Colombia - Part 4

 

Rufous-browed Conebill

September 6, 2022. We had flown back to Bogota to wrap up the last five days of our trip in the Eastern Andes. For the first few days we did trips to relatively nearby spots for some specialties. On this day we headed northeast into the montane forest of Bosque Guajira Natural Reserve. The prime target here was Brown-breasted Parakeet now only found on the east slope of the Eastern Andes. As with so many parrots and parakeets, habitat loss and fragmentation has hurt their numbers considerably. It took some time but we were finally able to spot a small flock of the parakeets.

eBird list Bosque Guajira

As we returned over the pass back towards Bogota, we had a treat in store. Alejandro took us to some beautiful páramo habitat for a nice walkabout. The flowers and scenery were just incredible. 

Bosque Guajira

Páramo habitat at the pass

Espeletia, an Asteraceae

Espeletia flowers in bloom

Brown-breasted Parakeet

Strong-billed Woodcreeper

September 7, 2022. Another very early morning departure, but worth the pain. From Bogota, we drove southeast and down the east slope to the small community of Guayabetal. From there we took a modified Land Cruiser for the steep climb to Monterredondo cloud forest. We arrived at the family farm of La Herreria for a day of birding. This small farm is part of a community based conservation effort to protect and rehabilitate the remaining cloud forest in this special area. And because we weren't quite done yet with antpittas, we got to see one of the most range restricted antpittas of them all - the endangered Cundinamarca Antpitta. Just look at the range map for this species:

The family has a remote feeding area for the antpitta that they have been working for a long time and only recently had any success in getting the bird to come in long enough for birders to see it. We were quite lucky and had excellent views from the blind. The rest of our lovely day at the farm consisted of walking the trails of native cloud forest habitat. While out there we were able to see an Emerald-belllied Puffleg (hummingbird) coming to native flowers deep in the forest and many other birds. 

eBird list La Herreria

View from the top of Monterredondo

Our transportation to the top of the mountain, the Land Cruiser on the left. It also serves as the local school bus

Photo taken from the blind, the antpitta would come to the small hole in the center of the image

Cundinamarca Antpitta

Emerald-bellied Puffleg

Laughing Falcon

Ochre-breasted Brushfinch

Rufous-crowned Tody-Flycatcher

September 8, 2022. This was a day I had been looking forward to all trip. Sitting high above Bogota is the largest páramo ecosystem in the world - Sumapaz National Park. After another very early departure we arrived just after sunrise to this high elevation alien world at 12,500 feet. Here we would go after more endemics and had amazing success. Of the more entertaining were the Apolina's Wrens who do everything as a group, including singing from the top of a bush. A close relative of the Buffy Helmetcrest we had seen earlier in a different páramo in the central Andes, the Green-bearded Helmetcrest, was also on the agenda. We quickly found a female hawking insects just below the road and enjoyed the show. We even spotted a "wild" Tawny Antpitta hopping around in the scrub. It was a truly enjoyable morning in my favorite Andes habitat. The afternoon was set aside for travel as we had more birds to see farther north.

eBird list Sumapaz

Sumapaz at sunrise

Andean Teal

Apolinar's Wren

Glossy Flowerpiercer

Female Green-bearded Helmetcrest hawking insects

Many-striped Canastero

Rufous-browed Conebill

Tawny Antpitta

September 9, 2022. After bashing our way through the traffic of Bogata and traveling a couple hours north the afternoon before, we were heading to the Duitama Oak Forest on the west slope just below páramo at 10,500 feet elevation. The dominant tree here is Quercus Humboldtii, or Andean Oak, found only in Colombia and Panama. The area we visited had large tracts of intact forest mixed with pasture. On tap were two primary targets, Mountain Grackle and Rusty-faced Parrot, another endangered species due to habitat loss. The grackles turned out to be quite easy to find with their boisterous behavior as they moved through the oaks. The parrots took longer, but as luck would have it we were almost scalped as a group of six birds moved from one area to another and raced right over our heads at high speed. Everyone got quite a kick out of that experience. After wandering around the oak forest for a while, we moved up in elevation just a little and did a flower walk with our local guide Jaun who was also quite the flower expert. Spectacular! 

eBird list Duitama

An early morning view from Duitama Oak Forest

We finished the day in the lovely village of Arcabuco

Mountain Grackle

September 10, 2022. Near the village of Arcabuco is the Rogitama Reserve, a private property purchase by retired physician. Here a former pastureland has been allowed to regrow for the last 20 plus years back to native forest. There were three primary targets here, all lifers for us - Black Inca, Lazuline Saberwing, and Moustached Brushfinch. The brushfinches were real skulkers and we were lucky to get even a glimpse of the birds. The two hummingbirds were far more cooperative. 

eBird list Rogitama

Unfortunately there was still a half day drive and the traffic of Bogota awaiting us, so off we went. But not before one last side trip to a nearby reservoir for the resident population of Horned Lark and Bogota Rail, our last life bird of the trip. Oh, and one last stop for another incredible carnivore feast at a "BBQ" place in the tiny village of Toca. 

Rogitama Reserve

Carnivore's delight!

Black Inca

Black Inca

Lazuline Saberwing

Final statistics for me (each of us is plus or minus a few): 546 species seen and 125 life birds. Wow!!

As I wrap up these posts for our incredible 26 days in Colombia, a few thank yous are in order. First to our wonderful friends Tim (trip organizer extraordinaire) and Agnes, it was fun as always and we can't wait for India in just 10 short days! 

Next up is Manakin Nature Tours, our ground agent for this trip. They did an excellent job with the itinerary and logistics, everything went off without a hitch.  We highly recommend them and will definitely use them again for future trips.

To our amazing driver Erney, thank you for keeping us safe and always getting us there. And  for your outstanding bird finding skills too! The best driver in Colombia, for sure!

Erney

And finally to our wonderful guide Alejandro Nagy: your bird finding skills and knowledge are outstanding and we really enjoyed spending most of a month in your company. There were so many times that you went above and beyond what would normally be expected of a guide, and for that we are truly appreciative. I hope we can do another trip together in the future.

Alejandro

The entire gang