Colombia 1 000 Birds Mega Tour II 21St November to 19Th December 2014 (29 Days)
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Colombia 1 000 Birds Mega Tour II 21st November to 19th December 2014 (29 days) Lance-tailed Manakin by Dennis Braddy Trip report compiled by Tour Leader: Rob Williams Trip Report - RBT Colombia Mega II 2014 2 An early start on day 1 saw us heading to Mundo Nuevo. Our first stop en route produced a flurry of birds including Northern Mountain Cacique, Golden-fronted Whitestart, Barred Becard, Mountain Elaenia and a Green-tailed Trainbearer feeding young at a nest. We continued up to the altitude where the endemic Flame-winged Parakeets breed and breakfasted while we awaited them. We were rewarded with great scope looks at this threatened species. The area also gave us a flurry of other birds including Scarlet-bellied Mountain Tanager, Rufous-breasted Chat- Tyrant, Pearled Treerunner and Smoke-coloured Pewee. We continued up to the edge of the paramo and birded a track inside Chingaza National Park. Activity was low but we persisted and were rewarded with a scattering of birds including Glossy, Masked and Bluish Flowerpiercers, Slaty Brush Finch, Glowing and Coppery-bellied Pufflegs, and Brown-backed Chat-Tyrant. The endemic Bronze-tailed Thornbill only gave frustrating brief flyby views. Great looks however were had of the endemic Pale-bellied Tapaculo, singing from surprisingly high up in a bush. The track back down gave us Rufous Wren, Superciliated and Black-capped Hemispingus and Tourmaline Sunangel. Further down the road a Buff- breasted Mountain Tanager and some Beryl-spangled Tanagers were found before we headed back to La Calera. After lunch in a local restaurant we headed to the Siecha gravel pits. These abandoned pits now contain areas of open water and reedbeds and unimproved grazing land. The main target here was the endemic Bogota Buff-breasted Mountain Tanager by Dennis Braddy Rail and we enjoyed good looks at several individuals feeding along the edges of the reedbeds. We also flushed a single Noble Snipe. A Grey-breasted Crake fluttered into the reeds giving a glimpse to those looking in the right direction. Migrant Barn Swallows gathered and Western Osprey, Peregrine and Merlin all passed overhead, while White-tailed Kite was seen well. The open water held large numbers of Blue-winged Teal, smaller numbers of Andean Teal and American Coot. Southern Lapwings and Black-crowned Night Herons were common and were joined by single Greater Yellowlegs and Bare-faced Ibis. Large numbers of Grassland Yellow Finch were seen coming into roost in the reedbeds and were joined by smaller numbers of Stripe-tailed Yellow Finch. We started our second day by visiting Parque La Florida in Bogota, where we quickly found the local subspecies of Ruddy Duck, Yellow-hooded Blackbird and Spot-flanked Gallinule on the main lake. Two Black-bellied Whistling Ducks were a noteworthy record, as was the Wilson’s Phalarope found by Steve – a life bird for our local guide! We scoured the reedbeds for the now very difficult Apolinar’s Wren and were rewarded with Subtropical Doradito instead, but no wren. The wren has declined rapidly in recent years due to habitat change and nest parasitism by Shiny Cowbirds and is now Critically Threatened. The trees of the park gave us good looks at Andean Siskin and the endemic Rufous-browed Conebill. Crossing the road we soon found the endemic Trip Report - RBT Colombia Mega II 2014 3 Silvery-throated Spinetail. We then tried another area of marsh for Noble Snipe but were frustrated, though Rob did find a freshly dead one and scope views of a preening Sora was some compensation. After a second breakfast we headed to the airport for our flight to Mitu. We left Bogota with a pleasing tally of 103 species seen – only 897 to go! Arriving in the heat of Mitu we passed the early afternoon having lunch and then headed out towards the community of Urania. Here we birded the river edge finding Amazonian Inezia, Amazonia Streaked Antwren, Green Oropendola and Sungrebe. A Yellow-crowned Manakin was calling but frustrated our attempts to see it. We then birded back along the road finding a good variety of forest edge and open habitat species, with highlights being Spangled Cotinga, the near-endemic Azure-naped Jay, Paradise Jacamar, and Black-capped and Red- fan Parrots. At dusk we found a Spot-tailed Nightjar, a new bird for the Mitu area. After a night of heavy rain we awoke to dark skies and the promise of more; we had heavy rain frequently throughout the day but persevered, spending all day working the white sand forest habitats, clearings and areas of terre firme along the Mitu Cacheviera trail. The birding was generally slow but we added a steady stream of good birds throughout the morning including Greyish-black and Amazonian Antshrikes, Yellow-crested Manakin, Cinnamon Neopipo, Purple-throated Cotinga and Cherrie’s Antwren. Yellow-hooded Blackbird by Dennis Braddy After lunch the sun came out for a bit and we enjoyed good birding around a recently planted clearing. After another heavy downpour we had some very good birding with Pompadour Cotinga, White-bellied Dacnis, Brown-headed Greenlet, Paradise Jacamar, and Fulvous-crested and Flame-crested Tanagers all being found in a very short period. The rain then returned and we started walking back, but as it eased again we picked up a flock with Lemon-throated Barbet and Red-shouldered Tanager as highlights, quickly followed by a Citron-bellied Attila. We ended the day with a Bat Falcon trying to catch Neotropical Palm Swifts. Following from the previous day’s rain it was great to wake up to some dry weather. We spent the day exploring an area with impressive rock outcrops. One of our main targets was the impressive Guianan Cock-of-the-rock, here at its most westerly distribution. We saw a couple of males at the lek site and took time for some nice pictures before heading on along the trails. Activity was quite low but through perseverance we found a flock of antbirds and added quite a few new species. We then climbed onto the rocky outcrop for our picnic lunch and enjoyed the marvellous views over the forest. In the late afternoon we drove back, stopping to watch Blackish and Long-tailed Nightjars en route. Trip Report - RBT Colombia Mega II 2014 4 We started the next day overlooking a black water stream where Fiery Topaz hummingbirds can be found. We saw up to 3 of these amazing hummers, including great views of one fly-catching over the nearby stream. The highlight however was a Fiery-tailed Awlbill in the same area. This was the first record for Colombia and the bird had only been found a couple of weeks before. As one of the least known of the Amazonian hummers, it remains almost mythical and highly sought-after. (In fact it was a bird I wondered if I would ever get to see!) Around the bridge we saw quite a few other good birds including Chestnut-capped Puffbird. We then birded some nearby forest trails and were rewarded with great looks at Black-bellied Thorntail and another rare and little understood Amazonian bird – the Grey-bellied Hawk. We lunched in the shade by the river and in the afternoon we birded behind the village of Pueblo Nuevo, adding species slowly as activity was low but finishing with great looks at 2 Bronzy Jacamars in the forest edge. On the drive back to Mitu we found Blackish and Long-tailed Nightjars and Short-tailed Nighthawk. We made an early start the following morning to the Boca Toma trail where we managed to catch up with the cracking Grey-bellied Antbird that we had missed in the rain on the first day; we all enjoyed fantastic looks at this localized specialty. We also found a nice male Black-bellied Thorntail and a colony of Red-rumped Caciques. In town we stopped along the river to add a few more common amazon species before heading to the airport. At a brief stopover in Villavicencio we added Buff-necked Ibis and Whistling Heron. We flew on to Bogota and had a great dinner with White-tailed Trogon by Dennis Braddy live music and South American football. We started the next day at the Chicaque Reserve where we soon found the spectacular Golden- bellied Starfrontlet as well as other good hummers including Gorgeted Woodstar, Amethyst- throated Sunangel and Glowing Puffleg. A mixed flock gave us good looks at the Andean form of Strong-billed Woodcreeper and a Barred Forest Falcon called nearby. Two day-roosting Tropical Screech Owls were a surprise find by Marlis. We then headed to the airport and our flight to Bucarranmanga. We lunched near the airport and then drove to San Vicente, arriving at the Cerulean Warbler lodge just before dusk and with sufficient time for a bit of hummingbird watching, where we picked up the endemic Violet-capped Hummingbird. In the late afternoon of the following day we finally caught up with Gorgeted Wood Quail before heading down to the lodge, finding a series of other good birds en route. An early start the next morning saw us driving to the Pauxi Pauxi Reserve where we walked the trails. In a 200m section we found no less than 5 species of wren: Sooty-headed, Black-bellied, Colombian Speckle-breasted, Rufous-breasted and White-breasted Wood Wren. We also Trip Report - RBT Colombia Mega II 2014 5 found a cooperative pair of Dusky Antbirds. In a clearing we enjoyed views of a variety of warblers, Collared Araçari, Sooty Grassquit, Double-banded Greytail, Green Thorntail and Rufous-shafted Woodstar.