Colombia Trip Report 1,000 Birds Mega Tour 18th January to 15th February 2015 (29 days) Guianan Cock-of-the-rock by Sue Wright Trip Report compiled by Tour Leader: Forrest Rowland Trip Report - RBT Colombia Mega I 2015 2 Top 10 Tour Highlights (as voted by participants): 1. White-tipped Quetzal 2. Guianan Cock-of-the-rock 3. Ocellated Tapaculo 4. Golden-headed Quetzal 5. Blue-billed Curassow 6. White-whiskered Spinetail 7. Red-fan Parrot / Orange-breasted Fruiteater / Violet-tailed Sylph 8. Bicolored Antpitta 9. Blue-and-yellow Macaw / Gartered Trogon 10. Chestnut-crested Antbird / Tanager Finch / Purplish-mantled Tanager Tour Intro The following is an abbreviated account of one of the most spectacular journeys on Earth. This author cannot possibly do justice to the sights, sounds, smells, and tastes encountered during our short month in the paradise that is Colombia. With an outstanding 1009 species logged, we enjoyed the best that Latin American hospitality, and neotropical birding, has to offer. And true to form, at the end of it I was left wondering: Are more species possible on the next tour? For now, I hope readers enjoy this narrative of our marvellous adventure, the wonderful locations we visited, and an account of the splendid array of wildlife we came across during our travels. Tour Summary The tour commenced with participants descending on the high capitol city of Bogota. Some arrived in less than a day, while others came all the way from Central Europe, enduring some serious jetlag – only to be awoken at an ungodly hour from Day #1. Well…it’s a birding tour!!! And we kicked it off in fashion, taking a caravan of 4x4 vehicles across Chingaza National Park and its environs. Our birding in the Eastern Andes, at least the upper elevations, was restricted to our first day-and-a-half around Bogota, including the famed wetland areas close to town. Chingaza National Park and its accesses, paired with a descent across the back of the park to Mundo Nuevo, allow one to travel through habitats ranging from Elfin Forest up to Paramo, then back down into Temperate and Subtropical Forests. Focusing on endemics, as always, we saw Pale- bellied Tapaculo, Silvery-throated Spinetail, Rufous- Flame-winged Parakeet by Sue browed Conebill and several Bronze-tailed Thornbill Wright within the first couple hours of daylight! The hummingbird show up there includes much more than just the endemic thornbill. Glowing and Coppery-bellied Puffleg, Blue-throated Starfrontlet, and some of the more common species were evident. Working our way down from the paramo and elfin forests, we sought out, and found, perhaps the most wanted species of the day: Flame-winged (Brown- breasted) Parakeet. We saw 4 feeding on a melastome (a type of flowering plant) right next to the road!!! Crowned Chat-Tyrant, Barred Fruiteater, and gorgeous views of Black-billed Mountain Toucan all ranked amongst the morning’s highlights. The afternoon was spent at some nearby Trip Report - RBT Colombia Mega I 2015 3 wetlands, yielding great views of Bogota Rail, a few Noble Snipe, Spot-flanked Gallinule and some nice waterfowl. We then flew out to Mitu, near the Colombian border, for a good dose of some serious Amazon birding. Mitu is fabulous, with comfortable hotel accommodations in town (even air-conditioning!), decent transport with drivers willing to wake up before down, and some of the most enjoyable local guides anywhere. The birding sites are easy to access and the birds are plentiful, with many near endemics, white sand specialists, terra firme specialists, and many scarce species readily seen. The 4 full days, plus two half-days, allowed us to visit all of the important birding areas. Naturally, not every target was seen. We missed Tawny- tufted Toucanet and Pompadour Cotinga, for example. But, well, there aren’t many other examples! We had the great fortune of finding a flowering tree, several mixed flocks, numerous responsive antbirds, and enough rain (but not too much) to keep the birds pumping nearly all day long. While we did lose some birding time to Amazonian Umbrellabird by Sue Wright rain, I think the latter was of utmost importance to our success. The backdrop of monolithic basalt domes jutting hundreds of feet above the forest, and wide meandering rivers, helps add to the obvious allure of this exceptionally remote site. The list of special birds encountered? It was long: Black-and-white Hawk-Eagle, Orange-cheeked Parrot, Festive Amazon, Red-fan Parrot (at nest!), Fiery Topaz, Black-bellied Thorntail, 4 species of Jacamar (Yellow-billed, Bronzy, Paradise and Great), Rusty-breasted Nunlet, Orinoco Piculet, Yellow-throated Woodpecker, Chestnut-winged Hookbill, Chestnut-winged, Cinnamon-rumped, and Olive-backed Foliage-Gleaner, Point-tailed Palmcreeper, Rufous-tailed and Slender-billed Xenops, many Woodcreepers (including Striped, Ocellated, and Elegant), 35 species of Typical Antbirds (including Fulvous and Blackish-gray Antshrikes, Rufous-tailed, Spot-backed, Cherrie’s and Yellow-throated Antwrens, Imeri Warbling, Black-headed, Gray-bellied, White- plumed and Chestnut-crested Antbirds), Rufous-capped and Striated Antthrushes, Dusky-chested and Yellow-throated Flycatchers, Guianan Cock-of-the-rock, Amazonian Umbrellabird, Saffron- crested Tyrant-Manakin, Yellow-crested Manakin, Amazonian Schiffornis, Brown-headed Greenlet, Azure-naped Jay, Plumbeous Euphonia, Red-shouldered and Paradise Tanagers, and Short-billed Honeycreeper, amongst the 320+ species we found!!! The monkeys came out for us as well. We had a massive troop of Mottle- cheeked Tamarins come foraging right over us, as well as views of the rare Collared (White- handed) Titi monkey. They were huge for a Titi monkey, which led me, at first, to think that they could’ve been some sort of Saki. Upon investigation, I found out that the white throat markings and white hands of the monkeys only belong to this species of Titi. We flew back to Bogota, where we had one morning’s birding in the La Florida area before Cherrie's Antwren by Sue Wright embarking on our short flight North to Trip Report - RBT Colombia Mega I 2015 4 Bucaramanga. The Apolinar’s Wren show this morning was utterly unbelievable, had I not been there to witness it for myself. We had a pair not only sing for us, in the open, but follow us back to the bus! Subtropical Doradito, Rufous-browed Conebill, several migrant passerines, and more waterfowl helped boost the trip list. After our flight to Bucaramanga, we drove to San Vicente de Chuchurri, arriving, finally, at the Cerulean Warbler Preserve Lodge around 7pm. This late arrival was partially due to an absolutely amazing stop we made en route. A previously unexplored side road near one of the new bridges along the way gave access to some typical Magdalena scrub. Northern White-fringed Antwren, Apical Flycatcher, Jet Antbird, and numerous species of Seedeater, Seed Finches, and other scrub birds were out in force! And a fine spot was made by one participant – one female Hoffman’s Two-toed Sloth…with young! A magical 60 minutes on this road only gave a taste Blue-capped Tanager by Sue Wright of the potential. To top it off, I spotted a Beautiful Woodpecker going into a nesthole in a roadside tree. The best travel day of the tour! The Cerulean Warbler Preserve was wonderful, as always. Spending one day below the lodge in the coffee areas and scrub produced some 120 species the first day, while the subtropical forest above the lodge produced a list nearly as extensive, and completely different, the following day! We had some rainy moments, but managed most of our target birds nonetheless. The visit even yielded a few beautiful, eye-level views of the stunning namesake of the Preserve itself: Cerulean Warbler. Indigo-capped and Chestnut-bellied Hummingbirds, Bar-crested Antshrike, Turquoise and Yellow-tufted Dacnis, several species of tanagers, Golden-winged Warbler, Slaty Spinetail, Slate- headed Tody-Flycatcher, Spectacled and Pale-vented Thrushes, and the endemic Yellow-browed Shrike-Vireo were all highlights from the lower elevations. The best bird of the lower plantation areas was the critically endangered Niceforo’s Wren pair that came out for views! The following day, after an uphill slog through cow pastures in early morning light, we made it to the forests of the Lengerke Trail, and the heart of birding in the area. Black Inca, Gorgeted Wood Quail, Lined Wood Quail, White- bellied Antpitta and Moustached Puffbird were around the feeding station, and a few of the best birds frequented the mixed flocks of the forest, excepting Parker’s Antbird, and the Upper Magdalena Tapaculo, which are true skulkers. Rufous-rumped Antwren, Plumbeous-crowned and Rufous- browed Tyrannulets, Variegated Bristle Tyrant, Black- banded Woodcreeper, Whiskered Wren, Black-capped, Metallic-green and Blue-winged Mountain Tanagers all appeared for us. The drive from San Vicente de Chuchurri to the Blue-billed Beautiful Woodpecker by Sue Curassow Preserve can be a long one. Lucky for us, the new Wright road sped us along our way, enabling us to arrive in time for Trip Report - RBT Colombia Mega I 2015 5 dinner. Some birding was done en route, naturally. We stopped only a few times to take in the sights of some wetland and open country species. Northern Screamer was, as always, the day’s favorite bird – and a worthy one! However, when a Russet-crowned Crake came walking out of a heap of grass into full view, the race for bird-of-the-day became a close one. Stellar views of Chestnut-fronted Macaw, Orange-winged Parrot, White-headed Marsh Tyrant, Pied Water Tyrant and other species helped the trip along. Our visit to Paujil was perhaps, for me, the most exciting visit made to that site.