Colombia Day 9 - Full day on Camino Montezuma Part 1 (14Aug2024)

We woke up very early so we could make it up to the summit on the Camino Montezuma shortly after first light. The Camino Montezuma is a dirt road that extends 12 km long and 1,200 meters high through the forest starting at the Lodge.  The terminus of the road is a military base on the summit at 2,500 meters (8,200 feet).

Some of the scenery on the way up.  We used three 4x4 vehicles to make it up the snaky and shaky road.  At the top we got out and the Montezuma staff set to work in providing a nice breakfast for us and the birds.  Old nectar was discarded and the feeders were replenished.

Collared Inca - one of the high elevation hummers.

The view!

Tourmaline Sunangel

Green-crowned Brilliant

Chestnut-bellied Flowerpiercer!  This Colombian endemic is very restricted in range and this is one of the best places to see them.

This is the range chart courtesy of Wikipedia.

Collared Inca female

Velvet-purple Coronet

Empress Brilliant

Smoky Bush-Tyrant

Violet-tailed Sylph

Chestnut-bellied Flowerpiercer

The guide played a little Andean Pygmy Owl and we had one responding.  However, we also started a little tanager feeding flock commotion in a tree that was 100 yards downslope.

Blue-and-black Tanager

Beryl-spangled Tanager

Blue-capped Tanagers

Lacrimose Tanager

Rufous Spinetail

Purplish-mantled Tanager

I could have stayed up there all day, but we had to start heading downslope.  The local guides and drivers from the lodge planned multiple stops at little roadside huts with hummingbird feeders at which they replaced nectar and usually also offered hot chocolate and a snack to us.  I think I gained a couple pounds before we made it back down. 

Velvet-purple Coronet

Tourmaline Sunangel with no light shining on gorget.

What a difference a slight move of the head makes.  Its very hard to get a shining gorget and a profile shot at the same time.

Munchique Wood-Wren - another Colombian endemic!  It was previously lumped with the Gray-breasted Wood-wren.

These mountains are super biodiverse including plants and insects.  I am not sure if this was an orchid or a bromeliad.

An Orchid.

Black-throated Tody-tyrant - this was the only shot I managed.

Golden-fronted Redstart - in contrast to the eastern cordillera, these birds of the western range only have yellow and black colors.  If you can remember from one of my previous posts, the eastern birds have white markings on their faces.

Yellow-vented Woodpecker

Beryl-spangled Tanager - I hope to properly crush this species in the future. They always stayed at long range during this trip requiring heavy cropping.

This last picture was at 10am!  So much content! I am going to have to generate a part deux for this one.

Colombia Day 8 Part 2 (13Aug2024)

Montezuma Rainforest Lodge was up at the top of the list of the most birdy places we went to.  We arrived at lunch and after feasting we did some local birding before getting settled in our rooms.  The hummingbird and fruit feeders offered tons of birds we didn't see elsewhere on the trip.

Green Thorntail

Steely-vented Hummingbird

Silver-throated Tanager

Blackish Rail!  Don't worry, I got better photos later as this bird was hanging out in the pond next to our eating area for the next two days.

Purple-throated Woodstar

Green Thorntail

Grayish Piculet!  It was nice to find a good bird on my own.  The group did find another later.

White-necked Jacobin - at this point I was birding literally right outside my hotel doorway as I had a nice feeder all to myself.

Andean Emerald

Violet-tailed Sylph - this is still burned into my minds-eye to this day.  These birds are gorgeous.

Empress Brilliant

Violet-purple Coronet

Torrent Tyrannulet - this was one of my favorite pictures of the trip. 

White-necked Jacobin

Green Thorntail

Bronze-winged Parrot

White-booted Racket-tail

Variable Seedeater - down in South America they can have "variable" underparts.

This is about when I met up with the group and we walked the dirt road up from the main building.

Golden-hooded Tanager 

Flame-rumped Tanager - they have yellow "flames" in the western cordillera instead of the orange/red.

Red-faced Spinetail

Red-headed Barbet - I was surprised on how small these were.  

Plain Xenops

Sometimes when I wandered off on my own, I would miss something good the group got but a few times I found something the group didn't get.

Green-fronted Lancebill - this was one of the few birds I was the only one to see on the whole trip.

Lemon-browed Flycatcher

Another view of the same bird.

Black-winged Saltator

That was it for Day 8.  We had a delicious meal at the main building and then hit the sack pretty early because we lost power.  Might as well sleep when its pitch dark.