Under the canopy: Bird club members explore Panamanian rainforest

By Thelma Dalmas
Published: June 3, 2008

Six members of the Lynchburg Bird Club have returned home from a really extensive field trip — all the way to Panama.

The group, all ladies of a certain age, gained many new species for our life lists, a deep appreciation of the Central American rainforest and memories of swinging through the tree canopy.

But I digress. We left in mid-May for our first destination, Canopy Lodge. We spent five days at the well-named lodge, situated about 60 miles from Panama City.

Geologically, this fascinating area formed about three million years ago during the eruption of a volcano, which left a jagged-peaked crater now known as El Valle. At an elevation of 2,000 feet, the climate at the now-extinct volcano is relatively cool, and the birdlife is diverse.

Much of the nature-related action takes place in the tree canopy, of course. And the lodge offers a bird’s eye aerial tour of the canopy via zip-line — a series of steel cables that go from platform to platform through the canopy. You attach your harnessed self to a roller on the inclined steel cable, and let gravity take you from platform to platform.

Three of our group told our guide we really wanted to give it a try. He seemed dubious, possibly because all but one of our group is 60-something. Clearly, the idea of three not-so-young ladies swinging through the canopy 180 feet above the forest floor struck him as a bit odd. We were persistent, however, and he arranged it for us.

After getting into our harness gear, we were led at a brisk pace up a steep incline toward the first platform. Maybe they thought we’d be discouraged.

After getting our harnesses hooked to the steel cable, we’d slide down the line about 100 to 200 yards to the next platform. The tricky part was braking, which involved reaching back along the steel cable with a heavily gloved hand to slow ourselves down before reaching the upcoming platform. The zip-lines between the five platforms descend about 500 feet, so sometimes those platforms seemed to be “upcoming” very fast. 

It turned out to be a great experience. By the time we had negotiated four zip-lines and reached the last platform, the three of us felt like experts. I think the guides felt relieved that we had actually all made it down!

Our second week was spent closer to the coast at Canopy Tower, the site of an old United States radar installation. From the top of the tower we could look out over the treetops and had a spectacular view of the Panama Canal. We often heard the haunting calls of the howler monkeys, and occasionally a troop would appear just below us in the forest.

The group spent every morning with our guide hiking along the forest trails. We relaxed in the heat of the day, and headed out again in the late afternoon.

We saw so many new birds (I added 200 to my life list). The staff at Canopy Tower soon referred to us as the “Virginia Six;” we were easy to recognize because we were always having a wonderful time.

On the flight home, I asked everyone to describe, not her favorite species (too difficult to select just one), but a bird of consequence, one that meant something special. Sandra Weigand chose a little male blue-black grassquit that had entertained us all by repeatedly hopping straight up in the air in a valiant attempt to attract some female attention. Teta Kain liked the keel-billed toucan, described by our guide as “a crow pushing a banana through the air.”

Peggy Lyons selected the capped heron, which she characterized in lyrical terms as a rare bird of pastel colors and soft, cream feathers. JoAnne Pierce favored the rufous motmot because of the name, the call, the tail-swinging habit and a symbol of the fact that when you see a motmot, you know that you’re not in Virginia anymore. Judy Wiegand picked the masked tityra for the bold beauty of its white, scarlet and black plumage (and it also happened to be one of the first birds that she saw). For me, it was the rufous-crested coquette, a tiny hummingbird (with a red mohawk “hair-do”) that was just as flitty and flirty as its name.

As we were leaving the airport at the end of the trip, someone asked me where the “Virginia Six” should plan to go next. At this point, I’ve no real idea of heading off anywhere in the near future. However, when winter comes and the days grow cold, maybe I’ll turn my mind far to the south and think about Ecuador.

News and Notes
The Lynchburg Bird Club will hold a covered dish picnic dinner on Wednesday, 5 to 8 p.m., June 11 at Claytor Nature Study Center. Bring a main dish and a salad or dessert. For more information, call (434) 298-7773.