Places to visit in Boquete: Finca Lerida

Finca Lerida Coffee state Lodge is located in the hills outside Boquete town in a beautiful green mountain setting.  It is one of the highest working coffee plantations in Panama, with elevations reaching up to 5,200 feet, and it therefore produces some of the finest coffee in the country such as the world recognize Geisha coffee.  In addition, it contains primary and secondary forest and is home to hundred of species of birds, as well as howler monkeys, peccaries and other mammals.  Resplendent quetzals and volcano hummingbirds also inhabit this area.

If you are in Boquete, don’t miss this beautiful lodge and coffee shop.  For reservations and more information contact us:  info@ecocircuitos.com  www.ecocircuitos.com

Birdwatching: Hummingbirds

Panama’s birds are not shy.  Depending on the season, location and luck you can expect to see many different species in one day.   Of all the vast variety of bird species in Panama, the hummingbirds are of our favorite.  There are more than three hundred species of hummingbirds in Panama constituting the family Trochilidae, many of which have romantic names, such as the green-crowned brilliant, the purple-throated mountain gem and some other with more beautiful names.   The fiery-throated hummingbird, for example is a glossy green, shimmering iridescent at close range, with a dark blue tail, violet-blue chest, glittering coppery orange throat, and brilliant blue crown set off by velvety black on the sides and back of the head.  Some males take their glamorous plumage one step further and are bedecked with long streamer tails and iridescent mustaches, beards and visors.

These little, high-speed animals are so named because of the hum made by the beat of their wings; at up to one hundred beats per second, the hummingbird’s wings move so rapidly that they are often undetectable by the naked eye.  Hummingbirds are often seen hovering next to flowers, from which they extract nectar and insects with their long, hollow, and extensile tongues forked at the tip.  Alone among birds, they can generate power on both the forward and backward wing strokes, a distinction that allows them to fly backwards.

Hummingbirds are loners and they bond with the opposite sex only for the few seconds it takes to mate.  Many, such as the fiery-throated hummingbird, are violently territorial.  With luck, you might witness an impressive aerial fight between males defending their territories.   Come to Panama for birdwatching this season!  Contact us for more information at info@ecocircuitos.com

 

 

 

Mount Totumas Cloud Forest Reserve

Birdwatching in the cloudforest

Working with local indigenous guides

Hiking in the Cloudforest with EcoCircuitos team

Reinaldo, our local guide

Jeffrey, Annie and Jennie

Hiking the highlands

Spider Monkey

EcoCircuitos staff visited Mount Totumas Cloud Forest Reserve, located in Los Pozos Volcan at 6 miles up a scenic 4WD road.  We enjoyed a two day hiking adventure and superb birdwatching, including spotting a male Quetzal and a Black and Crested Guan among other species. Mount Totumas Cloud Forest is a 400 acre reserve bordering the La Amistad National Park. Guests can enjoy 8 marked trails through the reserve with access into the adjacent national park, which is Central America’s largest protected mountain wilderness area.   Hot springs are also located nearby.   In the Mount Totumas Cloud Forest Reserve there are keystone species present such as Resplendent Quetzals, Three Wattled Bellbirds, Baird’s Tapir, Mantled Howler Monkey, Black and Crested Guan, White-Faced Capuchin monkeys, spider monkeys, mountain lions, ocelots and even Jaguars have been spotted in neighboring national park. The reserve is in a remote wilderness location with cabins and lodge that offers all the basic amenities thanks to a sustainable off the grid micro hydro power plant that taps the power of a nearby stream. For 2015 EcoCircuitos is offering a 4 day adventure at Mount Totumas Private Reserve – where you can experience the real beauty of the Cloud forest.  If you are an avid birder,  a hiker or just love wildlife observation and conservation, this is the adventure for you.   Contact us for more information:  www.ecocircuitos.com

Bird List Mount Totumas Cloud Forest:

Highland Tinamou

Black Guan
Crested Guan
Grey-headed Chacalaca

Spotted Wood Quail

Cattle Egret

Turkey Vulture

Black Vulture

Swallow-Tailed Kite
Plumbeous Kite
Ornate Hawk Eagle

Broad-winged Hawk
Short-tailed Hawk
Sharp-shinned Hawk

Great Black Hawk

Red-tailed Hawk
Roadside Hawk
Yellow Headed Caracara

Collared Forest Falcon

American Kestrel
Bat Falcon

Spotted Sandpiper

Band-Tailed Pigeon
Ruddy Pigeon

Buff-Fronted Quail Dove

Chiriqui Quail Dove

White-Tipped Dove

Sulfur-winged Parakeet

Crimson-fronted Parakeet

Blue-Headed Parrot
Brown-hooded Parrot

Spectacled Owl
Mottled Owl

Bare-shanked Screech Owl

Common Pauraque

Dusky Nightjar

White-Collared Swift

Vauxs Swift

Scintillant Hummingbird
Fiery-throated Hummingbird

Volcano Hummingbird

Stripe-Tailed Hummingbird

Purple-Throated Mountain Gem

White-throated Mountain Gem

Green Hermit

Violet Sabrewing

Magnificent Hummingbird

Green Violet-Ear
Brown Violet-Ear

Green-Crowned Brilliant

Snowy Bellied Hummingbird
Magenta-throated Woodstar
Purple-crowned Fairy
Long-billed Starthroat
Snowcap
Resplendent Quetzal

Collared Trogon
Orange-bellied Trogon

Blue-Crowned Motmot

Blue-throated Toucanet
Fiery-billed Aracari
Prong-billed Barbet

Red-Headed Barbet

Acorn Woodpecker

Hairy Woodpecker

Red-Crowned Woodpecker
Smoky-brown Woodpecker
Golden-Olive Woodpecker
Olivaceous Piculet

Ruddy Tree Runner

Lineated Foilage-Gleaner

Spectacled Foilage-Gleaner

Spotted Barbtail
Red-Faced Spinetail

Spot-crowned Woodcreeper

Olivaceous Woodcreeper
Buffy Tuftedcheek
Streak-breasted Treehunter

Silvery-fronted Tapaculo

Mountain Elaenia

Yellow-Bellied Elaenia

Torrent Tyrannulet

Common Tody-Flycatcher

Rough-legged Tyranulet

White-Throated Spadebill

Tufted Flycatcher

Ochraceous Pewee

Western Wood-Pewee
Olive-sided Flycatcher

Dark Pewee

Yellow-bellied Flycatcherr
Black Phoebe
Yellowish Flycatcher

Bright-Rumped Atitla

Dusky-capped Flycatcher
Panama Flycatcher

Great Kiskadee

Social Flycatcher

Boat-billed Flycatcher

Golden-bellied Flycatcher

Streaked Flycatcher

Tropical Kingbird

Eastern Kingbird
Masked Tityra

White-Winged Becard
Barred Becard
Three-Wattled Bellbird
Yellow-winged Vireo

Yellow-Throated Vireo
Brown-capped Vireo

Philadelphia Vireo
Red-eyed Vireo

Rufous-Browed Peppershrike

Silvery-Throated Jay
Brown Jay

Blue and White Swallow
Barn Swallow
Southern Rough-winged Swallow

Ochraceous Wren

House Wren

Grey-Breasted Woodwren
Southern Nightingale-Wren

American Dipper

Mountain Thrush
Clay-colored Thrush

Black-faced Solitaire

Orange-Billed Nightingale Thrush
Ruddy-capped Nightingale Thrush
Black-billed Nightingale Thrush

Slaty-backed Nightingale Thrush

Swainsons Thrush
Wood Thrush
White-throated Thrush

Black and Yellow Silky-Flycatcher

Long-tailed Silky Flycatcher

Black and White Warbler

Wilsons Warbler
Canada Warbler

Black-throated Green Warbler
Magnolia Warbler

Collared Redstart

Slate-throated Redstart
Black cheeked Warbler

Buff-rumped Warbler
wrenthrush

Mourning Warbler

Flame Throated Warbler

Golden Winged Warbler

Three Striped Warbler
Blackburnian Warbler
Tennessee Warbler

Ovenbird
Northern Waterthrush
Louisiana Waterthrush

Common Bush Tanager

Sooty Capped Bush Tanager

Silver-throated Tanager

Summer Tanager

Flame Colored Tanager
Cherrie’s Tanager

Blue Grey Tanager

White Winged Tanager

Bay Headed Tanager

Spangle Cheeked Tanager

Golden-Hooded Tanager

Scarlet-Thighed Dacnis
Red-legged Honeycreeper

Buff-throated Saltator

Streaked Saltator

Yellow-faced Grassquit
Blue-Black Grassquit

White-naped Brush Finch

Yellow-thighed Finch

Chestnut Capped Brush Finch

Large Footed Finch

Rose-Breasted Grosbeak

Rufous-collared Sparrow

Slaty Flower-piercer

Baltimore Oriole
Eastern Meadowlark

Shiny Cowbird
Bronzed Cowbird

Great-Tailed Grackle

Rose-breasted Grosbeak

Elegant Euphonia
Spot-crowned Euphonia
Yellow-throated Euphonia
Golden Browed Chlorophonia
Yellow-bellied Siskin

* Elevation range from 1500 to 2200ft (including Rio Colorado drainage in La Amistad National Park)

** Last updated May 6, 2014