P. 2 - LA PLAYA
JULY / JULIO 2014
WWW.PLAYACOMMUNITY.COM
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Birding Panama’s Pipeline Road
NEW LUXURY HOME
in SAN JOSE
By Ezekiel S. Jakub
Yellow Tailed Oriole - Photo by Ezekiel S. Jakub
T
he alarm is beeping, over and
over and over again “Beep,
beep, beep!” ringing in my
ears in-between the world of dream
and consciousness. Snooze; sleep
more, “Beep, beep, beep”, minutes
later. Reaching over to the alarm I
turn it off. My eyes open slowly. It’s
still dark out, which is not usually
conducive to dragging yourself out of
bed in the morning, but today is a
different morning. No data to collect,
no gear to organize, nothing to
double-check, today is simply pure
joy. You would think these predawn
hours would be quiet, serene and
motionless. Yet there, the neighborhood ruddy ground dove is already
trying to impress his mate with his
low toned “Whwoot, whwoot,
whwoot, whwoot”, then there is our
omnipresent clay-colored thrush
singing for the rain - a complex
garble of flute like iterations, which
remind me of the American robin
indigenous to where I grew up in
Massachusetts. Not long after I hear
the excited call, a short series of high
pitched trill notes coming from
across the parking lot from a tropical
kingbird. I realize the world is already
moving, turning, in play and I am still
in bed!
excited flurry of activity. Bathroom,
check; breakfast, check; dressed,
check; coffee, more coffee, check
and check! Packed lunch in hand, I
finally rush down to the car,
stumbling along the way, readjusting
my glasses, and finally stowing my
gear. Most birders worth their salt
have a “to-go” bag. Basically a
pre-packed bag with all the necessities:
field
guide
binoculars,
notebook, pencil, water bottle,
snacks, rain gear, camera and other
items. Like an on-call doctor, one
never knows when we might be
called into action to dash to the field
and identify some rarity, the odd
visitor to our “birding area of operation”. Birders, you see, are always on
call!
As I think about the world of birds
flying around me already, getting out
of bed is no longer a slog but an
Panama hosts one of the most
diverse birding countries in the
world, especially when compared to
ABOUT US
La Playa Community News is
published monthly in English with
some Spanish. Free copies are
distributed to restaurants, hotels and
popular locations across the beaches
from Punta Chame to Rio Hato and
El Valle.
La Playa Community News is a print
edition of www.playacommunity.com,
a community news, events and
useful
information
portal
that
receives 40,000 + visits a month.
Our office is located at El Rincon del
The drive is fast and easy, which is
rarely said about moving through
Panama City, but on a weekend
morning at 0445 not many souls are
about who don't have feathers,
wings or a pair of binoculars at the
ready. Headed toward one of my
favorite spots in the wide world takes
less than 30 minutes, Gamboa and
the famous Pipeline Road. Many
believe Pipeline is simply birders
heaven!
Chef Plaza in Coronado on Roberto
Eisenmann Drive. Hours: Monday –
Friday 10:00am – 4:00 pm.
Phone: 344-7505
Email: [email protected]
facebook.com/Playacommunity
ACERCA DE NOSOTROS
La Playa Community News es
publicado mensualmente en Inglés y
Español. Copias gratis son distribuidas en restaurantes, hoteles y
lugares populares a travéz de las
playas desde Punta Chame hasta
Rio Hato y El Valle.
its land area (about the size of the
state of South Carolina). George
Angehr and Robert Dean report 978
species possible in their “Guide to
Birds of Panama” publication. To
offer a contrast, the U.S. and
Canada count less, at about 914
species. The difference in land area
is simply staggering when compared
to the number of species recorded.
At the famous Pipeline Road of
Gamboa, near Colón on the
Caribbean coast, there have been
435 species recorded through an
electronic database created and
maintained by Cornell University,
called eBird (www.ebird.org). About
44% of the birds in Panama have
been recorded in this one location!
Gamboa itself is a tiny community
along the Panama Canal and also
hosts an access dock to the famous
Barro Colorado Island and the
Smithsonian Tropical Research
Institute. Gamboa, originally built for
Canal employees now mostly serves
as the dredging station of ACP
(Autoridad del Canal de Panamá).
As soon as you cross the Chagres
River Bridge into Gamboa you
immediately
notice
quietness,
stillness, and lack of routine community activities. The only regular
activity one is likely to observe is
canal employees in transit to and
from work and tourism activity from
the establishments in Gamboa.
Arriving across the Chagres Bridge, I
immediately go into “birder mode”.
This means a double-down in speed,
hazard lights on, windows down,
“binns” or “glass” (binoculars) up and
at the ready. From here on only birds
are on my mind! You never really
know what and when you will see
something. This is part of the excitement of birding in the