In 2019 my friend Mike and I went to Panama with other friends on a bird-watching tour in hopes of seeing a Harpy Eagle. We spent the majority of time in the Darien, the eastern-most Province in Panama down at the Darien Gap which separates Panama from South America.
Roadside Hawk and Gray Hawk were seen daily during our week there.
Yellow-headed Caracara was another bird that we saw on most days. Somehow I only managed to get photos of juvenile birds. Guess I’ll have to go back.
One of my favorite falcons is the Aplomado Falcon. We saw several on 3-4 days. The above was the female of a pair.
We only had good looks at one Pearl Kite (above), a real treat and perhaps the smallest diurnal raptor that we saw.
We saw this pair of Black-chested Hawks along a river, where photography was challenging from a motorized canoe.
This stunning Semiplumbeous Hawk was photographed along the famous Pipeline Road.
Bat Falcons are not uncommon from Mexico south. This one was photographed just outside of Panama City.
We did get to see a juvenile Harpy Eagle on nest.
This was a dream come true. The Harpy Eagle is rare north of Panama where there are over 400 birds. I knew of two sites in Mexico where they had nested but never managed to find any.
A final photo of this massive eagle. The bird was finishing eating a sloth that a parent had delived that morning before we got there.
More tomorrow…
Michael's Place 