Several poor, wiggly digiscoping images are shown, at left, of the Cana Chocó Toucan.  The only critical visible field mark is the lower bill is black, not chestnut as in the Chestnut-mandibled Toucan. The sound, however, is nothing at all like the call of this common look-alike species.  Click image to hear the sound that confirms this new AOU species.

At Cana in 2001, the genius (right) that kept the whole operation going was Rudolph Hines.  Fit and knew all his birds, he was once the “field man” for Alexander Wetmore (if you’ve never heard of him, do look him up).  Rudy acted as if he’d barely turned forty, but is considerably older. Highly regarded by many Panama ornithologists, with quotes in popular bird literature, he retired in 2002.

Rudy pointed out many new birds to me during the two-day absence of the other Wildside clients.  He showed me the Black-tipped Cotinga (with no visible black wing-tips, a snow-white, medium sized bird that often sat in Trumpet Trees and ate fruit). He said the Chocó Toucan was an irregular visitor to Cana over the last year.

On the last Cana day, the plane surprised us by landing in the middle of our last recording session on the south-eastern trail, and the flight back to the Panama City was two hours earlier than scheduled; " . . . the weather was closing in". But as we landed in Panama City, our baggage was unloaded, taken to the terminal, new baggage (seemingly military) was loaded and uniformed passengers were aboard for takeoff — all before we had barely crossed the fifty meters to the terminal.  Weather? or more likely an emergency had come up. One always wonders about FARC . . .

Our next stay was at the famed Canopy Tower.  Situated atop a national park, it is hard to find any reason why you would reject a chance to stay there.  As many now know, the owner has converted an old American military radar dome into a luxury hotel, with the topmost floor for dining and lounging, and the roof for canopy bird-viewing 24 hours a day.

The owner, Raúl Arias de Para, witty and charming when you meet him, combines the best in ecological awareness with the entrepreneurial spirit of ecotourism.   Birding from the roof at sunrise is a privilege and a joy, day after day.  The food also defies superlatives, as Raul’s sister, a nationally-known chef and expert on tropical cuisine, oversees his menus.  Walking down the drive from the Tower one hears and sees also many new birds in the protected park.

With the reduction in travel during these recent years, it must be especially difficult financially to maintain such a facility.

Day trips in central Panama are a bit limited by finding roads across the huge coast-to-coast canal, but plans are in the works to build a new bridge near a narrows, connecting the sides and thus alleviating the traffic congestion that develops at the locks, where most of the traffic now must cross the canal way, alternating with the huge ships, as each lock opens and closes.

Trips to Achiote Road and the famous Pipeline were also very exciting and productive, thanks to our experienced  local guide Belkys Jiménez and to the Wildside Birding Tour guides, Glenn Crawford and Kevin Loughlin.