Colombia Day 10; Purace National Park

  The weather improved markedly overnight at Purace National Park. Although the strong wind from the previous day was still present, as was the perishing cold, the sunny conditions and lack of low cloud base left us feeling far more optimistic about our prospects of, specifically, seeing the Condor. After a short walk around the grounds of our lodging, which produced common but nice alpine species including Buff-breasted Mountain Tanager and Grey-breasted Mountain Toucan, we headed back to the Condor Rock in the hope of being luckier.

  We did not fully understand what was on the agenda for the morning, or if anyone would even turn up to feed the Condors. Fortunately it was not even necessary, as a Condor flew low over us heading into the wind. After a few looped flights, clearly checking out the area, the Condor flew off and landed on a nearby cliff face. Thrilled to have seen the bird, and with no sign of anyone coming to feed the birds at already 10:20, we decided to start our drive, but just as we left one of the rangers did indeed arrive with a bucket of food so up the rock we went to hopefully get incredible views of the Condor.

  And incredible views we did indeed get, although it took some time for the Condor to leave the cliff face and come over to us, once it came it repeatedly did close flybys in the strong wind, really allowing us to get an incredible sense of scale on the bird. This was followed, eventually, by the bird alighting on the Condor Rock and fighting off the diminutive Black Vultures for the scraps of meat. It was absolutely incredible to see and truly one of the all-time great wildlife encounters. To be so close to such a massive bird was absolutely awe-inspiring.

  At just after 11:00, riding the high of our Condor encounter, we left the Purace National Park and began our drive to our next destination, the El Encanto Lodge in the south of Huila Province. This road would take us through the south end of the National Park, which was a pristine expanse of Polyepis forest that stretched on for miles. Although it would have been fun to explore the area, we had limited time and so had to make do with a few short stops and mixed flocks. This did produce a nice Paramo Tapaculo, and a smart mixed flock with nice species such as Agile Tit-Tyrant and Grass Green Tanager.

  On this drive there was one species I hoped to find, the White-spectacled Brushfinch. It is a range-restricted species which is known to occur on this road. Using eBird, I marked out a number of locations where it seemed to be seen, but consistently drew a blank until the fifth stop, when a pair decided to finally respond. Although I was not sure if they would actually come out to us, they decided to show absolutely phenomenally well, providing us with incredible views of this really rather handsome Brushfinch.

  Satisfied with our birding, we continued on our way and finally arrived at El Encanto Lodge in the early evening, ready for a proper day birding tomorrow. 

Species List:
Purace National Park: Band-tailed Pigeon, Tyrian Metaltail, Viridian Metaltail, Shining Sunbeam, Andean Condor, Black Vulture, Grey-breasted Mountain Toucan, Carunculated Caracara, Paramo Tapaculo, Pearled Treerunner, Streak-necked Flycatcher, White-throated Tyrannulet, Agile Tit-Tyrant, Brown-bellied Swallow, Grass Wren, Great Thrush, Rufous-collared Sparrow, White-rimmed Brushfinch, Slaty Brushfinch, Black-crested Warbler, Golden-fronted Whitestart, White-browed Hemispingus, Superciliaried Hemispingus, Grass-green Tanager, Scarlet-bellied Mountain Tanager, Buff-breasted Mountain Tanager, Golden-crowned Tanager, Blue-and-black Tanager, Glossy Flowerpiercer, Masked Flowerpiercer, Plain-colored Seedeater,