In early August, 2008 I took a short trip from Costa Rica to David and the Lost and Found eco-hostel, both in Chiriqui, Panama. I would have liked to explore more around David but due to time and transportation limitations, wasn’t able to look for Veraguan Mango. Nor was I able to bird the extensive mangroves and nearby forested islands in the Chiriqui gulf. Nevertheless, I hope to give birders an idea of what to expect and at the same time encourage them to explore underbirded, promising areas near David. I certainly hope to do so at some future time.
Birding in David
David, the second largest city in Panama, is pretty birdy as a result of green space in the form of empty lots, gardens and many remnant trees. Found in the Pacific slope lowlands of western Panama, David is hot and humid and located at the junction of drier habitats to the east and wet forests of the Chiriqui Endemic Bird Area to the west. As is the case of most urbanized areas, birding is better outside of the city but if you can’t do that at least you should see a fair number of widespread neotropical species. I visited Pedegral Port one morning hoping to get images of aquatic species. Although I didn’t get lucky with aquatic birds, it sounds like a boat trip through nearby mangroves would be very worthwhile according to Guido Berguido who apparently found Yellow-billed Cotinga!
Pedregal is found at the end of the main road heading south from the airport. There is a small yacht club with small restaurant. Overall, the place was undeveloped; don’t expect that to last for long! This would be an excellent place for mangrove education and tourism. I took a taxi there for about $3-$4. Buses are also available but may be infrequent.
Where to stay
David has a wide range of accomodations ranging from hostels to higher end hotels. This link gives reviews on most hotels in David: http://www.chiriquichatter.net/blog/tag/hotels/
Getting around
Public transport in the form of mini buses and taxis is readily available.
Food costs
Pretty cheap; $3-$4 for dinner in Chinese reastaurant.
The following is a list of species (most very common) recorded while casually birding around the Parque Cervantes and empty lots and shaded streets near the Purple House Hostel http:// www.purplehousehostel.com as well as a few hours one morning at Port Pedegral. There are certainly many more possibilities including at least a few owl species:
P= only recorded Pedregal
Magnificent Frigatebird (P)
Anhinga (P)
Great Egret (P)
Little Blue Heron (P)
Neotropic Cormorant (P)
Black-bellied Whistling Duck (P)
Spotted Sandpiper (P)
Collared Forest Falcon (P)
Yellow-headed Caracara
Crested Caracara
Black Vulture
Turkey Vulture
Pale-vented Pigeon
White-tipped Dove
Ruddy Ground Dove
Red-lored Parrot
Blue-headed Parrot
Crimson-fronted Parakeet
Orange-chinned Parakeet
Brown-throated Parakeet
Squirrel Cuckoo
Short-tailed Swift
Mangrove Swallow (P)
Grey-breasted Martin
Rufous-tailed Hummingbird
Blue-crowned Motmot
Lineated Woodpecker
Red-crowned Woodpecker
Barred Antshrike
Tropical Kingbird
Piratic Flycatcher
Social Flycatcher
Boat-billed Flycatcher
Great-crested Flycatcher
Dusky-capped Flycatcher
Common Tody Flycatcher
Yellow-crowned Tyrannulet
Southern Beardless Tyrannulet (P)
Yellow-bellied Elaenia
House Wren
Cay-colored Robin
Bananaquit
Baltimore Oriole
Orchard Oriole
Bronzed Cowbird
Great-tailed Grackle
Blue-grey Tanager
Buff-throated Saltator
Black-striped Sparrow
Thick-billed Seed Finch
Blue-black Grassquit
Yellow-faced Grassquit
Yellow-bellied Seedeater (P)
The Lost and Found Eco-Hostel
The Lost and Found Eco-Hostel is probably one of the only hostels in the world nestled within its own cloud forest preserve. After running into several of their pamphlets at other Panamanian hostels, I finally got the chance to visit for a few days in early August, 2008. Located at 1,200 meters on the Pacific slope, aside from some shade coffee and a small orchard, this hostel is surrounded by a large area of old growth moist and cloud forest. Birding was pretty good around the hostel itself with American Swallow-tailed Kite being one of the more common, spectacular species. For most of the day at least a dozen graced the sky with their aerial acrobatics. Mixed flocks and frugivores often came through the trees near the hostel, especially the forest edge at the trailhead.
The few trails that accessed the forest were fairly muddy and rough but offered good birding and extended for a few ks. One trail apparently reaches a river and enters forest with a more Caribbean slope aspect. The upper part of the trail that follows a ridge with stunted trees and bamboo probably has specialties such as Maroon-fronted Ground Dove and Blue Seedeater.
Although one of the owners, Andrew, is there most of the time, it’s probably best to contact them before visiting. Both he and Patrick were very helpful and friendly. They manage the place quite well and even have a feeding platform for nocturnal animals. I look forward to my next visit.
Cost
$12 for spacious dorm bed, $20-$30 for private room.
Kitchen is available for use, if you don’t bring your own food, groceries can be bought at hostel at substantially higher prices.
$4 to use the trails.
Getting There
Entrance to the hostel is located along the David-Changuinola road just north of Valle de la Mina. Watch for their yellow sign on the east side of the road. Buses traveling bewteen David and Changuinola can drop you here; just tell driver to stop.
For further information see my blog http://birdingcraft.com/wordpress and their blog http://www.moreinpanama.blogspot.com
Lost and Found email: thepanpro@yahoo.com
Phone: 65819223 or 66545961
The following is a list of all species recorded (66 total) during a stay of about three days with notes on abundance. As I was focused on bird photography, birders working the trails should come up with several more species. Regional endemic taxa are highlighted.
Little Tinamou heard below orchard
Black-breasted Wood Quail few coveys heard
Black Guan a few seen fruiting treesTurkey Vulture a few seen
Short-tailed Hawk 1 seen
White Hawk 1 seen
American Swallow-tailed Kite very common
Band-tailed Pigeon a few flyovers
Ruddy Pigeon 1-2 heard
Chiriqui Quail Dove 1 quick flyby in orchard
Sulphur-winged Parakeets good views of flyby flocks
Mottled Owl 1 heard
Squirrel Cuckoo 1 seen
White-collared Swift 100 or so in flock
Green Hermit several seen
Green Violetear several seen
Violet Sabrewing a few seen
Rufous-tailed Hummingbird a few seen
Mountain Gem species a few seen
White-tailed Emerald several in orchard-quite common
Orange-bellied Trogon a few seen
Emerald (Blue-throated) Toucanet several seen
Prong-billed Barbet a few seen
Golden-olive Woodpecker a few seen
Red-crowned Woodpecker a few near road
Spotted Barbtail pair in forest
Red-faced Spinetail a few near orchard
Spectacled Foliage-gleaner several-pretty common
Lineated Foliage-gleaner one heard forest
Spotted Woodcreeper 1-2 seen
Wedge-billed Woodcreeper 1 seen
Olivaceous Woodcreeper 1 seen
Ruddy Woodcreeper pair in forest
Rufous-breasted Antthrush 1-2 heard
Immaculate Antbird a few heard
Slaty Antwren few in forest
Three-wattled Bellbird 1-2 heard
Dusky-capped Flycatcher 1 pair
Tropical Peewee 1 orchard
Yellowish Flycatcher common around hostel
Paltry Tyrannulet several
Mountain Elaenia a few
House Wren hostel mascot
Gray-breasted Wood Wren A few heard
Southern Nightingale Wren 1 heard
Orange-billed Nightingale
Thrush several, common around hostel
White-throated Thrush 1 seen
Mountain Thrush few seen
Long-billed Gnatwren fairly common forest
Tawny-crowned Greenlet A few forest
Lesser Greenlet Several
Brown-capped Vireo Several
Three-striped Warbler A few forest
Golden-crowned Warbler A few
Bananaquit A few
Tropical Parula Several
Slate-throated Redstart Several
Common Bush Tanager A few
Scarlet-thighed Dacnis A few
Silver-throated Tanager Several
Bay-headed Tanager A few
Crimson-collared Tanager A few
Flame-colored Tanager 1
White-winged Tanager Pair
Yellow-throated
(White-naped) Brush Finch Several