Wednesday 19 June 2024

Colombia Day 12; Tierradentro Archeological Park

  Today was not a birding day at all, as we had planned to visit the Parque Archeologico Tierradentro which was an interesting archeological park with museums and artifacts. We would spend the morning here and then drive the considerable distance back to Cali for the following mornings activites and flight to Bogota.

  The park was interesting, with fantastic Indigenous tombs and interesting artifacts to see in the museum. But it was also nice to wander around the grounds, where there were some patches of interesting forest and scrub that had a few interesting birds in it. These included Slaty Spinetail and Yellow-fronted Grassquit, both of which I have seen only a couple of times before.

  And there were even new birds for me here. A mixed species flock contained a smart Bar-crested Antshrike male, which did not show especially well but well enough, and was vocal throughout. A Pale-bellied Hermit was also new for me, and was the first Hermit of our trip. But the highlight was a fantastic White-bellied Antbird. I only caught a glimpse of the bird in the bushes, but had seen enough to make me interested. A quick check of the options brought me to the Antbird, and a quick blast of tape got an immediate response. Although generally the bird was reluctant to show very well, on occasions it did pop out into the open.

  By midday we made our move and began what turned into an eight-hour drive to the outskirts of Cali, having traversed the city center during the worst time of day. It was a brutal slog and not something I would recommend to anybody. We had fortunately found a place on Booking, which meant we only had to drive there before crashing out.

-White-bellied Antbird
-Bar-crested Antshrike
-Pale-bellied Hermit

Species List:
Tierradentro Archeological Park: Pale-vented Pigeon, White-tipped Dove, Pale-bellied Hermit, Southern Lapwing, Orange-chinned Parakeet, Bar-crested Antshrike, Black-crowned Antshrike, White-bellied Antbird, Slaty Spinetail, Ochre-bellied Flycatcher, Yellow-bellied Elaenia, Great Kiskadee, Social Flycatcher, Tropical Kingbird, Blue-and-white Swallow, House Wren, Pale-breasted Thrush, Black-billed Thrush, Rufous-collared Sparrow, Chestnut-capped Warbler, Crimson-backed Tanager, Blue-grey Tanager, Palm Tanager, Scrub Tanager, Blue-necked Tanager, Bay-headed Tanager, Green Honeycreeper, Bananaquit, Yellow-faced Grassquit, Streaked Saltator, 

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