If I Were Going...: Birding in Colombia #17: High Andes Search

Beautiful and peaceful

The following two mornings found us searching for endemics along a high mountain road on the crest of the Eastern Cordillera in Santander.

Heather and Alejandro on the hunt

This area was once home to multiple Amerindian ethnic groups: Muisca, Chitareros, Laches, Yariguí, Opón, Carare and Guanes, who grew maize, beans, yuca, arracacha, cotton, agave, tobacco, tomatoes, pineapple and guava on steep mountainous terrains.

The beautiful Andes

Where we birded was still somewhat agricultural. We encountered some cattle and saw many patches of cleared land, but not much in the way of crops.

We shared our birding path with a local rancher ...

... and his cattle

Plus, we observed some beehives on a steep slope across the valley. I am not even sure how the farmers/beekeepers got to them to tend them.

Beehives

Spanish conquistador Antonio de Lebrija led the first expedition through the area in 1529. Four years later, the area was invaded by German Ambrosius Ehinger in a quest to find El Dorado. This disrupted or destroyed many of the Amerindian villages, many ethnic groups perished from disease and several Spanish villages were founded. The remaining Amerindians were assimilated and forced to work in agriculture, manufacturing goods and mines.

The mornings started wet and misty ...

Chilly, too!

Morning sun made everything sparkle (but, it was still cool)

The area we birded was probably at 9,000-10,000 feet with steep forested mountains and some interesting flora.

Lichens and mosses on a wet cliffside

Heather photographing mosses

Cavendishia and Red Amaranth

Creeping Clubmoss

Passionflower

Ragged Polypore Lichen

A wide variety of ferns and large-leafed plants

Paulista Bumblebee on a passionflower

Bromeliads and ferns growing from a tree

Forest with a very steep drop-off

Alejandro did his absolute best to summon some rare and secretive endemic Colombian Mountain Grackles, but, although we heard some, they never appeared. Once again, I saw the endemic Andean Guan, but got no pictures. Over the two mornings, I did capture…

Band-tailed Pigeons

Cinnamon Flycatcher

A dark morph Short-tailed Hawk

American Kestrel

A Broad-winged Hawk

This was a great variety of raptors, different from the ones we were seeing at lower elevations.

The big thrill was actually getting photos of not just a lifer, but a lifer Tapaculo.

In this case, a Pale-bellied Tapaculo

I wrote before about how skulky these little guys are. Tapaculos fly poorly on short wings and live in grasslands or forest undergrowth, staying on or close to the ground. With a cocked tail that points towards the head, the majority of the many different Tapaculos are small blackish or brown birds, but there are some larger and more colorful species.

Our Pale-bellied Tapaculo was dark gray, so a bit easier to see than the black ones

First, we heard its (very loud) call and then it approached where we were standing, flitting in and out of the understory and finally landing out in the open where we got a good look and decent photos.

Yay!!!! I really felt like I accomplished something; birding does that to you

I saw, but did not capture a whole bunch of birds: Eared Dove, White-collared Swift, Lesser Violetear, Longuemare's Sunangel, Tyrian Metaltail, White-bellied Woodstar, White-throated Tyrannulet, Ashy-throated Chlorospingus, Yellow-backed Oriole, Golden-fronted Redstart and Masked Flowerpiercer, plus two lifers: Glowing Puffleg and Rusty-faced Parrots.

Alejandro and me looking for those tough birds; Photo: Heather

So, even with the high of capturing the Tapaculo, my batting average in Santander was pretty low.

Even though I was striking out on bird photos, I thoroughly enjoyed the cool mountain air, peaceful surroundings, gorgeous views and interesting sights, including these iridescent blue Leaf Beetles munching away at some big-leafed plants.