Picking up where I left off in last week’s column, our group stayed in the town of Torti´ for two nights before moving further south into the Darién Province. Enroute we visited a Wounann village, where we spent time with the local Indigenous people. They provided us with lunch and they performed several dances and sang for us. It was like going back in time several centuries.
We continued south on the Pan-American Highway arriving at our next stop, the town of Metati´. We stayed at the Hotel Bellagio for the next three nights and did day trips out and back each day. The hotel has a fancy name, but in reality the accommodations were less than ideal. The toilets didn’t flush, and there was no hot water in most of the rooms. However, we were flexible and took these minor inconveniences in stride. By comparison to the local people, we were living in luxury.
We left early each morning, usually before 6:00 a.m., and we often wouldn’t get back to the hotel until after 8:00 p.m. They were tiring days, but that is my style of birding. In addition to seeing an amazing variety of birds, we had great success finding amazing mammals, including coatimundis, anteaters, sloths, a variety of monkey species, and so much more.
One day we birded along the Chucunaque River where I saw, for the first time in my life, an agami heron. What a thrill! This is a bird I’ve looked for, for more than a decade, in several different countries in the tropics. To see one in person, not in a field guide, was a very gratifying moment.
Another morning we left the hotel at 4:30 a.m. and drove to the end of the Pan American Highway in Panama, to the town of Yaviza. There is a 66 mile gap in the Pan American Highway—from Yaviza to where the highway resumes in the town of Turbo, Columbia.
This was THE DAY for which we came to Panama. This was the day we were going to look for Harpy Eagles. This is one of the largest—and the most powerful—eagle species on the planet. Its rear talon is between 4 and 5 inches in length! Its main diet consists of sloths and monkeys which are snatched from branches in the canopy of the rain forest.
To get to the nest, we had to drive for about an hour before getting in boats for another 30 minutes. We then got into the back of someone’s pickup truck for a 30-minute ride before we started hiking through the muddiest tropical rain forest habitat you could imagine. After hiking for about 30 minutes, we arrived at a giant tree where there was an active Harpy Eagle’s nest.
The nest had one eaglet—a big eaglet—but we were hoping to see the parents. We staked out some viewing areas with our spotting scopes, cameras and binoculars and waited. And waited some more. And waited. After camping out near the nest for SEVEN hours, we gave up and started our trip in reverse—the hike out, riding in the back of a pickup truck, the boat ride, then the bus back to the hotel.
I was hungry, thirsty, hot, sweaty, muddy, exhausted—and happy! I saw a Harpy Eagle!! I didn’t care whether I saw one of the parents or not. I saw a Harpy Eagle! This was another species I have looked for in tropical countries, with no success, for fifteen years!
Next week, part three and until then, Happy Birding!
Eric Moore is the owner of The Lookout, in Prescott, where you will find a Hallmark department, wild bird products, and Swarovski and Vortex optics. Eric has been an avid birder for over 60 years. Eric can be contacted at eric@thelookoutaz.com.
