Panama 2024 - Preliminary Notes
We're just back from a 2-1/2-week Panama vacation that included a week-long birding visit to the Canopy Tower (Panama), a 4-day stay at Mount Totumas Cloud Forest Reserve (Chiriquí), and several days with friends in Alto Quiel on the outskirts of Boquete (Chiriquí). As my "teaser" uploads suggest, we encountered an amazing array of biodiversity.
Now comes the task of uploading the bulk of observations from about 5,200 photos and dozens of song recordings. I have no idea at present how many species I documented, much less how many of them were new to me (probably 80 to 90%). Like I've said many times, with apologies to Mark Twain, "Travel is Taxonomically Broadening". I'm going to create some links below which should point to various sets of the existing and upcoming uploads from this foray into the Neotropics. The output from these links will burgeon over the next few weeks (and months?) as I continue to upload.
All 2024 Panama observations
Mammals from 2024 Panama visit
Birds from 2024 Panama visit
All insects from 2024 Panama visit
Butterflies from 2024 Panama visit
Moths from 2024 Panama visit
Hemiptera from 2024 Panama visit
Beetles from 2024 Panama visit
Flowering plants from 2024 Panama visit
ALL of my Panama observations ever
Geeking Out on the Upload Process
I'm still trying to think through how I want to attack this mountain of stuff. There are a couple of pathways and there are upsides and downsides to each. (As an aside, I was paranoid about losing my photos, so I ended up AirDropping all iPhone photos and copying my two SD cards from the Canons to my laptop every night and also periodically offloading the entire set of images from there to a 32-gig thumbdrive.) For some technical reasons, I ended up taking the vast majority of my plant and mothing images with my iPhone 14, the latter with a new Xenvo clip-on lamp (Glowclip Mini from their Pro Lens Kit). The iPhone images provide sufficient, if not perfect, detail on most plants and moths if I don't have to dig deep into taxonomic keys, and the iPhone-Xenvo combination is much more convenient to use than my long-trusted point-and-hope Canon PowerShot cameras. I used the latter, particularly my Canon SX740 SX, for most butterfly and bird photography. For the iPhone photos, I can (and do) upload images directly to iNaturallist from within the iNat app. That's a pretty good option but with my clumsy fingers, it's quite tedious to add any comments to observations at upload in the iOS version of the app. Another issue with the iOS uploads is that, although the locations are carried forward in the metadata at upload, there seems to be no way on the iPhone to modify the automatic placenames added by the iPhone (probably placenames from Apple maps), and these are often generic (state-level) or misleading. The only way to modify them after upload is to get on the website on my computer and edit the location names and that involves a lot of tedious post-processing.
The other basic option for upload is to work from the copies of all my photos which I've now downloaded to my laptop, using the website uploader. This is more akin to my traditional upload pathway and I like it because I have more tools on the computer for any editing and cropping of images (e.g. within Preview, iPhoto, or even Photoshop if needed). The major drawback for working with the laptop versions of the images (which I assume, for instance, are true and faithful copies off the iPhone), is that for some reason the locations for iPhone photos are lost when I AirDrop them to the laptop. That's a major glitch because it then requires me not only to manually add the locations, but to remember where every image was taken! Once again, that adds a lot of tedious effort at upload on the iNat website, even if done in batch mode. Some of these glitches may relate to the fact that I'm working on an older laptop with an outdated OS but at present I can't upgrade or update any further, so I'm stuck with what I have. I may try to attach my iPhone directly to the laptop (by cord) and see if a download bypassing AirDrop will retain the photo locations. I'll be experimenting with all of that today. [Update: I tried to connect my iPhone 14 to the old laptop and my desktop computer but neither has a recent enough OS version that is compatible with the offload process. Sigh...]
If anyone has some advice on these two alternatives or some other pathway, I'll be eager to hear about it. Thanks!
Observations
Photos / Sounds
Observer
gcwarblerDescription
This particular moth was first documented at about 4:30 AM on the same date. This individual has a tear in the middle of the outer edge of the right HW.
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/229041853
Photos / Sounds
What
Titaea tamerlanObserver
gcwarblerDescription
Another giant moth on the sheet. Just one individual but it’s been seen three nights in a row.
Photos / Sounds
Observer
gcwarblerDescription
Does anyone recognize this tiny (1-1/2 to 2”) lizard/skink/gecko? In was scurrying rapidly across Semaphore Rd below the Canopy Tower. Habitat is mature broadleaf forest at about 250 m elevation on a hillside.
Photos / Sounds
What
Genus RothschildiaObserver
gcwarblerDescription
This individual was first docmented on the afternoon of May 16.
It's probably the biggest of about 5 or 6 species of silk moths that showed up.
Photos / Sounds
What
American Pygmy Kingfisher (Chloroceryle aenea)Observer
gcwarblerDescription
One of our most pleasant encounters was spending quality time with a couple of Amer. Pygmy Kingfishers at the edge of a “hidden” lake in tropical forest in Soberanía NP. This is a minute species for a kingfisher, about sparrow-sized.
Photos / Sounds
What
Northern Warrior Wasp (Synoeca septentrionalis)Observer
gcwarblerDescription
Our guide called this an “armadillo wasp nest”, quite appropriate but just a local vernacular.
Photos / Sounds
What
Gray-headed Kite (Leptodon cayanensis)Observer
gcwarblerDescription
Mary Kay was the first to spot this kite from the canopy tower at the Panama Rainforest Discovery Center off of Pipeline Road.
Photos / Sounds
Observer
gcwarblerDescription
Would anyone like to enlighten me as to what this attractive treehopper was trying to mimic?
Photos / Sounds
What
Mexican Hairy Dwarf Porcupine (Coendou mexicanus)Observer
gcwarblerDescription
Our guide at Mount Totumas this morning was Reinaldo Rodriguez. He had the most deft hand at getting iPhone images through his spotting scope. We observed all these species; Reinaldo gets credit for the photo quality!
Reinaldo had discovered the resting location of this cute (!) porcupine earlier in the week.
Photos / Sounds
What
Mantled Howler Monkey (Alouatta palliata)Observer
gcwarblerDescription
Our guide at Mount Totumas this morning was Reinaldo Rodriguez. He had the most deft hand at getting iPhone images through his spotting scope. We observed all these species; Reinaldo gets credit for the photo quality! I've added as general view of this howler taken with my Canon SX740 camera showing a standard view of the animal from about 100 ft away.
Photos / Sounds
What
Three-wattled Bellbird (Procnias tricarunculatus)Observer
gcwarblerDescription
Our guide at Mount Totumas this morning was Reinaldo Rodriguez. He had the most deft hand at getting iPhone images through his spotting scope. We observed all these species; Reinaldo gets credit for the photo quality!
The Three-wattled Bellbird is the signature species of this reserve; we heard at least 3 or 4 and got good looks at two of them.
Photos / Sounds
What
Pityeja histrionariaObserver
gcwarblerDescription
Nothing tropical to see here....Let's keep moving...
Photos / Sounds
What
Hypocrita druceiObserver
gcwarblerDescription
Uploading just a couple of the jazzier moths of the past several days. This one is at 5,000 ft near Boquete.
Photos / Sounds
What
Genus PhrygionisObserver
gcwarblerDescription
Similar to Opisthoxia metargyria but the pattern of dark stripes is recognizably different.
Photos / Sounds
What
Lepidoneiva teuthrasObserver
gcwarblerDescription
Uploading some of the more distinctive moths from the past several days. This one is from about 5,000 ft on the flank of Volcan Barú.
Photos / Sounds
Observer
gcwarblerDescription
Perhaps a first Panama record for iNat, but Wikipedia indicates that it ranges south to Colombia. This one is at 5,000 ft on the flank of Volcan Barú.
Photos / Sounds
What
Jewel Scarabs (Genus Chrysina)Observer
gcwarblerDescription
Perhaps the size (2nd image) will help pin down a species ID. At 5,000 ft on the flank of Volcan Barú.
Photos / Sounds
What
Nemoria astraeaObserver
gcwarblerDescription
At about 5,000 ft on the flank of Volcan Barú. I documented this species also on the other side of the mountain at the Mount Totumas Reserve (yet to be uploaded).
Photos / Sounds
What
West Indian Elm (Guazuma ulmifolia)Observer
gcwarblerDescription
Growing in a hedgerow between fincas, at 5,000 ft on the flank of Volcan Barú.
Photos / Sounds
What
White Witch Moth (Thysania agrippina)Observer
gcwarblerDescription
It happened again! On my ninth and last night of mothing in Panama, this thing flew in. I mean, it literally flew in when I was at the sheet documenting other moths. I heard it before I saw it.…”fwaAPPP!!” And it’s déja vu all over again.
To be clear, it actually perched on the sheet in its normal vertical (?), head-to-the-side posture, but I've rotated the images here for display.
I measured this moth twice with my handy cm rule. Total wingspan measured 26.2-26.3 cm (each FW about 12 to 12.5 cm) or about 10.3 to 10.4 inches. That's not quite an inch smaller than the one I encountered 6-1/2 years ago. See, https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/9152365
The present location is at a different residence than the moth in 2017 but only 100 meters away; same small community in Alto Quiel, Los Naranjos, Chiriquí, Panama (a suburb of Boquete).
Photos / Sounds
What
Nelphe confinisObserver
gcwarblerDescription
Mary Kay spotted this moth on a tree trunk but I don’t know how! See the 2nd image of the moth on the tree trunk in a wider view. Along the Pipeline Trail at about 1,800 m elevation.
Photos / Sounds
What
Genus StrongylaspisObserver
gcwarblerDescription
These were probably the most common Cerambycid on the moth sheet night-after-night. Several every night.
Photos / Sounds
What
Calonotos metallicusObserver
gcwarblerDescription
Unlike the example from the previous evening, this individual has a hint of the third white dot on the FWs.
Photos / Sounds
What
Caio championiObserver
gcwarblerDescription
This is a big moth! Notice the standard-sized Geometrid and Noctuid on either side of the critter.
[Corrected the time stamp on this image. Some of my offloads to the laptop used the date/time of the offload and not the original image date-time Ugh.]
Photos / Sounds
What
Geometer Moths (Family Geometridae)Observer
gcwarblerDescription
This was a beautiful smallish moth perched on a big blue plastic water tank--nice colors!
Some of the Eois and Leuciris have borders like this but I'm not finding anything similar.
Photos / Sounds
What
Grammopelta lineataObserver
gcwarblerDescription
Another big Saturniid. I first photographed probably this individual at about 5:30 AM on the same day; to be uploaded.
Apparently this is only the 2nd Panama record on iNat but from the exact same location where one was documented a couple of years ago.
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/146300223
Photos / Sounds
What
White-spotted Prepona (Archaeoprepona amphimachus)Observer
gcwarblerDescription
Stuck in a window at the Canopy Tower but rescued and released after being photographed.
Photos / Sounds
What
Cross-banded Tree Frogs (Genus Smilisca)Observer
gcwarblerDescription
Possibly Smilisca. Sizable: Probably about 1-1/2 to 2” (3 to 5 cm) long. Sitting on a mossy log in cloud forest along the Pipeline Trail at about 1,800-1,900 m elevation (last image).
Photos / Sounds
What
Genus MelpomeneObserver
gcwarblerDescription
Tiny narrow ferns on a mossy log in cloud forest at about 1,800 m elevation. Fronds were only 4 to 6 cm long and not even 10 mm wide. The sori were in single irregular blobs adjacent to the rachis.
Photos / Sounds
What
Common Gilled Mushrooms and Allies (Order Agaricales)Observer
gcwarblerDescription
These were the largest mushrooms we saw anywhere. Each is about 8” to 12” across. On forest floor under cloud forest at about 1,750 m elevation.
Photos / Sounds
What
Genus OedudesObserver
gcwarblerDescription
Pretty spectacular coloration. Size was about 20 mm. Understory of cloud forest at about 1,700 m.
Photos / Sounds
What
Melese amastrisObserver
gcwarblerDescription
Alto Quiel shaded finca at 1525 m.
Photos / Sounds
What
Viviennea momaObserver
gcwarblerDescription
Shaded finca in Alto Quiel at 1525 m.
Photos / Sounds
What
Azochis rufidiscalisObserver
gcwarblerDescription
This is the closest fit I can find, although most examples elsewhere are whiter and have a better defined PM line. I'll need to research this genus in more detail.
Shaded finca in Alto Quiel at 1525 m.
Comments
Welcome back, Chuck! Sounds like a great trip. Now the real work starts, heh, for iNat.
I have an iPhone 12, where all photos I've taken with the phone camera are synced to iCloud. I just go into iCloud from my computer, select the photos I want, download them to my computer, which puts them in a zipped file, open that file, and copy the files to a named folder on my computer. That approach seems to retain all my photo location data as I then select them for Observations for iNat.
Good luck, and we'll see you in a few months after you get done with posting the photos...
Jack
iCloud! I'd forgotten about that hidden little nugget. Thanks.
Another update: Although I'm confident that my iPhone photos are fully synced with iCloud, I can't seem to properly access my iCloud account from the darned laptop. Geez....
Dang it! Wonder what's going on? Sometimes it randomly logs me out and I have to log back in.
Jack
New Plan: I'm going to open each photo on my iPhone, use my etch-a-sketch to redraw it, then color the sketch with my crayons, then scan that with my HP ScanJet, download the scan onto my laptop via a thumbdrive, and voilá, I'll have my observations ready to go! It shouldn't take more than a half day per observation. Somewhere in the process, I can probably employ my trusty clay tablets or papyrus scrolls to write notes and integrate those somehow.
LOL, you're a hoot, Chuck! What a mess, to experience the relaxation of a trip like that and then come back to deal with an ornery iPhone...
I don't have an iPhone, but it sounds like the metadata is getting stripped out when you do the Airdrop. The following thread may have some relevant data:
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/251040579?sortBy=best
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