Thickair Blog

Today I went with my neighbor, who is an avid birder, bird watching. She lent me a pair of binoculars and gave me tips on how to see the birds through them. Panama is reported to have 972 species of birds, more than Costa Rica. In just a few minutes outside our door, we were spotting 6 different birds in only one tree. The first glimpse of the little bird face in the binoculars was amazing. From the ground, I could see he was orange, but to see his face so closely it was intricate the markings of black around his eyes. The most exciting sight however, was the Green Kingfisher. She had a feeling we might see it, so we waited and there was nothing. Continuing on she recognized the call it makes right as it goes fishing into the water. We went back, and there they were, both male and female perched on a wire waiting to snatch a little breakfast.

El Valle is renowned for its bird population. Living here, I have seen Toucan, Green Parrots, Hawks and Falcons but one of the best was three little owls that sat perched and huddled together in the shrub of my front yard. My friend went in for a closer look and they all closed their eyes, as though a child does when scared and forcing visions of fright out of their view.

This entry was posted Saturday, February 21st, 2009 at 10:10 am and is filed under Gardens & Nature. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.