Printable PDF Format
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Field Guides Tour Report Colombia: Cali Escape 2017 Nov 18, 2017 to Nov 27, 2017 Richard Webster & Daniel Uribe For our tour description, itinerary, past triplists, dates, fees, and more, please VISIT OUR TOUR PAGE. We expect to see Gold-ringed Tanager. We don't expect to see it in the road in front of us! One of the many wonderful birds from our visit to Cerro Montezuma. Photo by participant Steve Parrish. It was an active birding adventure to some great Colombian birding spots! A new itinerary--mostly going to spots on an older, longer itinerary--it worked very well and provided great variety in a time period that fits folks’ time budgets. We started in the Western Andes above Cali with some good birding highlighted by our visit to the feeders at Finca Alejandria, where we luxuriated in the constant action at the many hummingbird feeders and in the great variety at the loaded banana feeders. Multicolored Tanager was the best of the best, with much pleasure from Red-headed Barbets, Southern Emerald- and Crimson-rumped toucanets, Colombian Chachalacas, super-saturated Blue- winged Mountain-Tanagers and Golden, Golden-naped, and Saffron-crowned tanagers, Black-winged Saltator, White-naped Brushfinches, Booted Racket-tails, Fawn-breasted Brilliants, and Brown Violetears. A perched young Ornate Hawk-Eagle was a bonus. An afternoon and the following morning around Buga took us to Laguna de Sonso and El Vinculo. These varied areas of marsh and woodland featured the endemic Apical Flycatcher and a nice variety of landbirds that included Dwarf Cuckoo, Spectacled Parrotlet, Bar-crested Antshrike, Jet Antbird, Cinereous Becard, and Slate-headed Tody-Tyrant. Marsh birds were widespread species, but Limpkins, Snail Kites, and whistling-ducks are always fun. A small marsh near Cartago added more waterbirds, with a Masked Duck a special sighting. Our next destination was on the Pacific slope of the Western Andes, in the montane Choco at the edge of Parque Nacional Natural Tatama. Our three nights at this simple lodge went very well, the lodge staff worked hard to support our forays up the mountain, our driver wrestled the 4WD carefully up the track, and the feeders were fun: White-tailed Hillstar, Violet-tailed Sylph, Purple-bibbed Whitetip, and Empress Brilliant were among the many beauties. Traffic on the mountain the next two days was perhaps the heaviest we have ever seen—two or three vehicles a day! This place is really an escape, with nothing to do but bird along a long transect through the forest. And hold an umbrella! One of the wettest places in the world, we had much rain, but managed to keep birding much of the time, and also enjoyed some dry periods. We did miss some birds (this place is so rich), but we were overall especially successful here, the list of highlights lengthy: Velvet-purple Coronet, Lanceolated Monklet, Grayish Piculet, Parker’s Antbird, Bicolored Antvireo, Ochre-breasted Antpitta, Tatama and Narino tapaculos, Brown-billed Scythebill, Buffy (Pacific) Tuftedcheek, Uniform Treehunter, Fulvous- dotted Treerunner, Rufous-browed Tyrannulet, Orange-breasted Fruiteater, Andean Cock-of-the-rock, Olivaceous Piha, Club-winged and Striped Field Guides Birding Tours • www.fieldguides.com • 800-728-4953 1 manakins, Choco Vireo, Beautiful Jay, Munchique and Chestnut-breasted wrens, Black Solitaire, Golden-winged Warbler, Black-and-gold, Gold-ringed, Purplish-mantled, and Glistening-green tanagers, Black-chinned Mountain-Tanager, Chestnut-bellied and Indigo flowerpiercers, Tanager Finch, Olive Finch swilling rice, Black-headed and Tricolored (Choco) brushfinches, Crested Ant-Tanager, and Chestnut-breasted and Yellow-collared chlorophonias. Whew! One night at the Otun-Quimbaya reserve gave us time to see the special species-- Cauca Guan and Red-ruffed Fruitcrow--along with striking big birds like Andean Motmot, Collared Trogon, Green (Inca) Jay, Strong-billed Woodcreeper, and Crimson-crested Woodpecker. Great views of Red Howler Monkeys and the rare (and very rarely seen) Pacarana were also highlights. Honorable mention goes to the Torrent Ducks en route. Two nights at Manizales gave us access to the higher elevations of the Central Andes. We had a full day at Rio Blanco, where the antpitta feeding is still going strong, and while Bicolored fell short, we had great views of Brown-banded, Chestnut-crowned, and Slate-crowned. Mixed flocks were few, but we did have a couple, and between them and birds found along the way, we did reasonably well seeing Purple-backed Thornbill, Black-billed Mountain- Toucan, Powerful Woodpecker (twice!), Ocellated Tapaculo, the lovely Rufous-crowned Tody-Flycatcher, Dusky Piha, and the rare Masked Saltator. Great hummingbird feeders, too! Our last morning took us to P.N. Los Nevados, where we had decent weather (just some low, blowing clouds!) in the paramo, and found two more endemics: Buffy Helmetcrest and Rufous-fronted Parakeet. We finished at some mind-blowing hummingbird feeders that have just gotten even better, including individual, hand-held units that allowed truly close-up views. Hard-to-find species included Black-thighed and Golden-breasted pufflegs and Rainbow-bearded Thornbill, and the overall spectacle featured Great Sapphirewing, Shining Sunbeam, and Buff-winged Starfrontlet. We recommend the trout for lunch! A great list of birds that includes many populations needing even more protection. In all, we encountered 1 Critically Endangered, 4 Endangered, 14 Vulnerable, and 12 Near Threatened species. We are fortunate that so many rare birds can be encountered so “easily.” We hit a wet stretch of weather in a wet country, and while we saw flooding damage around the Cauca Valley, we managed to miss all the landslide closures and to keep birding much of the time (it was wet, not awfully wet). We were perhaps a little lucky. A couple of folks suffered through colds, but our collective health was otherwise good. Thanks goes to a series of safe drivers, who were the most visible of much support that made this trip run so smoothly. Colombia is a friendly and helpful place. Taxonomy follows Clements as best possible, with additional notes from the SACC, IOC, etc. Conservation status is based on the publications of BirdLife International. Apologies are due to the Spanish language—many accents and other marks are omitted to avoid indigestion for the varied computer platforms we use. --Richard KEYS FOR THIS LIST One of the following keys may be shown in brackets for individual species as appropriate: * = heard only, I = introduced, E = endemic, N = nesting, a = austral migrant, b = boreal migrant BIRDS Tinamidae (Tinamous) TAWNYBREASTED TINAMOU (Nothocercus julius) [*] LITTLE TINAMOU (Crypturellus soui) [*] Anatidae (Ducks, Geese, and Waterfowl) BLACKBELLIED WHISTLINGDUCK (Dendrocygna autumnalis) – Small flocks were seen at Laguna de Sonso, which was flooding rapidly, and near Cartago. FULVOUS WHISTLINGDUCK (Dendrocygna bicolor) – Some nice flocks at Laguna de Sonso, with more near Cartago and at Camaguadua. TORRENT DUCK (Merganetta armata) – We saw two males in the rushing Rio Otun en route to OtunQuimbaya. BLUEWINGED TEAL (Spatula discors) – A few migrants were in the small marsh near Cartago, and dozens were at Camaguadua. [b] CINNAMON TEAL (Spatula cyanoptera) – We had good looks in the small marsh near Cartago and saw one "probable" at Camaguadua; a resident population. MASKED DUCK (Nomonyx dominicus) – Steve spotted a male in the small, flooded marsh near Cartago; good looks at this lovely species, widespread but generally scarce to rare. RUDDY DUCK (RUDDY) (Oxyura jamaicensis andina) – One was at Camaguadua and three on Laguna Negra at Los Nevados; these are the subspecies andina [which is different from "Andean" (ferruginea) Ruddy Ducks farther south, split by some lists], and is thought to be a hybrid population in between northern and southern forms. Cracidae (Guans, Chachalacas, and Curassows) COLOMBIAN CHACHALACA (Ortalis columbiana) – We had good looks above Cali, including scarfing bananas at Finca Alejandria, and again at El Vinculo. [E] CAUCA GUAN (Penelope perspicax) – We had repeated good views of this endangered species at OtunQuimbaya, a reliable spot (famous last words); we saw about a dozen, including feeding in fruiting cecropia trees. It is considered "Endangered," with a population under 1,000. No, that is not a typo, the number of zeroes is correct. [E] SICKLEWINGED GUAN (Chamaepetes goudotii) – Fernando stopped us for one on Cerro Montezuma and we had four more at Rio Blanco. Odontophoridae (New World Quail) Field Guides Birding Tours • www.fieldguides.com • 800-728-4953 2 CHESTNUT WOODQUAIL (Odontophorus hyperythrus) – Heard on four days. We tried to stir some up at OtunQuimbaya, where we have sometimes seen them, but did not get any response from close enough to us. It is considered "NearThreatened," and they were certainly safe from us! [E*] Podicipedidae (Grebes) LEAST GREBE (Tachybaptus dominicus) – Several were on the marshy pond near Cartago. PIEDBILLED GREBE (Podilymbus podiceps) – Also near Cartago, with more at Camaguadua. Phalacrocoracidae (Cormorants and Shags) NEOTROPIC CORMORANT (Phalacrocorax brasilianus) – Widespread in small numbers along the Cauca Valley. Ardeidae (Herons, Egrets, and Bitterns) COCOI HERON (Ardea cocoi) – Singles of this striking relative of Great Blue were seen at Laguna de Sonso and Camaguadua. GREAT EGRET (Ardea alba) – Widespread in small numbers in the Cauca Valley. SNOWY EGRET (Egretta thula) – Ditto. LITTLE BLUE HERON (Egretta caerulea) – One near Cartago and two at Camaguadua. CATTLE EGRET (Bubulcus ibis) – Locally common, including several active colonies in bamboo in the foothills of the Western Andes near Apia. STRIATED HERON (Butorides striata) – A few at Laguna de Sonso, near Cartago, and at Camaguadua. BLACKCROWNED NIGHTHERON (Nycticorax nycticorax) – Small numbers at Laguna de Sonso and Camaguadua. Threskiornithidae (Ibises and Spoonbills) GLOSSY IBIS (Plegadis falcinellus) – Five were seen in flight at Laguna de Sonso. BAREFACED IBIS (Phimosus infuscatus) – Common and widespread in the Cauca Valley; seen well at our few wetland spots and also in many pastures.