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ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

Colombia Feb 2011 (1 Viewer)

Jens we'd be happy to help you as we did Robert Scanlon's trip. Do write to [email protected] or ring us.
I'm enjoying this thread Robert, keep it up!

It's still in the early stages of planning (mostly hoping/wishing), as I won't know until perhaps July/August if I can get at least 3 weeks off, but I'll get back to you, when things start to look better.
At least I will have plenty of time, to go through the field guide another 100 times before then, and look at some of the great trip reports.

Jens
 
The next day (9th Feb) I planned to do some of the other forest trails and riverside habitat in the hope of the three previously mentioned antbirds, also hoping to pick up a few other things along the way. Jose once more took time out from his many duties to accompany me, and we found the easist of the three, Chestnut-backed Antbird, by the side of the ponds just after dawn. Views weren't brilliant as it was still a bit dark, but not bad, and I knew I would see this one again. Also at the ponds a couple of White-throated Crakes showed well, and a possible Russet-crowned, just a bit too briefly to be sure. After that, it went very quiet for long spells. We spent most of the morning wandering up the "main road", from the main gate to the other gate at the start of the Lomo Patico trail, but this was very unproductive as the wind picked up, and very little was in the tree tops. A few Chestnut-fronted Macaws overhead helped to keep things interesting though. We then headed down tail A, which leads along the river bed for a way, trawling for Bare-crowned Antbirds without response all the way, then along the "Owl Trail" which led us back to the house around noon. White-tailed Trogon and White-whiskered Puffbirds were notable, but of B.c.Antbird and Black Antshrike, not a sniff. Over lunch, a few birds kept me entertained around the house, a moulting male Scarlet Tanager and a pair of Fulvous-vented Euphonias were new for me in Colombia, and a fem White-eared Conebill was a lifer.

In the afternoon I had a quick trawl along the riverside trail for the Antshrike; no luck there, but crippling views of Black-billed Flycatcher were obtained. When I got back to the centre, Jose was waiting for me, so we set off again on the quest for the two target birds. We basically wandered around all afternoon without any luck, and didn't see an awful lot else either. As the day drew to an end, I suggested one more look along the river along a little path which we had tried first thing in the morning for the Antshrike. I gave the tape a few blasts, but no response, so I sat down on a log just to take in the view and have a bit of a rest. A Chestnut-backed Antbird sang from the other side of the river, and I casually whistled back to it, whereupon it responded quite strongly, and continued singing for several minutes, showing quite well at times. Suddenly, as if in response to the antbird, another familiar (from the tape) song came across from the other side of the river...Black Antshrike! A couple of frantic seconds ensued until it showed in low trees on the opposite side of the river. Yes! That was a great end to the day, and more or less just as I had given up hope of this bird. Just El Calvo to go now, and I still had a couple of whole days to find that, so hopes were still high.
 
The next morning Jose offered to give me a lift to the wetland area viewable from the road between Puerto Boyaca and Puerto Pinzon, where we had seen N.Screamer from the bus. Happy with the prospect of better views of the screamer and possibly some other things of interest as well, I jumped at the chance to go. It was raining a bit as we set off, though not for very long. A short way into the journey, the bike got a puncture, so Jose rode it back into town to get it fixed whilst I did some birding along the road. Some interesting things were seen, Red-lored, Orange-winged and Yellow-crowned Parrots / Amazons were in evidence, plus Blue-headed Parrot, Yellow-chinned Spinetail, Fork-tailed Flycatcher, Yellow-headed Blackbird, Colombian Chachalaca, Laughing Falcon, Large-billed Seed-Finch, Black-capped Donacobius and a few other bits and bobs. Presently Jose and fixed bike reappeared, and we finished the journey to the wetland bit. Here we ended up seeing 4 Northern Screamers, good views in the scope, plus White-headed Marsh-Tyrant, Pied Water-Tyrant, some briefly seen cowbirds which I wanted to be Caribs but were really Shiny. Lots of Bare-faced / Whispering Ibis were around, and Northern Crested Caracara caused a bit of disturbance. A juv Little Blue Heron was also seen.

We got back to the reserve along around 11, after stopping for a haircut on the way in the town (5k COP, can't grumble at that). I asked Jose to let me off at the main entrance, and walked back slowly to the centre on my own, though I didnt see anything much as it was pretty hot by now.

Lunchtime was enlivened by Pale-bellied Hermit at the feeders, and after lounging about a bit waiting for the heat to drop a bit, I ended the day wandering around on my own, firstly along the riverside trail, then Lomo Patico, down trail A and ended up by the ponds at dusk. OVerall it was pretty quiet, extremely so, but in the teak plantation after leaving the river bed on trail A, I came across an antswarm being attended by a single bird, a female Bare-crowned Antbird. Well pleased with this, I stayed for a good while, getting a few record shots through the scope.

I ended the day at the ponds trying for Ruseet-crowned Crake, but no joy was had.

The following day, my final full day, I thought I would do the Compartido trail on the other side of the river in the hope of seeing female Blue-billed Curassow and possibly one or two other things. It started off rainy, but that stopped fairly quickly and soon started heating up. I had a quick bash at the ponds again before we crossed the river for the R.-c Crake, but had to settle for a very brief Grey-necked Wood-Rail. Across the river, birds of note included Orange-billed Sparrow, Citron-throated Toucan, Rufous Motmot, Black-faced Antthrush seen well eventually, the White-mantled Barbets again seen well, v brief views of Sooty Ant-Tanager, White-tailed Trogon, White-fronted Nunbird, Black-striped Woodcreeper and Cinnamon Woodpecker. We heard a Blue-billed Curassow calling above the ridge along the trail a way, but having seen one well the other day, I didnt want to go looking for it and disturb it, though it was temptingly close.

After lunch, Jose and I had a wander round again. I thought it would be a good plan to head back to where I had found the antswarm yesterday to see if it was still there, and hoping to see a male Bare-crowned Antbird if it was. A bit optimistic, but definitely worth a go. We headed straight there. There was no sign initially, but back a bit and a few tens of yards off to the side I heard some excitement, and a Plain-brown Woodcreeper calling, so I headed off to investigate. First birds seen....2 male Bare-crowned Antbirds! Result. The antswarm was also being attended by a Bicolored Antbird and a Grey-headed Tanager, plus the Woodcreeper. Very nice. We spent a fair while here admiring the fab looking BCAs, then headed up to Lomo Patico (but not before seeing a couple of Russet-crowned Crakes on the way), then back along the road at the end of the day. A couple of Black-mandibled Toucans along the road were notable, as were a couple of flyover Saffron-headed Parrots.

The next day was the day I was scheduled to leave El Paujil, but the bus wasnt until the afternoon, so I intended to make the most of my last morning here. I had a couple of things missing off the hit list, Great Tinamou and Scarlet-browed Tanager, both things other reports had mentioned but I had not had a sniff of. tbc...
 
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I set off at first light, the plan being to head up Lomo Patico for the tinamou, then along the road for the tanager. I hadn't got far along Lomo Patico though when a couple of unfamiliar birds were seen perched in the top of a dead tree. No scarlet brows, but they were certainly Scarlet-browed Tanagers, two females. Happy enough with that I continued, next target being Great Tinamou. I did manage to get close to a Tinamou....it burst into flight from the path beside me and disappeared in an instant...I think it was a Great but certainly not tickable views.

I headed down Path A, and along the riverbed I managed to see a Stripe-throated Hermit feeding on flowers along the edge, something I had more or less written off.

As I came out from Path A onto the main entrance track, I gave the "tape" a little try in the bamboo patch there...Yellow Tyrannulet was something I hadn't seen and knew was supposed to be about, but I hadn't had any joy so far. This time was more succesfull though though, with a couple of birds responding straight away, both of which eventually gave good views. I spent the last hour or so at the Mirador, where Black-crowned Tityra and Purple-crowned Fairy were very welcome.

Once things had quietened down here, I headed back to the accomodation to get my stuff ready, have some lunch, and make my way down to Peurto Pinzon to catch the bus to Puerto Boyaca. Jose kindly took my bag down to the town, then came back for me.

The bus was at 3, and at the allotted time, I said goodbye to Jose, and began the bumpy 2hr 45minute journey into P.Boyaca.

My impression of El Paujil had been very favourable, in fact it had been my favourite place of the trip so far, and had given me nearly 30 colombian ticks in my time here. Jose the forest guard had been good company and a very helpful guide, his wife Martha had been very attentive and provided good, varied food and lovely drinks...and the coffee flask had always been full whenever I went to it...a big plus! The birding had been good...hard work at times, but rewarding. I left feeling that I had been able to do the place justice, had got my main target birds of the Curassow, Black Antshrike, Bare-crowned Antbird, Black-billed Flycatcher, Beautiful Woodpecker, etc, and overall had had a very pleasant time.

By the time I got to Puerto Boyaca it was getting on for 6pm. My next destination was the Chestnut-capped Piha Reserve, RNA Arrierito Antioqueno, near Anori. I had done my research the last time I was here into buses to Medellin, and I knew there was one at 12.30am, so I had several hours to kill. I could have got an earlier one, but it would have meant either hanging around Medellin Bus Terminal or having to find somewhere to stay in the city, and I much preferred the idea of hanging around P.Boyaca, as I took a bit of a liking to the place.

I filled in the time as best I could and just after midnight, the lady from the Omega bus company office put me into a taxi and we went to meet the Medellin bus on the main road. It wasnt going to come into town for me as I was the only passenger, so she had got it to wait for me at the usual drop off point.

It was about a 4 hour journey to Medellin, and I arrived at the terminal at 4.30am. I got my bearings, made use of the facilities then had a wander around to see if I could find the bus to Anori. I would have acted with a bit more urgency had I realised the bus was scheduled to leave at 5, and the next one after that was 6 hours later, but luckily I managed to get on the 5am bus, just. For information, the bus to Anori leaves from the North Terminal, which is luckily the one where the bus from Puerto Boyaca arrives (which I assume came from Bogota originally). Otherwise there would have been a 20 minute transfer by taxi or a longer one by bus from the other terminal.

The bus to the reserve took about 5 and a half hours (it's about another hour to Anori), including a short delay whilst we changed buses at a bridge which had been damaged by a car bomb a few weeks before. By the time I got to the reserve (the bus driver knew where to let me off when I said "la reserva de Proaves") I was well and truly jiggered, not having had any sleep at all on either of the buses. I said hello to the lady of the house, was shown to my room, and crashed out for a couple of hours. It was raining anyway, so I didn't think I'd miss much.
 
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Cheer Steve, halfway through now and still going strong!

I have uploaded a load of photos of the trip to my pbase site. Most of them are just record shots of the places I went, and views out of bus / jeep windows, that sort of thing, but they may be of interest to anyone wanting a rough idea of the feel of some of some of the reserves...

http://www.pbase.com/rsscanlon/colombia_2011
 
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My impression of El Paujil had been very favourable... Jose the forest guard had been good company and a very helpful guide, his wife Martha had been very attentive and provided good, varied food and lovely drinks...and the coffee flask had always been full whenever I went to it...a big plus!

Hear hear! The service is excellent :t:
 
Jose remembered you well Jonathan, as did a few of the other guards. In fact when I was looking for the Bush-Tanager nr Las Tangaras I knew I was in the right spot as Uberne remembered where you had started dancing! :D
 
Haha! Uberne is a complete star. He was impressed with my dancing skills :D

Presumably Jose's memories of me consist of a head projecting above a tide-line of thick mud....
 
Ooh I didn't hear about that...? He denied being the one who fell off the bamboo raft into the river though, lol...blamed it one of the gardeners.

Outrageous!
Actually, I was tempted to bring my Cambridge punting skills into action and finish the crossing but he waded the rest of the distance across instead. :-O
 
Stage 4 - Chestnut-capped Pihia Reserve - RNA Arrierito Antioqueno

Having arrived at the reserve very tired and during a spell of rain, I had an hour or two's rest before having a bit of lunch then heading out. Jose the forest guard wasn't there, but I had read that the road was a good spot to do some birding, and the possibilty of such goodies as Blackish Rail, Wedge-tailed Grass-Finch, Black-faced Tanager at the lagoon further down the road meant I was keen to give that a go anyway, so off I went. There was a fair bit of traffic along the road, contrary to my expectations, mostly motorbikes, but birdwise it was pretty quiet, and the lagoon had dried up to the size of a pond, so it wasn't looking too hopeful for Blackish Rail. A few new birds for the trip were seen, inc Yellow-throated Bush-Tanager (one of the nicer bush tanagers), Black-winged Saltator, Tropical Parula, White-naped Brush-Finch. A couple of Red-bellied Grackles were nice as well, providing crippling views by the roadside eating some red berries.

I wandered up and down the road as far as the lagoon a couple of times until dusk, then headed back to the centre for the coldest shower to date of the trip (worse was to come though!), some food (ironed chicken ;) potatoes and soup). I didn't stay at the dining area too long afterwards as the cold was starting to get to me so having arranged a starting time for the next day with Jose, I retired to my lovely room where I wrote up my notes and caught up on some much needed sleep. Anticipation levels were high for the next day. I knew that the Piha could be tricky, and I only had a couple of full days here to find it, so that was going to have to be the priority. I had read a couple of trip reports where it had proven extremely elusive, so it was by no means a given.
 
The following day saw Jose and I heading into the forest at first light. The entrance to the forest is quite close to the accomodation, and we headed up Sendero Motmot first, then Sendero Arrierito, which joins up with the Bangsia trail later on, the one which follows the ridge around the reserve. Anyway, our offorts initially were concentrated on Sendero Arrierito, which as you may imagine is named after Arrierito Antioqueno, the Chestnut-capped Piha. Incidentally, the bird is so called as its loud clear whistle is reminiscent of that given by the local cow herders, "arrieritos" *, and it lives in Antioquia, a region of Colombia. Antioquia by the way seems to have the best arepas and cheese in the country, and a breakfast of these with scrambled eggs and hot chocolate is very hard to beat. Anyway, we headed up the hill to where the Piha was often present, according to Jose. I played the tape and got a response, but after an hour or so the best we had been able to muster was a supersonic flypast. We eventually gave up as the bird seemed to have disappeared, so we headed back down and along another trail which led to a waterfall. This was quite productive with firstly a Wing-barred Piprites, followed shortly by Stiles Tapaculo and Lanceolated Monklet, the latter being at a known stake out (known by Jose anyway). Generally though things were fairly quiet. We bumped into the odd little flock of common birds, but the next highlight was quite a bit later when we came across a nice male Chestnut-crowned Gnateater by the side of the path on the way back. Views were fairly good, and we could see that it had been ringed.

Back down at the road at lunchtime, we came across the biggest flock we had seen so far, with about 16 different species. This contained a tick for me in the shape of Black-and-white Becard, though views were brief. Some of the other birds in the flock were Silver-throated Tanager, Rufous-naped Greenlet, Tropical Parula, Golden-winged Warbler, Slaty-capped Flycatcher.

Back at the centre, I had some lunch and spent an hour or so sorting out the hummingbirds at the feeders in the garden. There wasn't anything too unusual, but varying states of plumage for the different species made things a bit confusing at first. Eventually they all fell into place...they were mostly Greenish Pufflegs! Also seen though was a male Black-throated Mango, several Green-crowned Brilliants, Blue-tailed Emerald and a few others. A Slaty Spinetail in a garden bush was nice.

Back in the forest in the afternoon, I was saved having to tick the previously mentioned flyby Piha, when I found one in a tree not far from where we had seen it earlier. It was a little distant, but identifiable, and when it flew, it called from where it had flown to, so we were happy enough with the ID. Other birds of interest seen during the rest of the afternoon included a couple of Purplish-mantled Tanagers, Multicoloured Tanager and Sooty-headed Wren.

During dinner that evening, the place was livened up a bit when two Canadian couples arrived. It was nice to have a bit of company, as the forest guard here seemed a bit shy and retiring compared to the others I had met so far.

So a good day overall. The Piha was under the belt, and some other good birds had been seen, but I still had lots of targets to aim for, so the next day I planned to give the ridge trail a good bash in the morning and then spend the afternoon in the lower part.

(* Arrieros - muleteers acc to wiki - the ito bit on the end is used commonly in Spanish to signify little)
 
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Next day (15th Feb) saw me heading into the forest at dawn again, this time on my own as the Canadians had the benefit of Jose's guidance today. I basically spent the morning birding along the ridge trail (Sendero Bangsia) and the afternoon in the lower part of the forest where I had spent yesterday. It turned out that today wasnt much of a day for ticks, but it was very good for getting good views of some birds I had only seen poorly before. I got crippling views of several Parkers Antbirds, Sooty-headed Wren, Rufous-browed Tyrannulet, Purplish-mantled Tanager, Tawny-throated Leaftosser and Golden-breasted Fruiteater. A nice pair of White-tailed Hawks watched spiralling up into the air from below eye level were my only Colombian tick. I got frustratingly close to a couple of calling Wattled Guans along the ridge, but there was no way of getting to a point where I could see them, not without tumbling down very steep hillsides.

It poured with rain for an hour and a half or so at lunchtime, and afterwards stayed very dull and misty, so the afternoon could definitely have been better.

Oh I did get one lifer today, a small scorpion was seen in my room! It was too tiny to worry about, but I made a mental note to give my boots a good shake out the next morning!

The next morning I was heading off on the bus at 8, but there was one more tick on the cards before I left, Black-faced Tanager. According to Jose, it was often seen first thing in the morning in the garden, so I decided to give that a go rather than revisit the forest for what would probably be too short a time to be worthwhile.

I was rewarded with crippling views of this cardinal like bird when it came down to feed on some bananas, as predicted.

All that now remained was to pack, and wait for the bus to Medellin.

So that was Arrierito Antioqueno. Overall I didn't feel that I had done the place justice really, I could have easily used another couple of days as there was a lot of stuff I had missed, but at least I had seen some good birds, and importantly the Piha was one of those, so I couldn't complain. The accommodation was really nice, possibly the best of any of the reserves, the food was decent enough (I think here they were trying to cater for gringo tastes, but I would rather have just had honest Colombian food) and the forest guard was helpful and pleasant. I think the place suffered slightly in my estimation as I had come here from El Paujil, which I had enjoyed a lot.

Anyway, the bus from Anori to Medellin passed the reserve just after 8, and on I jumped, ready for the next stage of the trip to Urrao and the Colibri de Sol reserve, which I was really looking forward to a lot.

The journey to Medellin took about 5 and a half hours, as before, and I was able to catch a 2 o clock bus to Urrao, again from the North Terminal. I don't recall the fare, but it was probably around 20mil pesos.

The journey to Urrao was OK for about an hour, then the bus turned off onto a narrow bumpy track, so that was us bumping along for the next 4 hours. As we went further and further along, and the day got darker, I started to wonder what the hell I was going to find at the end of this track. Happily Urrao turned out to be a lovely little town and my worries were unfounded. I checked in at the very nice Hotel Cacique (just off the main square - 35mil pesos a night), then headed out to get some much needed food, a nice Sancocho and a beer at a bar / restaurant on the main square. I also had a word with the local taxi drivers to sort out a lift for the next morning to Chuscal. I had been under the impression that a jeep would be required, but the taxistas assured me that they could make the trip in one of their little hatchbacks, so I arranged with one to pick me up at 7 the next morning.
 
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Overall I didn't feel that I had done the place justice really, I could have easily used another couple of days as there was a lot of stuff I had missed

normally what I do is spending at least a FULL day up there in the ridge area, carrying lunch or most of the times Jose shows up by noon with it on backpack... the ridge is very very good birding and only place for some of the specialties there!


Anyway, the bus from Urrao to Medellin passed the reserve just after 8, and on I jumped, ready for the next stage of the trip to Urrao and the Colibri de Sol reserve, which I was really looking forward to a lot.

the bus from Anori to Medellin...

;-)
 
Stage 5 - Dusky Starfrontlet Reserve / RNA El Colibri del Sol

I had a relative lie in this morning til 5.30am, then after a lovely breakfast at a small restaurant in one corner of the square (next to the comcel shop), I headed back to the hotel to get my stuff ready for the taxi to Chuscal at 7am. The driver turned up on time, and after a 45 minute journey, I was being dropped off at the start of the track up to the reserve. I had arranged to be met at 8 by the forest guard, but by 9.30 he still hadn't turned up (though a nice Aplomado Falcon perched on a post helped pass the time). I managed to get a signal on the phone to be able to call the Proaves office, and they informed me that they thought I was going to be turning up at 3pm. Rather than go back to town only to have to come back later (90k pesos poorer for 2 further taxi trips) I decided to start walking up on my own. I asked the owners of the house at the start of the track if they would mind looking after my big rucksack for me until it could be collected later, and after getting some directions, headed off. I hadn't got too far when I bumped into Luis andhis wife, who happened to be coming down from the reserve on horseback for something else. They were a bit shocked to see me, but they had a spare horse, so I was put onto that, and headed up to the reserve with Luis' wife.

That was quite handy as the way wasn't exactly clear, and it would have been a good couple of hours walk.

Horse riding isn't my favourite form of transport, and mine obviously sensed I was a soft touch as it pretty much went wherever it liked, but eventually I got to the house, albeit with sore knees as the stirrups were too high. Still I managed to dismount without making too much of a tit of myself in front of the expert horserider who had led me up there. It was a nice sunny day, and I spent a little while checking out the hummers on the feeders in the garden. There wasn't anything too unusual, but there were good numbers. Species were White-bellied Woodstar, Tourmaline Sunangel, Sparkling and Green Violetears, Collared Inca, Long-tailed Sylph and Buff-tailed Coronet.

Shortly afterwards, I was surprised to see a fellow gringo arrive at the house. I had assumed I would be the only guest here, but I was pleased to learn that someone else (Matt from the UK) was here, studying the Fenwick's / Urrao Antpittas, and another guest would be arriving next day who was planning to radio tag some of the Rusty-faced Parrots.

After lunch, I headed to the Antpitta feeder with Matt, where we stayed a while. The bird didn't show, it was being fed in the mornings so afternoons were hit and miss. After a while (and when the rain stopped) I headed up the track above the house (which leads eventually to the paramo) to see what I could see. It was fairly hard work at times, even though I had been stomping up and down hills every day for the last few weeks. The thin air didn't help either. About two-thirds of the way up to the paramo, there is a track off to the right which leads into some mixed forest with a lot of bamboo. Here Matt had told me was a good spot to look for Ocellated Tapaculo, so I headed into there to see if I could rustle one up. I headed to the end of the path, getting crippling views of a nice Paramillo Tapaculo by the side of the path (without playback), and on my way back, I started hearing the odd Ocellated calling. It didn't take long to get one to respond to the tape, and it hung around the path for a little while, allowing some great views.

It was getting a bit late by now, so I had to get a boogy on to get back to the house before it got too dark. When I got back I think Luis was already starting to get worried, but hadn't sent out a search party just yet. Spent the evening eating (the food here was very nice, probably the best of all the reserves so far), swotting up on the possible birds and being cold. I had left my sleeping bag back home in the UK as space in my rucksack was a bit tight, and I had a feeling I was going to regret it this next few nights. How right I was!
 
Next day (18th Feb) I was up at 5.30, having had a fitful night's sleep due to the cold. Still, that was of minor importance as today was the big day...the day all those lovely specialities of the reserve would give themselves up...in theory anyway! In practice, things panned out prety much as hoped. We (Luis, Matt and myself) headed up to the paramo, we saw the fab Dusky Starfrontlet easily at the feeders, the two Flowerpiercers, Black-throated and Chestnut-bellied, were easy on the paramo (both seen within minutes, end very easy to separate), and I got a couple of bonus birds in the shape of Rufous-headed Pygmy-Tyrant (on the steps up to the paramo) and Rufous Antpitta (just beyond the feeder on the paramo). We stayed up there for an hour or two, but much of the time there was a fair amount of cloud, so visibility was often poor. The walk back down was pretty quiet, bird activity was very low, and the lack of very much to stop for meant we were back at the house for lunch. After that, I headed up to the Antpitta feeding station once again, hoping for Fenwick's / Urrao Antpitta. This time I didn't have too long to wait until one showed...crippling views from just a few yards away.

I spent the rest of the afternoon along the path where I had seen the tapaculos yesterday...a pretty hard climb after this mornings exertions. Sadly it was raining and cloudy most of the afternoon, so my efforts were not very well rewarded other than with a couple of trip ticks, but I'd had 6 lifers today so couldnt really complain.

Back at the house, the cold and rainy afternoon had taken away any possible desire to have a shower, so I spent the evening eating, writing up notes and drinking tea. I decided to try and wrap myself up with a few more clothes before going to bed tonight in the hope of some longer spells of uninterrupted sleep.

19th Feb - it didn't work...it was still very cold. I was definitely kicking myself for not bringing my sleeping bag. Still, I was up at 5.30 intending to head back up the hill. I had seen the Antpitta, so I didnt need to hang around for that, so the plan was to head to the chusqea, where I had spent yesterday afternoon, in the hope of some of the other reserve specialities, and then probably up to the paramo again. Having climbed up the hill twice yesterday, it was very hard going today, so I took it fairly slowly. First bird of note seen was a very brief Mountain Cacique flying away across the river. The next was at the start of the track into the bamboo forest, when I heard a Fenwick's / Urrao Antpitta calling from right beside the path. I gave it a quick whistle, and within seconds I was seeing a proper "wild" one. Nice. Further on in the forest, I was pleased to find one of my main remaining target species, when I came across a White-browed Spinetail in a clump of bamboo by the side of the track. I had expected this to be a bit more in evidence, but this was the only one I saw, and I didnt hear any at all. A pair of Ash-coloured Tapaculos provided my only other tick along this stretch, and they showed very well.

I headed the rest of the way up to the paramo as there were still a few things I wanted to see up there, the main one being Barred Parakeet. Sadly the weather wasnt playing ball up there, and despite hearing the odd few flying over, I wasn't able to see them through the cloud. I was consoled somewhat by a nice Crowned Chat-Tyrant on the way back down though, amongst some chopped down trees between the two hummingbird feeding spots.

Down at the bottom of the steps and below the "vivero", I was wandering along when I heard something alarm calling on the other side of a little valley. I scanned with the bins, only seeing a Brown-backed Chat-Tyrant initially, which wasn't making the noise, but another scan saw me looking into the face of something I had never dreamed of seeing....an Ocelot. I was totally gobsmacked to see this beautiful animal just sitting there in the sun looking across at me, cool as a cucumber. I scrambled to get my camera out of my rucksack without scaring it off, but just as I turned it on, the cat got up and started walking off. I managed to record a short video clip of it as it disappeared into the bushes, which I will put onto U-Tube when I get time. I had seen some camera trap photos of this when I was browsing some shots from Pauxi Pauxi and remember thinking how great (and highly improbable) it would be to see one. The warden, when I asked him later, had seen one only twice before here, so I considered myself extremely lucky.

I spent the rest of the afternoon in the bamboo forest, seeing a few nice little flocks, plus Ocellated Tapaculo again, this time feeding by the side of the path. Also of note was a flock of Rusty-faced Parrots. Soon though the mist came in and bird activity reduced once more.

Back at the reserve at dusk, I was fed up enough of being dirty to brave the shower, and was glad I did. I had seen Luis getting up at 5.30 in the morning and heading straight in there, so I couldnt wimp out and go for three nights without one. It wasn't that bad actually.

Next morning (and still not having had a decent night's sleep) was my final morning at the reserve. There was one final bird I wanted to see before I started making my way back down to the road, and that was Spillman's Tapaculo. Luis and Matt both said the area around the Antpitta feeder was a good spot, so I spent the morning there. I saw one, not very well, but decided to tick it PBV.

I had to be down at the road at 10am, so Luis' wife and I set off on the horses around 8.30am. I was a bit happier on the horse this time, and it seemed to sense who was boss (Luis' wife). Still she gave me a branch to threaten it with, but after using it a couple of times and getting it to trot, I decided that it was far less painful when it was walking, so that was the drill for the rest of the way, though near the end we had a little bit of a gallop (a "tick" for me), and that was actually more comfortable than trotting.

Down at the road, the jeep driver which Pro-aves had arranged for me was already waiting for me, so I said goodbye to Luis' wife, and headed off for the next, and final, stage of the trip, Las Tangaras.

Colibri del Sol was a wonderful spot with some spectacular birds, most of which were easy to see. The accomodation was fine (if cold at night), the food good, the warden and his wife were very helpful and friendly, and overall I was quite happy with my stay here. The main things that would have made it a bit more enjoyable (apart from Chestnut-naped Antpitta and Barred Parakeet) were a sleeping bag, and also some wellies as my boots were swamped on the second day and there was no chance of getting them dry. As far as the house goes, I heard that there may be some improvements being made soon. A nice log fire would be my suggestion! But a great place nevertheless.
 
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