Colombia

We’ve just returned from Colombia where we were leading a 12-night birding tour for Avian Adventures.  Arrangements for the tour were made through ProAves/EcoTurs and we worked alongside their local guide, Juan Carlos Luna.

Although the weather was pretty good throughout the tour and we experienced very little rain or wind, light conditions for photography were often very poor, a common problem, of course, in rainforests.  A few images are included here but lots more remain to be processed.

We flew from London, via Miami, to the country’s second largest city, Medellín and our itinerary took us from there by road to four ProAves reserves - El Paujil, Arrierito Antioqueño, Las Tangaras and  Loro Orejiamarillo.  On our first morning we also stopped for a couple of hours at Rio Claro Reserva Natural.

Rufescent Tiger-Heron

El Paujil reserve was created in 2003 to protect the critically endangered Blue-billed Curassow, a species which we unfortunately didn’t manage to see except in temporary captivity - three birds waiting to be re-located.  The huge reserve also contains some of the last intact humid forest in the middle Magdalena valley.

El Paujil

Arrierito Antioqueño protects forests that are home to several Colombian endemic species that we did manage to see including Colombian Chachalaca, White-mantled Barbet, Parker’s Antbird, Black-and-gold Tanager and Red-bellied Grackle.

Cinnamon Flycatcher

Our favourite amongst the reserves we visited was Las Tangaras, described by ProAves as one of the most diverse and important tropical forest sites on earth.  The reserve has an area of 7,076 acres that lie between altitudes of 1,250 and 3,400 metres above sea level.  Golden-ringed Tanager and Black-and-gold Tanager, both Colombian endemics, were among the highlights but the reserve lived up to its name by producing a total of around 20 tanager species during our two days there.
 

Bay-headed Tanager

 Flame-rumped Tanager

Loro Orejiamarillo is the local name for the Yellow-eared Parrot, a Critically Endangered Colombian endemic.  Yellow-eared Parrots live among wax palms (Ceroxylon quindiuense), the national tree of Colombia, a species which itself is threatened. They nest in the hollow trunks of the palm trees. The story of their decline is a familiar one, involving hunting and habitat destruction, particularly the harvesting of wax palms, which are traditionally cut down and used each year on Palm Sunday.  We blogged here about this bird and the reserve following Peter’s previous visit in 2011.

One of the undoubted highlights of the tour was our visit to an Andean Cock-of-the-rock lek on the outskirts of the town of Jardín.  Previous experiences at such leks has involved watching birds in fading evening light with little chance of photography but this was very different.  At least six birds were displaying and although we were often watching them through fairly dense vegetation, sometimes they came close and occasionally sat in the open.

Andean Cock-of-the-rock

Almost everywhere we went there were hummingbird feeders and as a result we were able to get good views of many of the 31 species that were recorded.  They certainly provided a few identification challenges!

Violet-tailed Sylph

Purple-throated Woodstar

June’s enthusiasm for the Picidae was well satisfied with 10 species of the woodpecker family, including the endemic Greyish Piculet.  For Peter, there were just two waders, Spotted Sandpiper and Southern Lapwing.

Lineated Woodpecker

We have another tour in Colombia scheduled for September when our itinerary again includes Las Tangaras, Loro Orejiamarillo and the Andean Cock-of-the-rock lek.  That tour will also take us to Rio Blanco Forest Reserve and El Dorado Bird Reserve, the crown jewel of Colombian birding.

Bogotá - Medellín - Jardín

Although there are a great many good things to say about Colombia, if there is a downside it’s the time it takes to get there. I started my journey from Stafford and it ended at the Hotel Habitel in Bogotá; from door to door it took something like 22 hours! I reached the hotel at about 8.30pm.

The following morning, it would have been nice to have a long lie-in to recover from the travelling and the jetlag but instead we left the hotel at 4.30am to go birding at La Florida, a park located quite close to the airport which is a well-known site for the endemic Bogotá Rail, classified as Endangered by Birdlife International. By the time we had eaten our snack breakfast on the car park it was light enough to start looking for birds. Already, Great Thrushes were singing.

Great Thrush - rather like a Blackbird but bigger

Because of its convenient location, the park is well-visited by birders and it seems that the Bogotá Rails are no longer responsive to playback - “taped out” in the current jargon. We actually had better views than I have managed previously but later in the week at another site we had much better success and even watched a pair copulating! As that site becomes better known, probably the birds there will also learn to ignore the repeated and largely unnecessary playing of recordings.

Bogotá Rail - looks much like a Water Rail

Other species at La Florida included Subtropical Doradito, Spot-flanked Gallinule, Southern Lapwing, American Coot, Bare-faced Ibis, Andean Siskin, Brown-bellied Swallow, Yellow-hooded Blackbird and the ubiquitous Rufous-collared Sparrow.

Yellow-hooded Blackbird

Our time in the park was limited because of the need to catch a late morning flight to Medellín, the country’s second largest city, situated in the Aburrá Valley, just 50 minutes away by air.

From Medellín, we travelled by road to the attractive little town of Jardín. Here we stayed at the Hotel La Casona, located close to the town centre which is dominated by the distinctive neo-gothic styled Basilica Menor de la Inmaculada Concepción.

Back to Colombia

When I mentioned that I was going to Colombia again, several people seemed surprised and replied asking whether it was safe to do so. They were automatically associating Colombia with the drug trade, kidnapping and guerrilla groups such as FARC. Understandable maybe given the country’s troubled history but it’s definitely an out-dated view. Whilst it’s true that there are still some parts of the country that are best avoided and that these problems have not gone away entirely, the last ten years have seen the situation improve considerably.
The only risk is wanting to stay. This slogan currently being used to promote tourism in Colombia acknowledges the concerns that people still have about security and safety issues. For me, however, there is another risk: the risk that having been once to this wonderful country, you will want to return at every opportunity!

Colombia is located in the north of South America, straddling the Equator, and has borders with Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela, Panama and Brazil. It is dominated by the Andes mountain range and also includes parts of the Amazon and Orinoco River Basins. The scenery is stunning and diverse – snow-capped peaks, glaciers, tropical rainforest, 600 miles of coastline and more.

The people are friendly and hospitable, there is good quality accommodation and food.

And, of course, Colombia has more bird species than any other country in the world! The actual total is a regularly changing number as a result of taxonomic studies and the occasional new discovery, but it currently stands at around 1,880. For the travelling birder it really is the must-visit destination.

And so I had no hesitation in accepting an invitation from PROEXPORT COLOMBIA, the country's tourism agency, to travel to the capital city, Bogotá, for Colombia Travel Mart 2011. This is a business trip but then our business is birding so it has included several days before the main event when I have been able to see several reserve areas and lots of birds and to meet several of the country’s top birding guides.

My companions on this trip have been Byron Palacios, originally from Ecuador but now based in the UK, and Jim Wittenberger and Laura Fellows from Colorado, USA. Throughout we were accompanied by locally-based birding guide, Diana Balcázar.

I am still in Bogotá but more details of my trip will follow soon on my return to Europe...

Colombia - Part 2

Our third morning in Colombia required another early start as we left the Pacific coast bound first of all for Medellín. We arrived early at the airport at Bahía Solano and there was plenty of time for birding along the road where Spot-headed Barbet, Ringed Kingfisher and Rusty-margined Flycatcher were amongst the species that helped pass the time before the arrival of our SEARCA charter aircraft.

Our SEARCA flight arrives at Bahía Solano

In Medellín, we had plenty of time to visit La Romera, a park well-known as a site where the endemic Red-bellied Grackle can be found. We struggled initially to get good views of these birds but eventually one or two came to feed in trees along the roadside and later a small group of them came close as we were eating our picnic lunch. Also here were a White-capped Dipper and Russet-backed Oropendolas.

Our onward flight to Manizales was delayed for more than an hour with the result that further birding was limited to a visit to a water treatment plant. This unlikely place was home to a pair of Lyre-tailed Nightjars which we saw very well, including a nest with young located in a hole in a concrete wall. The male Nightjar had actually entered a building, presumably to feed on moths attracted to the lights - not sure what the Red-necked Nightjars of the Algarve or the European Nightjars of Cannock Chase would have made of it all!

Lyre-tailed Nightjar

Our two-night stay in Manizales was at the very nice Hotel Termales del Otoňo, featuring as its name suggests thermal hot springs. Southern Lapwings were not only on the grass outside our rooms but also on the roof!

As usual, time to enjoy our comfortable accommodation was strictly limited and next morning we left pre-dawn intending to spend the day at Rio Blanco Ecological Reserve. We were probably more than half way there when we found the road blocked by a mudslide that had presumably been triggered by the heavy overnight rain. A change of plan was required and so, after returning to the hotel to get warmer clothes, we went instead to Los Nevados National Park in the central Colombian Andes. In this park is Nevado del Ruiz, the 5,321-metre volcano that in 1985 erupted, killing an estimated 23,000 people in the town of Armero. However, this morning the volcano was unfortunately hidden by cloud.

At this high elevation we were in páramo, a neotropical ecosystem that consists of grasslands, peat bogs and a variety of shrubs, notably the succulent, Espeletia. Our first short birding stop was above a small lake where several Andean Ducks could be seen. A Many-striped Canastero was singing from the top of a nearby bush.

Páramo with Espeletia

A little bit higher up, near the park entrance, we found one of THE birds of the entire trip, a Bearded Helmetcrest, a hummingbird in case you're not familiar! Also here were a Tawny Antpitta and a Brown-backed Chat-Tyrant that at a distance had the look of a Whinchat about it as it perched on the top of a bush.

Bearded Helmetcrest

On the way back downhill, we birded along the road and found a succession of new birds that included Andean Tit-Spinetail, Black-backed Bush Tanager, Blue-backed Conebill, Scarlet-bellied Mountain Tanager, Golden-fronted Whitestart, Black-chested Buzzard Eagle, Stout-billed Cinclodes and Sedge Wren. However, good as this was, when word was received that the road to Rio Blanco was now open again, off we went reverting to our original plan.

We had lunch at the lodge there and then spent more than an hour photographing the scores of hummingbirds that were coming to the feeders. Easily the most numerous species was the easy to identify Buff-tailed Coronet, but Sparkling Violet-ear, Fawn-breasted Brilliant, Speckled Hummingbird, Bronzy Inca, Collared Inca, Tourmaline Sunangel, Long-tailed Sylph and White-bellied Woodstar soon became familiar.

Lodge at Rio Blanco

Buff-tailed Coronet

Collared Inca

Tourmaline Sunangel

We were persuaded to leave this spectacular hummingbird show when the opportunity to see one or more species of antpittas was promised. These birds are being fed daily on a diet of juicy worms put out for them in a metal bowl placed in a forest clearing, a ploy that has been used to good effect at various places in Ecuador. Not surprisingly, the feeder of the antpittas was christened the 'worm man' and we followed behind him as he went about his task. He might have been disappointed that on the way to the feeding site we couldn't help but be distracted for several minutes by one of the best feeding flocks that we saw all week, but before too long we settled down to watch the antpitta show. The bowl was placed in its usual place and we all sat quietly as the 'worm man' began to whistle, signalling to the birds that dinner was served! It was remarkable - we didn't have to wait long at all before three species of antpittas arrived: Chestnut-crowned, Slate-crowned just briefly and the endemic Brown-banded. It was quite a sight!

Chestnut-crowned Antpitta

And so ended our fourth day in Colombia but there was much more to come...

Colombia - Part 1

Just back from Colombia, generally recognised as having more bird species than any other country in the world – 1,883 according to Howard & Moore - but in recent times unfortunately little visited by birdwatchers. Serious internal armed conflict, with rebel groups funded by the trade in cocaine and heroin, has deterred tourists from visiting, but things are changing rapidly, thanks to improvements in security resulting from President Álvaro Uribe's "democratic security" strategy.

Significant increases in military strength and police presence throughout the country have pushed the rebels further away from the major cities, highways and tourist sites. As a result, the British Foreign Office and the US Department of State have revised their advice on travel to Colombia and the country is now receiving more than a million tourists every year. As the Colombian Tourist Office puts it: “el riesgo es que te quieras quedar” or “the only risk (now) is wanting to stay”.

Our trip began with flights from London to Madrid with Iberia and then with the very good Colombian national airline, Avianca, from Madrid to Bogotá and Bogotá to Medellín.

The following morning we flew again, this time to Bahía Solano on the Pacific coast in the Department of Chocó. On the way from the small airport to El Almejal Lodge at last we were birding. In fact, two King Vultures and a pair of Black-cheeked Woodpeckers were seen even before we left the airport! Along the road, among the many species seen were Rose-faced, Mealy, Red-lored and Blue-headed Parrots. We were well and truly in the tropics!

Our transport to El Almejal Lodge

The lodge is situated right on the coast with Brown Pelicans and Magnificent Frigatebirds flying by regularly and various gulls, terns and boobies passing offshore. Red-legged Honeycreepers, Palm, Blue-grey and Lemon-rumped Tanagers were coming to a feeder outside the dining room and an Eastern Long-tailed Hermit flashed by from time to time. From elevated platforms on the hillside above the lodge we enjoyed wonderful views to the ocean and in spite of the rain saw a succession of tanagers, euphonias and more.

Lemon-rumped Tanager

Palm Tanager

This Common Basilisk was one of the highlights of the afternoon walk

From the viewing platform

The rain became heavier overnight and at breakfast time (5.15am) it was still pouring down; it was clear that we were in for a very wet day if we went ahead with our plan to walk the trail towards the nearby Ensenada de Utría National Park. However, although this was not intended to be a trip to see rare or endemic species, there were those in our group who were very keen to try and see Baudó Oropendola, a bird with a very small range and recent records from only two locations, one of them just a few kilometres away.

And so, after a short drive, we set out on foot along an increasingly wet and muddy forest trail that at times resembled a shallow linear pond. Fortunately, the local guide knew exactly where to take us and, although most of us were literally soaked to the skin when we got there, we did get good views of the target birds (or as good as you can get through binoculars in heavy rain). We stood almost directly below the palm tree in which there were several hanging nests typical of the genus Psarocolius. Baudó Oropendola is a black and chestnut, crow-like bird that has a bright yellow tail with blackish central tail-feathers. Its long, black, conical bill is tipped orange-red and it has a bare pink cheek patch.

Now that we'd seen the endemic oropendola our mood on the walk back was much brighter and although the trail was even wetter and muddier, the rain eventually stopped and by mid morning there was even some sunshine. Amongst the birds seen White-tailed Trogon and Cinnamon Woodpecker were among the highlights but a Grey-capped Cuckoo proved to be bird of the day for at least some of us, eclipsing even the Baudó Oropendolas. It had obviously (like us) had a good soaking and was perched on a power cable, drying out in the sun. Even in its wet and somewhat bedraggled state it was a very attractive bird!

After lunch the rain started again and further birding was delayed for a while but eventually we walked a stretch of the road between the lodge and the airport. Some of us still had on our wet clothes from the morning, hoping they would dry while we were wearing them! Among a long list of species seen were Lineated Woodpecker, Stripe-billed Araçari, Chestnut-mandibled and Chocó Toucans but the most popular was a striking male Golden-collared Manakin.

In spite of the weather our first full day of birding had been excellent and it was a shame that our schedule didn't allow for a longer stay at El Almejal Lodge.