehead and a couple of huge ear tufts. Crested Owl it was, and apparently the first local record in eight years, according to the senior lodge guides! The bird just sat there while "oohs" and "aahs" alternated with the steady clicking of camera shutters, and while the scope provided a reasonable chance of identifying any feather lice that might be lurking in those giant ear tufts. I believe it was a lifer for all of the participants, as well as for Eliecer, who was still grinning an hour later.
February 20, 2011 Panama's Canopy Tower Jan 29—Feb 05, 2011 Kevin Zimmer, VENT

No two birding trips to a tropical country are ever the same. The combination of a highly diverse avifauna and the subtly intertwined complexities of ever-changing weather patterns (wet versus dry seasons and their duration and onset) and how that influences fruiting cycles, flowering cycles, and insect abundance makes for a lot of intangibles and unpredictability. However, regardless of the specifics, you know that you'll be treated to a lot of great birds and natural history. Our tour typified both the unpredictable and the predictable aspects of birding in the Neotropics.
December 27, 2010 Panama: Fall at El Valle's Canopy Lodge Nov 06—13, 2010 Barry Zimmer, VENT


A rainbow of colors swirled around the feeders in front of us. Powder-blue Blue-gray Tanagers were everywhere (over 40 at one time). Unbelievably red Crimson-backed Tanagers with their silvery bills provided stunning contrast, as did the velvety-black and yellow of the Flame-rumped Tanagers. Tiny Thick-billed Euphonias decked out in indigo and egg yolk-yellow flitted about every tray. Red-legged Honeycreepers, Streaked and Buff-throated saltators, Palm and Dusky-faced tanagers, Red-crowned Ant-Tanagers, a pair of Red-crowned Woodpeckers, Bananaquits, and Clay-colored Thrushes—where to look first?
December 01, 2010 Fall at Panama's Canopy Tower Oct 16—23, 2010 by Barry Zimmer, VENT

A river of raptors. As far as the eye could see, boiling kettles of Turkey Vultures, Swainson's Hawks, and Broad-winged Hawks filled the sky in a 360-degree circle around the top of the Canopy Tower observation deck. It seemed impossible, yet everywhere you looked from the ground to the highest level of the sky, from directly overhead to the greatest distance the eye can see, from left to right there were raptors.
September 21, 2010 PANAMA Canopy Tower & Lodge TRIP REPORT August 24 - September 3, 2010 Gina Nichol and Steve Bird of Sunrise Birding

Most of the group arrived late in the evening except from Allan and Janice who were already enjoying Panama on their own for a couple of days. Steve, Christian, Carol and Leonard were on the same flight with Miss Panama whose adoring fans kept them entertained while they waited for their transfer to Canopy Tower.
July 29, 2010 Panama Green Season - Short Trip Report Peter Chadwick

We went to Canopy Tower and Canopy Lodge, both in central Panama, on a “special deal” of $1995 per person. We had an excellent two weeks, which we thought was very good value.
June 27, 2010 Canopy Lodge: Panama Birding Perfection Mike Bergin 10,000 Birds

My June 2010 trip to Panama was perfect and unforgettable in so many ways. I was in Panama as a guest of Raúl Arias de Para, the visionary who founded both the Canopy Tower and Canopy Lodge. My first morning in Panama was enjoyed at the Tower but I actually got to know the lodge first. Let me assure you, the Canopy Lodge is the consummate Neotropical ecolodge, endowed with everything a birder or nature lover could ask for!
May 31, 2010 Panama Tour Ken Wilson, Talon Tours

Toward the end of the month of May, my wife, Becky and I made a short visit to Panama as guests of Canopy Tower and Canopy Lodge...
May 12, 2010 Our Inaugural Mammal Tour Jose R. Soto, Canopy Tower Family

Today the group arrived to Panama at about 6:00 pm and then they were transferred to Canopy Tower, 45 minutes away from the international airport.
May 06, 2010 Naturetrek, Canopy Tower and Canopy Lodge, 28 April - 6 May, 2010
After arriving around midnight to a little light rain and distant dramatic lightning, the stage was set for our first dawn and the much anticipated view over the rainforest from the Canopy Tower. However, dawn was reluctant to break due to heavy rain and low cloud, and any birdsong had to compete with the accompanying thunder. The first bird then was viewed from indoors with the accolade going to the drabbish palm tanager. More inspiring fare was soon at hand with collared aracari and keel-billed toucan both visiting fruiting trees just outside the windows.
March 21, 2010 12 hours of Daylight Bill Maynard

At the suggestion of Cindy Lippincott and Bob Berman, I organized a group of friends and friends of friends, and together we explored Central Panama from 21 March to 1 April 2010 for 10 days of birding during the end of Panama's dry season...
November 30, 2009 Canopy Lodge, Fall 2009 Barry Zimmer, VENT

The scene upon arriving at the Canopy Lodge for the first time is one not soon forgotten, and this year was certainly no different.
August 18, 2009 Palomar Audubon Hal Benhan, PAS

On August 18, eight tired but happy PAS members arrived home after a 10-day trip to the Canopy Lodge and Canopy Tower in Panama...
August 10, 2009 Trip report - Green Season Enno B Ebels & R J W (Roef) Mulder

We visited both the Canopy Tower and Canopy Lodge. The daily rain (Green Season!) was mostly limited to 1-2 hours around lunchtime and did not really affect birding. We recorded an impressive amount of 291 species in 9 days. In our home country The Netherlands one would need several years of active birding to get to that number!
August 10, 2009 Birds & Butterflies Michael O'Brien, VENT

Our first Central Panama: Birds & Butterflies tour proved to be a fabulous way to experience the amazing diversity that this region has to offer.
August 05, 2009 Panama Trip Report Arthur Morris

Ten happy photographers joined Linda Robbins, our assistant Rich Garrett, and me for a great trip to Panama. We spent our first three nights at Canopy Tower and our last four at Canopy Lodge...
March 01, 2009 Dutch Birding Magazine, Volume 31, No. 5, 2009 Enno B Ebels & R J W (Roef) Mulder

Elaenia, euphonia, mango, piha, plumeleteer, oropendola, saltator, schiffornis, sirystes, tityra...
They do not ring a bell? Well, all these, for many readers, unfamiliar bird names represent species
or groups of species that can all be found inPanama – together with many more! Panama
forms the land bridge connecting North and South America. Due to this position, it also connects the avifaunas of both continents and this is reflected by an impressive list of over 970 species, a list higher than those of Canada and the USA combined.
December 10, 2008 Panama Trip Report - November 21, 2008 - December 3rd, 2008 by Brad Weinert and Lynn Ferguson-Weinert

We had the opportunity to visit Panama in November and early December of this year (2008). The following is a trip report in (more or less) chronological order. I have tried to do this report more as a daily recap of the highlights from each day, areas visited, species seen, etc.
November 15, 2008 Canopy Tower and Canopy Lodge Toon Vernoonij & Linda van der Maas

One of the main attractions of Panama is that it offers very good opportunities to spot a combination of neotropic bird species as well as nearctic migrants in a relatively small area. There are direct flights from Amsterdam to Panama City and there’s no need to take anti-malaria pills.
April 06, 2008 Panama is more than a canal Bill Maynard

An ABA Century Club Introduction to Neotropical Birding

Fifteen members of the American Birding Association’s Century Club and I have returned from our 29 March–6 April adventure to the tropical lowlands and foothills of central Panama.
Five talented young bilingual Panamanian guides enthusiastically took turns sharing the wonders of their small, but incredibly bird-rich and beautiful country with the ABA donor group. The guides, all employees of either Canopy Tower or Canopy Lodge, spotted and showed us brilliantly hued birds and orchids, lizards that ran across the water, two species of sloth, a kinkajou, three species of monkeys, and for the fortunate, not one, but two jaguarundies.

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