10
August. Our final week in Colombia started with breakfast
at the Sierra’s Sound Hotel in Minca. We
had just finished, rather uncertain what was happening next and when, when the
4WD that had dropped us off the night before returned. It had come up from Santa Marta with our
guide Gabriel (Gabbo) Utria. We soon
headed out of town and up into the low hills stopping to bird a section of dry
roadside scrub by the track to Pozo Azul.
Here a Rosy Thrush-Tanager was calling from up on an impenetrable bank
but it could not be enticed into view. Four
Golden–winged Sparrows were some recompense, as was our first endemic, Santa
Marta Foliage-Gleaner - they were a much better bird than I was expecting,
behaving like an Asian Laughtingthrush, albeit a rather dull one. A stop in some bamboo along a track a little
further up the road produced Santa Marta Tapaculo, Santa Marta Antbird (a
recent split from Long-tailed) and Sierra Nevada and Santa Marta
Brush-Finches. Higher again and a
Rusty-breasted Antpitta responded to tape although our vehicle chose that
moment to catch up and park right by where it was calling from. It was not deterred and Gabbo soon located it
at the back of a tangle where it gave good views for a couple of minutes – it
was superb. We climbed further entering
damper forest and Gabbo took us along a narrow trail to a flowering tree where
we had excellent views of two Blossomcrowns.
It had been a brilliant morning with every stop producing something good
- quite a contrast with most of the other birding I had done in Colombia! We arrived at the purpose built El Dorado lodge
at noon, unfortunately just as heavy rain started. Undeterred we spent most of the afternoon on
the balcony watching the feeders and compost heaps with White-tailed
Starfrontlet, Lazuline Sabrewing and some superb Blue-naped Chlorophonias on
the former and three Black-fronted Wood-Quail visiting the latter. A White-lored Warbler, another endemic, moved
through the garden where more brush-finches skulked. It was the most enjoyable day of the trip so
far and I saw twelve new birds, as many as I’d managed in six days at
Utria. The weather did not let up after
dark which rather put paid to our attempts to see, or even hear, Santa Marta
Screech Owl and a very close lightning strike took out all the lodge’s lights. I wrote up my notes by candle/head-torchlight
and regretted having produced a species grid in such small print.
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| Rusty-breasted Antpitta on the way up to El Dorado. Sadly few antpittas were as obliging as this one |
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| Black-fronted Wood -Quail on one of the El Dorado compost heaps |
11
August. We were up an hour before dawn in
anticipation of going up to the top of the mountain but it soon became apparent
that our driver could not get the 4WD started.
The lodge’s electricity was not back on either although that was a minor
inconvenience. We took advantage of some
early dry weather to walk some of the trails around the lodge but it soon
started drizzling and I was hearing more than I was seeing which is always
frustrating, although happily White-tipped Quetzal and Grey-throated Leaftosser
bucked that trend. My particular
bug-bear was Santa Marta Antpitta, although it started well with the first one
we heard responding from down in a valley and for a while getting closer before
it held its position well out of sight.
On the walk back to the lodge we heard another closer bird in a more
accessible area and followed it up, to find it was day-trippers playing a
tape. They had brought a bird closer and
I got brief antpitta sp. views as it hopped away rather quicker than I could
keep up with. We decided two groups
chasing it probably wasn’t going to be successful and left to return to the
lodge. Perhaps a mistake but we had
encountered two responsive birds in our first foray which seemed
encouraging. Gabby had drummed up a
replacement vehicle which could take us part way up the mountain and we headed
up for the rest of the morning. We drove
up to below the radio station where the road was substantially worse and birded
a section of it on foot. We soon
encountered the endemic Yellow-crowned Whitestart and Santa Marta Mountain
Tanager which occurred at this higher elevation. We also heard two more Santa Marta Antpittas,
one of which I glimpsed very briefly seeing just a shape. We walked down the road to the Research
Station seeing a displaying Black-throated Tody-Tyrant on the way. It made an amazing whirring noise as it
jumped up and down, a performance some Birds of Paradise would have been proud
of. It was all too soon time to head back
down for lunch but with the plan then to spend more time on the trails around
the lodge and perhaps the road below it I decided to skip lunch and retrace our
steps a bit before walking back to the lodge to give me more chance of seeing
Santa Marta Antpitta. Nice plan but
unfortunately it did not work. I heard
at least 3 more antpittas, a couple plus one of the earlier ones came very
close but none showed themselves despite my best efforts. I tried sitting and waiting, and trying to
creep up to them, playing recordings quietly and louder, playing recordings of
other birds or playing back their own song, setting the recorder to repeat and
retreating in the hope the bird might cross the track or work its way past me
to get to it. Nothing worked and I
finished the day having heard at least 7 and glimpsed 2, very
disappointing. I got back to the lodge
at about 16:00 by which time the rain had become more persistent. Lined Quail-Dove and a male Golden-breasted
Fruiteater were the best birds I saw all afternoon but the others had not fared
much better although the Wood-Quail had been performing well. The rain eased somewhat and I did a circuit
of the trails, returning as the light was going having seen 2 Sickle-winged
Guans preparing to roost. Fortunately
the lodge’s stove ran on bottled gas as the electricity was still out. We ate by candle-light and headed out soon
after to look for Santa Marta Screech Owl while it was still dry. One responded from just below the lodge but
Frank slipped as we moved closer and we heard no more. It seemed rather typical of what had been a
poor day but our 4WD had been fixed so better was expected of the morrow.
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| early morning near El Dorado |
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| White-tipped Quetzal |
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| looking up to the upper radio station that should have (almost) been our morning's destination |
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| Tyrian Metaltail |
12
August. Another early start saw us heading up the
road/track at 04:30. We arrived on the
ridge above the lower radio station as it was getting light and had our packed
breakfast while watching Santa Marta Warblers and Rusty-headed Spinetails. We wandered the section of road and soon
found a flock of eight Santa Marta Parakeets, something Nick had missed on his
previous visit, Scaly-naped Parrot, Strong-billed Woodcreeper, Yellow-bellied Chat-Tyrant,
Yellow-crowned Whitestart, Santa Marta Mountain Tanager and Plushcap. We took a narrow trail through some bamboo
where we heard a couple of Rufous Antpittas and I saw one briefly through
binoculars. A calling Santa Marta
Antpitta was not as obliging, moving past unseen. We walked down the road to the radio station
where we hoped to see Santa Marta Bush-Tyrant but only managed one of the
common, and much more widespread, Stripe-throated. On the way everyone else saw a singing Brown-throated
Tapaculo that I was wrongly positioned for, very annoying, but fortunately a
little lower down a juvenile gave good views and later I saw one briefly
crossing a ravine. At the radio station the others decided to return for lunch but as
it was not raining I was keen to walk back down, hoping to see Santa Marta
Antpitta on the way. I heard at least
seven, five of which seemed to come very close but then sat tight unseen. I had not even managed to glimpse one and was
left wondering if my original views were countable (seen an antpitta, calling
like Santa Marta) but it is the sort of bird that deserves better. It rained, usually lightly, for much of the
afternoon and another Sickle-winged Guan was my best sighting. I
under-estimated the time it took to get back down and was still well short of
El Dorado and the light was starting to go (not helped by the rain getting
heavier) when I met Nick and Gabbo coming up to look for me. We got back to EL Dorado at 18:30. A long day best described as a good morning
and frustrating afternoon, but an improvement on the day before. I was working out what time I would have to
leave El Dorado in the morning in time to walk up to the nearest antpitta area for first light when Gabbo told us that we would be heading down to Palo Alto first thing in
the morning as Santa Marta Woodstar was best seen early. Disappointing not to have a final chance at
the antpitta but at least I would not be further frustrated by it.
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| view from above the lower radio station |
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| we really felt on top of the world |
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| with good reason as these were Colombia's highest peaks, with snowy caps all year round |
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| the track to the upper radio station. The army had a base there and it was best not to go too close |
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| Scaly-naped Amazon |
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| Strong-billed Woodcreeper catching the morning rays |
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| a more typical pose |
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| the endemic Yellow-fronted Whitestart |
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| Streak-throated Bush-Tyrant, the closest we came to finding the endemic Santa Marta Bush-Tyrant that occurs in the area |
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| Debs, Frank, Nick and me |
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| X-rated butterflies |
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| back into Santa Marta Antpitta wind-up territory |
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| sunset above El Dorado |
13
August. We were up before dawn for breakfast, packed
and drove the fifteen minutes to Palo Alto where we were welcomed by the garden
owner, flushing a Lined Quail-Dove from the road on the way. It was a superb place, full of flowers and
feeders, and we spent a couple of hours there.
We had just arrived and were standing too close to one of the feeders
when a male Santa Marta Woodstar flew in, saw us and bolted. We then saw another in the top of a distant
tree displaying to a female and were just thinking of trying to get closer when
the female flew towards us and started feeding on some nearby flowers. Amazing although by the time I had thought to
get my camera out if was moving on. Two
Santa Marta Toucanets were also around the garden and we saw a distant
Keel-billed Toucan. We headed slowly
down to Minca making several short stops and seeing another pair of Santa Marta
Woodstars, Rufous-tailed Jacamar and yellow-billed Grove-billed Toucans. , We
arriving at Minca by 11:00 and made a couple of stops below it for Black-backed
Antshrike. The first produced two Long-billed
Gnatwrens (completing a clean sweep of gnatwrens for the trip) and
Golden-fronted Greenlet and we were just about to give up on the antshrike when
Nick saw a track where he remembered seeing them on his previous visit and we
quickly saw a male. We started the long
drive to Riohacha stopping at the Restaurant Las Acacias for lunch. It was excellently located by the main road
but overlooking a wide partially wooded river.
I don’t recall much about lunch, I might have had some chips or an
omelette, but the birding was great with Orange-crowned Oriole (new for me),
Orange-chinned Parakeet, Green and Amazon Kingfishers and Red-crowned
Woodpecker. As we drove north and
entered the department of Guajira the area became hotter, dryer and flatter and
farmland predominated. After about 90
minutes we stopped by a large roadside field to see three Double-striped
Thick-knees and an Aplomado Falcon flew over.
A little way further north we took a dusty track into thorny forest
where we spent the rest of the day. This
was brilliant with Chestnut Piculet, the equally superb White-whiskered
Spinetail, Pale-legged Hornero, female Black-crested Antshrike, White-fringed
Antwren, Slender-billed Inezia, Northern Scrub and Venezuelan Flycatchers and
Pileated Finch. As we were walking back
to the 4WD we disturbed a covey of 12-14 Crested Bobwhites, most of which I
failed to see, finally getting on to five before they ran off. Our final stop was a more overgrown area by a
small river where Rufous-vented Chachalacas roosted. We saw at least ten as well as Laughing
Falcon, Green-rumped Parrotlet and Glaucous Tanager. At dusk we drove into Riohacha and the Hotel
Barbacua. A very enjoyable day with no
major frustrations!
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| Santa Marta Toucanet at Palo Alto |
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| a generally recognised split from Emerald |
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| Palo Alto, its owner and superb garden |
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| distant Santa Marta Woodstar from Palo Alto, I failed to get images of the closer ones that came into the garden - too busy watching their bee-like behaviour! |
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| almost as distant, but considerably larger Yellow-backed Oriole from Palo Alto |
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| Groove-billed Toucanet of the Yellow-billed race, considered by some to be a separate species |
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| distant football match |
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| Rufous-capped Warbler |
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| in a shaded coffee plantation |
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| Red Howler monkeys |
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| howling loudly |
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| and looking very disapproving of us |
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| a hazy view to the coast from the lower foothills above Minca |
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| Black-backed Antshrike |
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| view from restaurant Las Acacias |
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| juvenile Great-tailed Grackle |
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| Orange-crowned Oriole in a fruiting tree right by the restaurant veranda |
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| Orange-chinned Parakeet |
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| several were in the same tree |
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| the orange chin just about visible in this image ... |
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| ... but not the easiest feature to see |
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| Red-crowned Woodpecker |
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| the Caribbean coast |
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| our transport, 'FOUR WHEL DRIVER' not in evidence |
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| White-whiskered Spinetail, one of the best funarids I have seen - but clearly camera shy |
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| only when it had retreated to its nest did it deign to glance back at me |
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| Venezuela Flycatcher |
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| Rufous-vented Chachalaca |
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| or Loch Ness Monster |
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| Laughing Falcon with a hernia or large parasite |
14
August. After our success the previous evening we
started the day with four main targets and drove to Camarones, a nearby
village, where Gabby had lined up a local guide to assist us. We arrived soon after dawn and in quick
succession had seen Vermillion Cardinal, Orinoco Saltator and Buffy Hummingbird. Three down and one to go but Tocuyo Sparrow
proved more elusive and we tried three areas without success although I did see
Crested Bobwhite, Shining-Green Hummingbird, Straight-billed Woodcreeper and
male Black-crested Antshrike. A pair of
Russet-throated Puffbirds was more than adequate compensation although we were
called away when our guide heard the sparrow.
Still no luck and the puffbirds had moved on when I went back to try to
photograph them. By now it was warming
up considerably and we headed for the coast where a tidal lagoon at Los
Flamencos held an impressive selection of wading birds. I quickly added 20 species to my trip list,
the highlights being an adult Reddish Egret (I’d only seen two before),
American Flamingoes (no surprise there), Wilson’s, Collared and Semipalmated
Plovers, Least, Western and Semipalmated Sandpipers, five Stilt Sandpipers,
Cabot’s and Royal Terns and Black Skimmers.
We had lunch at a restaurant on the beach although our table was near to
where some decorating was being done and the smell of paint wafting across to us was rather off-putting. A cold drink was welcome though, as was a
quick paddle in the Caribbean, although it was extremely hot crossing the white
sand to get to the shore – it would be a good place to train for walking on embers! Our only Sanderling of the trip were running
along the shore, just like being at home, except for the temperature! A number of doves were drinking at a puddle
by an overflow and were joined by a very tatty Vermillion Cardinal. After lunch we revisited the first, best
Tocuyo Sparrow site and soon after arriving our guide, who had wandered ahead,
heard one calling from a tree above the track.
Just as we got to him it dropped out of the tree and dived into a thick
patch of bushes the other side of a fence.
We scanned hard and I had a reasonable view of it on the ground inside
the bushes but of the others only Nick was able to get onto it. We reluctantly left Guajira and started the
long drive back to Minca. Another stop
at Las Acacias produced a juvenile Reddish Egret on the river while an
Orange-crowned Oriole was still in residence.
Another excellent day, we arrived back at the Sierra’s Sound Hotel in
Minca as the light was fading.
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| Vermillion Cardinal, about as bright as one gets |
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| Orinoco Saltator |
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| Buffy Hummingbird |
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| subtly brilliant |
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| the daily water run |
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| Slender-billed Inezia |
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| Glistening-Green Hummingbird |
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| glistening in the sun |
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| Crested Bobwhite |
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| the lagoon at Los Flamencos |
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| Wilson's Plover on he beach at Los Flamencos |
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| Southern Lapwing |
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| Cattle Tyrant battling into a strong wind |
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| Collared Plover |
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| American Flamingo, Reddish Egret and Willet |
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| Short-billed Dowitcher and American White Ibis |
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| Willet |
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| Greater Yellowlegs |
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| Short-billed Dowitcher |
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| Tricoloured Heron |
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| Short-billed Dowitcher, Snowy Egret, Least Sandpiper, Willet and Great White Egret where a creek flowed into the lagon |
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| Reddish Egret |
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| juvenile Wilson's Plover |
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| Laughing Gulls and Cabot's (Sandwich) Tern |
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| Black-necked Stilts |
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| stilts, skimmers and terns |
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| Black Skimmer, Laughing Gull and Cabot's and Royal Terns |
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| Black Skimmer, Black-necked Stilt and Cabot's and Royal Terns |
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| Semipalmated Plover, not quite showing its palmations |
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| Collared Plover |
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| Snowy Egret |
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| Southern Lapwing |
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| Tropical Mockingbird |
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| Crested Caracara |
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| Tropical Gnatcatcher |
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| Great-tailed Grackle |
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| eyeing up something |
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| I'm not sure it was edible |
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| Carib Grackle, pretending to be a parotia |
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| this iguana would have been truly terrifying if it had been twice the size |
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| the rather tatty Vermillion Cardinal from our lunch stop |
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| poor thing looked to be in a bit of a state |
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| and that was before I realised I was seeing its good side |
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| Scaled Doves were coming down to drink at the overflow puddle |
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| as were Common Ground Doves |
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| Common Ground Dove showing red underwing |
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| juvenile Great-tailed Grackle |
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| giving a Carib Grackle the evil eye |
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| a dog and a few waders on the beach at Los Flamencos |
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| kids on the beach at Los Flamencos |
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| juvenile Reddish Egret with assorted plastic friends at Las Acacias |
15
August. We had a morning’s birding before needing to
return to Santa Marta airport for our flight back to Bogota. My suggestion of getting up at 02:00 and
driving up to the nearest Santa Marta Antpitta site was not taken seriously
(when am I not serious when birding is concerned?), instead we walked and
birded sections of the road up to the Pozo Azul track. We again heard Rosy Thrush-Tanager, on the
opposite side of the road to previously.
This time from closer and below us but we still did not manage to even
glimpse it. Perhaps it flies across the
road occasionally but what odds one would be looking the wrong way when it did
so, not that it is a species where flight views would be satisfactory. We were looking hard for roosting Black &
White Owls but none were apparent, unfortunately our owl voodoo for the trip
continuing almost unabated to the bitter end.
An adult and juvenile Whooping Motmot were some compensation, the
nearest I came to a new bird as it had been split from Blue-crowned since I had
seen them in 1985. Otherwise Laughing
Falcon and Keel-billed Toucans flew across the valley, a Rufous & White
Wren flew across the road and we had excellent views of White-bearded Manakin. We were driven to Santa Marta Airport where
we said goodbye to Gabby - he had been a really excellent guide. We flew back to Bogota and returned to the
Casona del Patio as it was getting dark.
I was able to send an email home and later got a reply - everyone was OK
and Josh had passed his driving test which was excellent news.
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| above Minca |
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| looking down on Santa Marta and the Caribbean from above Minca |
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| Blue-Grey Tanager |
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| Golden-faced Tyrannulet |
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| Crested Oropendola |
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| Whooping Motmot |
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| this one we thought was a juvenile without a full tail |
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| a more typically tailed adult |
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| tourist hotel along the coast from Santa Marta |
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| coal/gas terminal |
16
August. On our final morning we were picked up from
the Casona del Patio at 05:00 and driven to Guasco where we arrived just before
06:00. It was a damp morning with low
cloud hanging over the valley. We were
driven down a track to a gate into a
grassy field and could just about see the marsh in a dip on the other side of
it. We quickly headed for it but it soon
became apparent that Frank and Debs were not behind us – the grass was long and
wet and without wellies they had turned back.
Nick and I easily saw at least 5 Bogota Rails, putting right the outrageous
decision not to stop when passing within a km previously. We also saw Andean Teal, Spot-flanked
Gallinule, Noble Snipe, Solitary Sandpiper and a wandering Large-billed
Tern. Back at the vehicle Debs was
clearly gripped by the rails and I lent her my boots so she could go back. Frank had seen them before and was looking a
bit cold so did not take up Nick’s offer of his, instead Nick took Debs back
while I birded the road in Frank’s trainers (mine being packed away in the
back). The rails were harder to find but
they eventually found one and we headed into town. We were on a tight timetable but the quick
breakfast I’d hoped we would grab to eat on the road turned into a sit down
affair that I opted out of although a wander to the edge of town was
unproductive and not pleasant when it started drizzling. We eventually got on the road again and
headed up to the paramo but were soon in the cloud and barely able to see
across the road. Strong wind made attempting
to bird very unpleasant, if not impossible, and we tried higher up hoping to get
above the cloud. We stopped when the
road started to drop, although it might have been a false summit, and Nick and
I took advantage of a slight improvement in visibility to follow a track along
the sheltered side of the mountain. It
led to a radio station where barking dogs had a lady coming out of a hut to see
who we were. She seemed a bit taken
aback to see two smiling westerners come out of the clouds claiming to be
watching birds! The track soon petered
out which might have been just as well as we weren’t entirely sure we’d not
been told it was private. At least the
dogs had not been set upon us! I was
determined to stay out until we saw something and a pair of Plumbeous Sierra
Finches duly obliged. We had to leave
the area at 11:30 to be sure of getting back to the airport for 14:15 and
decided to spend our last half hour or so trying our luck lower down. We walked sections of the road when breaks in
the cloud allowed but the wind had not dropped which did not help. A pair of Great Sapphirewings were excellent,
and new for the trip as was Superciliaried Hemispingus. I also saw 3 Golden-crowned Tanagers (always
brilliant), Pale-naped and Slaty Brush-Finches and Black-crested Warbler but
that was it. Birding over. We drove back to the airport arriving at
13:30, our contingency for heavy traffic was not needed although at one stage
we felt it might be when what seemed like the entire population of Bogota
motorbikes (including the police’s) passed going the other way. Nick and my TAP flight was due to leave at
17:15 but a look at the arrivals board showed it to likely be two hours late
arriving. We could have had longer birding
after all, more so as Frank and Debs were not departing until evening. Nick and I were flying to Lisbon via Panama
City and then had 90 minutes before our flight to London. It was going to be a very tight
connection. We queued at check-in, after
a while were told to join another queue for departure tax exemption and then
returned to check-in. It was an incredibly
slow queue and we would have been in danger of missing the flight had it been
on time. We had just reached the front
of the queue when we were instructed to wait at one side so other passengers
could be checked-in while our London connection was ‘checked’. There were only a few of us in this position
so it seemed unlikely that the Lisbon-London flight would be held for us. After another wait the TAP representative
came over and said they were trying to get us on an Avianca flight but their
computers were currently down. This
flight left at 22:00, almost five hours later, but was direct and actually
arrived at Heathrow an hour earlier than our scheduled TAP connection. Impressive work from TAP’s representative and
we were well pleased with the outcome, especially as the Avianca flight was on
time. I got a tube to Victoria where I
had to wait for a couple of hours before being able to use my cheap rail
ticket. I got into Shoreham-by-Sea at
20:30 to find Josh waiting to pick me up, a nice surprise.
