PeterHG's Big Year-4th time

[Peter Connan]

And wow again Peter!

[PeterHG]

Thank you, @Peter Connan !

[PeterHG]

Our next stop was at the Tinamu Nature Reserve, a lovely spot with comfortable lodging and a wealth of birds. We only stayed here one night, unfortunately, but, as it was one of the more pricey accommodations of the trip this was understandable. We would not have minded a few more nights, though.

 

459 (C82) Common Pootoo. Related to the Nighyjars and Frogmouths. Spotted by our local guide, of course.

 

 

460. (83). Green Hermit. They never come to the feeders, so we were lucky to find one on our walk through the forest.

 

 

461 (C84). Tropical Peewee. A small unobtrusive flycatcher. We saw two different Peewee species.

 

 

462 (C85) White-bearded Manakin. The 'flaveolus' subspecies, which is much more yellow than its relatives. In site of the bright colours it was quite hard to spot among the dense foliage.

 

 

463 (C86) Guira Tanager (female). Another member of this extensive family. Only seen here.

 

 

464 (C87) Cocoa Woodcreeper. Also on or walk with the local guide.

 

 

465 (C88) Bar-crested Antshrike (female). Vocally present nearly all the time, but seeing it was a different matter altogether.

 

 

466 (C89) Moustached Puffbird. The second puffbird speceis we managed to see. Only this once.

 

 

A few more tanagers Tinamu reserve offered:

 467 (C90) Flame-rumped Tanager. Spectacular colouring, seen at various locations.

 

 

468 (C91). Blue-necked Tanager. 

 

 

469 (C92). Crimson-backed Tanager.  Another strikingly handsome bird. With the male the base of the lower mandible is swollen and brilliant white.

 

 

470 (C93). Black-billed Trush. Very common here, as was the Clay-coloured Thrush, but not seen anywhere else.

 

 

A hummer we had not seen before:

471 (C94). Fawn-breasted Hummingbird.

 

 

472. (C95). Spectacled Parrotlet.  Nesting in one of the beams of the building

 

 

[TonyQ]

The tanagers are amazing!

[PeterHG]

Onwards to Salamina. From there we would visit the famous and impressive wax palms. Not the best place for birding, though. We managed to grab some pretty distant additions, bt nothing more than record shots.

 

473 (C96) Blackburnian Warbler. Ubiquitous, but never a really decent photo opportunity.

 

474 (C97) Black-capped Tyrannulet.

 

 

475 (C98) Black-billed Mountain Toucan. We did not see nearly as many Toucans as in Costa Rica, but at least we got a glimpse of a new one.

 

 

We did get decent views of some raptors.

 

476 (C99) Broad-winged Hawk

 

477 (C100) White-tailed Hawk

 

 

478 (C101) American Kestrel

 

 

479 (C102) Carib Grackle. Only seen here, though it is fairly widespread.

 

 

 

 

[PeterHG]

A lunchbreak halfway Salamina and Jardin produced two new birds. The first was again, a fleeting view of a small songbird

 

480 (C103) Red-eyed Vireo.

 

 

 

The other was more spectacular. Our group leader went for a 'toilet' break at the edge of the forest and, quite unexpectedly; flushed a big owl. Fortunately it landed again after only a short flight and allowed good views.

 

481 (C104). Spectacled Owl.

 

 

 

[Kitsafari]

a Big wow for the additions that I had not seen yet. stunning photos of all the beautiful birds but the antpittas are special, seeing how they are almost like pittas.

[lmSA84]

Wow! Just wow! 

[PeterHG]

Jardin is an attractive little village on the slopes of the Western Andes. We stayed here for two nights, making a few trips into the mountains. 

 

482 (C105) Western Emerald. Another tiny hummer, not seen anywhere else.

 

We took a walk to the bridge across the local river. Several typical torrent species could be observed here, albeit from a great distance. So heavy crops.

 

483 (C106). White-capped Dipper

 

 

484 (C107). Torrent Tyrannulet. A small flycatcher, catching insects from its perch on on of the river rocks

 

 

485 (C108) Torrent Duck. An attractive little duck, that had no problems with swimming in the fast flowing water from rock to rock.

 

 

486 (C109). White-lined Tanager. Not one of the most colourful tanagers, but good for the count.

 

 

487 (C110) Red-bellied Grackle. We saw three different Grackle species in Colombia. This was certainly the most attractive one.

 

 

488 (C111). Buff-breasted Mountain Tanager. 

 

 

489 (C112) Grey-hooded Bush Tanager. Also quite distant, but a welcome addition.

 

 

A passing raptor proved to be a 

190 (C113) Sharp-shinned Hawk.

 

[PeterHG]

some more from Jardin.

 

491 (C114). Golden-fronted Whitestart. Formerly called Golden-fronted Redstart. It's a shame about the twig.

 

 

492. (C115). Band-tailed Pigeon. Only seen once or twice, but possibly overlooked.

 

 

493 (C116). Bluish Flowerpiercer. Similar to the Masked Flowerpiercer, but mask is not as pronounced and the blue is duller.

 

 

494 (C117). Cinnamon Flycatcher. Attractie and unmistakable little flycatcher, seen at three different locations.

 

 

495 (C118). Golden-faced Tyrannulet. One of 4 different Tyrannulets we saw, al belonging to the so-called Tyrant Flycatcher family.

 

 

496 (C119) Mouse-coloured Tyrannulet. As the name suggests, this is not one of the most brightly coloured Tyrannulet.

 

 

 

 

497 (C120). Yellow-bellied Elaenia. Elaenias also belong to the Tyrant Flycatcher family and all look more or less alike. The little crest and yellowish belly sets it apart from its relatives.

 

 

498 (C121) Golden Tanager. Another beautiful tanager but as it was only visible behind the twigs for a few seconds, the photo does not do it justice.

 

 

499 (C122) Metallic Green Tanager. Only seen in once, in Jardin

 

 

[PeterHG]

For #500 ( a number I have never been even close to in my previous BY contributions, I have chosen one of the most spectacular and most wanted birds of the trip. The is a little nature reserve in Jardin, on the edge of the village where these birds gather everyday. This is a famous 'lek', attracting many birders. You can get quite close to the birds as they are not shy at all, but as the display takes place in heavily shaded areas of the forest, high iso values are required. An amazing experience to watch tot almost surreal looking birds.

 

500. Andean Cock of the Rock

 

 

[TonyQ]

A wonderful bird to reach your 500, and superb photos.

Congratulations!

[Tdgraves]

Congratulations on 500 with some stunning birds

[pedro maia]

Wow, what a stunner that Cock of the Rock, perfect for your 500 milestone, looking forward for the next century!!

[PeterHG]

Thank you, @TonyQ, @Tdgraves @pedro maia.

37 minutes ago, pedro maia said:

looking forward for the next century!!

I am, too, but I'm feeling rather old already

[michael-ibk]

Congratulations on your first 500 Big Year, Peter! I´m betting on 600 as well. What a stunning Collection from Colombia, really Looks like a great Destination. Love the Hummingbirds of Course, but the Parrots and Tanagers are very cool as well, not to Mention the Antpittas. But my favourite is the Cinnamon Flycatcher - a very cute bird.

[PeterHG]

Thanks @michael-ibk ! It is certainly a great birding destination. 600 will definitely be beyond my reach. I have two more destinations to look through and the last one (a wetland area) had a lot of overlap with Costa Rica. Still, I couldn't be happier with the number of birds seen.

[Kitsafari]

what a stunner to mark a huge 500th landmark! I often wonder where its bill/mouth is among all those feathers. is that the tiniest hook peeking out of the feathers? 

 

Looking forward to your next milestone...

[xelas]

What better bird to celebrate the entry into tje 5th Century ... a Cock of the Rock!! Congratulations, both on the number and on the bird, @PeterHG

 

[PeterHG]

Thank you @Kitsafari and @xelas.

8 hours ago, Kitsafari said:

is that the tiniest hook peeking out of the feathers? 

Yes, it is. A really strange-looking bird!

[PeterHG]

Some more from Jardin, 3 and 4 December.

 

501 (C124). Red-headed Barbet. Fairly common in Colombia from 800-2400 m. The only time we saw one, though.

 

 

Rather high up in the mountains we visited another spot where we might see some Antpittas. We were not disappointed.

 

502 (C125). Rufous Antpitta

 

 

503 (C126). Chestnut-naped Antpitta. One of the more uncommon antpittas. We saw six different Antpitta species on pour trip and I must say those were all special moments.

 

 

One more unexpected guest showed up near the Antpitta feeder.

 

504 (C127) Green-and-black Fruiteater. In spite of its colourful appearance not easy to see. A quiet and elusive bird.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 28, 2019 by PeterHG

[PeterHG]

From Jardin we drove to Medellin, to catch a local flight to Santa Marta in the North. From there we drove to Minca, a village at an altitude of about 600m. We did some birding in the surrounding forest.

 

505 (C128) Swallow Tanager. We saw 26 different Tanager species, most of the quite colourful.

 

 

506. (C129) White-capped Tanager. Of one the most striking Tanagers with its snow-white cap. 

 

 

507 (C130) Olive-striped Flycatcher.

 

 

508 (C131) Golden-winged Sparrow. A first for our local guide, we were happy for him, too.

 

 

509 (C132) Forest Elaenia. Another member of this rather unobtrusive family.

 

 

510 (C133) Groove-billed Toucanet. Also known as Yellow-billed Toucanet, sometimes considered a subspecies of the Groove-billed T. This was the only view it gave us.

 

 

511 (C134) Golden-olive Woodpecker. Only one sighting of this small woodpecker.

 

 

512 (C135). Whooping Motmot. There has always been a lot of discussion about the right classification of the Motmots. Formerly the Whooping Motmot and Andean Motmot were considered to be subspecies of the Blue-crowned Motmot, but a few years they were split into separate species (as was the case with the Costa Rican Lesson's Motmot). 

 

 

[TonyQ]

@PeterHG  some really beautiful birds in this last section. The white-capped tanager is stunning.

[Kitsafari]

beautiful additions! 

[PeterHG]

Thank you @TonyQ and @Kitsafari.

 

One of the best known reserves in Colombia is the Pro Aves El Dorado reserve in the north of the country. High up in the Sierra Nevada mountains it offers stunning scenery and good birding. The region is also known for its endemics and we manage to see a few of those. This first one is not one of those.

 

513 (C137) Crested Oropendola.

 

 

514 (C137). Rusty Flowerpiercer.  The last of six flowerpiercer species we saw.

 

 

515 (C138) Bran-coloured Flycatcher

 

 

516 (C139). Crowned Woodnymph. Quite common in the reserve.

 

 

517 (C140). White-tailed Starfrontlet. I only managed to get a shot at the feeder. A hummingbird we did not see anywhere else.

 

 

519 (C142) Lazuline Sabrewing. The same goes for this sabrewing,  A rare hummer, so I was very happy to see it.

 

 

519 (C142) Brown Violetear. Three different violetears, this being the most uncommon one.

 

 

520 (C143) Santa Marta Warbler. If the name of the bird is preceded by 'Santa Marta', you can be pretty sure it is an endemic.

 

 

521 (C144) White-tipped Quetzal. The second quetzal species we saw, albeit very briefly.

 

 

522 (C145). Band-tailed Guan. Two different Guan species were regularly seen near the lodge.

 

 

523 (C146) Sickle-winged Guan.

 

 

524 (C147). Blue-naped Chlorophonia. One of the most beautiful birds around the lodge. Quite common here, but not seen anywhere else.