Birds of a Feather, Sort Of

Photos
Panama's For the Birds
Animal lovers bask in a bird's-eye view of Panama's vibrant winged inhabitants.

But hikes through Central American forest are fun, as long as the sun isn't too hot, the rain isn't too heavy and the snakes stay well away from the path. If you listen, you can spot monkeys. If you're patient, you can see sloths.

And, of course, birds. Birds are most active near sunrise and sunset, and that dictates the rhythm of the day during a bird vacation. At Canopy Tower, that usually meant coffee and orange juice on the observation deck for an hour or so before breakfast. By 8 a.m., sometimes hours earlier, everyone headed out for a long forest hike with one of the multilingual guides -- they all spoke Spanish, English and Bird.

After lunch, there was time for a nap; few birds are out in the heat of a tropical day. Hike for a couple more hours in late afternoon, then return for a shower, cocktails and dinner.

Conversation at the shared dinner tables revolved around those travel staples, where are you from and where have you been. Then came a group review of the day's bird list. Even though I'm usually a night owl, I was sound asleep by 9.

Eight Birders, One Book

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Our second day, all the bird experts from the previous day had flown the coop, either for home or another bird lodge. We shared breakfast and the morning hike with a new couple, Bob and Gery. They were world travelers who had visited countries I've barely heard of, but they were new to the whole birding thing. On a visit to Brazil, they had hiked with a bird-watcher friend and enjoyed it. They figured that as long as they were in Panama, they would give it a try.

And so they did, even though the binoculars they purchased the day before their flight were better suited for watching a football game than for spotting birds in the trees.

With a guide who knows the territory, though, even an absolute beginner will see birds. Our guide, Jose -- one of two by that name at the lodge -- knew the territory. He walked a bit ahead of us down Semaphore Hill Road, watching the woods and sky, occasionally trilling out a bird call or playing a taped version. When a bird responded, he set up his spotting scope (a specialized telescope on a tripod), aimed it at the bird and urged us to look, quickly.

With Bob and Gery still trying to figure out what was going on, even I could be of help for once. Mostly it was with such hard-earned wisdom as, "Remember to take the lens caps off the binoculars."

And another tip, which my husband had repeated to me countless times: When you spot a bird in a tree, hold your head still, then bring the binoculars up to your eyes. Now that I was showing someone else, it finally made sense to me. With some hints from Jose and my husband, I even picked out a few birds myself. It helps a lot that the purple-throated fruit crow has a bright purple throat.

That afternoon, we added Doran and Sue, retirees from Florida, and Nathan and Natalie, young British backpackers spending six months traipsing around Central America. Among eight eco-tourists, all of whom had come a very long way to look at birds, we had one bird book.

For most people, a stay at Canopy Tower is the kind of thing you plan. There are just a dozen rooms, and much of the year there's a three-night minimum stay. Oh, and it's more than a mile up a hill on a rough road.

The Brits, both of whom had studied zoology, were a bit more casual. They had heard of the place, so when they were in the area, they hopped off a bus to take a look. That required walking up the hill -- "with 15 K [more than 33 pounds] on my back," Natalie said.