Looking Back-Gamboa

I find that reviewing my photography is an important thing.  Today I begin the 4 part series that started my birding adventures with a camera.   Last year I traveled to Panama with an okay camera.  It would also be the first time I started to watermark my work as I had several pics stolen and used on other sites as their own.  It was also the first time that I seriously examined my work with a critical eye.  Sometimes my eye was too critical and I left pictures out of the writing.  If you followed Las Aventuras last year, these pictures will not be repeats at all.  Part of my job with this 4 day series was to re-examine my work from last year and figure out why I didn't post them.  If you are newer to the blog, all of these pics will be new.  If you are interested in Panama, check out the post suggestions below.  This is how I came across Eileen from Viewing Nature With Eileen.

Every year I take a major trip somewhere.  I haven't taken one this year....yet.  The house came first this summer. But we are currently planning a big event for next year that may include penguins and lots of snow.  Before travel to another country, we research months in advance on places that are barely known about or are important to explore for cultural reasons.  We are Spanish language specialists(my day job) and love getting a closer look at the cultures surrounding the language.  Like any language, Spanish is different from one country to the next.  In any case, there is a lot to see/cram into these visits.  Today we visit Gamboa. And then we'll move onto Coiba Island, Bocas Del Toro, and Boquete.

Oropendola Nest

Gamboa would prove to change directions for me in my pursuit of wildlife.  Last year at this time, I didn't really understand birding and kind of laughed at it.  But a friendly man by the name of Ivan helped me take a closer look at our winged friends.  This place is not only beautiful but it changed me.  If I had money, I'd buy one of those old homes there and live!  It was really beautiful.  Birders if you haven't been to the famed Pipeline Road in Gamboa, it's really worth your time.  You won't regret the trip at all. 

Crimson-crested Woodpecker

But onto the photography.  I didn't post a lot of these shots because they were blurred or at the time, I thought rather boring.   But with blogging, it's okay to post the not so perfect shots as well.   I went back on several of my albums and pulled these beauties out.  I hadn't been planning on doing these posts as I was studying the Ivory Bill Woodpecker which led to several other Woodpeckers in Mexico etc.  It was devastating to find out that several of the largest woodpeckers were wiped out and now labeled extinct.  But I remembered a shot from the rainforest of this colorful number above and I went back into my files(thank you to a fellow birder who told me never to delete pics).  Good advice because I was able to ID this particular Woodpecker.

And this Toucan flew right into view.  While I didn't get the shot of the head like I had hoped, I did capture proof that I saw one on the wild.  No zoo. No captive wildlife program.  And I realized for the first time in my life that the camera I was using wasn't good enough for me.  I'm going to be honest here.  I loved my camera, but I discovered that my hands would be tied for most of the shoots around Panama.  I didn't have control of the focus or shutter speed.  If I had the camera I have now(the Canon Rebel), I would have gotten that shot.  But I also learned much from the experience.

While we were in Gamboa, I was inspired by this bamboo corridor.   Today I have created this idea with Buddha Belly's Bamboo in the fern garden.  It looks great!  You can see me climbing one of the poles on the left side because I'm a bamboo freak:)

Oh and this story.  Here we are catching a break from the downpour.  I was filming a heron and my camera cap rolled into the water.  I thought it was gone but when I looked down I could see it in the water but they were full of caiman and crocs...so a boat person came along and fished it out for me.  I was extremely thankful for his help. 

Black Vultures

The hikes were long and difficult.  Bring plenty of water with you as we dehydrated quickly. It was one of the sweatiest experiences of my life, but the wildlife was a treat to observe.  I made a video last year capturing the beauty of this area.  More tomorrow.....

This is pretty scary.  Harbinger of Death?