Birding in Colombia #3: Mountains and Valley

A valley of Butterflies and Birds

Continuing on on my birding trip through Colombia, we were in the La Vega Valley in the lush western foothills of the Eastern Cordillera of the Andes near the Río Canas. 

The Río Canas right below us

The surrounding area was characterized by steep forested mountains, dense vegetation and diverse wildlife (including, of course), birds!

Bay-headed Tanager, ignoring me

Since our guide, Alejandro, handled all check-in and check-out and our driver, Hernan, handled getting us everywhere, I was often confused about exactly where we were. I knew generally, but not exactly.

I was confused by the name of the place we were staying here, which is listed, based on GPS coordinates, as “Shambhala echoed” on eBird. My list of our lodgings for the trip said that we would be staying at the Ananda Boutique Hotel in La Vega. One of the signs I saw near the hotel where we stayed said “Shambhala,” not Ananda. 

The sign says it

When I Googled, I found both Ananda and Shambhala on Google maps in separate locations but near each other. The photos of each looked identical. When I found Shambhala Ecohotel on Booking.com, it had a map that showed the name Ananda. It appears that the former Ananda is now the Shambhala Ecohotel (not “echoed” as listed on eBird). So, that’s where we stayed and birded.

Northwest of Bogotá

It had been raining and was threatening more when we arrived in the late afternoon. The rain had washed out the end of the drive into the hotel, so we had to walk up the hill. 

A steep climb at the end of a long day; Photos: Heather

The rooms were beautiful with terraces that jutted out of the steep hillside and delivered a view of the rainforest and river below. 

My room

We were staying just one night and we stayed busy, so, as with all accommodations, we didn’t have time to enjoy the pool or spa facilities. That is a downside of birding trips.

I wish we had had time; Photos: Shambhala Ecohotel

But, I did enjoy the view

After, we arrived, we decided to do some birding around the property. The sky looked very angry, so I took rain gear just in case.

 But, instead of rain, we had gorgeous "golden hour" light

So, what did we see in our brief foray around the grounds?

Turns out, a pretty good showing of birds, but only one lifer, with the sad, sad name of Plain-colored Tanager. 

I mean, are they trying to give these birds a complex?

We also saw a lot of birds I had already seen, including Ruddy Ground Doves, a White-necked Jacobin, some Western Cattle-Egrets, a kettle of Black Vultures, a Red-crowned Woodpecker, some quickly flying Orange-chinned Parakeets, plus …

Bay-headed Tanager

Blackburnian Warbler

Red-rumped Woodpecker

Social Flycatcher

And, the Tropical Kingbird that didn’t seem to mind the rain

I saw, but didn't photograph two really pretty ones that Bob got ...

Blue-necked Tanager

Gray-headed Tanager

In addition to birds, Colombia is known for butterflies. These were the first I photographed during our trip ...

The magnificent Blue Morpho

The brilliant Scarlet Peacock

The walk around our hotel was our first chance to really experience Colombian forest. Alejandro pointed out a Calabash Tree, laden with enormous green fruit, about the size of a cannonball. 

It was hard to imagine how the tree could support them

Alejandro said that hard outer shells were dried and used to make bowls and plates. 

Calabash bowls and tree; Left photo; eBay

The fruit also has medicinal qualities, even though the raw pulp and seeds can be toxic. A syrup made from the pulp is a popular remedy for colds, asthma and bronchitis. The pulp is used as a laxative and to treat diarrhea or stomach pain. Leaf extracts and fruit pulp are used to reduce fever, lower blood pressure, treat infections and toothaches, manage diabetes and induce labor.

We also saw a number of bright red Helaconia ...

Hummingbirds love these

... a wide variety of trees, ferns and palms ...

Starting to rain on the jungle

And, when we got back, we had a deluge. Watch it here ...

Early Morning Birding

The next morning, we started out early (as we did every morning) to explore near the hotel grounds before we boarded the van for our next stop.

It was cool rapidly transitioning to warm and extremely humid, which is what one would expect after a downpour. It was, quite frankly, the kind of weather I had assumed we would see for most of the trip. Fortunately, it wasn’t this steamy most of the other places we went.

The rain keeps it green

We hiked on a dark narrow trail leading up the hill from the lodge where we saw a couple of nice birds in the understory, starting with two lifers. First, we saw a Little Cuckoo perched (and calling) right above us.

So cute

Right after that, we saw a Moustached Puffbird that was at fairly close range ... 

 ... but was a bit tricky to see and photograph because it was so dark

I had hoped to get a better shot because Puffbirds I had seen in the past tended to be so still and cooperative for the camera. This one, like the Cuckoo, was right above us, so getting a good angle was tough. Alejandro tried to encourage it to drop down, but it was not having it, except for a couple of rapid repositionings before going high again.

But, at least the Cuckoo and the Puffbird gave us a chance. Some really close-range Orange-billed Sparrows, a Black-throated Mango, a Bar-crested Antshrike and a Black-headed Brushfinch just wouldn’t stay long enough to be photographed in the dark underbrush. This was sad because I had had the same problem with the same Sparrow in Costa Rica and the Antshrike and Brushfinch were lifers that I never managed to get a photo of, despite seeing both again on the trip.

I did shoot a Millipede

We hiked higher and ended up on an open field on top of a mountain with views across to other mountaintops and a giant tree right next to us full of birds. This was one of my most difficult moments. Everyone was seeing a wide variety of birds in the tree. I could see movement and glimpses of some, but I could never even home in on the allegedly many Spectacled Parrotlets (that would have been a lifer here) above us. Later in the trip, I did see and get photos of them. An additional lifer I couldn’t photograph here or later when I saw another was a Yellow-crowned Tyrannulet. I won’t bore you with the whole list of non-lifers I saw but didn’t capture.

The three birds I did managed to snap were ...

A cooperative Black-billed Thrush

A distant Olive-gray Saltator

A beautiful, but shy Blue-necked Tanager

So, why was I struggling so much? Lots of reasons: When there are a lot of birds at once, it can be hard to focus in on the “right ones;” many were very far away and/or in deep foliage; most were moving frequently and rapidly; and, worst of all, my glasses kept fogging up so badly that I couldn’t see at all. This may have been my lowest point in the whole trip where I thought I would never get a good shot because I just couldn’t see.

It got better. We can start talking about that next time.

Cocoi Heron, Guarinocito Lake

Tour dates: March 7-28, 2026