Panama Canal Zone Photography Tour at the Canopy Tower

Settle into the observation deck of the Canopy Tower, a former radar tower converted into a birding lodge, where the platform sits at canopy level and brings toucans, parrots, raptors and mixed flocks to eye level. Keel-billed Toucans and Collared Aracaris work the fruiting trees, while Ornate Hawk-Eagles and Double-toothed Kites pass overhead and hummingbirds such as White-vented Plumeleteer and Crowned Woodnymph move through the nearby foliage. Photography here is unhurried, with the forest edge close enough for long lenses and the day closing over dinner at the tower.

Scanning the forest canopy from the Observation Deck is a gentle introduction to a Panamanian morning, with Green and Red-legged Honeycreepers, Blue Cotinga and Keel-billed Toucan moving through and King Vulture or Black Hawk-Eagle possible overhead. A mid-morning walk down Semaphore Hill Road, just over a mile of winding shade and wildflowers, brings edge species such as Olivaceous Flatbill and Black-breasted Puffbird, and often the call of Great Tinamou. The afternoon turns to the Ammo Dump Ponds near Gamboa, the tour's best habitat for the elusive White-throated Crake, where Rufescent Tiger-Heron, Wattled Jacana, Purple Gallinule, Least Grebe and American Pygmy-Kingfisher work the wetland.

Working the entrance of Pipeline Road, the Canal Zone's most famous birding track, in open-air Birdmobile or El Tinamu vehicles, the morning brings quick road-edge flocks of tanagers, flycatchers, motmots and trogons, with excellent migrant habitat in season. The afternoon shifts to Summit Gardens, a recreation, education and conservation centre whose botanical gardens suit migratory warblers and forest-edge species and offer the tour's best chance for Streak-headed Woodcreeper. Its Harpy Eagle exhibit, built around a life-size nest and interpretive panels, traces the bird's place in Panamanian history to Pre-Columbian times.

Mature rainforest along the Río Chico Masambi defines the morning on Plantation Trail, an easy path known for antbirds, motmots and trogons. Golden-crowned Spadebill, Whooping Motmot and Slaty-tailed Trogon are among the species the area is known for. Afternoon at the Gamboa feeders, set against Cerro Pelado, brings tanagers and honeycreepers close, with Central American Agoutis beneath. The day closes along the Chagres River, the canal's main tributary, where kingfishers, herons and cormorants work the water and flycatchers, wrens and antshrikes occupy the forest edges.

A full day is spent along Pipeline Road, the forest thoroughfare known for its birding. The search is for specialties such as Great Jacamar and Pheasant Cuckoo, with river crossings adding Sunbittern and Green-and-rufous Kingfisher to the possibilities. The road's mixed forest also holds trogons, motmots and toucans, and army-ant swarms can draw Rufous-breasted Wren and other understory birds into view. Occasional swarms and quiet stretches reward patience, and the day runs from early breakfast through dinner, with cameras ready for whatever the forest offers.

Summit Ponds hold a full set of kingfishers, from the large Ringed to the tiny American Pygmy, alongside Green, Striated, Capped and Boat-billed Herons and a resident Bat Falcon. The overgrown Old Gamboa Road threads varied habitat where manakins, antbirds and flycatchers move through the understory, and Spectacled Owl is possible at known roosts. After lunch the upper Chagres and Gamboa grounds draw kingfishers, motmots, woodpeckers and becards, with Embera trails leading from the river and villagers often seen fishing from canoes. The river search turns toward dusk.

Forest trails and a canopy observation tower at the Panama Rainforest Discovery Center put the rainforest underfoot and overhead, with hummingbird feeders drawing White-necked Jacobin, Long-billed Hermit and Violet-bellied Hummingbird close enough to photograph at leisure. An optional afternoon at the Miraflores Locks trades the forest for the canal's engineering, where container ships work through the narrow chambers and Magnificent Frigatebirds glide above. Others may stay with the birds or rest. Breakfast, lunch and dinner are covered, based at the Canopy Tower.

The observation deck of the Canopy Tower, a former radar tower turned birding lodge, puts you at canopy level, where toucans, parrots, raptors and mixed flocks pass at eye level. Keel-billed Toucans and Collared Aracaris work the fruiting trees, Ornate Hawk-Eagles and Double-toothed Kites ride the thermals, and hummingbirds such as White-vented Plumeleteer and Crowned Woodnymph visit the flowering edge. After the morning session, transfer to Tocumen International Airport.