Canopy Tower Family Panama

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.