Panama bird photography must visit sites...

Hi folks

I am planning to go to Panama for a birding / bird photography trip in December. We will have 10 days or so and intend to bird / photograph for 6 out of those 10 days (rest of the days is beach time). The current plan is to divide the trip into 3 sites: Canal area (Sorbenia National Park), Chiriqui (flight from Panama city) and then beach time. Currently I am still researching the locations and the plans are kind of fluid, so I'd appreciate any opinions / information on the following plan. The idea is NOT to see a lot of species, but to get good photos of a reasonable number of species, in other words, quality over quantity. So here goes: 
 

• For the Canal area, we intend to stay for 3 / 4 nights at Gamboa Resort. From there we will definitely visit the Pipeline road and (hopefully) the Canopy Tower.
• We also would like to do a Panama Canal tourist visit (Miraflores locks) and if there are any must see locations, I'd love to know about that. 
• Should we do Barro Colorado for half a day?
• After 3/4 days in Canal area, we will fly to David and drive to Chiriqui highlands. The plan is to spend 4 / 3 nights at Los Quetzales lodge. 
• I would like to have opinions about Los Quetzales lodge as far as bird photography goes. 
• Any other specific locations in the highlands that are must visit? 
• Last portion of the trip is to spend 3 days or so on the beach near Panama city (since we will fly back right after this). Would love to get opinions about what resorts are good, especially for children. 

Thanks a lot in advance and I appreciate all your inputs. 

Check out Canopy Towers. http://www.canopytower.com/Introtonaturephotography

Thanks Doug. I checked them out and they are interesting. Keep 'em coming folks!

The Canopy Lodge (same owners of Canopy Tower) was one of the best spots I found in Panama for bird photography.... they had good hummingbird and fruit feeders.

Canopy Tower was tough shooting... the birds didn't come into shooting range often enough when I was there.

I spent a night in one of the Los Quetzales chalets in cloud forest. Stunning location and relatively good shooting from the porch (note that shooting in cloud forest or jungle is always difficult unless you're at a fruiting tree or feeder setup). A Kinkajou came and ate bananas off my porch, which was a trip highlight to see it up close!

chers,
Ethan

Amen to Canopy towers. Had a great visit.

Thanks Ethan and Dan, I need looks like I need to weave Canopy Lodge into my trip.

Not sure if you can still get there but try to visit the Darien on the Columbian border. I was there in 1999 and we spent a fabulous week in this very remote part of the country. Macaws were everywhere, indicating the lack of hunters, lots of endemic birds, army ant swarms attended by such megas as ground cuckoos plus there was an outside chance of seeing larger mammals (we found fresh Tapir & Jaguar tracks). Nothing was set-up for photography but many of these creatures were more approachable. I was a birder back in those days carrying a Canon GL-1 video camera.

We spent the first week at the Canopy Towers (I knew Raul) driving the Pipeline Road and exploring much of the canal region.

Cheers,

Jim

Jim,

Thank you for your suggestion. I looked at Darien, but I think it is too risky to go there with the family. If was going alone, it may have been OK. I would've loved to get the Macaws (do you know which species were there?)

Regards

-- Vivek

Hi Vivek,

All the four you would expect (Red & Green Macaw, Chestnut-fronted Macaw, Great Green Macaw and Blue & Yellow Macaw) although Great Green was the rarest. Any thoughts on visiting Nusagandi? Different birds from the canal zone.

Thanks,

Jim

Oh man, I would love a good shot of the Great Green Macaw and the Blue & Yellow Macaw. Reading about Nusagandi now, but unlikely we will have the time to go there. Will keep you folks posted.

Thanks Jim,

-- Vivek