a bird trip that I never will forget

 

I  had a great bird trip with a brother and sister, they were friends  from people who live here in Boquete.
He was a great birder, name is David or "cloudman" , good sense of humor and an artist. Great in checking out  bird details and very important, enjoying every bird. She was not really the bird watcher but enjoyed it.
Specially when  we checked out a tree full with Baltimore Orioles, red legged Honey creepers .
David was so excited that suddenly I hear a beautiful play on a flute, a small flute that David  always play when he is happy. It was so beautiful and magic , that I had tears in my eyes. And then suddenly...a Baltimore(Northern) Oriole started to sing with him......I get still nice mails and poems  from David , they are great and in another Note I will share that with you.....
We saw that day the first Quetzals of the season, they came back! Always exciting.

Hey Terry-
     Thank you so much for my best (# of species) birding day ever.  The following day I spotted Tropical Gnatcatcher near water first thing in the morning then walked up to the first ridge (500--1000 ft up) sat down to write some poetry and as I finished by me flashed a falcon.  Judging the size--small--and checking the book AHA!  Bat Falcon he shot by me again a few minutes later @ high speed and I realized why, what few birds were around were so cautious.  4 hours later after cooking for 3 hours I stepped out the front door to stretch.   I was outside only for 20 seconds before stepping back into the house to finish the meal.  As I looked up 500--1000 ft, a Black Vulture soared over the top of the ridge immediately behind him harrying him came a small bullet, the Bat Falcon again @ incredibly high speed chasing the intruder from the very area I had seen him on my earlier walk.
     In Volcan today we stopped @ a B & B--Cielito Sur--and saw a pair of Violet Sabrewings, a Rufous-Tailed Hummingbird, and a Violet Greenear all using the same feeder.  We then proceeded into the rainforest and along the trail were, (all four of us in turn), confronted by a Magnificent Hummingbird--I was wearing a black long-sleeve dress shirt open @ the neck with a bright scarlet T-shirt visible underneath; the bird made right for my shirt just below my chin, hovered one foot in front of me for two seconds before flying off, long enough for me to identify the color of his crown and gorget as well as his size.  Also saw an Orange Nightingale-Thrush this a.m. near the house.  Tomorrow it's back to the U.S.
You helped make my stay a brilliant success  

Ciao bella            David E

 Here is our bird list of 2th of February 2011, Bajo Mono, Culebra trail
black Vulture
broad winged Hawk
snowy bellied Hummingbird
scintillant Hummingbird(Terry)
resplendent Quetzals
tropical Kingbird
social Flycatcher
mountain Elaenia
 yellowish Flycatcher
 plain Wren
 Wilson's Warbler(Terry)
 black burnian Warbler
red legged Honeycreeper
 collared Redstart(whitestart)
silver throated Tanager
blue gray Tanager
 scarlet rumped Tanager( Cherrie)
 common bush Tanager
 buff throated Saltator
 variable Seedeater
 lesser Goldfinch(Terry)
 rufous colored Sparrow