The Summit

For those of you who are birders Panama has some of the hottest birding spots around!  In Gamboa you can see large parrots and Toucans, Motmots, hummingbirds, Chachalacas, Tanagers, Caracara and so much more.  In the Metropolitan Nature Park you can usually spot Motmots, Trogans, Casiques, Woodcreepers, etc. I have discovered, however, a great birding spot where you can view a very wide variety of birds.  The Summit is a beautiful golf course located around the grounds of a Radisson Hotel shortly before you get to Gamboa. You need to go with some who is golfing since they won't allow you to simply walk the course. I get my own cart and follow at my own pace making sure I follow golf course etiquette as I drive around.  I stop periodically when I get to a grove of trees, a pond or the edge of the golf course bordered by woods. I sometimes drive ahead a hole or two or lag behind a bit until I get my shot. I'm careful to pull off in areas that are not in the line of a hole and stop and wait quietly until a player makes a shot before passing by.  Along the way I have been able to spot a wonderful variety of birds on this course.  This is due to the fact that watering holes/ponds are plentiful along with small groves of trees throughout.  You will see shore birds and woodland birds in plenty.

Some of the most common sightings:

Tropical Kingbirds
Kiskadees
Rusty Margined Flycatchers
Clay-Colored Thrushes
Great-tailed Grackles
Variable Seedeaters
Crimson-backed Tanagers
Blue-Gray Tanagers
Palm Tanagers
Rudy Ground Doves
Orange-Chinned Parrots
Wattled Jacanas
Wimbrels
Southern Lapwings
Least Sand Pipers
Little Blue Herons
Great Blue Herons
Black Vultures

I have also observed the following birds here on more than one occasion:

Yellow-headed Caracara
Plumbeous Hawk
Snail Kite
Gray Hawk
Black-bellied Whistling Ducks
Yellow-Rumped Casique
Golden Hooded Tanager
Prothonatary Warbler
Smooth-Billed Ani
Saffron Finch
Thick-billed Euphonia
Forked-Tailed Flycatcher

The following pictures were taken as I drove around the course:

Whimbrel

Lesser Kiskadee

Immature Snail Kite

Immature Snail Kite

Yellow-billed Elaenia

Thick-billed Euphonia

Little Blue Heron

Forked-Tailed Flycatcher

Fork-Tailed Flycatcher

Rusty-margined Flycatcher

Great Blue Heron

Female Wattled Jacana

Male Wattled Jacana

Least Sandpiper

Great-Tailed Grackle

Tropical Kingbird

Southern Lapwing

Yellow-Rumped Casique

Greater Kiskadee

Golden-Hooded Tanager

Golden-Hooded Tanager

Variable Seedeater

Tropical Kingbird

Wattled Jacana

Crimson-Backed Tanager

Clay-Colored Thrush

Smooth-Billed Ani

Palm Tanagers

And after golfing and birding are done you can try out "The Jacana" Restaurant at the Raddison Hotel.  The food is excellent.  One of my favorite dishes is the "Fried" Ceviche. (Sounds like a contradiction of terms, I know, but it is delicious!)  Outside of the Hotel on the backside there is a nice pavilion that offers a spectacular view of the entire golf course.  There is also a short nature trail that begins behind the Hotel, goes to the top of a small hill, wanders through the woods briefly and then back down to the side of the hotel where it ends at the entrance of a large butterfly tent where you will find a variety of butterflies fluttering within including Blue Morphos.  All in all it makes for a very pleasant day.

The Raddison Hotel overlooking The Summit Golf Course

View of Golf Course from the Hotel

A great place to eat lunch when your done golfing and/or birding!

 Taking a swing at it!

Following the guys in my own cart so I can bird.

You gotta try the "Fried" Ceviche! Yum! (Though, I have to wonder how raw fish can be "fried")

Inside "The Jacana" Restaurant

Pavilion in back of Hotel over looking golf course.

Enjoying the view.