This post is a little longer than usual, but I promise it will be worth your time. I need to get these posts done soon, as we leave for India in two weeks, and the keeper of my calendar (Susan) has it full until then! So sit back and grab your favorite beverage, some amazing birds, flowers, and scenery await.
At the conclusion of the last post, our intrepid travelers had moved back across the Cauca Valley to the city of Manizales in the Central Andes. From here we would strike out in several directions over the next few days with many new birds to be seen. This was also the part of the trip where we would get serious about seeing antpittas. Antpittas are a family of small passerine birds in tropical and subtropical forests from Central to South America. There are 30 species of antpitta in Colombia alone, and over 50 total . Because of their shy secretive nature, and with their lives lived in the deep dark forest, they are among the most difficult and sought after birds in the world. They are typically quite vocal, and hearing them is often all a birder gets. That is until enterprising folks in the tropics found a way to lure a few individuals into the open with a reward - free worms. Getting one bird to come into the open enough for viewing can take years. And even when one bird is used to coming to a feeding site, it can go unseen for weeks or months. Most often this happens when a bird goes off to nest or when natural food is abundant. So even though we would visit a number of feeding sites over the next week, there was no guarantee. Sometimes we succeeded easily, sometimes all we got was a fleeting look of a bird darting in and out for a worm, and sometimes we got skunked. And that's okay... Even though the bird is baited, it's his choice to be there. And seeing an antpitta with its unique behavior and personality is one of the true joys in birding.
August 29, 2022. Not far from Manizales is the Rio Blanco Nature Reserve. The 12,000 acres of protected intact cloud forest provide habitat for many plants and animals, and also protects the watershed for the city below. There is a small lodge on the reserve, but unfortunately hasn't reopened for overnight visits since the pandemic. But day birding is still encouraged and off we went for an early morning visit. We would spend the entire day there visiting the hummer and fruit feeders at the lodge, birding the forest roads, and of course we were most excited to see the antpitta feeding areas. Of the four possible antpittas, we saw three. Not a bad average.
August 30, 2022. On this morning we headed a different direction from Manizales to high elevation dairy farm that has protected over 50% of the forest on the large property. During the morning visit we tried two antpitta feeding areas and got skunked at both. But the other birds there were fantastic and we thoroughly enjoyed the visit.
In the afternoon we ventured into a remote canyon in a serious 4X4 vehicle. We birded the property and visited a fruit feeder with very entertaining Black-billed Mountain Toucans and others. It was a long and very fun day.
Making our way to the remote El Color de mis Réves
All the capabilities of this Land Rover were needed
Black-billed Mountain Toucan
Gray-browed Brushfinch
Lacrimose Mountain Tanager
Mountain Velvetbreast
Rufous-headed Pygmy-Tyrant
Tyrian Metaltail
August 31, 2022. Downslope from Manizales is the Hotel Tinamú Birding Nature Reserve. While there are lots of birds to be seen here, this is a reliable location for the stealthy Scaled Antpitta. Seeing one is another matter. They are attempting to train a pair to come to worms, with limited success. We were very lucky to see a fleeting blur of one bird who came briefly for a few worms.
In the afternoon it was time to move up the mountain, in this case up to the volcanic Los Nevados National Natural Park. In Los Nevados is the active Nevado del Ruiz volcano which erupted in 1985 destroying the town of Armero, killing an estimated 25,000 people. We arrived just as the sun was setting in this high páramo habitat.
Alejandro goes up to photograph an arboreal spider orchid
So did I
Episcia cupreata (Flame Violet)
Spectacular sunset light as we arrive at Los Nevados
A lonely spotted cow
Black-throated Mango
Blue-headed Parrot
The secretive Gray-headed Dove
Scaled Antpitta
September 1, 2022. The Termales Lodge situated at 11,500 feet elevation just outside the park put us in close proximity to the part of the park where we searched for a much wanted bird - Buffy Helmetcrest. This vulnerable hummingbird is endemic to only Nevado del Ruiz volcano. The spot we searched is reliable, but the vast habitat at 13,500 feet elevation makes it tricky to get good views. On arrival we saw a couple of birds buzzing around and after a while found the preferred perch of a mature male tucked inside a bush. We spent a beautiful morning enjoying the birds and exceptional plants of the high páramo habitat.
Hunting for the Helmetcrest
Espeletia, an Asteraceae, is a dominant plant in the páramo habitat of the helmetcrest
The high páramo habitat of the helmetcrest
Buffy Helmetcrest
Buffy Helmetcrest
Rainbow-bearded Thornbill
Scarlet-bellied Mountain Tanager
September 2, 2022. Big travel day. We birded around the Termales Lodge for a little while, then started the long drive to Jardín. In Jardín we arrived just in time in the late afternoon to visit an Andean Cock-of-the-Rock lek at the edge of town. This lek has been here for at least 18 years where the owner of the property has made good income hosting guests. Andean Cock-of-the-Rock is one of the more interesting birds in the bird world. A large representative of the Cotinga bird family, the males gather on these communal leks predominantly during the breeding season, but can be seen year round performing their elaborate display to entice a female.
The view towards Manizales city from above Termales Lodge
Basilica of the Immaculate Conception, Jardín
Andean Cock-of-the-Rock
Andean Cock-of-the-Rock
Andean Cock-of-the-Rock
Video of a male Andean Cock-of-the-Rock display. For readers on email, click this YouTube video link: https://youtu.be/bur-cTF5X5w
September 3, 2022. In the mountains above Jardín sits the Yellow-eared Parrot Reserve. These highly endangered parrots are obligates of the Quindio Wax Palm which has been removed for farmland in much of its range. This Fundacíon ProAves reserve protects the birds and habitat, and along with substantial conservation projects the bird has been brought back from the brink of extinction. On arrival just after dawn we search the skies for parrots. With some luck a small flock flew right over our heads for excellent views.
We continued on a few miles to Mirador El Roble, a private property reserve with hummingbird feeders and an antpitta feeding spot out in the forest. Here we hoped to see two difficult antpittas, the highly range restricted Chami Antpitta, and the stunning Chestnut-naped Antpitta. Both species came in when asked by our local guide (a bit of whistling and calling) providing outstanding looks for us. The birds got their just reward with a few worms.
The rest of the afternoon consisted of eating a fantastic lunch and birding at the hacienda, then some birding on the way back down the mountain. We even managed to see one of our missing antpittas, a "wild" Slate-crowned Antpitta buried deep in the bush (no photos).
Yellow-eared Parrot Reserve, in the mountains above Jardín
Our transportation to the top of the mountain
Walking the antpitta trail
Another beautiful Orchid
Mountaintop views
Yellow-eared Parrot flyover
Chami Antpitta
Chami Antpitta
Chestnut-naped Antpitta
Grass-green Tanager
Green (Inca) Jay
Face-off!
Long-tailed Sylph
Plushcap
Roadside Hawk
Sparkling Violetear
September 4, 2022. Another long travel day as we had to make our way to Medellín. A breakfast stop along the way did produce another life bird, Black-chested Jay.
By evening we were set up in the city of Medellín and ready for our last amazing day of birding in the Central Andes.
The city of Medellín from our lodge
Black-chested Jay
September 5, 2022. I'll bet most of you readers have never heard of an Antioquia Brushfinch. Nobody else had either until it was described to science by two researchers in 2007 from three museum skins. It was thought to be extinct, especially after intensive searching for many years. In 2018, a young farmer and budding birder Rodolfo Correa Peña saw the bird on his way to Sunday mass in the mountains above Medellín. There's lots more to the story, including much work to find more birds and save them, that I'll link here for your reading. After a very early start from the hotel, we drove up to the property owned by Rodolfo's family where we met the man himself. Rodolfo led us out to one of the patches of very endangered habitat, sub-paramo scrub, where the few remaining brushfinches can be found. If you search the internet for the world's most endangered birds, the Antioquia Brushfinch is in the top 10. The total population is estimated to be less than 50 birds. This specific habitat where the brushfinch hangs out is all but gone, cleared away for farming. As described in the article linked above, there is conservation work ongoing to save the species, but it's an uphill battle.
After telling us that it may take a couple of hours and a search of several patches of habitat, Rodolfo and our guide Alejandro immediately focused on a sound coming from the first patch of scrub. A singing brushfinch! Lucky for us we arrived during breeding season and a male brushfinch had decided to grace us with his song. He crawled up to a prominent perch and gave us the most fantastic looks. Even Rodolfo and Alejandro who have seen this bird many times said we were beyond fortunate. Most birders, even if they see this skulking species, only get the most unsatisfying of glimpses. But not us!
After our visit with Rodolfo we needed to make tracks. On the other side of Medellín was another mountain, with at least two more life birds that we needed to look for. We made it over there by late morning and found both of the birds - Red-belllied Grackle and Yellow-headed Manakin among other great birds. But no rest for the weary, we had a plane to catch! After a nice late lunch in town, driver Erney dropped us at the airport. We would fly back to Bogotá while Erney drove the 10 hours to meet us in the morning. The guy is amazing.
