December 28, 2025-January 4, 2026 with Chris Benesh & local guide Tino Sanchez
This year’s Holiday Canopy Lodge tour will perhaps be remembered for two things: the outstanding camaraderie of our group and the sketchy execution of “dry season” by mother nature. Late December into January is normally considered the start of the dry season in central Panama. This year’s tour faced quite a bit more rain than is the norm. Thankfully, we did not see rain every day, and when it was raining, there were alternative places to spend time enjoying a variety of species visiting feeders. From our base in El Valle de Anton, we visited several sites including the cloud forests of Altos del Maria, the Pacific lowlands of Juan Hombron, Anton, and Santa Clara, and various locations along the Rio Indio.
Our tour was skillfully co-lead by Tino Sanchez, veteran Canopy family guide and bird artist who entertained us rain or shine. Danilo Rodriguez Jr also helped out on a couple of days when we were in 4x4s. So many great memories from the trip. One in particular transpired on our way to Altos del Maria. While we were zooming along, a bird was spotted tangled in some barbed wire fencing. We decided to investigate further and realized that it was a Mottled Owl, exhausted but still alive. We shifted into rescue mode and spent the next 15 minutes of so carefully extracting the owl from the wiring. Thankfully, Danilo had connections in El Valle, and he was able to arrange to someone to retrieve the owl and take it to a rehab center. Lefty, as we soon coined it, touched all of our hearts and we made a point of visiting it the following day.
Other memorable wildlife experiences included seeing a small Central American Boa begin to consume a Blue-gray Tanager it had caught while we were watching feeders nearby! Our exploration of the Canopy Adventure property turned up a wonderfully cooperative Sunbittern that we watched at length as it foraged along the fast-rushing stream. There we were also treated to a splendid Crested Owl that had been found roosting there earlier. In addition, a roosting Mottled Owl was also found nearby. At the lodge itself, a cooperative White-tipped Sicklebill proved a star attraction, feeding on flowering heliconia flowers and perching for long periods nearby. The feeders at the lodge were visited by a large assortment of species from tiny euphonias to massive Gray-cowled Wood Rails and Gray-headed Chachalacas.
There were some standout totals noted. Nineteen species of hummingbirds were encountered. Twenty species of raptors (hawks, owls, and falcons), four trogons and five motmots, and thirty species of tyrant flycatchers were also notable. Other notables included the striking Rosy Thrush-Tanager, currently considered a monotypic family. Dusky-faced Tanagers were frequent visitors to the lodge, and represent a tiny family of birds recently split off from the rest of the tanagers. And finally, seeding bamboo around Panama City stimulated seldom encountered Slate-colored Seedeaters to break out in song.
As I mentioned at the start, this was an exceptional group and that really helped to make the trip a success! Thanks to all of you for all that you contributed. I wish you all the best and look forward to our paths crossing again in the future.
Mammals seen on the tour:
Geoffroy's Tamarin (Saguinus geoffroyi)
Mantled Howler Monkey (Alouatta palliata)
Hoffmann's Two-toed Sloth (Choloepus hoffmanni)
Brown-throated Three-toed Sloth (Bradypus variegatus)
Red-tailed Squirrel (Sciurus granatensis)
Central American Agouti (Dasyprocta punctata)
Coyote (Canus latrans)
White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus)
Reptiles and Amphibians seen on the tour:
Green Iguana (Iguana iguana)
Common Basilisk (Basiliscus basilicus)
Cloudy Snail-eating Snake (Sibon nebulatus)
Central American Boa (Boa imperator)
Talamanca Rocket Frog (Allobates talamancae)
Brilliant Forest Frog (Lithobates warszewitschii)
Giant Toad (Rhinella horribilis)
You can see my complete trip report on eBird at this link: https://ebird.org/tripreport/454269
You can see my iNaturalist report of non-avian taxa at this link: https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/field-guides-panama-canopy-lodge
You can download a combined PDF of this page and the eBird report at this link: https://fieldguides.com/triplists/pny25TRIPLIST.pdf
-- Chris