Colombia; Bogota & Minca

Day 1 14.11.2019

So begins our Colombian adventure. We landed in Bogota midafternoon, only to find that one of our bags had been left behind in Amsterdam where we changed flights. This put an immediate downer on the trip, and it was not helped by the fact that Bogota traffic restricted our afternoons birding at La Florida to little more than hour. There were still a few nice birds that we managed but none of our targets. Common Nighthawk and Spot-flanked Gallinule were the real standouts of the gloomy evening.

-Eastern Wood Pewee

-Spot-flanked Gallinule

-Common Nighthawk

Species List:

La Florida: Feral Pigeon, Eared Dove, Common Nighthawk, Spot-flanked Gallinule, Common Gallinule, Southern Lapwing, Western Cattle Egret, Bare-faced Ibis, White-tailed Kite, Broad-winged Hawk, Eastern Wood Pewee, House Wren, Great Thrush, Rufous-collared Sparrow, Yellow-backed Oriole, Yellow-hooded Blackbird, 

Day 2 15.11.2019

We had an early morning flight to Santa Marta, in the north of the country, so spent the first part of the day travelling. To reach our destination we required collection from the El Dorado lodge at the summit of the nearby mountain, so whilst we waited for collection, we birded the hotel in Minca, down the mountain, where we were leaving the car. At the hotel we had a fantastic time at the hummingbird feeders. White-necked Jacobin was the standout species of the small selection of species. There were a few more species in the area; Whooping Motmot and Collared Aracari were nice species we saw.

-Whooping Motmot

-Masked Tityra

-Golden-winged Sparrow

-Steely-vented Hummingbird

-Rufous-tailed Hummingbird

-White-necked Jacobin

-White-vented Plumeleteer

-Bicolored Wren

We were collected early afternoon and taken up for three hours to El Dorado lodge. We arrived early evening, with enough time to see a few species in the lodge garden; common hummingbirds such as Lesser and Sparkling Violetear, and the resident Band-tailed Guans. Over dinner, we were informed that the lodge had put out some fruit for Night-Monkeys in the trees outside. We came outside to see two of these awesome animals feeding, as well as a Kinkajou, which was an excellent introduction to the site. On our walk to our rooms we also had a Mottled Owl, which took some finding but we eventually had excellent views.

-Black-chested Jay

-Central American Agouti

-Kinkajou

-Grey-handed Night-Monkey

-Mottled Owl

Species List:

Santa Marta Airport: Magnificent Frigatebird, Brown Pelican, Black Vulture, Yellow-headed Caracara,

Minca: White-tipped Dove, Lesser Swallow-tailed Swift, White-necked Jacobin, Black-throated Mango, White-vented Plumeleteer, Steely-vented Hummingbird, Rufous-tailed Hummingbird, Black Vulture, Turkey Vulture, Whooping Motmot, Collared Aracari, Orange-chinned Parakeet, Masked Tityra, Great Kiskadee, Boat-billed Flycatcher, Social Flycatcher, Tropical Kingbird, Yellow-green Vireo, House Wren, Bicolored Wren, Pale-breasted Thrush, Golden-winged Sparrow, Crested Oropendola, American Yellow Warbler, Rufous-capped Warbler, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Crimson-backed Tanager, Blue-Grey Tanager, Palm Tanager, Yellow-bellied Seedeater,

RNA El Dorado: Band-tailed Guan, Sickle-winged Guan, Brown Violetear, Lesser Violetear, Sparkling Violetear, Crowned Woodnymph, Mottled Owl, Golden-olive Woodpecker, Black-chested Jay, Blue-naped Chlorophonia, Lesser Goldfinch, Santa Marta Brushfinch, Yellow-backed Oriole, Black-and-white Warbler, Tennessee Warbler, Blackburnian Warbler, Slate-throated Whitestart, Black-headed Tanager, Bay-headed Tanager, Kinkajou, Grey-handed Night-Monkey,