WE DIDN’T REALIZE HOW MUCH WE WOULD miss Doctor David. He was a great birder and a really nice guy but he had booked only the Extension tour. His replacement was the exact opposite, and with a big, noisy camera to boot. We also didn’t realize that we had a free day in Bogota, a day to rest and eat pizza. Since we would be staying in the same Bogota hotel for three nights we got a chance to do our own laundry.
Blue-winged mountain tanager Lacrimose mountain tanager
For the next three days we continued to yo-yo from the heights of Bogota to Laguna Pedro and Chicaque NP then up even higher to Chingaza NP. With each day at a different elevation on a different Andean spur, the birding was amazing. Sure there were some of the usual suspects but each stop gave us new species for our life list and new photos for our collection.
Splishin' and splashin' ...to the oilbird cave
The oilbird himself
Rio Claro, where we spent two nights, was originally an R&R center for Pablo Escobar’s lieutenants then a FARC hideout before becoming a park. At only 2000 feet it was warmer — and wetter — than what we expected, with the raging Rio Claro anything but clear. We tramped and splashed down a stream into a gorge that opened into the cave where some 250 oilbirds live. We had seen them in Trinidad but today’s photos were better. This is where the new guy lost his passport — don’t ask — and had to leave the trip early to arrange for a new one.
Colorful Jardin Cock-of-the-Rock
Jardin is the most livable place we saw in Columbia, a lively town done up in pastels with a tall church in the center. Our hotel was wonderful and they even got up at 4AM to make us breakfast! We were thwarted by a landslide on our first attempt to reach La Ventanas, home of the yellow-eared parrots — even our jeeps couldn’t get by. But the road was cleared by the next morning and the parrots arrived pretty much on schedule. Back in town, we were able to walk to a sanctuary where the outlandish cock-of-the-rock strut their stuff.
Pre-dawn landslide Yellow-eared parrots
We could have spent an entire day just with the hummers at the Rio Blanco Nature Reserve near Manizales. Our favorite was the long-tailed slyph and I couldn’t stop taking photos. But there were dozens of other species to see, especially the secretive antptitas that have been habituated to leave their hiding places for earthworms.
Brown-banded Antpitta Chestnut-crowned Antpitta
Long-tailed Slyph
I was especially concerned about Los Nevados National Park. At 13,500 feet it was the highest place on the trip and I was worried about hiking about at that elevation. It was freezing, as expected, with frost on many of the flowers and a smoking volcano overhead. But as the sun appeared our prize posed on a paramo shrub, the Buffy Helmetcrest. This hummingbird lives only above 4000 meters and patrols his own “trap line” circuit of flowers at regular intervals. In the excitement I forgot about the altitude and anyway, the walking we did was downhill.
Frosty flowers Steaming volcano: Los Nevados NP
We stopped at Recinto del Pensamiento for lunch and a rest in their spectacular hummingbird garden. There was so much activity, so many flashing colors that it literally makes you dizzy. One rainbow-bearded thornbill attracted by her pink pen, actually perched on Connie’s hand.
What's that you're writing?
Our final stop before we flew back to Bogota was the Otun-Quimbaya Sanctuary, where we hoped to see the Red-ruffed fruit crow and the endemic Cauca Guan. I was about birded out. I was tired, my back was stiff and I'd had my fill of other people, so when we landed in Bogota and the group went back to the Black Tower, Connie and I stayed at the airport hotel.
Cauca Guan Red-ruffed Fruit Crow
It would be two more nights before we were back in our RV but we were alone at last, finally with time to reflect on the trip and start processing the thousands of photos. The final trip total would be 635 species, that's two-thirds of all the birds in Columbia! And Connie added 256 species to her Life List, placing her at #201 on the Surfbird list of those who count such things.
