Sugar

The hummingbird sugar water feeder on our balcony in Bucaramanga has been a success over the last year with regular visits from endemic Indigo-capped Hummingbirds, White-necked Jacobin, Black-throated Mango and Rufous-tailed Hummingbirds. I think I also glimpsed a White-vented Plumeleteer but that has yet to return.

The Indigo-capped have often become very territorial and chased off all-comers. Recently we've been getting far more visits from up to 7 or 8 birds at a time. Standing in the middle of them is like being near a bee-hive. The arrival of more birds might have been because I increased the sugar content of the feeder (now a 1 to 4 ratio of white sugar to water), or maybe a seasonal effect.

The indigo cap changes colour depending on the angle of the light

I was happy to see that a neighbour one floor below is now also hanging a feeder! I'm pleased that I've managed to encourage at least one other person here to do that. Hopefully the second feeder will reduce the fighting from the territorial birds and we might get a few more species coming.

Here are few shots I took today on the balcony with a macro lens and a distance of about 50 cm! They really don't mind me being so close, but they don't like the shutter click.

 Female White-necked Jacobin (Florisuga mellivora). I didn't see one for nearly a year, but now she's a regular.

Indigo-capped Hummingbirds (Amazilia cyanifrons) showing their aggression. The fights sound pretty dramatic with clattering of wings. It looks like the bird above is using its tiny feet to protect itself.

 A juvenile White-necked Jacobin

 A male White-necked Jacobin. If you zoom in on his eye, you can see my reflection!

Another male White-necked Jacobin

Migrants

I'm not the only one who has come to enjoy Colombia recently. As well as the many species of resident birds, their are quite a few migrants who come here in the Autumn (or should I say fall!) after breeding in North America. 

There are many warblers in the trees and bushes around the city. From our balcony I now see Yellow Warblers (Setophaga petechia) nearly every day.

Yellow Warbler (Setophaga petechia)

I've seen Black and White Warbler (Mniotilta varia) a few times. They feed by running up and down the tree trunks very like a Treecreeper in Britain. Like all the warblers, they're hard to digiscope at a distance because they move all the time.

Black and White Warbler (Mniotilta varia)

Tennessee Warbler (Oreothlypis peregrina) are also frequent at the moment, but they are a little less distinctive.

Tennessee Warbler (Oreothlypis peregrina)

I've also seen Bay-breasted Warbler (Setophaga castanea) from the balcony, and there are lots of Blackburnian Warbler (Setophaga fusca) around the city too. Many warblers present something of a challenge to ID here as many are not in their bright summer plumage. In addition, they are not singing at all, so I'll have to improve my ID skills.

Red-eyed Vireo (Vireo olivaceus) seem to be plentiful. Whilst looking at one, I noticed these malar stripes, which means it is in fact a Black-whiskered Vireo (Vireo altiloquus). I don't think they're often seen here on migration, but it was around for a week or more and I was lucky to get this shot.

Black-whiskered Vireo (Vireo altiloquus)

There are a few other larger migrant birds. Summer Tanager (Piranga rubra) are common, both bright red (male) and dull yellow (females/juveniles).

Summer Tanager (Piranga rubra) female

I've also seen one Yellow-billed Cuckoo (Coccyzus americanus) and Baltimore Oriole (Icterus galbula) on a few occasions.

Last, but not least, on 29th October, late in the afternoon, I saw about 2000 Turkey Vultures (Cathartes aura) spread across the sky, circling and all moving south, high over the city. These vultures are a common sight in and around Bucaramanga, but as you usually see only a handful in one place, I had no doubt these were migrant birds and not residents.

migrating Turkey Vultures (Cathartes aura)

I found this website Turkey Vulture Migration Project which gives details of some GPS tagged North American Turkey Vultures. It seems some migrate from western Canada migrate to winter in the llanos of Venezuela, and, based on those tracks, I suspect the birds I saw may have been coming from there. If they want to go east of here to Venezuela, I'm not sure how they are crossing the high Eastern Cordillera of the Andes. Apparently over 100,000 Turkey Vultures cross the Darien Gap into Colombia in the Autumn, http://avesmigratoriascolombia.wordpress.com/. I'd love to see that, as well of some of the other migrating raptors. Perhaps there is still time for a few more sightings of migrants here this year?

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.

Cerro la Judía

The mountains just to the east of of Floridablanca rise steeply up to about 2500m and are known as the Cerro La Judía. There are some areas of intact forest higher up and some fantastic waterfalls. You can walk up about 7km or drive the rough road which starts near "Limoncito" bus stop.

The birdwatching is excellent. Insects and spiders are also abundant and eye-catching. No doubt there are many hard to see mammals up there in the forest, but the slopes are very steep!

Some parts of the area have some level of protection via a "Regional natural park" designation but there are some ideas to develop an "Ecopark" here (Ecoparque Cerro del Santísimo), something like Panachi. I'm not sure I like the proposed idea of a cable-car and any associated tourism development.

Yellow-faced Grassquit (Tiaris olivaceus).

There is a lot else to see such as Yellow-bellied Seedeater, Black and White Seedeater, Yellow-bellied Siskin and many colorful tanagers including at least Blue and Grey, Palm, Scrub, Crimson-backed, Lemon-rumped, Bay-headed, Golden, Golden-naped, Black-capped and Blue-necked. No doubt there are quite a few more tanagers there I haven't seen yet.

More trips soon....

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.

Monkeys at last

Our trip to Tayrona and Minca near Santa Marta in the north of Colombia was excellent for seeing spectacular wildlife. Best of all for me was finally getting to see monkeys in the wild. There are some species (I don't know what) on the in-laws farm, but I've not seen them there yet. We saw Red Howler Monkeys, the loudest land animal on Earth, in Tayrona National Park, near to the main trail. They were fairly calm and obliging and I had enough time to get the tripod sorted and get some digiscoped shots. I also took a short video of one individual which you can see on this link. Red Howler on Youtube. We also saw Red Howlers in the Proaves El Dorado bird reserve.

In Tayrona we got great views of the critically endangered Cotton-top Tamarin monkey (called Mono Tití in Colombia), a species endemic to Colombia. They were very curious and came quite close but sadly without the 'scope, the pictures were useless.

Near the hammocks where we stayed the night in the park were a family of Collared Aracari. My first ever toucan. I also saw my first Jacamar, the Rufous-tailed Jacamar, and my first Manakin, a hard to identify Lance-tailed Manakin (hard because it was a juvenile bird).

There were several herons on the beach, including this Little Blue Heron. I also had a few other new species in the woods near the beaches such as the spectacular Crimson-crested Woodpecker and the less spectacular Plain-brown Woodcreeper!

There were many colorful, but very quick lizards near the beach, some very large toads, and some giant grasshoppers as well as this huge millipede on the trail.

Minca was great for hummingbirds, some of which like this White-vented Plumeleteer were new to me. I was also well pleased with good views of the fantastic Keel-billed Toucans, Crested Oropendola and Black-chested Jays which were all new to me. The only problem was the horrible biting sandflies, which drew plenty of blood on our legs as we'd forgotten to put on repellent.

Also a great new bird to see was the Whooping Motmot, on the fruit feeders at Hotel Minca, where they also have many hummers on their feeders (when they've filled them!). Sadly I didn't get better shots of these birds.  

El Dorado reserve was fantastic. It was empty of people because we were "out of season" but it is packed with endemic species all year round. There is no doubt it is one of the best sites in Colombia if not the world for endemic birding - 19 species that only occur in this area. Sadly, the weather didn't help the birding or taking pictures but I did see amongst other birds the endemic Santa Marta Brush-finch (easy to see there), Colombian Brush-finch (on the compost heap), White-tailed Starfrontlet & Santa Marta Woodstar hummers and White-lored Warblers as well as other colorful "megas" like Emerald Toucanet, Masked Trogon and Strong-billed Woodcreeper. I felt very happy despite just a few hours on the reserve in poor weather. No doubt you could add dozens more great birds with a longer visit. The road is terrible though, it takes nearly 2 bone-shaking hours to get there from Minca. Probably best to stay at the lodge which looked excellent, and the food was great. 

Overall it was a fantastic trip with the monkeys and over 50 new species of birds for me. The only really problem was lack of time! 

Hummers 2

The hummingbird feeder on our balcony in Bucaramanga is now a success and we get regular visits from 4 different species.

The Indigo-capped Hummingbird (Amazilia cyanifrons) is the most frequent, the most aggressive with the other hummers, and they sometimes buzz near our faces as if they're also trying to intimidate us! They are not in the least bothered by my presence and I can gently touch them with my finger. They are also very impatient; when I changed the sugar-water, one of them could not wait for me to hang it outside, and came into the apartment and sat on the top to wait (it was upside-down) while I walked outside! Very cheeky birds....

The Rufous-tailed Hummingbird (Amazilia tzacatl) is very common around the city.

White-necked Jacobin (Florisuga mellivora) are slightly larger. They tend to hover when feeding rather than perch. One of them at least decided to stand up to the bullying of the Indigo-capped and the dog-fights lasted several minutes.

Black-throated Mango (Anthracothorax nigricollis) are also common here but took some time to arrive. Now they are now regulars. This is a male.

And this is a female. She's got a very distinctive white throat and belly with a vertical black stripe which makes them unmistakable. The tail is also very colorful when fanned.

I've noticed a great variation in numbers of visiting males & females of the different species. There seem to be more female Mangoes than male.  However, despite seeing many different male White-necked Jacobin, I've yet to see a female. I can only put this down to nesting activities at the moment - the females do all the work of rearing the young, who are fed insects. Perhaps we'll soon see more females, but I've much to learn about the seasonality, or lack of it, in Colombia.

There are 162 species of Hummers in Colombia. Several of these live in and around the city, but we've not seen them on the feeder yet. I'm hoping they'll find it soon.

Hummers

As hummingbirds are fairly common around the city, it was no surprise to see them feeding on the pink flowering tree opposite our balcony. I thought it might be worthwhile trying to get them to come and visit a feeder. After a failed attempt at making a feeder we decided to splash-out and buy one. We filled it with sugary-water and surrounded it with some fake flowers, as well as a real heliconia.

We took a bet on how long it'd take before they came to the feeder. I guessed 1 week and Elena 2 weeks. It took 10 days so we both won.

The first to visit a few days ago was a pair of White-necked Jacobin (Florisuga mellivora). They seem a little flighty and I wasn't quick enough to get a photo.

Then yesterday an Indigo-capped Hummingbird (Amazilia cyanifrons) male started putting in regular appearances. I'm pleased with this photo taken with the DSLR & tripod, but the bird is less than 2m away! He's virtually in our living room, which is not bad for a bird endemic to Colombia - it doesn't live anywhere else.

I'm really pleased with the feeder and hoping for a few more species of hummers. I've seen Black-throated Mango in the trees opposite, and Rufous-tailed in nearby parks, so hopefully they won't take long to visit as well.

I'm also really pleased with this Straight-billed Woodcreeper (Dendroplex picus) last week. He posed perfectly on the tree for the digiscope whilst calling loudly. Garden birdwatching Colombia style!

Birding in Bucaramanga

You might not know that Colombia has more bird species than any other country - more than 1800. Many are very colourful, but it's quite a challenge to identify them when you've never seen them before. I'm trying to take a few pictures to help. I've not really had a chance to get out of the city yet, but there's plenty to see from our apartment and in the city's parks such as Parque La Flora.

Forgive the poor image quality. I'm not much of a photographer and they were all taken with a cheap compact camera through the telescope.

These are a pair of Spectacled Parrotlets (Forpus conspicillatus). They're noisy but seem to be a very close couple.

This is a Tropical Kingbird (Tyrannus melancholicus) a large flycatcher. There are also similar Great Kiskadees nesting nearby and making a racket - their distinctive call is "Bien-te-veo" which means "I see you well".

This is a Vermilion Flycatcher (Pyrocephalus rubinus). Very bright and approachable.

And this one is one of our pair of Yellow-headed Caracara (Milvago chimachima). They are also nesting in one of the palm trees near our apartment.

All the birds have names in Spanish of course, but there are many names used in different parts of Colombia for the same species, so it can be useful to know the latin versions!

I've seen plenty more birds, some of which like the Black & Turkey Vultures are very common, easy to see and simple to identify. Others like the flycatchers & swifts are harder because there are several similar ones. It seems even a small trip to somewhere new brings something different.

Will blog about the other animals I've seen later.