Nov. 14 – Arrival in Bogota
We will meet at our Hotel in Bogota in preparation for the tour ahead! Over dinner we will discuss the trip and go over any questions anyone may have.
Night in Bogota.
Nov. 15 – Flight to Florencia and birding Laguna Vaticano
We will depart our hotel for our flight (currently scheduled for 8:20am) to Florencia. Once we arrive, we will head straight to a roost site for Black-banded Owl before checking in to our hotel and having lunch.
After lunch we will drive about 20 minutes to a wetland area on the outskirts of the city called Laguna El Vaticano which is excellent for birding. In the wetland one can usually find one or two pairs of Horned Screamers while Hoatzin patrol the wooded edges. Various parrots and both Red-bellied and Chestnut-fronted macaws tend to perch in the palms late afternoon, offering good views. A couple tricky species can be found here with luck and these include Stripe-necked Tody-tyrant, Solitary Black Cacique, Cream-colored Woodpecker and Gray-breasted Crake. Tropical Screech-owl can sometimes be found roosting in the bamboo clumps and the unique Cream-colored Woodpecker is fairly regular here.
Night in Florencia.
Nov. 16 – Florencia – Mirador los Tucanes and Via Antigua
The “Via Antigua” (old road) that connects Florencia with the Magdalena Valley, holds patches of good forest and excellent birding potential across a significant elevational gradient so we can expect good diversity today. We will get an early start to drive around 1.5hrs up this essentially traffic-free road to our first birding area around Mirador de los Tucanes (Toucan Viewpoint), en route we may spot Lyre-tailed Nightjar on the road. Here we can expect a species composition typical of the east slope foothills. A Black-and-chestnut Eagle nest can be viewd upslope from the road and if we are fortunate, it wil be active during our visit. Brown Jacamar, Crimson-rumped Toucanet, Yellow-throated Toucan, Yellow-breasted Antwren and the elusive Grey-mantled Wren and Olivaceous piha are among the many species to be found here. Among the more sought-after hummingbirds possible are Rufous-vented Whitetip, Black-throated Brilliant, Wire-crested Thorntail and Green-backed Hillstar. Further on we will be on the lookout for the scarce Grey-tailed Piha and along the river we may be so fortunate as to spot a Sunbittern, Torrent Duck or White-capped Dipper.
Gaining elevation, we will get high enough for such goodies as Red-ruffed Fruitcrow, Long-tailed Tapaculo and the stunning Chestnut-breasted Chlorophonia. Throughout the morning we can expect a good variety of tanagers and these include Saffron-crowned, Blue-necked, Golden-eared and White-capped. We will have a field lunch and spend the afternoon birding our way back down to lower elevations and, eventually, back to our hotel in Florencia again.
Night in Florencia.
Nov. 17 – Florencia, Umbrellabird Lek and Quebrada Las Tortugas Trail then Transfer to San Agustin
This morning we will make another early start, checking out of our hotel in order to get to a site in the foothills about one hour from town by shortly after first light. This is to observe the lekking Amazonian Umbrellabirds which we will hope are strutting their stuff on perches visible from the side road we will be on. Andean Cock-of-the-Rock also lek here in small numbers and Band-bellied Owl sometimes roost in the area. After spending some time here we will continue up the highway another 20 minutes to a site called Quebrada La Tortuga.
There are two areas to bird at La Tortuga, a narrow trail runs for a couple hundred metres to a small clearing and structure and slightly down the highway from here is a dirt side road that eventually passes through a small community. We will spend the rest of the morning birding these two areas in search of several special birds. It is good area for flocks and these often hold several tanagers including Flame-faced, White-winged and Blue-browed. Coppery-chested Jacamar is at the very northern tip of their limited range and are regularly seen at both spots.
Similar to the Jacamar, Ecuadorian Piedtail and Rufous-vented Whitetip are near their northern terminus here and with any luck efforts to attract them to hummingbird feeders over the past couple years will have made them more readily seen. Also possible this day will be Paradise Tanager, which can often be seen at a certain corner of the highway though the steady traffic makes birding at that particular site a bit less enjoyable. On our last visit we were fortunate enough to spot Crimson-bellied Woodpecker in a mixed species flock!
After lunch at a nearby restaurant we will make the 3.5hr transfer to San Agustin in the upper reaches of the Magdalena Valley. If we have time we may make one or two shot birding stops en route.
Night in San Agustin.
Nov. 18 – Florencia, Laguna el Vaticano and drive to El Encanto
This morning we will have breakfast at the hotel then drive to the nearby San Agustin Archeological Park. This is among the most impressive and important cultural sites in the country with numerous stone sculptures, a small museum displaying a variety of artifacts, and even a stream where the large stones that make up the river bed were artfully carved in what was at the time a ceremonial footbath. Most of the stone statues are placed along a route that passes through the forest so we can expect to see some typical mountain birds such as Green Jay, various tanagers and migrant Canada Warblers as our local cultural guide shares with us of the incredible history of the area.
After lunch we will make the 2.5 hour drive up to El Encanto Ecolodge near the small mountain town of Palestina. We will likely make a birding stop to break up the drive, perhaps to look for the endemic Velvet-fronted Euphonia once in the more arid habitats. We will bird the lodge grounds for the remaining daylight where there are several hummingbird feeders and flowering shrubs that attract Shining-green Hummingbird, Red-billed and Short-tailed emerald and the endemic Indigo-capped Hummingbird. Fruit feeders attract Colombian Chachalacas, several tanagers including the lodge’s flagship bird the Golden-eared Tanager as well as Thick-billed Euphonias, Green Honeycreeper and more. Apical Flycatcher, Cerulean Warbler and Bar-crested Antshrike are regular in the garden as well.
Night at El Encanto Ecolodge.
Nov. 19 – La Drymophila Reserve and El Encanto Ecolodge
We will a full day to bird around the La Drymonphila Reserve which is owned by the family at El Encanto. We will start early with a 45-minute drive along the back road up to the reserve and have breakfast prepared for us on site.
The head of the Magdalena Valley holds a few country endemics, and we can expect to find Dusky-headed Brushfinch, East Andean Antbird and the potential future split “Huila” Maroon-tailed Parakeet here. Meanwhile, endemic Tolima Dove, Tolima Blossomcrown and Red-bellied Grackles are regular at feeders! Further feeders hold the elusive Schwartz’s Antthrush, the near-mythical Hooded Antpitta as well as White-throated Antpitta and Chestnut Wood-quail. Away from the feeders Golden-headed Quetzals and Southern Emerald-toucanet are likely if there are any trees in fruit. Other rarities such as Yellow-throated and Black-chested Fruiteater are possible though the former is seemingly now very scarce.
The forest around the feeder setup can be productive with species like Crested Quetzal, White-throated Spadebill, Chestnut-bellied Thrush, Uniform Antshrike, Russet-crowned Warbler and Oleaginous Hemispingus possible.
Nights at Magdalena Valley.
Nov. 20 – El Encanto to Puerto Asis with birding stops
This morning we will leave early to drive south a couple hours to Parador Ruta 45 which is a new birding area along the highway to Mocoa. We will have breakfast here and spend a couple hours birding. This area is good for the tricky Spectacled Prickletail as well as giving us another shot at Dusky-headed Brushfinch and East Andean Antbird if we missed them the day before.
We may lunch here or a bit further on at another birding site called Finca La Discosura where we will be birding again in three days time.
It is a further 2.5 hour drive to Puerto Asis and we will likely aim to do the drive in one shot, unless our local guide has any birding suggestions en route. Arriving at our accommodations at the Kofan Ecotourism Centre we will have the option of making a quick jaunt to see the local Spix’s Night-Monkeys before they leave their roost tree for their evening’s excursions.
Night at Kofan Ecotourism Centre
Nov. 21 – Hojarasca Centre and Puerto Asis area
A new birding site called the Hojarasca Centre has recently been found near to Puerto Asis, in our local guides neighbourhood. Here several quality species such as Rufous-headed Woodpecker, White-lored Antpitta, Black-spotted Bare-eye, Pavonine Quetzal and Ecuadorian Cacique have been recorded. Other, more widespread but notable birds around this site include Riparian and Scarlet-shouldered parrotlets, White-eared Jacamar, Orange-fronted Plushcrown, Large-headed Flatbill, Orange-backed Troupial and Fulvous Shrike-tanager. Birding is in secondary forest of varying ages.
Butterfly Coquette and Plum-throated Cotinga are regular and this is a great site for the tiny Pymgy Marmoset, the smallest primate in the Americas.
Open fields and wetlands nearby are good for Wing-barred and (seasonally) Lesson’s Seedeaters as well as Rufous-sided Crake and Hook-billed Kite. We will likely spend some time in the afternoon birding this habitat.
Night at Kofan Ecotourism Centre.
Nov. 22 – Finca El Escondite to Mocoa
An hour or so north of Puerto Asis lies the private reserve of Finca El Escondite. Birding the main access road and maybe some side trails we will be on the lookout for Orange-eyed Flycatcher and White-chinned Jacamar along with the rarer Golden-collared Toucanet. In more open, secondary areas we will keep an eye out for Orange-fronted Plushcrown, an unusual furnariid that could quite easily be mistaken for a warbler, Cream-colored Woodpecker and the rarer Rufous-headed Woodpecker in Guaduas bamboo stands. Scanning the treetops and exposed perches can be productive with Plum-throated Cotinga and Bare-necked Fruitcrow regular in the area along with many tanagers such as Opal-crowned, Opal-rumped and Turquoise tanagers.
Stands of Moriche palms in the reserve can sometimes produce the specialized Point-tailed Palmcreeper. Pygmy Marmoset, Saddle-backed Tamarin and Humboldt’s Squirrel Monkey are fairly common.
After lunch, we will drive to Mocoa (1.5hr) where we will check in to our hotel and either do some birding around the vicinity or take a rest perhaps in the hotel pool.
Night at Mocoa
Nov. 23 - Vereda Verdeyaco and birding around Mocoa
Near our hotel is an area called Vereda Verdeyaco. The refers to a zone along the main highway, a few kilometres in length, where local birding guides have been working with several property owners to develop birding tourism opportunities. We will be the beneficiaries of these efforts as we will spend time at several of these.
Finca Discosura has a small garden, a flowering tree that often attracts its namesake Wire-crested Thorntail (Discosura is the genus name for this bird) and a track that runs through some nice secondary forest. Birding here can be good for flocks with various tanagers, Rufous-tailed Foliage-gleaner, Wing-barred Piprites, Blue-crowned Trogon. This is one of the only sites in the country for Purplish Jacamar and the east-slope specialty Olive-chested Flycatcher was recently discovered here, a new species for the Colombia list!
Other sites nearby include a feeding station for Scaled Antpitta that we will hope is still active and the Mirador Casa Azul which offers a nice, canopy-level view for birding mixed flocks that can contain Paradise Tanager, Black-faced Dacnis and both Gilded and Lemon-throated barbet.
There are other wonderful birds to look for in the area such as Black-throated Brilliant, Golden-winged Tody-Flycatcher and Black Tinamou depending on what all we opt to do today.
After lunch back at our hotel, we will take a little siesta and do some more birding for the remainder for the afternoon, destination dependent on whatever of the above we didn’t get a chance to do in the AM.
Night at Mocoa
Nov. 24 - Route 10 aka “El Trampolin de las Aves” from Mocoa to Sibundoy
This will be a travelling day with lots of birding stops throughout as we make our way to the highland city of Sibundoy. We will likely make our first stop at an area that is good for Peruvian Rackettail and Coppery-chested Jacamar (if we didn’t see it at Florencia) before driving on through the lower elevation sections to the Filo del Hambre ridgeline for White-rimmed Brushfinch (as well as a top up of coffee). Yellow-throated Tanager, White-capped Tanager and Chestnut-bellied Thrush can also be found here and occasionally large flocks of White-chinned Swift wheel over. Rarities like Subtropical Pygmy-owl, White-faced Nunbird and Slaty Finch have been found around here as well so we will hope to get lucky with any of them.
Most of the day will be spent at higher elevations (above 2000m) where we will likely encounter mixed flocks that can hold Red-hooded, Beryl-spangled and Saffron-crowned tanagers. Mountain Caciques nest along the road and Crimson-mantled Woodpecker and Black-billed Mountain-toucans are also likely. The road passes beside a stream for a stretch and here we will hope to encounter Torrent Duck as well as White-capped Dipper. Mixed flocks in this section can hold Short-billed Chlorospingus.
Night in Sibundoy
Nov. 25 - Paramo Bordoncillo to Volcan Azufral
Today will likely be the coldest day of the trip as we will spend the morning as high as 3000m elevation at the Paramo Bordoncillo. This will probably be one of our more physically demanding mornings due to the altitude and the fact that the trail is usually muddy and wet and after the first couple hundred metres gets quite steep. However, we will take it slow and will likely only be walking the first kilometre or so of the track. This Paramo is unique as the lowest in elevation of any Paramo ecosystem and it holds some extremely scarce birds. Top of the list for us will be the Chestnut-bellied Cotinga, a species that only a handful of people had ever seen prior to its discovery at this site a few years ago. Masked Mountain-tanager is another very rare and beautiful bird that we might encounter. Other fantastic birds that we have a greater chance of finding include Rainbow-bearded and Purple-backed thornbills, Buff-winged Starfrontlet, Hooded, Lacrimose and Buff-breasted Mountain-tanagers, Golden-crowned Tanager, Plushcap and Pale-naped Brushfinch. This Paramo is often enshrouded in fog and we will hope for clear weather as the view down over Laguna de La Cocha and the surrounding paramo is spectacular!
We will lunch in nearby Laguna La Cocha (30 min drive) where if we have time we will do a very quick session birding the environs of the lake where we should see Yellow-billed Pintail, Slate-colored Coot and with some luck, Andean Gull, “Ecuadorian” Virginia Rail or Cinereous Harrier.
We will then drive the 4.5 hours to Aves y Florez lodge, arriving in time for dinner. Note that this lodge is very basic with simple, but clean rooms. There are feeders setup off the balcony and over the next few days we will have opportunities to enjoy the birds attracted in such as an array of tanagers including Golden, Rufous-throated and Flame-rumped alongside Red-headed Barbet, Crimson-rumped Toucanet and Orange-billed Sparrow.
Night in Aves y Florez Lodge.
Nov. 26 – Rio Ñambi Reserve and Choco Foothills
This morning we will get an early start to the nearby Rio Ñambi entrance trail. The trail into the basic lodge here is 3 km long but we will likely only walk the first half of it or so as the trail, though fairly wide, can be muddy and has a few short, steeper sections. The birding can be slow, but we will hope to encounter mixed flocks which often contain Choco specialties like Choco Warbler, Indigo Flowerpiercer, Rufous-throated and Glistening-green tanager and Black-chinned Mountain-tanagers. Along one of the few streams we cross we can hope to see Olive Finch and perhaps the scarce Tooth-billed Hummingbird. Hummingbird feeders attract Violet-tailed Sylph and Brown Inca. Several rarer specialties such as Plumbeous Forest-falcon, Long-wattled Umbrellabird and Dark-backed Wood-quail have been seen here, and we will keep our fingers crossed that we might get lucky with them.
In the afternoon we will explore an old road/trail just down the highway from here where the very local Moss-backed Tanager is common. Here we can also expect to see jaw-dropping Scarlet-and-white Tanagers as well as perhaps Orange-breasted Fruiteater, Black Solitaire, Sooty-headed Wren and Club-winged Manakin along with several other more widespread tanagers and flycatchers. We will also aim to pick up a couple new hummingbirds here including Velvet-purple Coronet and Purple-bibbed Whitetip.
Night in Aves y Florez Lodge.
Nov. 27 – La Nutria Reserve and Choco foothills
This morning we will head down to the La Nutria Reserve, a 30-minute drive from the lodge, which has access to some excellent foothill forest. There is a long list of delightful birds here and such as Tooth-billed Hummingbird, Lita Woodpecker, Golden-chested, Yellow-green and Emerald tanagers, Lanceolated Monklet and Blue-tailed Trogon. This reserve is run by the local indigenous community and has opened some great birding possibilities at a slightly lower elevation than the other nearby sites.
In the afternoon we will decide where we want to focus our birding time but will likely focus on the Barbacoas Road, which sees little traffic and has nice roadside birding. Here we can find Toucan Barbet, Orange-breasted Fruiteater, Maroon-tailed (Pacific) Parakeet, Zeledon’s and Esmeralda’s Antbirds and the scarce Choco Vireo.
Nov. 28 – La Planada Reserve and Finca el Bosque to Tuquerres
We will head out before dawn in order to arrive at the La Planada Reserve at middle elevations in time for the early bird activity. We will start with some time at the beautiful Mirador (viewpoint) which boasts a stunning view across the forest canopy below. This is perhaps the best spot for tow of our targets, the multicolored Plate-billed Mountain-toucan and the scarce White-faced Nunbird. While we are watching out for these two we will no doubt be entertained by some flock species like Golden-collared Honeycreeper and Blue-winged Mountain-, Flame-faced and Golden-naped tanagers, Toucan Barbet and Green-and-black Fruiteater. Moving on we bird our way along the entrance road where we can try to coax out skulkers such as Nariño Tapaculo, Yellow-breasted Antpitta or Dark-backed Wood-quail. This reserve is the best spot in the world for the range-restricted Hoary Puffleg which, fortunately, is fairly common along the entrance road near the lodge buildings. After breakfast we will continue birding the area which can be fantastic for mixed species flocks!
In the late morning we will make the ~1hr drive to the nearby Finca el Bosque, another small, family-run birding site. The Finca el Bosque regularly gets Plate-billed Mountain-toucan in their yard or even coming in to a banana feeder! Rufous-gaped Hillstar is likely here and we will likely see more of the same suite of species possible at La Planada.
Mid-afternoon will see us departing for the ~2hr drive to the highland town of Tuquerres. If we arrive in time we may do a bit of birding in the potato fields on the slopes of Volcan Azufral where Curve-billed Tinamou can sometimes be seen in the late afternoon.
Night at Cabañas Andariegos or Hotel in Tuquerres.
Nov. 29 – Volcan Azufral to Pasto for flight to Bogota
Our final morning of birding in Southern Colombia will be spent on the lower slopes of Volcan Azufral. We will be visiting a little side road that passes through strips of montane forest and open fields. This is one of the few sites in Colombia where Turquoise Jay has been seen. More widespread species such as Gorgetted Puffleg, Sword-billed Hummingbird and Yellow-breasted Brushfinch occur while in the fields Andean Lapwing has been occasionally found and Carunculated Caracaras are to be seen hunting.
In the late morning, we will begin the transfer to Pasto and after a lunch en route we will arrive at the airport North of the city in time for our late afternoon flight. The current flight schedule would have us arriving back in Bogota at 6:15pm where we will have our final dinner at our hotel.
Night at hotel near airport in Bogota.
Nov. 30 – Bogota – END TOUR
Breakfast and END TOUR.
