Chris Gooddie
Well-known member
Here’s a quick summary of a targetted trip to S. and W. Colombia in early 2024...our itinerary was decidedly bespoke in the first place, and ended up being even more offbeat than originally planned...
The initial idea was for my friend Troy Shortell and I to spend 10 days in Southern Colombia with Oswaldo Cortes from Birding Bogota targetting Hooded Antpitta, Black Tinamou and Schwartz's Antthrush amongst other gems, followed by 11 days in NW/E slope Ecuador with Marcelo Quipo Quipo, but having seen the headlines re: developing unrest we checked in with the Ecuadorians on 10th Jan to see if we could still pursue our original itinerary from 12th onwards. Since that involved a number of sites in suddenly-no-go Western Ecuador, Marcelo's advice was blunt: ‘don’t come’!
Luckily we were at the lovely El Encanto reserve in S Colombia at the time, and the team there helped us to throw together an 11th -hour, 11-day Colombian extension! We grabbed Luis Espinosa the local El Encanto guide (young, keen and very sharp) and managed to secure the continued services of our excellent driver Hermes for the extended period, and so added extra days in SW Colombia plus 4 days at the end of the trip North of Bogota (with Leon, a Birding Bogota guide). Hermes spoke no English, so my Spanish improved to the point where I could deliver ‘La broma del dia’ jokes each morning. Estoy aqui toda la semana…
The amended itinerary ran:
Arrive Bogota Jan 4th from London (LHR) via Madrid. Original plan to drive to Guayabetal early 5th was scotched by tunnel closures, so we departed Bogota immediately on the 4th instead and stayed overnight in a comfortable B and B in Guayabetal.
Jan 5th: Birded Refugio del Tororoi above Guayabetal (2200m) then returned to Bogota (3 hour drive) before taking a domestic flight from Bogotá to Cali. Our original plan had been to try for the Grallaricula sp. novum ‘Dancing Antpitta’, but there’s still no access as the bird has not yet been formally described. So instead we had decided to bird San Cipriano in the western lowlands; almost 4 hours driving from Cali to the W coast brought us to the port of Bueneventura where we overnighted due to San Cipriano being sold out.
Day 3. Departed our hotel 5am, took the 6am La Brujita (motorbike-powered railway trolley!) in to San Cipriano- full day birding there. Night Bueneventura
Day 4. Abandoned plans for a 2nd day at San Cipriano as it was very busy due to a 3-day holiday weekend, and instead drove East towards Cali and birded the ‘San Antonio KM18’ cloud forest W of the city. Then drove SE to Popayan, birding Puracé NP en route. Night Popayan.
Day 5. Another long drive SE to the El Encanto (lower HQ at c1500m)/La Drymophila (upper forest and hummer/antpitta feeders at 2000m) reserve in Huila. Night: at the lovely El Encanto HQ
Day 6. El Encanto/La Drymophila full day plus pm excursion to La Truchera (trout farm) for Spectacled Prickletail. Night: El Encanto
Day 7. Leave El Encanto (Huila) to Mocoa (600m) - Putumayo. Night: Mocoa
Day 8: 18kms walk up and back down the Campucana trail, night Mocoa
Day 9: Drive West along the infamous El Trampolin de la Muerte ('Trampoline of Death') road birding en route, pm birding W shore of Laguna de la Cocha E of Pasto, night in a villa there. Oswaldo departs to Bogota, Luis takes over
Day 10: Boat trip across Lago de la Cocha, then birding paramo E of the lake, climbing from 3,200-3,600 up onto the ridge trail. Drive back East along El Trampolin de la Muerte, night in Mocoa
Improvised Colombian extension:
Day 11: Our plan to bird a White-lored Antpitta site near the Ecuadorian border had to be shelved due to recent narco activity and hold-ups, so instead we birded Puerto Asis S of Mocoa (the Playa Rica and 'Amazon’s Birds' reserves) which is the southwestern-most point of Amazonian Colombia. Night Mocoa
Day 12: Discosura and La Casita Azul (Verdejaco), drive to El Encanto via El Cable Military Base trail. Night El Encanto
Day 13: A return to Upper El Encanto (‘La Drymophila’ and trails above), then drove to Isnos. Night in Isnos
Day 14: Pre-dawn owling S Puracé, then La Orquidea moss forest trail + 1 other nearby higher altitude trail in Puracé before driving to Garzon. Night Garzon
Day 15: Via El Recreo/Paramo Miraflores above Garzon, birding around Hotel Parque La Casona, Garzon. Night Garzon
Day 16: Embalse El Quimbo dry forest, say goodbye to Luis, drive back to Bogota. Everyone gets sick! Probably bad luck with dodgy ‘drinking water’... Night Bogota
Day 17: Meet up with Leon from Bogota Birding. CG recovers enough to bird Guasca NE of Bogota and a wetland site en route back. Night Bogota
Day 18: Troy recovered enough to rejoin and all bird Rogitama c3 hrs N of Bogota. Night Arcobuco
Day 19: Drive further N to Soata birding paramo and montane forest en route, and latterly the lower dry forest nr Soata. Night Soata
Day 20: Birding upper dry forest above Soata til noon, 6 hour drive back to Bogota and depart for LA 0130 24th Jan.
Birding highlights- new birds for me are in SHOUTY CAPS:
Refugio del Tororoi: Incredible views of the star attraction, CUNDINAMARCA ANTPITTA at the family feeder, extra sweet having heard it and got close in heavy rain in nearby Monterredondo in Aug 2011. LONG-TAILED TAPACULO was taped in on a trail above the feeder- typical Scytalopus furtiveness- and WHISKERED WREN gave brief views- performed better later/elsewhere.
San Cipriano: a thrilling 6am ride in on ‘La Brujita’ (‘The Little Witch', a motorbike powered tram on a rickety railway line. No health and safety briefings. The site was very busy with local Colombian flotaderosenjoying the 3-day weekend by floating down the rivers on HGV inner tubes, but we nonetheless managed to score STUB-TAILED ANTBIRD, THICKET ANTPITTA (super-skulking in dense wet secondary forest), FIVE-COLORED BARBET, a RUFOUS-FRONTED WOOD-QUAIL that walked slowly across the main dirt road, BLACK-BREASTED PUFFBIRD seen twice, CHOCO MANAKIN, BAND-RUMPED SWIFT, and a neck-breaking canopy SCARLET-AND-WHITE TANAGER. Lots of other Western lowland goodies here too: Black-crested Antshrike, Blue-whiskered Tanager, White-ringed Flycatcher, Golden-hooded Tanager, Golden-collared- and Velvety Manakins, Checker-throated Stipplethroat, and a posing Streak-chested Antpitta, only my 2nd.
KM18 San Antonio Cloud Forest W of Cali: nothing new for me but a ton of ticks for Troy and a very pleasant few hours around the garden and hummer feeders and the road below. Pick of the bunch were Multicolored Tanager (often visit the fruit feeders) Golden-naped and Saffron-crowned Tanagers, andinus 'Dusky Leaftosser', Streak-capped Treehunter, Scaled Fruiteater for Troy only, and Variegated Bristle-Tyrant.
Road from Puracé to Pitalito: a seriously breathless stomp up a rough and extremely muddy trail through the paramo produced very little, as did birding along the road, other than an Equatorial Antpitta glimpsed (one of the recent Rufous AP splits) and a Golden-breasted Puffleg. Lots of trawling for Crescent-faced Antpitta but not a sniff. It’s been a very dry winter in Colombia (El Niño impact) and a number of ant-beasts were tragically unresponsive during our trip.
El Encanto: our first morning at La Drymophila produced the goods- WHITE-BELLIED ANTPITTA and Tolima Doves came in to the middle feeder early, followed swiftly by two HOODED ANTPITTA at the lower feeder- wow! Stellar views as the birds made return visits to grab worms over the next hour. The hummer feeders produced SHORT-TAILED EMERALD, GORGETED WOODSTAR, TOLIMA BLOSSOMCROWN, with EAST ANDEAN ANTBIRD showing after a lot of effort on the road below. The El Encanto HQ delivered SHINING-GREEN HUMMINGBIRD, with a trip out to the nearby trout farm producing the main target, SPECTACLED PRICKLETAIL with Red-ruffed Fruitcrow, a Cock-of-the-Rock flock and DUSKY-HEADED BRUSH-FINCH and a flock of SPOT-FRONTED SWIFT as a support act. Unfortunately my Canon body and lens decided to stop communicating and despite our best efforts I could not get the camera into a useable state- so the attached pics are 100% courtesy of Troy from Day 7 onwards!
Our 2nd morning at EL Encanto failed to produce Schwarz’s Antthrush on the upper trails but did yield the tricky and shy CHESTNUT-BELLIED THRUSH. We then indulged in more Hooded Antpitta hide action, and were delighted when a SCHWARTZ'S ANTTHRUSH (SCALLOPED ANTTHRUSH) came in for a brief worm-grab- only my nemesis BARRED ANTTHRUSH to go for me now to complete the Chamaezas.
On the 10th the news broke that we could not go to Ecuador, so we continued with the last two days of our Col. plan whilst hatching a new itinerary. Our 2nd to last day with Oswaldo had us completing as planned an 18k schlep up the trails at Campucana near Mocoa in the deep S. of the country for our only chance to connect with the mythical Black Tinamou. Hard work but DUSKY SPINETAIL, COPPERY-CHESTED JACAMAR, Black-streaked Puffbird and RUFOUS-VENTED WHITETIP were some compensation for not seeing the Tinamou on the way up. A female Cerulean Warbler was my first since Texas in April 1996!
As we descended, a vocalising tinamou got our hopes up but would not come in despite subterfuge, and our ex-hunter local guide said as we approached the end of the suitable habitat zone, ‘ah well, at least we can say we got close'. And then a very large black shape appeared on the trail walking uphill towards us! Cue pandemonium as a BLACK TINAMOU paused before turning tail and fleeing with us in hot pursuit- great brief views for all, one out of focus shot for Troy, and a 2nd view of the bird’s arse as it dropped off the trail and disappeared into the forest. An iconic species and one not many people have seen. A major new road is planned which will kill Campucana as a forest site, so there’ll be few if any sites which can provide a half-decent chance of connecting with the bird once again in 2-3 years’ time : (
The next day we drove West towards Pasto along the infamous 'Trampolin de la Muerte' road which is not for the faint-hearted- reminded me a lot of the Manu road. We birded a couple of spots where it was feasible to stop, taping out the main target, WHITE-RIMMED BRUSHFINCH without too much trouble. We then bid farewell to Oswaldo who had to return to Bogota to meet new incoming clients, whilst we retired to a lovely villa on the W shore of Laguna de la Cocha- the opposite side from that which most groups bird. And it paid off handsomely in the form of a cracking SUBTROPICAL DORADITO and a ridiculously responsive ECUADORIAN RAIL (COLOMBIAN RAIL).
The next morning we hired a boat and sailed across the lake hoovering up padders but failing to find any Andean Teal. Post-coffee we breathlessly ascended a ridge trail from 3,200-3,600m above the paramo W of El Trampolin. After a lot of searching I picked up our target, an amazing CHESTNUT-BELLIED COTINGA, or rather a flock of three! We alerted the Swedish birders below us who we’d met on the way up and who were trying again for the Doliornis having dipped the previous year- a very happy hour of stellar views for all followed.
After a 2nd night in Mocoa we had planned to try a site very close to the Ecuadorian border for White-lored Antpitta, but a dubious security situiation meant we had to try a 2nd inferior site instead. We failed to even hear the Antpitta at this site (Playa Rica in Puerto Asis) despite suitable mozzy-infested scrappy wet forest (this is the SW-most extremity of Colombian Amazonia) but the birding was fascinating nonetheless with White-shouldered Antbird heard, Muscovy Duck, Hoatzin and Purple-throated Fruitcrow at Playa Rica and ORANGE-FRONTED PLUSHCROWN (at last!) being outdone by point-blank views of a motionless UNIFORM CRAKE on eggs, plus the star mammal at this 'Amazon’s Birds’ site, a troupe of PYGMY MARMOSETS that come in to bananas- thrilling stuff.
The next morning we birded Discosur for Wire-crested Thorntail which showed well after breakfast, and also crawled up a nearby trail seeing GOLDEN-WINGED TODY-FLYCATCHER plus GREEN-BACKED HILLSTAR and ORANGE-EYED FLATBILL and a pair of Spot-winged Antbirds, but no Scaled Antpittas. The Scaled APs come in to a local lady’s coaxing, but only respond to her and she was not able to ascend the steep trail with us as she was 8 months pregnant! So we recorded her voice and hiked up the steep and muddy trail to make ingenious birding history. Would’ve been a fab tale if only it had worked... Then a drive back towards el Encanto for a full metal jacket ravine attempt at Barred Antthrush. We found a responsive bird at last, slid silently down into the gloom to get within range and had the bird describe a complete circle around us at close range whilst remaining defiantly and completely hidden. Nooooooo...
We then enjoyed a final morning at El Encanto (both AP’s and a Schwartz’s AT return but no Black-chested Fruiteater despite extensive effort, though a Yellow-throated Spadebill on the 'old antthrush feeder trail' was a good bird, and we finally scored Chestnut Wood-Quail at the 4th attempt. A drive to Isnos followed where we overnighted. The next morning we tried Luis’s site (S edge of Puracé) for Buff-fronted Owl but not a sniff. WHITE-THROATED SCREECH-OWL (of the macabrus race!) came in aggressively to everything we played as recompense though. After breakfast in a local roadside café we worked moss forest trails off the main direct road that runs through the Puracé. No Undulated Anpitta, Crescent-faced Antpitta, Barred Antthrush, Giant Antpitta contacts at all, but we photographed a pair of Bicolored Antpittas- the male even perched in the open on the trail briefly! Very cool to see this species away from the feeders at e.g. Rio Blanco. We eventually gave up on the Antthrush and drove to Garzon, birding Via El Recreo Garzon (Paramo Miraflores) above Garzon, but this last Antthrush mission was holed below the waterline when we encountered a broken-down truck blocking the dirt road to the summit. We walked up the final 6k at altitude, but that meant it was late morning before we hit the peak- our last chance had gone. MAGDALENA TAPACULO, and MOUSTACHED BRUSHFINCH showed up though, as did Slaty-backed Chat-Tyrant, Black-billed Mountain Toucan and two Slate-crowned Antpittas, one each for Troy and I.
Some trash birding around the Hotel Parque La Casona, Garzon delivered SCRUB GREENLET (not sure how I can have avoided seeing one before…) WHITE-FRINGED ANTWREN and a last gasp PALE-BELLIED HERMIT which we’d dipped at El Encanto’s HQ feeders. A last bash in uber-arid forest at Embalse El Quimbo turned up a Fulvous-crowned Scrub-Tyrant (aka Tawny-crowned Pygmy Tyrant) but not White-bellied Antbird and Grey-Pileated Finch as we’d hoped. After a back-slapping farewell to Luis we headed back to Bogota, where both Troy and I were promptly struck down with an unpleasant but mercifully rather short-lived gastric bug; Luis succumbed too we later learned. My sickness curve was ahead of Troy’s so I was able to head out to Guasca with new guide Leon the next day whilst Troy spent the day in bed to recuperate. With hindsight it was a bad day to miss, despite starting off in thick fog and heavy rain. The weather soon cleared, to reveal montane hummer feeders that attracted LONGUEMARE'S SUNANGEL and BLUE-THROATED STARFRONTLET, whilst FLAME-WINGED PARAKEETs (BROWN-BREASTED PARAKEET) whizzed by overhead. A PALE-BELLIED TAPACULO came in to playback, and a pair of ANDEAN TEAL were picked up feeding on grassland close to a high-altitude tarn. We hooked up with a local guide who although expensive produced the bird of the day, a roosting ANDEAN POTOO. A Muisca Antpitta (another Rufous split) duly hopped in to worms, and as we were about to leave a TAWNY-BREASTED TINAMOU started to vocalise. We crept in on a convenient tiny trail and the bird walked quietly past us in the open at point-blank range- an unbelievable finalé! En route back to Bogota we stopped in to an unpromising-looking urban marsh where Noble Snipe continued to elude us, but a BOGOTA RAIL came in to tape and showed well.
Troy was on the road to recovery the next morning, and we were on the road to Rogitama, c3 hours drive N of Bogota. The star bird here is BLACK INCA, and we found a couple which gave spectacular views in the mid-storey after a couple of hours’ searching. GOLDEN-BELLIED STARFRONTLET was elusive but finally showed up, as did an elusive SILVERY-THROATED SPINETAIL and a small flock of Yellow-breasted Brush Finches, plus a flock of Tennessee Warblers.
We drove further North heading to Soata, birding the paramo on the way, failing to find Green-bearded Helmetcrest and other high-altitude hummers but finally picking up a NOBLE SNIPE which called and gave nice flight views. Good views of world-famous Colombian cyclist Nairo Quintana with his training retinue en route were a bonus! Once in Soata we focussed on the lower altitude dry forest which yielded the recently rediscovered CHESTNUT-BELLIED HUMMINGBIRD, and just before dusk a NICEFORO'S WREN after a lot of work, which finally agreed to grace us with its presence and pose for photos.
A final morning of higher altitude dry forest birding again was slow-going, and though we got incredibly close to a Chestnut-crowned Antpitta it would not show, calling stubbornly from a low perch in an impenetrable thicket on a steep slope. We did manage to score a flock of 4 White-capped Tanagers that came in to playback, plus a few ‘white-faced’ Golden-fronted Whitestarts of the Andean race ornatus which is likely to be split (‘Yellow-fronted Whitestart’) our only Yellow-bellied Chat-Tyrant of the trip, White-tipped Swifts, 2+ Mountain Grackles and a couple of Ashy-throated Cholorspingus. A six hour drive saw us back in Bogota where we regrouped, settled up with Leon and Hermes, and headed to the airport. Nine hours in Houston airport en route to LA for work having missed my connection due to weather delays was less than ideal, but did give me time to reflect on a great three weeks of Colombian birding.
In addition to the above we saw a ton of other cool birds, not least boreal migrants, incl. Blackburnian Warbler (common) Tennessee Warbler (fairly common) Blackpoll Warbler (2) Red-eyed Vireo (3) Black-and-White Warbler (1) Northern Waterthrush (1) Swainson’s Thrush (common) Summer- and (Troy only) Hepatic Tanagers, Acadian Flycatcher (1) plus Solitary and Spotted Sands, a Greater Yellowlegs, and 2 Common Nighthawks, plus a prob. Mourning Warbler at Rogitama that got away. We were advised that the collective name for American Wood Warblers is ‘Reinitas’ or ‘Little Queens’ which sums up their impact nicely!
The trip produced 56 new birds for me (including 4 Antpittas, 1 Antthrush, 2 Tapaculos, 2 Antbirds, 1 Antwren, 2 Tinamous and a Cotinga). Troy (having not birded either Col. or Ec. before) ended up with 408 new birds (!) and we saw c520 spp. in total- a great set of stats for just under three weeks’ birding in Colombia.
And yes, dedos cruzados, Jan 2025 will see us back in Ecuador to complete the second half of the original mission!
The initial idea was for my friend Troy Shortell and I to spend 10 days in Southern Colombia with Oswaldo Cortes from Birding Bogota targetting Hooded Antpitta, Black Tinamou and Schwartz's Antthrush amongst other gems, followed by 11 days in NW/E slope Ecuador with Marcelo Quipo Quipo, but having seen the headlines re: developing unrest we checked in with the Ecuadorians on 10th Jan to see if we could still pursue our original itinerary from 12th onwards. Since that involved a number of sites in suddenly-no-go Western Ecuador, Marcelo's advice was blunt: ‘don’t come’!
Luckily we were at the lovely El Encanto reserve in S Colombia at the time, and the team there helped us to throw together an 11th -hour, 11-day Colombian extension! We grabbed Luis Espinosa the local El Encanto guide (young, keen and very sharp) and managed to secure the continued services of our excellent driver Hermes for the extended period, and so added extra days in SW Colombia plus 4 days at the end of the trip North of Bogota (with Leon, a Birding Bogota guide). Hermes spoke no English, so my Spanish improved to the point where I could deliver ‘La broma del dia’ jokes each morning. Estoy aqui toda la semana…
The amended itinerary ran:
Arrive Bogota Jan 4th from London (LHR) via Madrid. Original plan to drive to Guayabetal early 5th was scotched by tunnel closures, so we departed Bogota immediately on the 4th instead and stayed overnight in a comfortable B and B in Guayabetal.
Jan 5th: Birded Refugio del Tororoi above Guayabetal (2200m) then returned to Bogota (3 hour drive) before taking a domestic flight from Bogotá to Cali. Our original plan had been to try for the Grallaricula sp. novum ‘Dancing Antpitta’, but there’s still no access as the bird has not yet been formally described. So instead we had decided to bird San Cipriano in the western lowlands; almost 4 hours driving from Cali to the W coast brought us to the port of Bueneventura where we overnighted due to San Cipriano being sold out.
Day 3. Departed our hotel 5am, took the 6am La Brujita (motorbike-powered railway trolley!) in to San Cipriano- full day birding there. Night Bueneventura
Day 4. Abandoned plans for a 2nd day at San Cipriano as it was very busy due to a 3-day holiday weekend, and instead drove East towards Cali and birded the ‘San Antonio KM18’ cloud forest W of the city. Then drove SE to Popayan, birding Puracé NP en route. Night Popayan.
Day 5. Another long drive SE to the El Encanto (lower HQ at c1500m)/La Drymophila (upper forest and hummer/antpitta feeders at 2000m) reserve in Huila. Night: at the lovely El Encanto HQ
Day 6. El Encanto/La Drymophila full day plus pm excursion to La Truchera (trout farm) for Spectacled Prickletail. Night: El Encanto
Day 7. Leave El Encanto (Huila) to Mocoa (600m) - Putumayo. Night: Mocoa
Day 8: 18kms walk up and back down the Campucana trail, night Mocoa
Day 9: Drive West along the infamous El Trampolin de la Muerte ('Trampoline of Death') road birding en route, pm birding W shore of Laguna de la Cocha E of Pasto, night in a villa there. Oswaldo departs to Bogota, Luis takes over
Day 10: Boat trip across Lago de la Cocha, then birding paramo E of the lake, climbing from 3,200-3,600 up onto the ridge trail. Drive back East along El Trampolin de la Muerte, night in Mocoa
Improvised Colombian extension:
Day 11: Our plan to bird a White-lored Antpitta site near the Ecuadorian border had to be shelved due to recent narco activity and hold-ups, so instead we birded Puerto Asis S of Mocoa (the Playa Rica and 'Amazon’s Birds' reserves) which is the southwestern-most point of Amazonian Colombia. Night Mocoa
Day 12: Discosura and La Casita Azul (Verdejaco), drive to El Encanto via El Cable Military Base trail. Night El Encanto
Day 13: A return to Upper El Encanto (‘La Drymophila’ and trails above), then drove to Isnos. Night in Isnos
Day 14: Pre-dawn owling S Puracé, then La Orquidea moss forest trail + 1 other nearby higher altitude trail in Puracé before driving to Garzon. Night Garzon
Day 15: Via El Recreo/Paramo Miraflores above Garzon, birding around Hotel Parque La Casona, Garzon. Night Garzon
Day 16: Embalse El Quimbo dry forest, say goodbye to Luis, drive back to Bogota. Everyone gets sick! Probably bad luck with dodgy ‘drinking water’... Night Bogota
Day 17: Meet up with Leon from Bogota Birding. CG recovers enough to bird Guasca NE of Bogota and a wetland site en route back. Night Bogota
Day 18: Troy recovered enough to rejoin and all bird Rogitama c3 hrs N of Bogota. Night Arcobuco
Day 19: Drive further N to Soata birding paramo and montane forest en route, and latterly the lower dry forest nr Soata. Night Soata
Day 20: Birding upper dry forest above Soata til noon, 6 hour drive back to Bogota and depart for LA 0130 24th Jan.
Birding highlights- new birds for me are in SHOUTY CAPS:
Refugio del Tororoi: Incredible views of the star attraction, CUNDINAMARCA ANTPITTA at the family feeder, extra sweet having heard it and got close in heavy rain in nearby Monterredondo in Aug 2011. LONG-TAILED TAPACULO was taped in on a trail above the feeder- typical Scytalopus furtiveness- and WHISKERED WREN gave brief views- performed better later/elsewhere.
San Cipriano: a thrilling 6am ride in on ‘La Brujita’ (‘The Little Witch', a motorbike powered tram on a rickety railway line. No health and safety briefings. The site was very busy with local Colombian flotaderosenjoying the 3-day weekend by floating down the rivers on HGV inner tubes, but we nonetheless managed to score STUB-TAILED ANTBIRD, THICKET ANTPITTA (super-skulking in dense wet secondary forest), FIVE-COLORED BARBET, a RUFOUS-FRONTED WOOD-QUAIL that walked slowly across the main dirt road, BLACK-BREASTED PUFFBIRD seen twice, CHOCO MANAKIN, BAND-RUMPED SWIFT, and a neck-breaking canopy SCARLET-AND-WHITE TANAGER. Lots of other Western lowland goodies here too: Black-crested Antshrike, Blue-whiskered Tanager, White-ringed Flycatcher, Golden-hooded Tanager, Golden-collared- and Velvety Manakins, Checker-throated Stipplethroat, and a posing Streak-chested Antpitta, only my 2nd.
KM18 San Antonio Cloud Forest W of Cali: nothing new for me but a ton of ticks for Troy and a very pleasant few hours around the garden and hummer feeders and the road below. Pick of the bunch were Multicolored Tanager (often visit the fruit feeders) Golden-naped and Saffron-crowned Tanagers, andinus 'Dusky Leaftosser', Streak-capped Treehunter, Scaled Fruiteater for Troy only, and Variegated Bristle-Tyrant.
Road from Puracé to Pitalito: a seriously breathless stomp up a rough and extremely muddy trail through the paramo produced very little, as did birding along the road, other than an Equatorial Antpitta glimpsed (one of the recent Rufous AP splits) and a Golden-breasted Puffleg. Lots of trawling for Crescent-faced Antpitta but not a sniff. It’s been a very dry winter in Colombia (El Niño impact) and a number of ant-beasts were tragically unresponsive during our trip.
El Encanto: our first morning at La Drymophila produced the goods- WHITE-BELLIED ANTPITTA and Tolima Doves came in to the middle feeder early, followed swiftly by two HOODED ANTPITTA at the lower feeder- wow! Stellar views as the birds made return visits to grab worms over the next hour. The hummer feeders produced SHORT-TAILED EMERALD, GORGETED WOODSTAR, TOLIMA BLOSSOMCROWN, with EAST ANDEAN ANTBIRD showing after a lot of effort on the road below. The El Encanto HQ delivered SHINING-GREEN HUMMINGBIRD, with a trip out to the nearby trout farm producing the main target, SPECTACLED PRICKLETAIL with Red-ruffed Fruitcrow, a Cock-of-the-Rock flock and DUSKY-HEADED BRUSH-FINCH and a flock of SPOT-FRONTED SWIFT as a support act. Unfortunately my Canon body and lens decided to stop communicating and despite our best efforts I could not get the camera into a useable state- so the attached pics are 100% courtesy of Troy from Day 7 onwards!
Our 2nd morning at EL Encanto failed to produce Schwarz’s Antthrush on the upper trails but did yield the tricky and shy CHESTNUT-BELLIED THRUSH. We then indulged in more Hooded Antpitta hide action, and were delighted when a SCHWARTZ'S ANTTHRUSH (SCALLOPED ANTTHRUSH) came in for a brief worm-grab- only my nemesis BARRED ANTTHRUSH to go for me now to complete the Chamaezas.
On the 10th the news broke that we could not go to Ecuador, so we continued with the last two days of our Col. plan whilst hatching a new itinerary. Our 2nd to last day with Oswaldo had us completing as planned an 18k schlep up the trails at Campucana near Mocoa in the deep S. of the country for our only chance to connect with the mythical Black Tinamou. Hard work but DUSKY SPINETAIL, COPPERY-CHESTED JACAMAR, Black-streaked Puffbird and RUFOUS-VENTED WHITETIP were some compensation for not seeing the Tinamou on the way up. A female Cerulean Warbler was my first since Texas in April 1996!
As we descended, a vocalising tinamou got our hopes up but would not come in despite subterfuge, and our ex-hunter local guide said as we approached the end of the suitable habitat zone, ‘ah well, at least we can say we got close'. And then a very large black shape appeared on the trail walking uphill towards us! Cue pandemonium as a BLACK TINAMOU paused before turning tail and fleeing with us in hot pursuit- great brief views for all, one out of focus shot for Troy, and a 2nd view of the bird’s arse as it dropped off the trail and disappeared into the forest. An iconic species and one not many people have seen. A major new road is planned which will kill Campucana as a forest site, so there’ll be few if any sites which can provide a half-decent chance of connecting with the bird once again in 2-3 years’ time : (
The next day we drove West towards Pasto along the infamous 'Trampolin de la Muerte' road which is not for the faint-hearted- reminded me a lot of the Manu road. We birded a couple of spots where it was feasible to stop, taping out the main target, WHITE-RIMMED BRUSHFINCH without too much trouble. We then bid farewell to Oswaldo who had to return to Bogota to meet new incoming clients, whilst we retired to a lovely villa on the W shore of Laguna de la Cocha- the opposite side from that which most groups bird. And it paid off handsomely in the form of a cracking SUBTROPICAL DORADITO and a ridiculously responsive ECUADORIAN RAIL (COLOMBIAN RAIL).
The next morning we hired a boat and sailed across the lake hoovering up padders but failing to find any Andean Teal. Post-coffee we breathlessly ascended a ridge trail from 3,200-3,600m above the paramo W of El Trampolin. After a lot of searching I picked up our target, an amazing CHESTNUT-BELLIED COTINGA, or rather a flock of three! We alerted the Swedish birders below us who we’d met on the way up and who were trying again for the Doliornis having dipped the previous year- a very happy hour of stellar views for all followed.
After a 2nd night in Mocoa we had planned to try a site very close to the Ecuadorian border for White-lored Antpitta, but a dubious security situiation meant we had to try a 2nd inferior site instead. We failed to even hear the Antpitta at this site (Playa Rica in Puerto Asis) despite suitable mozzy-infested scrappy wet forest (this is the SW-most extremity of Colombian Amazonia) but the birding was fascinating nonetheless with White-shouldered Antbird heard, Muscovy Duck, Hoatzin and Purple-throated Fruitcrow at Playa Rica and ORANGE-FRONTED PLUSHCROWN (at last!) being outdone by point-blank views of a motionless UNIFORM CRAKE on eggs, plus the star mammal at this 'Amazon’s Birds’ site, a troupe of PYGMY MARMOSETS that come in to bananas- thrilling stuff.
The next morning we birded Discosur for Wire-crested Thorntail which showed well after breakfast, and also crawled up a nearby trail seeing GOLDEN-WINGED TODY-FLYCATCHER plus GREEN-BACKED HILLSTAR and ORANGE-EYED FLATBILL and a pair of Spot-winged Antbirds, but no Scaled Antpittas. The Scaled APs come in to a local lady’s coaxing, but only respond to her and she was not able to ascend the steep trail with us as she was 8 months pregnant! So we recorded her voice and hiked up the steep and muddy trail to make ingenious birding history. Would’ve been a fab tale if only it had worked... Then a drive back towards el Encanto for a full metal jacket ravine attempt at Barred Antthrush. We found a responsive bird at last, slid silently down into the gloom to get within range and had the bird describe a complete circle around us at close range whilst remaining defiantly and completely hidden. Nooooooo...
We then enjoyed a final morning at El Encanto (both AP’s and a Schwartz’s AT return but no Black-chested Fruiteater despite extensive effort, though a Yellow-throated Spadebill on the 'old antthrush feeder trail' was a good bird, and we finally scored Chestnut Wood-Quail at the 4th attempt. A drive to Isnos followed where we overnighted. The next morning we tried Luis’s site (S edge of Puracé) for Buff-fronted Owl but not a sniff. WHITE-THROATED SCREECH-OWL (of the macabrus race!) came in aggressively to everything we played as recompense though. After breakfast in a local roadside café we worked moss forest trails off the main direct road that runs through the Puracé. No Undulated Anpitta, Crescent-faced Antpitta, Barred Antthrush, Giant Antpitta contacts at all, but we photographed a pair of Bicolored Antpittas- the male even perched in the open on the trail briefly! Very cool to see this species away from the feeders at e.g. Rio Blanco. We eventually gave up on the Antthrush and drove to Garzon, birding Via El Recreo Garzon (Paramo Miraflores) above Garzon, but this last Antthrush mission was holed below the waterline when we encountered a broken-down truck blocking the dirt road to the summit. We walked up the final 6k at altitude, but that meant it was late morning before we hit the peak- our last chance had gone. MAGDALENA TAPACULO, and MOUSTACHED BRUSHFINCH showed up though, as did Slaty-backed Chat-Tyrant, Black-billed Mountain Toucan and two Slate-crowned Antpittas, one each for Troy and I.
Some trash birding around the Hotel Parque La Casona, Garzon delivered SCRUB GREENLET (not sure how I can have avoided seeing one before…) WHITE-FRINGED ANTWREN and a last gasp PALE-BELLIED HERMIT which we’d dipped at El Encanto’s HQ feeders. A last bash in uber-arid forest at Embalse El Quimbo turned up a Fulvous-crowned Scrub-Tyrant (aka Tawny-crowned Pygmy Tyrant) but not White-bellied Antbird and Grey-Pileated Finch as we’d hoped. After a back-slapping farewell to Luis we headed back to Bogota, where both Troy and I were promptly struck down with an unpleasant but mercifully rather short-lived gastric bug; Luis succumbed too we later learned. My sickness curve was ahead of Troy’s so I was able to head out to Guasca with new guide Leon the next day whilst Troy spent the day in bed to recuperate. With hindsight it was a bad day to miss, despite starting off in thick fog and heavy rain. The weather soon cleared, to reveal montane hummer feeders that attracted LONGUEMARE'S SUNANGEL and BLUE-THROATED STARFRONTLET, whilst FLAME-WINGED PARAKEETs (BROWN-BREASTED PARAKEET) whizzed by overhead. A PALE-BELLIED TAPACULO came in to playback, and a pair of ANDEAN TEAL were picked up feeding on grassland close to a high-altitude tarn. We hooked up with a local guide who although expensive produced the bird of the day, a roosting ANDEAN POTOO. A Muisca Antpitta (another Rufous split) duly hopped in to worms, and as we were about to leave a TAWNY-BREASTED TINAMOU started to vocalise. We crept in on a convenient tiny trail and the bird walked quietly past us in the open at point-blank range- an unbelievable finalé! En route back to Bogota we stopped in to an unpromising-looking urban marsh where Noble Snipe continued to elude us, but a BOGOTA RAIL came in to tape and showed well.
Troy was on the road to recovery the next morning, and we were on the road to Rogitama, c3 hours drive N of Bogota. The star bird here is BLACK INCA, and we found a couple which gave spectacular views in the mid-storey after a couple of hours’ searching. GOLDEN-BELLIED STARFRONTLET was elusive but finally showed up, as did an elusive SILVERY-THROATED SPINETAIL and a small flock of Yellow-breasted Brush Finches, plus a flock of Tennessee Warblers.
We drove further North heading to Soata, birding the paramo on the way, failing to find Green-bearded Helmetcrest and other high-altitude hummers but finally picking up a NOBLE SNIPE which called and gave nice flight views. Good views of world-famous Colombian cyclist Nairo Quintana with his training retinue en route were a bonus! Once in Soata we focussed on the lower altitude dry forest which yielded the recently rediscovered CHESTNUT-BELLIED HUMMINGBIRD, and just before dusk a NICEFORO'S WREN after a lot of work, which finally agreed to grace us with its presence and pose for photos.
A final morning of higher altitude dry forest birding again was slow-going, and though we got incredibly close to a Chestnut-crowned Antpitta it would not show, calling stubbornly from a low perch in an impenetrable thicket on a steep slope. We did manage to score a flock of 4 White-capped Tanagers that came in to playback, plus a few ‘white-faced’ Golden-fronted Whitestarts of the Andean race ornatus which is likely to be split (‘Yellow-fronted Whitestart’) our only Yellow-bellied Chat-Tyrant of the trip, White-tipped Swifts, 2+ Mountain Grackles and a couple of Ashy-throated Cholorspingus. A six hour drive saw us back in Bogota where we regrouped, settled up with Leon and Hermes, and headed to the airport. Nine hours in Houston airport en route to LA for work having missed my connection due to weather delays was less than ideal, but did give me time to reflect on a great three weeks of Colombian birding.
In addition to the above we saw a ton of other cool birds, not least boreal migrants, incl. Blackburnian Warbler (common) Tennessee Warbler (fairly common) Blackpoll Warbler (2) Red-eyed Vireo (3) Black-and-White Warbler (1) Northern Waterthrush (1) Swainson’s Thrush (common) Summer- and (Troy only) Hepatic Tanagers, Acadian Flycatcher (1) plus Solitary and Spotted Sands, a Greater Yellowlegs, and 2 Common Nighthawks, plus a prob. Mourning Warbler at Rogitama that got away. We were advised that the collective name for American Wood Warblers is ‘Reinitas’ or ‘Little Queens’ which sums up their impact nicely!
The trip produced 56 new birds for me (including 4 Antpittas, 1 Antthrush, 2 Tapaculos, 2 Antbirds, 1 Antwren, 2 Tinamous and a Cotinga). Troy (having not birded either Col. or Ec. before) ended up with 408 new birds (!) and we saw c520 spp. in total- a great set of stats for just under three weeks’ birding in Colombia.
And yes, dedos cruzados, Jan 2025 will see us back in Ecuador to complete the second half of the original mission!
Attachments
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CHESTNUT-BELLIED_COTINGA_LAGO_DELA-COCHA_COLOMBIA_JAN2024_1E1A0605_EDIT.jpeg -
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SUBTROPICAL_DORADITO_LAGO_DELA_COCHA_COLOMBIA_JAN2024_1E1A0404_EDIT.jpeg -
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