Shortly
before our departure the Venezuelan government revalued their currency (the
Bolivar) which was to put a severe strain on our finances although we had
already decided to use public transport as we couldn’t afford to hire a vehicle. At least my not being a driver made no
difference. We intended camping, enabling
us to be on site as much as possible, but took bivy bags rather than a tent to
save on weight and space as we would be carrying our rucksacks (often with a
supply of food) for much of the time. It
was to be a typical budget trip with any comforts taking a back seat to birding
as much as possible. After all, there
were so many birds occurring in Venezuela that even on a two month trip we
didn’t want to waste any longer than was absolutely necessary.
This
blog relies on notebook entries (to my shame they are often no more than place
names and bird lists), unreliable (particularly about what happened precisely
when or where) but usually very happy memories and scanned slides of varying
quality. Looking back I feel very privileged
to have been able to spend a reasonable time in such a fascinating country and
one I’d very much like to revisit one day, although not on public transport and
sleeping in a bivy bag!
24 December 1982. Arrival.
We arrived somewhat tired and anxious after an overnight VIASA flight
via Madrid. We caught a local bus into
the centre of Caracas which was just waking up.
Greater Kiskadee on rooftop TV
aerials by the central bus station was our first bird in Venezuela and we were
soon on our way to Maracay. A few birds
were seen at Maracay bus station as we waited for a bus to Occumare de la
Costa. This route cut through Henri
Pittier National Park crossing the mountain range at Rancho Grande where we
hoped to stay. It was a crowded bus and
we were the only passengers getting out at Rancho Grande, perhaps that was the
reason that there appeared to be only one fare for the journey irrespective of
how far one was going, either that or we paid the gringo rate. Unfortunately Rancho Grande was closed for
Christmas and there didn’t even seem to be a caretaker around. Luckily there was a gap in the fence by the
locked entrance gate and we were able to use the porch of the research building
as our base although it was a bit hard sleeping on it in bivy bags. We spent the rest of the day birding along
the road either side of the pass. Low
cloud, and a surprising amount of traffic, was a problem although usually one
side of the pass was clearer than the other.
A completely mind blowing day for, although I only saw 31 new birds,
everything was unfamiliar and so many species looked very similar. It immediately became apparent that the Venezuela
field guide was very good and the plates by Guy Tudor were not just superb to
look at but very accurate. Highlights of
our first day included Blood-eared
Parakeet, Long-tailed Sylph, Grove-billed Toucanet, two stunning Grey-breasted Wood Wrens and White-winged Tanager. Wintering American
Redstarts and Blackpoll and Tennessee Warblers added a touch of the
more familiar and the only surprise was not to see something with ‘ant’ in its
name.
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| view from Rancho Grande looking down to Maracay |
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| albino Long-tailed Sylph, this species was common at Rancho Grande although this was the only albino we saw, and also the only Long-tailed Sylph I photographed |
25-27 December 1982. Park National Henri Pittier (Rancho Grande). Based at Rancho Grande we birded along the
road, going down to km 40 and hitching back on Christmas Day, and found a
couple of good trails, one behind the buildings and a ridge trail on the opposite
side of the road (another fence with a gap in it). Four days into the trip and I’d already seen
100 new birds, including my first Antpitta.
My more memorable sightings and birds seen with the best names included Band-tailed Guan, White-vented Plumeleteer,
Collared Trogon, Rufous-tailed Jacamar, Scaled Piculet, Spotted Barbtail,
Sharp-tailed Manakin, White-necked Puffbird, Chestnut-crowned Becard, Marble-faced
Bristle-Tyrant, White-throated Spadebill, an excellent Plain-backed Antpitta, Nightingale Wren, Andean Solitare, Tropical
Parula, Rufous-browed Peppershrike, stunning Golden Tanagers and Chestnut-capped
Brush-Finch which I noted as being ‘really good’. Wintering Northern Waterthrush and Black & White, Golden-winged and Cereulean Warblers were also seen.
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| Roadside Hawk at Rancho Grande |
28-31 December 1982. Park National Henri Pittier (Porto
Colombia/Caribbean slope). We caught the
bus back to Maracay where we bought some supplies then got another bus over the
mountains to Porto Colombia, on the Caribbean Coast in the north east corner of
the park. We spent two nights outside
Porto Colombia and birds seen here included Magnificent
Frigatebird, Royal Tern, Little Hermit, a superb male Wire-tailed Manakin, Olivaceous Flatbill, Black-crested and Barred Antshrikes, White-fringed Antwren,
Long-billed Gnatwren and Flavescent Warbler. On 30th caught a bus back to
the pass at km 23. Here we found a very small
concrete hut that was just about big enough for us to sleep in. We collected some ferns to make its floor
slightly less hard to sleep on although I’m not sure we were too successful as
it still felt very hard, but neither of us had much natural padding! The pass was rather higher than Rancho Grande
and the birds were somewhat different.
It was also cooler at night. In
the two days in the area, mostly within 2 kms of the pass, we saw an excellent Highland Tinamou, Bronzy Inca, Green Violetear, Rusty Spinetail, Golden-breasted
Fruiteater, brilliant views of a superb Chestnut-crowned
Antpitta (with more heard), Moustaced
Wren and Beryl-spangled Tanager. I finished 1982 having spent 7 months birding
abroad and seeing over 1200 species. I’d
also managed to see Long-toed Stint,
Little Whimbrel, Black-billed Cuckoo, Varied Thrush, Northern Waterthrush and
American Redstart in Britain.
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| Scaled Dove at Porto Colombia |
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| Black Vulture, not all its ugliness is due to photographic degredation/chemical spill |
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| Brown Pelican at Porto Colombia |
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| this one, in better plumage, indicates where the name 'Brown' might have come from |
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| Lineated Woodpeckers |
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| view south from km 23 |
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| view north, to Caribbean, from km 23 |
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| wacky caterpillar or mobile hair curler |
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| number 89 |
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| sunrise at km 23 with more photographic degredation |
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| Steve in the hut we stayed in at km 23 |
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| forest at km 23 - superb but mainly impenetrable |
1-3 January 1983. Park National Henri Pittier (Porto Colombia
road/interior slope). We birded down the
road to km 10 and the grounds of the Hotel Maracay where we slept on the golf
course. We were now seeing lower elevation
species the most enjoyable being Stripe-backed
Wren, which was common, and Yellow
Oriole. Walking up the road to km 23
and back on 2nd added White-tailed
Hawk, Swallow and Burnished-Buff
Tanagers, Blue-hooded Euphonia and
Purple Honeycreeper. On 3rd, we
returned to Maracay bus station where we got a long distance bus to Santo
Domingo and Merida. Bird of the day was
a Ringed Kingfisher looking huge when
seen from the bus.
4-6 January 1983. Universidad de Los Andes Forestal. We arrived at Merida Bus Station soon after
dawn, bought some supplies and birded around there before getting a local bus
to the Universidad de Los Andes Forestal.
We were dropped off within a short walk of a deserted building in a clearing
and settled in on the veranda. We spent
two days birding in this area then caught a bus back to Merida. Birds seen included Collared Inca, Orange-throated Sunangel, Mountain Velvetbreast, Masked
Trogon, Crested Quetzal, Emerlad Toucanet, Crimson-crested Woodpecker, Pearled
Treerunner, Brown-rumped Tapaculo, Yellow-bellied Chat-Tyrant, Green &
Black Fruiteater, Red-ruffed Fruitcrow, Chestnut-bellied Thrush, Black-crested
Warbler, White-fronted Whitestart, Chestnut-breasted Chlorophonia and Moustached
& Slaty Brush-Finches.
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| Universidad de Los Andes Forestal |
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| forest track |
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| Steve on the veranda of a deserted hut that we made our base while at Los Andes Forestal |
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| yellow frog |
7-10 January 1983. Pico Humbolt Trail. Back in Merida we caught a bus to Tabay and
walked to the Trout Hatchery - a long walk but an
excellent site for White-capped Dipper. We saw a pair as well as Chestnut-collared Swift and Semi-collared
Nighthawk by our ‘camp’ at the start of the Pico Humbolt trail.
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| looking back down on mostly hidden Tabay from near the Trout Hatchery |
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| White-capped Dipper |
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| slightly wonky |
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| view from Pico Humbolt trail |
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| view north from Pico Humbolt trail |
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| Steve housebuilding |
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| Lake Coromoto with the clouds coming in, but hey we had just built a new lodge |
On 9th I walked up to the second ridge seeing a female Bearded Helmetcrest, Ochre-browed Thistletail, Andean Tit-Spinetail and Red-crested Cotinga (common). We then started back down the trail seeing Andean Pigmy Owl, Golden-bellied Starfrontlet and Sword-billed Hummingbird before reaching Refuge 1. It was a dark, damp wooded ‘hide’ that had nowhere near the character of our rebuilt Refuge 2 but it provided a reasonable place to sleep.
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| early morning near Lake Coromoto |
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| Lake Coromoto |
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| Brown-backed Chat-Tyrant |
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| Lake Coromoto |
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| me above Lake Coromoto |
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| looking down on Lake Coromoto |
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| the snow covered summit of Pico Humbolt was still a long way off |
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| Sherpa Hotel, Pico Humbolt. Its waterproofness wasn't put to the test |
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| Tree fern on Pico Humbolt trail descent |
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| distant view of Merida from Pico Humbolt trail descent |
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| roosting Rufous-banded Owl |
11 January 1983. Pico Aguila.
A superb morning above the clouds at Pico Aguila, or it was once we’d
warmed up. I saw 9 Bearded Helmetcrests, including two superb males. I only saw 16 other species at Pico Aguila
but half of them were new including Speckled
Teal, Black-chested Buzzard-Eagle, Bar-winged Cinclodes, Streak-backed Canastero
and Paramo Pipit. We left Pico Aguila somewhat reluctantly and thumbed
a lift from a somewhat manic Venezuelan to Tovar. From there we caught a bus to La Fria, on the
edge of the Maracaibo basin and very close to the Colombian border.
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| dawn at Pico Aguila |
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| Pico Aguila roadhouse, we never got to check it out due to excessive dithering |
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| lagoon at Pico Aguila, it wasn't frozen but felt as if it should have been |
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| view from Pico Aguila |
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| habitat shot with distant female Bearded Helmetcrest |
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| closer view of female Bearded Helmetcrest |
12 January 1983. Encontrados Road. We spent most of the day on the Encontrados
Road, a superb wetland area, before getting a bus back as far as El Guayabo. Thirty-seven new birds was my best total on
the trip other than our first full day.
They included many South American wetland specialities such as Jabiru, Anhinga, Limpkin Wattled Jacana
and Southern Lapwing as well as Northern and Horned Screamers, Savannah and
Black-collared Hawks, Bat Falcon, Dwarf Cuckoo, Greater Ani, White-headed
Marsh-Tyrant, Pied Water Tyrant, Fork-tailed Flycatcher and Masked Yellowthroat. El Guayabo was a one horse town and being
very close to the Colombian border had a rather unpleasant atmosphere with the
locals appearing to be staring at us intently all the time. This feeling got worse when Steve disappeared
to the toilet for some time leaving me the sole object of scrutiny. After a while, that was probably nothing like
a long as it felt, I found Steve and told him I’d had enough and was going to
kip on the edge of town. He’d just about
finished and quickly joined me. It was
the closest we came to a disagreement the whole trip, which was pretty good
going considering how long we were together and how rough it was at times. I think we were prepared to put up with a lot
so long as the birds kept coming, and did they just.
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| Capped Heron |
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| Horned Screamers |
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| Great Black Hawk |
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| Crested Caracara |
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| Vermillion Flycatcher |
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| White-headed Marsh-Tyrant, a poor image of a firm favourite |
13-15 January 1983. Paramo de Tama. The 13th was a travel day to
Betania with Orange-winged Parrots
and a male White-headed Marsh-Tyrant
my best sightings. It was the first day in
which I didn’t see a new bird, although frustratingly we were no’t able to check
out some potential Pigmy Palm Swifts seen from the bus. On 14th we walked up a steep track
onto Paramo de Tama and spent most of the day wandering around on the paramo
above the clouds. Our map marked this as
the border with Colombia although I’m not sure how close we got, or if we
inadvertently crossed the border. We saw
no one all day, something that I was quite pleased about! We then returned part way and stayed in a hut
on the way down. Birds seen included Tyrian Metaltail, Glowing Puffleg (didn’t
quite live up to its name), Blue-throated Starfrontlet, White-chinned
Thistletail, Green & Black and Barred Fruiteaters (brilliant), Rufous Wren,
Golden-fronted Redstart and Scarlet-bellied Mountain and Golden Crowned Tanagers.
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| leaving Betania |
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| looking back at the start of the climb to Paramo de Tama |
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| above the clouds, just |
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| above the tree line |
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| Paramo de Tama moorland, Colombia straight ahead? |
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| me on the Paramo de Tama
On 15th we walked back down to Villa Paez seeing Amythest–throated Sunangel, Tyrian Metaltail, Golden-fronted Redstart and Blackburnian Warbler. On the walk back we passed a farm with the mornings washing laid along the hedge bordering the track we were on. I couldn’t resist adding a dirty shirt of mine to the end of the row as I wasn’t intending keeping it much longer anyway, very childish humour I know. In Villa Paez we caught a bus to San Cristobal and another to Barinas. The last journey was mostly in the dark and we walked to the edge of town to crash out in our bivy bags.
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| looking back at Paramo de Tama from near to Villa Paez |
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