Panama Day 11: #779-784 and Torrijos’s Revenge
Wednesday I woke up with what I will politely call Torrijos’s Revenge. I should have either A) stayed at the Lodge or B) stuffed up with Imodium but I stupidly did neither. Today’s plan was to drive pretty much as far down the road as we could get in a four-wheel drive, stopping to bird along the way.
At the first stop we added #779, Buff-rumped Warbler, and I was feeling a little queasy.
At the second stop we added #780, Crested Oropendola, and I was looking for a tree.
At the third stop we added #781, Barred Puffbird, #782, Slate-colored Seedeater , and #783, Dusky-faced Tanager; and I was really starting to wish I hadn’t come.
By the fourth stop I was completely incapacitated and just stayed in the truck and tried not to die. I missed out on a couple more lifers including a Woodpecker and a Sulphur-rumped Tanager, but at this point I just didn’t care. That shows you how sick I was. Fortunately Sandi had some Imodium with here, and that got me in enough shape to make the trip back and see an Ant5eater in a tree at one of the final stops; but I was still very glad to get back to the Lodge in time for lunch (which I mostly didn’t eat.)
By the time lunch was over I was in much better shape so when we got word that a Rufous-vented Ground-Cuckoo had been found up the road at the Canopy Lodge. I said “What the Hell” and went out with the group again. Fortunately the Imodium remained in effect and we found the bird, #784, two of them in fact. These are beautiful Roadrunner like birds that mostly hide deep in the forest, but can be found at Army Ant swarms.
After the cuckoos we returned to the Lodge, bought our T-shirts, and drove back to Panama City for dinner and a night in a hotel before flying out the next morning. I skipped dinner and went straight to bed around 4:00 PM and didn’t wake up until 4:00 AM the next morning to catch my flight home. I’m not sure what was up with the flight. I got searched twice at the Panama airport; got held up in customs in Miami, got secondary screened going through Miami security; but I made my flight and arrived home around 6:00 PM (missing one bag American Airlines lost and eventually found).
12 Days. 334 species. 242 life birds. Panama.
