Colombia Day 14-15 - Jardin (19-20Aug2024)

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

They were really loud and to be honest kind of ludicrous.  How these big colorful chickens have continued to thrive is beyond me.  

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!

Colombia Day 14 - Hacienda el Bosque (19Aug2024)

We had another amazing day of birding on Day 14 with a visit to Hacienda el Bosque.  This is a working cattle farm east of Manizales that has a working bed and breakfast and birding operation incorporated into its surroundings.  This may seem contradictory because the main problem with birds in Colombia is habitat loss by cattle ranching.  I think it is somewhat contradictory, but certainly this place mitigates the negative impacts of cattle farming as much as they can. The idea for them is to keep the cattle which is probably the bulk of their business, but also conserve bird habitats and grow the tourism part of their model.  In fact, I think this is the major issue with environmentalists these days, they want to completely eliminate hurtful practices instead of working with the industries they seek to limit.  We need to come to the realization that people eat meat and drink milk and so cattle farms are necessary. Instead of trying to oppose them, we should be working with them to develop business models that mitigate harmful impacts to the environment.  Hacienda el Bosque does this by preserving areas of the farm that have attracted key species and then cultivating local birders that can help make these species accessible to their guests.  They have set up feeding stations all over the property and placed blinds in strategic locations.  

This is the view from outside the place where we had breakfast on the property.  Very beautiful.  After breakfast we hiked down the hill into one of the valleys where native habitat is being restored.

Gray-browed Brushfinch

Equatorial Antpitta - this is one of the many splits in the Rufous Antpitta complex.  While we were at the Antpitta spot, an Ocellated Tapaculo was heard upslope a bit.

Ocellated Tapaculo - It took a long time before I was able to get recognizable pictures.  A very good bird indeed.

Shining Sunbeam

Black Flowerpiercer

Yellow-bellied Chat-Tyrant

Mountain Wren

Crescent-faced Antpitta - the star of the show.  Can you get any cuter?

Northern Slaty Brushfinch

Buff-winged Starfrontlet

Tyrian Metaltail

Mountain Wren

Buff-winged Starfrontlet

Masked Flowerpiercer

Barred Fruiteater

Sword-billed Hummingbird

Tourmaline Sunangel

At this point we were waiting on some Gray-breasted Mountain-Toucans at a fruit feeding station but waited a good half hour and despite many calls from the local guide, it was time to go.  This feeding station happened to be on the road down from the place where the van was parked so I asked if I could stay a bit longer while everyone else went up and used the toilets etc..

Great Thrush

I waited about 15 more minutes with one of the local guides and just as I heard the van coming down the road to pick me up.....

Gray-breasted Mountain-Toucan

I waved down the van and everyone piled out and got to see these beauties.

What an amazing day!

That afternoon we stopped at some roadside restaurant on the way to our last big stop for the trip, in Jardin.  We actually arrived in Jardin in time for a very special bird, but I will save that for the next post.