The Darién Gap...the target bird

Day 3 continued...

After a 90 minute walk in hot, humid conditions, we finally reach the viewing area for the Harpy Eagle nest. You can be forgiven for wondering how the hell they ever found this nest in the middle of nowhere but the locals found it and regularly scout the region to assist the scientists studying this rare and iconic bird - the National Bird of Panama in fact.

This nest holds a single chick (now six months old), which will stay around the nest area until it is two-years old. At this age (we've been told) the parents should be bringing in food every two days. This is what we are here to film, a majestic adult Harpy swooping into the nest with a sloth or howler monkey. We met a group of American birders at Canopy Camp the previous day who had visited the site that day and not seen the adult. This was encouraging, we had two days scheduled here and were in with a good chance.

The chick was an impressive bird. Situated some 40 meters away from the viewing point, we were looking up at the nest and although the views were superb they were limited for filming purposes. Enter Rafael (Rafa) Alverez, a Venezuelan who's as at home in the trees as he is on the ground. Rafa is here to build a platform 25 m up a large tree to give (equally skilled tree climber) cameraman Mike Hutchinson a better view of the Harpy nest and tree.

Rafael Alverez - tree climber extraordinaire

Juvenile Harpy Eagle, Darién

The chick isn't the least bit concerned by human presence.

When inquisitive the crest goes up!

Harpy nest...complete with Harpy Eagle

What are you looking at?

Even from this distance the thick, powerful legs
can be clearly seen.

Now it's just a case of sitting tight and waiting for the adult to return. Rafa and a small crew continue to build the platform but there is no sign of the adult. The chick continues to whistle mournfully in the hope it will be fed soon.

Of course the jungle is full of things to keep us busy and it wasn't long before Carlos found this stunning Hapalopus sp tarantula know as the 'pumpkin patch' or 'lemon patch' tarantula. It's not hard to see how they got their name.

Hapalopus sp - one of two seen at the viewing site.

It gets dark rapidly at this latitude and with sundown at 6 pm we pack up for the day and head back to the village just after 5 pm.  Mike and I walk in front and chat about the day's events while Biologist Mauricio De la O and one of the men from the village walk 20 ft behind us. Half way through the hike, light failing we get a call from behind. 'Snake'!  We immediately turn and head back to Mauricio who is pointing out a small coiled snake in the middle of the track - it's a Terciopelo! Also know in North America as the Fer-de-Lance, Bothrops asper is one of the most venomous snakes in Central America. Although this is only a juvenile about 18 inches long, it packs enough potent hemotoxic venom to hospitalise anyone unfortunate enough to get tagged by it and it can certainly kill you.

Terciopelo - a pitviper that was very high on my wishlist.

Ironically I'd been scanning the leaf-lined track side all the way back in the hope of seeing one of these. I hadn't been looking in the middle of the track! Mike and I had actually walked right over this one (you can just see a heel print in the left foreground). If one of us had trodden on it, it would certainly have taken a strike. They rely on their camouflage and stay put rather than flee and it definitely worked well - neither of us saw it! Mauricio moves it off to the side of the track with a stick to avoid any unwanted encounter with others walking the trail.

If you have any doubt about the potency of this species, take a look at this page on Wikipedia.

Excitement over for the day we got back to Pijibasal, had dinner and then hit our mosquito-netted beds ready for another early start to the nest site the next day.