Tuesday, July 21, 2015

Gamboa Rainforest Resort & Summit Zoo

We spent 2 nights at Gamboa Rainforest Resort. We had three beautiful rain free days and saw tons of wildlife.

The theme for day 1 at Gamboa was “I think we are in an episode of Wild Kingdom” We walked all of the trails at the Discovery Center and Howler monkeys roared all around us. We saw quite a few Agouti darting across the trail as well as a few armadillos. We saw a ton of birds and a few were new ones to add to our list. A Trogon pair were especially beautiful (and new for us). We also saw a couple of forest hawks, a Red Capped Manakin, lots of Antwrens and Motmots.  The upper parking area of the center had a ton of birds. We saw lots of Scarlet-rumped Caciques and a Keel-billed Toucan. (fruit loop bird) and some really fat lizards.
 Black-throated Trogon - female
 Black-throated Trogon - female
Black-throated Trogon - female
Black-throated Trogon - male 
 Black-throated Trogon - male
Black-throated Trogon - male
 Armadillo
Agouti
 Black-striped Woodcreeper
 Keel-billed Toucan


 Scarlet-rumped Cacique
Scarlet-rumped Cacique



 pretty feather on the trail
 Broad-billed Motmot
  Broad-billed Motmot with spider in its mouth
  Broad-billed Motmot
 Double-toothed Kite
 Double-toothed Kite
Double-toothed Kite
 
The lake had quite a few birds and of course a caiman or 2. We stopped to have our picnic lunch and then headed back to the trails. We continued to see lots of birds and a few frogs. Very small hard to see frogs that really blended in.

 walk to the lake



 Common Moorhen
 Caiman
 Caiman & Wattled Jacana
Long-billed Hermit Hummingbird 
 Leaf-litter Frog
 Leaf-litter Frog
 Megophrys nasuta (Leaf Frog)
 Solomon Island Leaf Frog (Triangle Frog)
 Wattled Jacana

 caiman
 Snail Kite
 mushrooms
 cool bug
 really pretty one


ants were attacking this live caterpillar
 
Finally it was time to hike back to the car so we could check into the hotel. On the way we saw a Coatimundi on one side of the road and as we turned the corner there was an entire family of them scurrying up the hill. I lost count around a dozen. So cute! We were joking about what else we might encounter when Greg exclaimed something and there was a huge black and red snake crossing right in front of us on the road. Geez, what next? It wasn’t in any hurry to cross the road, but just kept going and up the hill and away into the woods. It was at least 5 feet long and pretty big around. It was a Bird Eating Snake.
 Coati


 Bird-eating Snake

 
Those who know me know I often get “Disney Rash” from too much walking. So I had several days of that. (cortisone cream really helps)
We checked into the hotel and found out our package did not include lunch. (the offer has always included lunch, but not this one) We had some picnic stuff left so we had that on the second day so we didn’t have to drive back to the hotel to eat so we could spend more time hiking.






 pool cat



night safari vehicle
The theme for day 2 was “Butt crack of dawn and monkey balls”. Coming back from breakfast to our room there were 2 guys painting the hall way. One tells us in Spanish that the walls will be wet. I told Greg I didn’t hear a thing since I was too busy checking out the butt crack of the one kneeled down painting. Unlike the “usual plumbers crack” this guy was young and had a cute small one. Greg said “that’s why I said “butt crack of dawn after we walked past”.
We started walking a bit on Pipeline road and found a couple of Howler monkeys that were hard to get a photo of, but I was following them with the binoculars and quickly realized at least one of them was a male. (hence, “butt crack of dawn and monkey balls”)


 the road can be muddy and it hadn't rained in days....

 
 young Howler male
 
We walked a while and turned back to walk more of the trails at the Discovery Center. More Agouti running across the road and more great birds. Including some birds that were being really noisy since there was a hawk nearby. They turned out to be Purple-throated Fruitcrows. (a new bird for us) We climbed the tower to see if we could see them better. On the way out heard a woodpecker and spent a lot of time trying to get some good shots of it. We stopped back at the office and had our picnic lunch next to an antwren that was busy building a nest in a nearby bush and a tiny agouti running about.
 Crimson-crested Woodpecker - female

 White-whiskered Puffbird - male
White-whiskered Puffbird - male
 Paltry Tyrannulet
 Gray-headed Tanager? 
 female Blue Dacnis
 female Golden-collared Manakin
Cinnamon Woodpecker
We took off again on Pipeline road came across some loud popping noises. We went in search of the noise and what we found were these tiny little birds in bright yellow and black. As we were watching them besides the popping noises they made a sound like a jackhammer. We both burst out laughing. How that obnoxious sound could come from those adorable little guys was a wonder. They were Golden-collared Manakins. While searching for them Greg spotted a Little Tinamou scurrying away into the woods before I got to see it. We have seen the Great Tinamou, but not the smaller one. We also saw another pair of Trogons.
 Pale Ministreak
 Yellow-backed Oriole

 White-tailed Trogon
 Oberthur's Sister Butterfly
Lesser Kiskadee 
 Bright-rumped Attila
 Bright-rumped Attila
 Golden-collared Manakin - male
Golden-collared Manakin - male
 Slaty-tailed Trogon
Slaty-tailed Trogon

Not wanting to leave, but the parking lot closes at 4:00 so we needed to get back so they could go home.
We saw around 6 new birds bringing our Panama count to 322 different species of birds. (just a little over 1/3 of the total birds here.)
One night we took the night safari, but there were 3 ladies with 3 very young children and one mother spent the whole time reading her email on her phone that in order to see it she kept shining it into my face. I finally got up and moved to the seat across from her. We did see some Capybara, crocs, a Night Jar and a few other things. (usually don’t see a lot on it, but we keep hoping to spot some owls)
Here are a few shots from around the grounds of the hotel:





 Greater Ani
 Agouti


 Gray-headed Chachalaca


 
On our last day we checked out after breakfast to visit the Summit Zoo.  It doesn’t have a lot of animals (El Valle Nispero Zoo probably has more animals), but it’s in a lovely park setting and most of the animals and birds had nice enclosures. Like most Latin America “zoos” they are generally rescue centers. The highlight to the Summit Zoo is that they have a Harpy Eagle. It’s Panama’s National bird and really is an impressive bird.
Female harpy eagles typically weigh 6 to 9 kg (13 to 20 lb). The male, in comparison, is much smaller and weighs only about 4 to 4.8 kg (8.8 to 10.6 lb). Their wingspan is around 176 to 224 cm (5 ft 9 in to 7 ft 4 in).
 female Harpy Eagle







 
Some school groups were there with kids of various ages. They were having lunch in the park and playing games. There was also a section being set up with a huge stage.






 very young Ocelot
 Crab-eating Foxes



 Jaguar
 Jaguar
 Tapir













 
We walked around for most of the morning and most of the animals were up and active. We also came across a nest on a light pole that had 2 baby birds in it. Yes, faces only a mother could love…..
 Great Kiskadee nest with 2 chicks


Great Kiskadee
We stopped at the Discovery Center (the place like Wal*Mart not the nature trails of the same name) and picked up a few things. Since we now have a Pricesmart close by we won't have to go to the city as often so wanted to stock up on a few things we only can find at the Discovery Center.

I’ll do my usual July post at the end of the month. It’s been a busy month for us! No wonder time just flies by.

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