Just a few weeks ago the Three Wattled Bell Birds began arriving to the island of Bastimentos in Bocas del Toro, Panama. Each year they fly down from the high slopes of Talamanca Mountains for their Caribbean vacation, but not until most of the North American Tourists have completed their northern migration.

Some years they show up as early as June and some years not until the beginning of August. But one thing is for sure, you know when they have arrived. The call, before you are accustomed to it, sounds man made. For sure it is out of place, metallic sounds do not normally occur in nature. Our guests here at the lodge have given the Bell Bird many nicknames over the years such as Clank Bird and Electricity Bird.

At Tranquilo Bay there is a tall stand of forest between the main lodge and the cabanas. This morning on my way to the barn, (3) Three Wattled Bell Birds were conducting an impromptu orchestra from the tallest perches in the stand of trees. The volume of these birds at close range is amazing. As always, I stopped what I was doing and listened to the music of the Bell Birds as I watched two Broad Winged Hawks, a pair of Common Black Hawks and a Turkey Vulture glide gracefully overhead.

After a few minutes I decided it was so beautiful that I had to get some sound recorded. I ran to my room to retrieve my IPod and microphone and quickly entered the forest beneath the canopy. After the last call, I counted 10 seconds and then held the microphone as high as I could and hit the record button. As I am sure you know, not another call was muttered. I sure enjoyed it while it lasted, maybe next time.

So, we have all these cool birds that you can see here if you come visit us, and we thought you would want to be able to see them. So we created a separate sub-site of our Tranquilo Bay site that allows you to see the entire bird list. The bird list is by family and includes the following pieces of information: Photo (if we have a good one), Scientific Name, English Common Name and the Spanish Common Name. We will be updating the photos as we acquire new ones. We also have a bird list that you can download that includes the same information. Take a look at the new subsite here. We will continue to add information regarding birding Panama's western Caribbean slope over time. We hope that this sub-site becomes a point of reference for all those interested in birding this special region.

This photo is of a red-lored amazon. We have hundreds of these that travel to and from our property each morning and evening. Their noise is a wonderful wake-up call to the jungle.

We have added a new section on the website for birding. You can access it here. We are really excited about birding here on the western Caribbean slope. We have a bird list of 114 different birds here on site that grows on a weekly basis. Here is one of my favorite birds. Montezuma oropendola. We see these here by the hundreds on a daily basis. And the noise they make is so cool.




You can check out many others here on our updated birding gallery. Stay tuned for more birding developments!

Jim, Ramon and Natalia have worked hard to put together this video. It is amazing. Let us know what you think!

Ramon and Natalia are spending two months at the Zapatilla Cayes this summer to transition the team who is taking over studying the turtles there. We saw both of them briefly over the weekend. Ramon spent the night with us upon returning from Costa Rica and Natalia came by to pick him up. Ramon picked a selection of his favorite photos from out at the cayes last month and gave them to me to share with you. Enjoy.

Blue gray tanager / tangara azuleja
(Thraupis episcopus)


Photo by Ramon Fernandez Frances

This bird is one of the most common birds in Panama, found in clear areas with bushes, gardens and secondary forest. This is not a reason to lose interest in observation of this bird, as they are very active and noisy birds. Blue gray tanagers are often found in groups of either the same specie or other species. Both sexes have the same color, light bluish head and under parts, with darker blue upper parts.

Es una de las aves más comunes de Panamá, que se puede encontrar en claros arbustivos, jardines y bosques secundarios. No por eso deja de ser un ave que da gusto observar, son muy activas y bulliciosas y con frecuencia se mueven en grupos, de su misma especie o de otras especies de este grupo. Ambos sexos tienen la misma coloración, sus partes dorsales son azules oscuras y la zona ventral y la cabeza de un azul más pálido.

Blue Dacnis / Dacnis azul
Dacnis cayana

Photo by Ramon Fernandez Frances.

Blue Dacnis frequent the sunny canopy areas of the forest, from where they descend to the open areas with a few bushes and trees, near to the forest. Some authors report altitudinal migrations, while other authors report the species as an uncommon specie. We do not know yet if it is resident or migratory at Tranquilo Bay, because it is an elusive and scarce bird.

It feeds on fruits, seeds and insects. You should look in the foliage, like the bananquits to find them. This specie make couples or small family size groups. Some times are observed with other tanager flocks, banaquits and honeycreepers.

Frecuenta los niveles superiores soleados del bosque, de donde desciende a los claros adyacentes con árboles y arbustos dispersos. Algunos autores reportan migraciones altitudinales, mientras que otros autores la reportan como residente poco común, aun no sabemos si esta reside o migra en Tranquilo, pues es un ave esquiva y poco abundante.

Se alimenta de frutos, semillas e insectos, que buscan entre el follaje, como las reinitas. Forman parejas o grupos pequeños de tamaño familiar. En ocasiones acompañan a las bandadas de tangaras, reinitas y otros mieleros.

Photos by Ramon Fernandez Frances.

This post is in our Bird Week series focusing on the Tanagers.

Green honeycreeper / mielero verde
Chlorophanes spiza

Photo by Ramon Fernandez Frances.

Green honeycreepers live in the canopy of dense forest, although they often descend to along the borders, clearings with a few trees and/or bushes and gardens.

They feed on nectar, fruts, seeds and little insects. The make couples and generaly stay close to other species in trees with fruit. Often they travel through the canopy with other tanagers, banaquits and other small birds. Green honeycreepers are residents of the Caribbean slope, from the sea leavel up to 1000m.

Habita en el dosel de los bosques densos, aunque con frecuencia desciende a lo largo de los márgenes, claros con árboles, arbustos esparcidos y jardines.
Se alimentan de néctar, frutos, semillas y pequeños insectos. Forman parejas y por lo general se juntan con aves de otras especies en árboles con frutos. Es frecuente que viajen por el dosel con tangaras, reinitas y otras aves pequeñas. Es una especie residente en la vertiente del Caribe, desde el nivel del mar hasta los 1000 m.

Photo by Ramon Fernandez Frances.

This post is in our Bird Week series focusing on the Tanagers.

Red-legged Honeycreeper / Mielero patirojo
Cyanerpes cyaneus

Male and Female - Photo by Ramon Fernandez Francis

During the mating season the male has a bright turquoise crown, that he loses after the reproductive season. After the mating season, he head has the same blue color as the rest of his body. The internal part of the male's wings are bright yellow.

This species travel through the top of the trees and semi-open areas, at the forest edges, gardens and platations.

Durante la época de reproducción el macho adulto tiene una corona brillante de color turquesa pálido, que al terminar la temporada reproductiva pierde, y tiene un color azul similar al del resto del cuerpo. La parte interna de las alas del macho es de color amarillo brillante.

Viajan a través de las copas de los árboles del bosque y de áreas semiabiertas, en bordes de bosques, jardines y plantaciones.

Male - Photos by Ramon Fernandez Frances


Female - Photo by Ramon Fernandez Frances

This post is in our Bird Week series focusing on the Tanagers.

Shining Honeycreeper / Mielero luciente /
Cyanerpes lucidus

Male - Photo by Ramon Fernandez Frances

Shining Honeycreeper are solitary birds that are sometimes found in couples or family groups, but never in flocks of their own species. They are often observed in the company of mixed flocks of bananaquits or other tanagers. In some locations they hang from skinny branches to reach their food, which allows one to watch their bright yellow legs.

Son solitarios o forman parejas, o grupos familiares, no forman bandadas de su misma especie, pero se le observa con frecuencia en compañía de bandadas mixtas de reinitas u otras tangaras. En ocasiones se cuelgan de ramas finas, para alcanzar su alimento, permitiendo al observador ver sus brillantes patas amarillas.

Male - Photo by Ramon Fernandez Frances


Female - Photo by Ramon Fernandez Frances

This post is in our Bird Week series focusing on the Tanagers.

We have been working hard to develop an inventory of the birds that we can see here in Bocas del Toro, Panama. Ramon, Natalia and Jim have been compiling this information for some time now. As a result, we are going to have individual weeks that focus on different aspects important to birding. This week we are focusing on the Tanagers.

Not to long ago we observed for the first time at Tranquilo Bay several species, that are a part of the Tanager family (Thraupinae). These birds are really nice to watch, because they have amazing and vibrant colors, especially if they are observed with the right light. Ramon has taken some really beautiful shots, that we want to share with all of you. Watch for the information on the individual species this week.


Hace relativamente poco tiempo hemos observado por primera vez en Tranquilo, varios individuos de la familia de las tangaras (Thraupinae), estas son aves con las que se puede disfrutar mucho, pues tienen unos colores increíbles, especialmente si se observan con la luz correcta. Ramón ha logrado unas fotos preciosas en las últimas semanas, que queremos compartir con ustedes.

This is one of the birds nibbling at a Hagua nut in the tree right in front of the main building. They eat the nuts. The indigenous people use the ink inside for dye. Tres decided to put one of the nuts into a cup of water to see what would happen - he of course punctured the nut so that the ink inside could come out. That clear ink did make the water almost black after a period of time. I wonder if it has the same properties on the birds. Who knows - maybe they are using it to make themselves more attractive in some way.

It is so hard to get a good photo of these big birds in flight where you can actually make out the bird rather than just a dark spot in the sky. Here are a few good shots.

Area: Close to Tranquilo Bay
Activity: Kayaking & Snorkeling
Weather: Rainy

A great excursion close to Tranquilo Bay is kayaking your way through a series of canals naturally etched in the mangrove forests. When the weather is less than cooperative, this is a nice way to get out and still be within reach of the creature comforts. We paddled a short distance from the dock in an arsenal of sit-on-top kayaks and soaked up a little tropical rain along with the flora and fauna. To me, the rain just enhances the experience and it also reminds you that it is not called the rainforest for nothing. In these enchanted canals you get to see a plethora of wildlife, who don’t take shelter because of the rain but rather go about their daily business. One can see animals such as white faced capuchins, an assortment of birds ranging from Osprey to Kingfishers, upside down jellyfish and of course all types of tropical fish. We donned snorkel and mask and took to the water since we were already wet and swam the edges of the mangrove lagoons. They are rich and diverse, and allow for vast amounts of time to be spent searching their marvels. Mangroves in the rain shed a little light on what could be just a rainy day.

Excursion: Rio Mananti Exploration
Area: Rio Mananti, Bocas del Toro, Panama
Weather: Clear skies sunny and warm

This is David Moseley’s fourth trip to Tranquilo Bay; hence we have learned that he has an insatiable appetite for two things, exploration and fishing. When you put the two together, he seems to be in another world, but then again, maybe this time he was.

The archipelago of Bocas del Toro is one strange place. After 8 years of exploration one would expect a sense of normalcy to set in, well, it never has. Not for me, and not for David, who has visited a unique and different area on each of his explorations in Bocas del Toro. He always asks, “Where does it all end? Well David, perhaps it never does, I am still looking for the answer.

Today we (me, David, Jay & our friend John) went up a river that was not on the map. The discovery was a complete accident, but this is precisely how we have made some of our most unique discoveries.

We had set out to explore the Rio Mananti which is on the map, however, within a kilometer of that river were three small river mouths converging in one bay. This was characteristic of the area we were looking for and therefore temporarily fooled us.

What a great surprise, the scenery was stunning. There were huge stands of White, Black, and Red Mangroves whose roots entered the river from its banks to soak up the brackish water. Just after the mouth, the little river was completely enclosed by canopy. Multiple species of hardwood trees, palms, bamboos, bromeliads, orchids, and vines engulfed all space.

The wildlife was incredible, we immediately spotted three species of Kingfishers, multiple species of Herons and Cranes, and later a Collared Aracari. We saw a huge Green Basilisk lizard fall into the river from a tree branch and proceeded to “walk on water” all the way to the riverbank. His transition from water to land was seamless.
After just a few kilometers we came upon a Ngobe Bugle Indian woman fishing from her cayuco, a type of hand made dugout canoe crafted from a single tree. She had ten or so fish, representing several different species of beautiful Cichlids. She also informed us that we were up the Rio Koy, not the Rio Mananti.

Anyhow, not a bad accident if you ask me. One thing is for certain, we will be going back to the Rio Koy.

It is difficult to find the Rio Mananti because its mouth is a maze of multiple entrances, all well guarded by large sand and soft bottom flats. One had better know the local tides, and we were there on a rise allowing us to safely backtrack for several hours. After navigating some awfully skinny water for several kilometers, we just couldn’t find a way in. After disturbing multiple pods of bait, we decided that was enough searching, and that it was time to fish.

David Moseley a.k.a. “Mo”, owns a website called Wadefishing.com, and I want to let you know that he travels prepared to do just that anywhere he goes. After outfitting our crew with the latest in wade fishing technology, we hit the flats.

For about an hour we waded the sand bars and soft bottom flats in front of the various river mouths. There were huge schools of bait in the water, and right off the bat Jay thinks he sees a Tarpon. He couldn’t really pursue, because he had the boat tied off to his waist and was towing it along while he fished. The fish was fining and made its way over to John, but he was just out of range, and never got the fish to turn. We were casting these sweet Shimano bait casting set ups that Mo brought with all different kinds of baits. We threw plastics, crank baits, and top water plugs. We spooked several fish while wading, but never made a positive identification. We landed a couple of nice Jack Crevalle.

While fishing, we spotted a cayuco going in through a little obscure cut we had not yet tried, we quickly hopped in the boat to follow, knowing that sometimes a little local knowledge is the only way. Finally, and without getting stuck, we made our way into one of the branches of the Rio Mananti. With the help of a family, who was farming a small piece of land on the riverbank, we drove around exploring a few of the river forks and found the main branch.

With the sun low in the sky, we decided to save that adventure for Mo’s next trip to Panama, and asked ourselves again, where does it all end?