COLOMBIA 2026 part 5: Minca, El Dorado and San
Lorenzo Ridge (10-14 March 2026)
10 March 2026. We
left our hotel in Santa Marta at 05:20 in the three 4WDs that had met us at the
airport the previous evening and drove a short distance to El Valle, a back road through
an area of dry scrub near the coast for dawn. Not being sure if we were allowed
to be here added a bit of anxiety to the situation but we soon saw the hoped
for Chestnut-winged Chachalacas perched on overhead wires. Also seen in the Valle
area were Whooping Motmot, Brown-throated Parakeet, Ochre-lored
Flatbill, Mouse-coloured Tyrannulet, Grey Kingbird, Black-crested
Antshrike, Straight-billed Woodcreeper, Buff-breasted Wren
and Olive-grey Saltator. At 07:00 with the temperature rising we headed
up into the Santa Marta foothills where a stop on the lower slopes produced a
flyover Grey-headed Kite, Ferruginous Pygmy Owl, Black-backed
Antshrike, Pale-eyed Pygmy Tyrant, Golden-fronted Greenlet, Rufous-and-white
Wren and Crested Oropendola. The coffee zone added Rufous-tailed
Jacamar, Scaled Piculet, a brief Rosy-thrush Tanager, Rufous-breasted
Wren, Chestnut-capped Warbler and Dull-coloured Grassquit while
I was too slow to get onto a couple of very brief Coppery Emerald sightings. Climbing
further into the subtropical zone our first stop found both Santa Marta
Antbird and Santa Marta Foliage-gleaner. A trail deeper into the
forest seeing Sierra Nevada Brushfinch and White-lored Warbler.
Lunch at Mountain House allowed close study of their feeders hosting Brown
Violetear, Santa Marta Blossomcrown. Olive-sided Flycatcher, Yellow-legged
Thrush, Tennessee Warbler and Black-headed Tanager. We drove
up to the entrance of El Dorado from where it was a good 20 minute uphill walk to
the lodge. Fortunately they have electric golfcarts and while we were waiting
for them to be loaded loaded to take us and our gear up to the lodge we had
superb views of a pair of White-tipped Quetzals. Surprisingly, as we
spent time in the parking area at least twice a day, we never saw the quetzals
again. Some birding around the grounds produced Band-tailed Guan, Lined
Quail-Dove, Groove-billed Toucanet, Streak-capped Spinetail
and Santa Marta Brushfinch.
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| Chestnut-winged Chachalaca at El Valle |
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| Common Ground Dove at el Valle |
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| Black-billed Thrush at el Valle |
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| Ferruginous Pygmy Owl at El Valle |
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| Swallow Tanager at El Valle |
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| Black-crested Antshrike at El Valle |
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| Rufous-tailed Jacamar at Minca |
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| Scaled Piculet at Minca |
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| Santa Marta from Minca |
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| White-lored Warbler at Minca |
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| Brown Violetear at Mountain House |
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| female Black-headed Tanager at Mountain House |
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| male Black-headed Tanager at Mountain House |
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| Black-capped Tanager at Mountain House |
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| Rufous-tailed Hummingbird at Mountain House |
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| Crowned Woodnymph at Mountain House |
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| Tennessee Warbler at Mountain House |
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| Yellow-backed Oriole at Mountain House |
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| Rusty Flowerpiercer at Mountain House |
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| juvenile Rusty Flowerpiercer at Mountain House |
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| White-tipped Dove at Mountain House |
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| female White-tipped Quetzal at El Dorado |
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| male and female White-tipped Quetzals at El Dorado |
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| male White-tipped Quetzal at El Dorado |
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| views from El Dorado |
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| Streak-capped Spinetail at El Dorado |
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| Band-tailed Guan at El Dorado |
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| sunset from El Dorado |
11 March 2026. We
left El Dorado lodge at 04:10 and climbed high to the San Lorenzo ridge on a
pretty rough road. On the way up a Santa Marta
Screech-Owl flew across in front
of us and it or more likely another was eventually tracked down and gave reasonable
but brief views. We spent all day along the ridge starting at a rather basic
reserve centre/hut where a Santa Marta Antpitta was being fed worms while
we had breakfast looking on. I’d had very poor views on my previous visit so
this was a big relief. Nearby we saw Brown-rumped Tapaculo, Rusty-headed
Spinetail, Hermit Wood-Wren and Yellow-crowned
Whitestart although other endemics took longer to find. Perseverance
produced Santa Marta Warbler and Santa
Marta Bush-Tyrant. At lunch we saw Santa Marta Mountain Tanager
and White-tailed Starfrontlet at feeders and later along the ridge White-rumped
Hawk, the Santa Marta race of Emerald Toucanet, Scarlet-fronted
Parakeet, Scaly-naped Amazon and eventually Santa Marta Parakeet.
We were back at the lodge at 19:00, a long but very successful day.
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| Santa Marta Brushfinch on San Lorenzo Ridge |
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| Santa Marta Antpitta on San Lorenzo ridge |
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| Santa Marta Antpitta on San Lorenzo ridge (photo: Paul Chapman) |
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| views from San Lorenzo Ridge |
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| Hermit Wood-Wren on San Lorenzo Ridge |
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| Scarlet-fronted Parakeet on San Lorenzo Ridge |
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| Yellow-crowned Whitestart on San Lorenzo Ridge |
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| the Santa Marta Antpitta was a bit shyer for the lunchtime feed |
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| Santa Marta Bush-Tyrant on the San Lorenzo Ridge |
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| female White-tailed Starfrontlet on the San Lorenzo Ridge |
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| male White-tailed Starfrontlet on the San Lorenzo Ridge |
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| Great Thrush on the San Lorenzo Ridge |
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| Santa Marta Mountain Tanager on the San Lorenzo Ridge |
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| Band-tailed Pigeon on the San Lorenzo Ridge |
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| Crab-eating Fox on the San Lorenzo ridge |
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| Santa Marta Parakeet on the San Lorenzo Ridge |
12 March 2026. With a few targets still to see we left EL
Dorado Lodge at 04:50 and drove up the mountain as far as the Research Station,
arriving as it was starting to get light. It was an excellent call from Trevor
as a pair of the erratic Black-backed Thornbill appeared almost immediately presumably having
roosted nearby. We drove further up stopping briefly to look for Carricker’s
Mountain Tanager but only seeing silhouettes. We continued to the reserve
centre for another Santa Marta Antpitta breakfast session and walked
sections back down concentrating on Carriker’s Mountain Tanager which teased
us for a while and Sierra Nevada Antpitta. The first we heard gave poor
views but a second was more obliging. Lower down we saw Golden Grosbeak before
another lunch and feeder session at Mountain House which produced similar
species to the previous day. The afternoon was spent at lower elevations
looking for Santa Marta Woodstar, the last realistic Santa Marta endemic, but
to no avail, although Scaled Pigeon, Plumbeous Kite and Collared
Aracari were some compensation. Back at El Dorado as the light was going I
had a better view of Black-breasted Thrush.
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| another Santa Marta Antpitta breakfast |
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| badly focused Sierra Nevada Antpitta on the San Lorenzo Ridge |
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| I was hoping for something more like this - Sierra Nevada Antpitta on the San Lorenzo Ridge (photo: Paul Chapman) |
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| Sierra Nevada Antpitta on the San Lorenzo Ridge (photo: Paul Chapman) |
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| Cinnamon Flycatcher on the San Lorenzo Ridge |
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| Brown Violetear at Mountain House |
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| White-tipped Dove at Mountain House |
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| Tarantula Hawk Wasp near Mountain House |
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| Collared Aracari at El Dorado |
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| Scaled Pigeon at El Dorado |
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| Black-breasted Thrush at El Dorado |
13 March 2026. We
were still missing Santa Marta Woodstar, one of the trickier of the gettable
endemics, but local information suggested our best bet was the area we’d tried
the previous evening. We left El Dorado with all our gear at 05:15, a superb
place to stay with fantastic views although we’d rarely been there in daylight
to appreciate them. We soon found a male Santa Marta Woodstar sat on a branch
at the top of a dead looking tree we’d been checking the previous day although
it was fairly distant and the morning light wasn’t great. We walked down the
road a bit further seeing Coopmans’s and Spectacled Tyrannulets
and Crimson-crested Woodpecker before trying a trail a bit higher up
where we saw Golden-breasted Fruiteater, Slaty Antwren, Rusty-breasted
Antpitta, Grey-throated Leaftosser, Streaked Xenops and Montane
Foliage-gleaner. We descended further and dodged a heavy rain shower while
having lunch before checking into Colores de la Sierra, a lower elevation lodge
in Minca. Birding in the garden produced Golden-winged Sparrow, Plain-brown
Woodcreeper and White-lined Tanager. We finished the day on the
lower slopes of a nearby ridge seeing Lesser Swallow-tailed Swift and
two small fairly distant high-flying flocks of Military Macaws on their
way to roost.
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| Santa Marta Woodstar in Minca |
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| Crimson-crested Woodpecker at Minca |
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| Spectacled Tyrannulet at Minca |
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| Rusty-breasted Antpitta at Minca (photo: Paul Chapman) |
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| Blue-naped Chlorophonia at Minca |
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| Santa Marta Brushfinch at Minca |
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| Red-billed Parrot at Minca |
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| Santa Marta Blossomcrown |
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| Groove-billed Toucanet at Minca |
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| Montane Foliage-gleaner at Minca |
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| Cinnamon Flycatcher at Minca |
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| raining hard at lunchtime |
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| rather wet Yellow-throated Vireo |
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| Tennessee Warbler at Minca |
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| Golden-winged Sparrow at Minca |
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| Thick-billed Euphonia at Minca |
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| Cinnamon Becard at Minca |
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| Plain-brown Woodcreeper hiding at Minca |
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| Chestnut-capped Warbler at Minca |
14 March 2026. We
left the lodge at 05:30 and, acting on information Trevor had received, drove back into the
foothills to Tagua arriving at 06:25. Here we were led to a feeding station
where we saw Rufous-necked Wood Rail and Orange-billed
Nightingale-Thrush. A small noisy covey of Black-fronted Wood Quail
came close but I only heard them. We left at 08:15 and returned to the lodge in
Minca for breakfast, pick up our bags and transfer into a bus. No more mountain
roads for us. We descended to the Caribbean coast and out to the Guajira
peninsula.
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| Sierra Nevada Brushfinch near Minca |
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| Rufous-necked Wood-Rail near Minca |
my camera found the bananas easier to focus on than the Wood-Rail
