Guna Yala rainforest near Nusagandi

The forest of Nusagandi is so humid, rugged yet rich in birdlife that every single trip is different.

On my latest tour with my friend Joris and Cedric we got some good birds.

Sapayoa which is easier in this area, was seen twice at Ibe Igar. 

Sapayoa. Ibe Igar Trail

Bingandí River area, had changed a lot, but the faithfull loyal White-thighes Swallow were present. Carti River area was also nice despite the continuous drizzle.

Yellow-bellied Elaenia

 The big surprise (for me at least) was to find 6 Wilson's Snipes in the grazzy area behind the soccer futbol field in the old airstrip near Gardi Suigdup pier! I had about 3 years without this bird and now we got 6 ver active and cooperative snipes.

On the way back we stopped at Km 23 to find a very elaborate mix flocks of tanagers were we expected a Gray and Gold Tanager. Tanager never show up but a pair of Yellow-eared Toucanets became the cherry of the cocktail.

More parrots and a very relax Red-throated Caracara were the end of  the day. The rainy afternoon made it slow at the end.

Red-throated Caracara 

Mealy Amazon

Will have to come back for the birds we did not saw: Splendid Woodpecker, Black-eared Wood-Quail, Speckled Antshrike and Slaty-winged Foliage Gleaner

Nueva amenaza a los bosques urbanos de Panama

Panamá como país tiene muchos retos! Quizás mas grandes que las ganas de surgir como país! Quizás tan grandes que nos parecen imposibles! Pero hemos logrado demostrarnos y demostrarle al mundo, que podemos y que estamos haciendo lo mejor para mejorar nuestro país!

Pero quizás el reto mas grande de Panamá sea mejorar el débil sistema judicial que permite que cualquiera con dos reales (e incluso algunos que no tienen y solo dicen tenerlos) pueda torcer las leyes y sacar ventajas y beneficios por encima de otras personas o del estado!

Si unes los puntos que forman todas las luchas ambientales y sociales recientes de este país te das cuenta que la palabra que surge es INJUSTICIA!!!

Exactamente fue lo que sucedió con la mal intencionada demarcación del Parque Nacional Camino de Cruces, que fue demarcado y remarcado con el propósito de dejar por fuera importantes globos de terrenos, todos cubiertos de bosque, con el fin de beneficiar a grupos específicos de desarrolladores.

Hoy fuimos a ver los terrenos de los lotes CL-36 y CL-37, bosques pertenecientes por Ley al Parque Nacional Camino de Cruces pero que fueron dejados (a propósito) en las ultimas mensuras del parque!

Ya están marcando, revisando puntos y abriendo trochas en un bosque que pertenece a la nación y a todos los ciudadanos de este país.

No queremos mas injusticias! No toleraremos mas de lo mismo! No importa el partido ni la religión que practican: todos nuestros lideres políticos danzan ante los reales! 

Todos piensan en lo mismo: como hacer plata mas allá de la que les pagamos por aplicar las leyes y administrar los dominios públicos!

Mientras tanto les dejo un par de fotos y vídeos de qué hay en esos lotes!
La ciudad no puede continuar sacrificando oportunidades recreativas y paisajistas para favorecer a 4 aventajados!!!

I wonder what happened in 1939 that Panama became a popular word in books!
Love this charts!

MIGRATION! MIGRATION! MIGRATION!

MIGRATION! MIGRATION! MIGRATION!

Right now, billions of birds are moving all around the globe in search for a good place to survive the winter.

Sometimes moving all across the globe; other times just a few hundred miles. Bird migration is one of the must noticeable natural shows.

But now technology enable us to "follow" the migration as it moves.

Satellite tracking technology is helping us to understand better the routes, timing and obstacles of the journey to survival.

Here are some links to witness the ongoing migration of some birds.

Turkey Vulture

Broad-Winged Hawk

Peregrine Falcon

Black-bellied Plover

Whimbrel


If you love birds, maps and migration, check those links! You may discover something interesting!

Toco Toucans are not from Panama!

 A friend of mine sent me a picture of a toucan that was used in an advertisement to promote visits to Panama!

For my surprise, it wasn't any of the species of toucan that inhabit our country!

It was a Toco Toucan (Ramphastos toco) from South America!

The actual distribution of Toco Toucan
NOT FOUND IN PANAMA

When my friend so the add he got a little upset and send it to me to see if we could do something! I went around the internet and grab some more examples and I will explain WHY you should be very careful when you pick the company you're traveling with

1) if a company can not make the difference between a Toco toucan and Keel-Billed Toucan you should not handle your money! This is very simple: they are not being respectful to you. They consider that you would be as simple tourist without the capacity to analyze or understand the place you are visiting. They assume that you will be enchanted with any colorful toucan and you going to buy if they show you anything colorful!

2) That means that they're not taking care or considerations when they hiring local providers to fit your tours. It is very likely that they never had gone out to look at toucans in Metropolitan Nature Park or Pipeline Road! They may have never visited Panama before and have no idea how things are here!

3) It also means that you will be supporting a company that, perhaps, maybe involve in other nasty kinds of tourism like sex tourism or abusing of local outfitters.

I going to show you some pictures of Panamanian companies or companies from abroad that use Toco toucan a South America species, not found in Panama, to promote my beautiful country.

Panama has already 8 species of toucans all of them extremely beautiful!

So please use a company that respects you, respect the country they are doing business and respect the Toco Toucan. Don't give money to crooks! 

Beny Wilson. Self introduction

It is slow season!

It is slow season! Time to evaluate. The perfect moment to check our lives and bring it into perspective. Enjoy the video and plan your days for the rest of the year.

Bird by Bird you get to know the Caribbean...

When Birds Caribbean told me that “bird by bird I will get to know the Caribbean” I was totally unaware of the scale and extent of their promise!

Until then, the Caribbean to me was just rum, sun, beaches an and endless torrent of music in different tempos, languages and moods.

 

JAMAICAN TODY Check more pictures in this Flickr Album 

I had planned a visit to the Caribbean before but never got so close until 2 years ago when Caribbean Birding Trail (a project of Birds Caribbean) contacted Rick Morales to facilitate training birding guides in the Island of Grenada. Someway somehow Rick ended up contacting me to assist him on the training and there I was: in an island smaller than Coiba, Panama's largest island, but with so much more history and nature all packed in a mountain in the middle of the ocean!

JAMAICAN OWL Check more pictures in this Flickr Album 

This year we had the opportunity to train in Jamaica and my whole vision of the Caribbean got turned inside out and battered in a thick sauce of history, culture and flavors: exactly that component of the Caribbean that I did not understood until this trip.

Here are some pictures and videos of the Caribbean Birding Trail Guide Training in Jamaica. Enjoy them, share them, store them but don't forget: more than 700 islands are home to 178 endemic birds through the entire Caribbean Archipelago!

A little dance to celebrate Earth Day!