Fortuna Foothill Birding

A defining feature of Panama's geography is the presence of a central spine of mountains called the Cordillera Central. These mountains, shared with Costa Rica, extend eastward to roughly central Panama and are split into several ranges. Due to the challenges in constructing roads over mountains, only one highway has been built over the Continental Divide in western Panama. It is located in the Fortuna Depression. Here, the elevation of the Continental Divide is a little lower than points to the west (Cordillera de Talamanca) and to the east (Serraniá de Tabasará). This road connects Chiriquí Province in southwestern Panama to Bocas del Toro Province in northwestern Panama, passing through the indigenous region of Ngäbe-Buglé. 

Following our time in Chiriquí (as detailed in my previous blog posts), Laura and I had plans to visit Bocas del Toro Province. An archipelago of islands in Bocas del Toro is popular among tourists (both from within Panama, and internationally) for its white sand beaches, turquoise waters and party scene. But, if you know anything about Laura and I, we were more interested in its wildlife. 

White-naped Brushfinch - Camino de la Divisoria Continental, Ngäbe-Buglé, Panama

We split up the long drive by spending a night near the Continental Divide in the Fortuna area, both before and after visiting Bocas del Toro. We were looking forward to exploring a new part of Panama, even if it was for only two short mornings. 

My main target bird in this region of Panama was the Azure-hooded Jay. This species is a little easier to see further afield in southern Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and Costa Rica, but it was the only life bird that I had a reasonable shot at observing in the Fortuna area. Many other interesting birds can be found here though - it is one of the only places where one can search for Caribbean foothill species in western Panama. 

October 8, 2021

Laura and I visited the Continental Divide road on the morning of October 8. This paved road leaves the main highway around nine kilometres north of the Fortuna Dam. It passes through some forest patches before reaching some communication towers, at which point we turned around and headed back to the highway.

View towards the Atlantic - Camino de la Divisoria Continental, Ngäbe-Buglé, Panama

To be honest, we were a little disappointed with the birding along this road. Much of the good forest has been cleared; the only nice patch we found beside the road was approximately 1.0 to 1.5 km from the highway. The rest was all regenerating, though high quality forest was visible a ways from the road. At least the road was very quiet with traffic; we only noted one vehicle all morning.

We still encountered some nice birds, nearly all of them in the aforementioned forest patch. While we dipped on Azure-hooded Jay, we enjoyed species like Zeledon's Antbird, Golden-bellied Flycatcher, Slaty-capped Flycatcher, Slaty-backed Nightingale-Thrush, Lineated Foliage-gleaner and Costa Rican Warbler. I was particularly pleased with the Golden-bellied Flycatcher (nice find, Laura!) since it was a new bird for my Panama list. 

Golden-bellied Flycatcher - Camino de la Divisoria Continental, Ngäbe-Buglé, Panama

Neotropical Dwarf Squirrels are reasonably common in the Panamanian highlands. Two species are present, though I'm not sure which this one is. 

Microsciurus sp. - Camino de la Divisoria Continental, Ngäbe-Buglé, Panama

Another highlight was finally observing (and photographing) my first Black-bellied Hummingbird for Panama. It was only the second I had ever seen, after a brief encounter with one in Costa Rica in 2020. I'll spare you the photos, though - they are pretty bad...

Pedaliodes sp. - Camino de la Divisoria Continental, Ngäbe-Buglé, Panama

Unfortunately, there are very few other places to search for birds in the Fortuna area if one does not have a 4WD, high-clearance vehicle. Several other trails in the area receive no maintenance and need to be cleared by machete to access, while the Willy Mazu property further downslope appeared to be abandoned. Birding along the main highway could be an option but I would imagine that the frequent traffic would make this endeavour rather annoying (and unsafe in some areas). Perhaps there are other locations worth visiting, but I have been unable to identify these spots through my cursory searches online. 

October 12, 2021

Following a few days in Bocas del Toro, Laura and I returned to the Fortuna area for a night. Our arrival on the 11th was late enough that we did not do any exploration. Laura was looking forward to a relaxing morning on the 12th (it had been a busy few days in Bocas!) so I set my alarm early to return to the Continental Divide road on my own. 

White-naped Brushfinch - Camino de la Divisoria Continental, Ngäbe-Buglé, Panama

It was a gorgeous, sunny morning and birdsong was evident. My "best" bird was probably a vocalizing Rufous-breasted Antthrush, though it remained on my eBird checklist as heard-only. Two Black-breasted Wood-Quails sounded off from down a hillside, Silvery-fronted Tapaculos sang from all directions, flocks of swifts wheeled past, and migrant Acadian and Sulphur-bellied Flycatchers glowed in the morning light.

Sulphur-bellied Flycatcher - Camino de la Divisoria Continental, Ngäbe-Buglé, Panama

One of my goals for the morning was to finally catch up with two species of mountain-gems (a type of hummingbird). I had only seen White-bellied Mountain-gem before in Costa Rica, while the Purple-throated Mountain-gem was one that I had never photographed. Laura and I had struggled with separating Purple-throated from White-throated Mountain-gem in the western highlands where the females look incredibly similar. 

Luck was on my side this morning. I observed one White-bellied Mountain-gem and discovered numerous Purple-throated Mountain-gems (where were they on October 8?). One pair was quite confiding and I enjoyed watching their interactions for a few minutes. 

Purple-throated Mountain-gems - Camino de la Divisoria Continental, Ngäbe-Buglé, Panama

Purple-throated Mountain-gem - Camino de la Divisoria Continental, Ngäbe-Buglé, Panama

Purple-throated Mountain-gems are utterly spectacular when the light catches their gorget and forehead just right. This one was a little distant, but you get the idea. 

Purple-throated Mountain-gem - Camino de la Divisoria Continental, Ngäbe-Buglé, Panama

I hoped to finally connect with Azure-hooded Jay. They sometimes travel in flocks with caciques and oropendolas, so my senses were heightened when a few Yellow-billed Caciques appeared. Alas, they were traveling alone. But these Icterids are interesting enough on their own, anyways. 

Yellow-billed Cacique - Camino de la Divisoria Continental, Ngäbe-Buglé, Panama

A little later, a small flock contained more fun species: Black-faced Grosbeak, Costa Rican Warbler, Golden-browed Chlorophonia, Rufous Mourner and more. 

Rufous Mourner - Camino de la Divisoria Continental, Ngäbe-Buglé, Panama

This Olive-striped Flycatcher posed for photos. A new one for my Photographed List. 

Olive-striped Flycatcher - Camino de la Divisoria Continental, Ngäbe-Buglé, Panama

The morning was getting on and the sun was rising higher in the sky. I reluctantly admitted defeat with the Azure-hooded Jay and drove back to our accommodations. Can't get them all!

Laura and I had heard good things about the Lost and Found Hostel in Hornito and specifically, their endless kilometres of trails. We had actually considered staying here, but the hostel is quite a ways off the road and so we determined that it was not worth it for just one night at a time. But with a free morning, we hoped to use their trails for a few hours. 

Entrance Path to Lost and Found Hostel, Chiriquí, Panama

We drove over after breakfast and walked up to the hostel; the young guy working there was happy to allow us access to the trail system. And so that's what we did. 

Lance-tailed Manakin - Lost and Found Hostel, Chiriquí, Panama

A small group of lekking Lance-tailed Manakins along the entrance path to the hostel was a nice surprise since this species had not been recorded from here on eBird. But that's what they were, and we enjoyed watching their antics. We added a few other species to the all-time list for the eBird hotspot including Long-billed Starthroat, Dusky Antbird, Ovenbird and Cliff Swallow. 

Dusky Antbird - Lost and Found Hostel, Chiriquí, Panama

Ovenbird - Lost and Found Hostel, Chiriquí, Panama

We hiked up to a mirador overlooking the lush hillsides and valleys. At least, that's what I think the mirador provided views of! The clouds socked us in, right when we arrived at the top. A singing Black-headed Nightingale-Thrush was a nice surprise just before the mirador, but otherwise it was pretty quiet for birds. 

Tomapsis biolleyi - Lost and Found Hostel, Chiriquí, Panama

The slow birding meant that Laura was on bug patrol. And she found a few good ones!

Leaf Beetle sp. - Lost and Found Hostel, Chiriquí, Panama

Ladoffa sp. - Lost and Found Hostel, Chiriquí, Panama

Arilus sp. - Lost and Found Hostel, Chiriquí, Panama

And with that, we left the Fortuna area behind and made the short drive to San Felix. We had plans the next morning to search for two endemic Panamanian birds near Cerro Colorado: the Glow-throated Hummingbird and Yellow-thighed Brushfinch.