Reinita Cielo Azul

 We took a trip to the excellent Proaves Reserva Reinita Cielo Azul near San Vincente de Chucuri in Santander. The drive from Bucaramanga to San Vincente (3 hours) is long and tiring but the scenery is very interesting. On the way we saw some kind of stoat or weasel (probably a Long-tailed Weasel) and what I think was a Grey Fox (Urocyon cinereoargenteus) also crossing the road.

Proaves is a Colombian NGO dedicated to the study and conservation of birds. They set up this reserve to help protect the migrant Cerulean Warbler (Reinita Cielo Azul, Setophaga cerulea) a bird of the Andes which breeds in Eastern North America. The reserves visitor's centre is a 5km drive up a very rough, and in parts very steep, track from San Vincente, but it was worth the drive.

The vistor's centre is surrounded by coffee, cocao and banana plantations and has many feeders, including numerous hummingbird and fruit feeders. They attract orioles & lots of tanagers including this Lemon-rumped Tanager (Ramphocelus icteronotus).

Although I didn't see any of the real rarities of the reserve, I did see two new species here including Yellow-backed Oriole (Icterus chrysater) and Green Hermit (Phaethornis guy). The hummingbird feeders attract many Indigo-capped, Rufous-tailed, Black-throated Mango and White-necked Jacobins all of which are frequent on our balcony feeder at home. They also get Brown Violetear (Colibri delphinae) like this one below.

There are many Andean Emerald (Amazilia franciae) which seem to be very common in parts of Santander, but I've never seen one at our home feeder.

There was also this superb little lizard posing on the Proaves sign.

The walk up from the visitors centre to the forest reserve follows the old Lenguerke trail which leads to Zapatoca. It takes about 45 minutes to reach the reserve with not so much to see as it is mostly open grazing. I did notice these Cattle Tyrants (Machetornis rixosa). They're common but I've not seen them doing this before!

The reserve is thickly forested and, except for the birds, it is very quiet. There reserve is inside the Yariguíes National Park.  It seems to be alive with the buzzing of hummingbirds. Elena and I were both delighted to see a Black Inca (Coeligena prunellei) at very close quarters. This vulnerable but distinctive hummer is endemic to Colombia and restricted to the Eastern  Andes (and Yariguíes). We were told that a few years ago they were not often seen, but now, with feeders placed at lower part of the reserve, they are seen quite frequently here.

I'm not used to neotropical birding in such a place and without knowing many of the bird calls, it is tough to identify species I've not seen before. I did manage to add distinctive Green Jay (Cyanocorax yncas) and Ornate Flycatcher (Myiotriccus ornatus) to my list. There were many other probables / possibles too, but I don't like to add things to my list until I can be sure I can ID them correctly myself.

In the forest are many butterflies, grasshoppers and this dragonfly/large damselfly.

Sadly we had all to little time in the reserve and we had to go before dusk at 5.30 pm. On our way out, Carlos, one of the guides from San Vincente, kindly showed us a nearby location for the endangered endemic Chestnut-bellied Hummingbird (Amazilia castaneiventris). Apparently there are only 3 or so around this area, and  as they are much easier to see in the morning, we'll have to return another day for this one.

San Vincente Lenguerke trail.

I wanted to visit the Reinita Azul (Cerulean Warbler) reserve of ProAves near San Vincente de Chucuri in Santander as it is not so far from Bucaramanga. We set out early one Saturday morning. San Vincente is a town very close to the Serranía de los Yariguíes national park. The Serranía is an isolated part of the Eastern Andes and contains some fantastic wildlife.

It took more than 2 hours to reach San Vincente by car from Bucaramanga. Once off the main road, there is 48km of narrow and twisty gravel roads. Some of this route will be diverted once the nearby large dam "HidroSogamoso" floods the valley in the next year or two. There are lots of construction works going on at the moment. The countryside along the road looks rich and very green, and it will be a big shame to lose that land to a large lake.

 San Vincente de Chucuri

San Vincente is a fairly large town and quite hot as it is only around 600m ASL. It is the cocoa capital of Colombia, an accolade which once meant it was wealthy, but in recent years cocoa prices have dropped dramatically.

Petroglyph in San Vincente

There are a number of petroglyphs and other archaeological remains around the town. These were left by the Yariguí people who were slowly exterminated after European colonization.

The Lenguerke trail between Zapatoca and SanVincente has recently been restored as part of Proyecto YARÉ which is run through the Conservation Leadership Programme. The project is aimed at conservation of the Serranía de los Yariguíes.

Lenguerke Trail Sign in San Vincente

The old trail starts at the "top" of San Vincente and climbs steeply. For the first few km it is drivable by 4wd and motorbikes as far as  the school at La Germania. Then the trail leaves the road and becomes very narrow but the rocks used to construct it mean it is not slippery.

Lenguerke trail at La Germania

The trail passes through many shade Cocoa plantations

Cocoa

Further up the trail passes the ProAves reserve and continues up over the ridge of the Yariguíes. In total is supposed to take 2 days. We thought (incorrectly as it turned out) we could get from San Vincente to the ProAves reserve in an hour or two, but after only a short distance but climbing 600m in hot conditions we called it a day. Getting down was much easier! No doubt it is best to set out early when it's cooler. We'll try driving up to the reserve next time as it is an arduous walk to get there via the trail.

I didn't see that many birds on the way up in the cocoa plantations, though Blue-necked and Bay-headed Tanagers were plentiful. Near to Finca Oré was a georgeous Yellow-tufted Dacnis (Dacnis egregia). I love colourful birds like these as they are a very easy to identify when you first see them. Google this bird and you'll see what I mean! Again I was too slow with the camera, but will get a photo next time. I also picked up Black-winged Saltator (Saltator atripennis) and Band-backed Wren (Campylorhynchus zonatus) and there were several species of hummer and flycatcher that I didn't identify. No doubt there are lots of other gems waiting further up the trail.