We made it to Jardin just before sunset and headed directly to a special place in town - Jardin De Rocas. This is the best place to see the famous Andean Cock-of-the-rocks. I was thinking we would be pulling up to some dark lek and have to be really quiet, but turned out to be a back yard with tons of people and the birds were not shy at all.
Andean Cock-of-the-rock
Anyhow, it's one of those experiences you just have to see in person as it doesn't translate in pictures.
Black Vulture
Flame-rumped Tanager female and male.
The male Flame-rumped Tanager.
We celebrated the end to another great day in the town square at a really good pizzeria.
In the morning we got up especially early to do some owling. It was mostly quiet but we finally bagged one.
White-throated Screech-Owl
We headed upslope from Jardin in 4x4 vehicles and ended up at our breakfast spot, Reserva Mirador el Roble. This little ecostation was built in a reserve that was established to protect the vulnerable and endemic Yellow-eared Parrot. It was actually thought to be extinct until 1999.
Breakfast was delicious although for the first time on the trip I started having stomach issues. Nothing too bad but it was a harbinger of things to come.
Black-capped Tyrannulet
Yellow-eared Parrots!
A ton of them! Its misleading to see a large flock like this and think that they are ok. They are a communal species so they gravitate to each other, but this flock is one of only a handful of flocks. They depend on Wax Palms which are coveted for Palm Sunday festivities in Colombia so they have been impacted from the harvesting of it.
They landed far off and I managed a few half decent shots in the distance.
But the real star of the day was this Oncilla! This vulnerable status feline is wide-ranging throughout northern South America but is fairly rare and hard to find. The people at this eco station had clearly been feeding this particular cat and it was quite tame.
Next up was another Antpitta spot about a quarter of a mile walk into the jungle.
Chestnut-naped Antpitta - this one was especially tame and even ate a worm out of my hand. Unfortunately no one got a photo of that.
Green-and-black Fruiteater
An unidentified Bluet.
Streak-headed Antbird
This area was really gorgeous.
Our fearless leader Jan Hansen.
Golden-fronted Redstart
Lacrimose Tanager
Black-and-Chestnut Eagle fly-by.
The plan was to have lunch at the eco station and then start birding our way downslope. However it took forever for the staff to make it so we ended up having several hours of waiting and hanging out near the hummingbird feeders which was fine by me.
Collared Inca
We couldn't tell if they were fighting or courting each other but some of the lunges were dramatic and dangerous looking.
Long-tailed Sylph
Fawn-breasted Brilliant
Finally we ate a great big meal of fried trout and started to head downslope.
Citrine Warbler
Russet-backed Oropendola
Red-bellied Grackle - this Colombian endemic was one of our key targets and in finding it we also found a tree with tons of activity. I am not sure what kind of tree it was but it was fruiting and we had 15 or more species flitting around in it and the nearby trees.
Black-capped Tanager - the only new species.
Back at the hotel I birded the grounds a little but had nothing new.
Southern Lapwing
We went back into town for dinner and enjoyed another delicious meal at the pizzeria and some ice-cream in the town square which was very lively.
Only a couple more posts left!
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