For our first full day in the ProAves El Dorado Reserve in Santa Marta we decided to try to walk the trail up to the San Lorenzo ridge for the sunrise and then bird our way back. Sadly though, the walk took much longer than we anticipated and in the end we did not make it to the top before the fog came in, meaning there would be no view anyway, even though it was only mid-morning. As such, we decided to walk back and then hire a 4x4 to take us up early for the next day, which while horrendously expensive, would give us a much better chance of finding the birds we wanted.
That is not to say that our morning was without birds. It
started extremely well, with a juvenile Mottled Owl showing nicely right behind
our chalet, alongside numerous species of frog, many of which are no doubt
endemic. Although the trail was generally quiet with no sign of any mixed
species flocks, we had some good forest species including a Grey-throated
Leaftosser and a nice showy Santa Marta Tapaculo. From good vantage points we
were able to spot White-throated Toucanet and Black-chested Jays, and commoner
Santa Marta endemics we encountered included Yellow-crowned Whitestart,
Stripe-crowned Spinetail and Sierra Nevada Brushfinch. Perhaps the highlight,
besides the Tapaculo of course, was a massive tarantula sat right in the middle
of the path as we walked back.
After a short break around lunchtime, we checked out the old
restaurant garden again, and had nice views of a group of Band-tailed Guans
feeding on the seed there, but nothing else and the other feeders were empty.
After this we decided to walk along the road, which was quiet birdwise, only
providing us with interest in the form of Masked Trogon and a pair of nice
White-tipped Quetzals. The undoubted highlight was a very close group of
Colombian Red Howler Monkeys, which we were able to watch forage just in front
of us. Despite seeing them every day, this was the first time we had seen them
close and it was fantastic to watch.
Before dinner, just it was getting dark, we headed down to the old restaurant in order to see the Grey-handed Night Monkeys come to forage on bananas there. This was something I remember from my first visit and wondered if they had abandoned with the new restaurant, but apparently not. Although we did see the monkeys, we only saw them as silhouettes against the sky before we had to leave for dinner, but since we have another night we can plan a bit better and hope for better views tomorrow.
Proaves El Dorado: Band-tailed Guan, Band-tailed Pigeon, White-tipped Dove, Lined Quail-Dove, Sparkling Violetear, Brown Violetear, Lesser Violetear, Tyrian Metaltail, Lazuline Sabrewing, Crowned Woodnymph, Mottled Owl, White-tipped Quetzal, Masked Trogon, White-throated Toucanet, Golden-olive Woodpecker, Santa Marta Parakeet, Santa Marta Tapaculo, Grey-throated Leaftosser, Montane Woodcreeper, Montane Foliage-gleaner, Streak-capped Spinetail, Rusty-headed Spinetail, Golden-breasted Fruiteater, Mountain Elaenia, Black-chested Jay, Hermit Wood Wren, Slaty-backed Nightingale-Thrush, Black-hooded Thrush, Great Thrush, Sierra Nevada Brushfinch, Rufous-collared Sparrow, Santa Marta Brushfinch, White-lored Warbler, Slate-throated Whitestart, Yellow-crowned Whitestart, Golden Grosbeak, White-sided Flowerpiercer,
No comments:
Post a Comment