News
15.07/2010
From June
29th to July 2nd we toured the Coffee Region with Paul Clements and
Ranleigh
Hirsh, in a relaxed and easy excursion visiting the Quindío Botanical
Garden,
Acaime Nature Reserve (on a memorable back-horse ride), William Peña’s
&
José Carlos Jaramillo’s hummingbirds in Pereira, Río Blanco Nature
Reserve in
Manizales and Los Nevados National Park.
After traveling back home, Paul mailed us the
following thankful note: “Dear Daniel: I just wanted to write to say how
much
Ran and I enjoyed La
Zona Cafetera under your expert care. We saw 98 bird
species, which is wonderful, because I don't think we were doing intense
birding. Every one was special. Please thank your friend William for
us, for his wonderful hospitality. We look forward to coming back to
Colombia
soon, and we hope you'll be available to show us new regions and
sights. All
the best, Paul Clements.”
01.06/2010
Beginning
May 26th 2010, we toured for
6 days the Coffee Region with
Roger Neckles, the Caribbean's leading nature
photographer and co-author of the book Birds
of Trinidad & Tobago. During
Roger's visit, we hiked, horse-back rode and visited a great number of
nature
reserves, taking images of butterflies, flowers, nature scenery and of
course,
lot's of birds!
Among the many photo sprees we had during our
trip, we enjoyed close encounters with magnificent birds, among which
were the
Mountain Cacique, Masked Trogon, Brown-banded Antpitta, Chestnut-crowned
Antpitta, Azara's Spinetail, Torrent Duck and a number of hummingbirds,
including the gorgeous Long-tailed Sylph and Collared Inca. Many bird
species
caught the crosshairs of Roger and Daniel's lenses, and a visit to the
Quindío Botanical Garden yielded beautiful
images of a myriad variety of exotic butterflies and flowers as well.
Left: Daniel Uribe, Right: Roger Neckles. Photo taken with remote control, fill flash and camera on tripod.
14.03/2010
From March 4th to 13th we undertook a wonderful nature photography excursion with Mr. Fidel Jaramillo and wife Ana María Salazar. We visited six nature reserves in three states (Quindío, Risaralda and Caldas) of the Central Andes, taking images of birds, butterflies, flowers and landscapes. A gallery with bird images taken by Daniel Uribe during this excursion has been published in the Gallery section of this web page.
In Quindío
we hiked the trails of Bremen-La Popa, Horizontes, Acaime and La Montaña Nature Reserves, and we
visited the National Center for the Study of Bambú-Guadua and the Quindío
Botanical Garden. In Risaralda we visited the Otún-Quimbaya Wildlife Sanctuary and
in Caldas we lodged at Río Blanco Nature Reserve.
Among the many birds that we photographed were
the beautiful White-capped Tanager (Sericossypha
albocristata) and the Red-ruffed Fruitcrow (Pyroderus scutatus). Also, the stunning Crimson-mantled Woodpecker (Colaptes rivolii), Miller’s Antpitta (Grallaria milleri) and the Sword-billed
Hummingbird (Ensifera ensifera).
20.02/2010
February 19th
and 20th saw us climbing the mountains of Quindío in search for the
very rare and endemic Indigo-winged Parrot, also known as Fuertes's Parrot
(Hapalopsittaca fuertesi), upon request of Kevin Sharp and Rusty Brach from USA
and Sergio Ocampo from Río Blanco Reserve. With very short notice in advance,
Jorge López and I drew a plan to climb the very steep mountains of the municipality of Génova in Quindío, knowing that the
Fuertes's Parrot could be seen in Finca La Judea.
We spent 90 minutes commuting from Armenia to the town of
Génova (1,400 meters),
1 hour climbing the lower mountains in a local 4x4 Jeep Willys (1954 model, running
powerfully!), and 3 hours back-horse riding through very steep hills until we
reach 3,200 meters
above sea level.
After replenishing
energies with a well-deserved lunch in Finca La Judea, got back again into
our horses for a short ride up to a forest edge where nest boxes had been
placed for the Fuertes's Parrot. Suddenly, a single bird flew from the forest
and came back toward us, landing in a nearby tree. Had time to take some
pictures and enjoyed the bird greatly with our binoculars, before it flew not
to be seen afterwards that afternoon.
From left to right: Jorge López, Sergio Ocampo, Daniel
Uribe, Rusty Brach and Kevin Sharp, a few minutes after seeing
the Fuertes?s Parrot. Photo taken by Don Carlos Molina, local farmer and owner
of Finca La Judea.
29.01/2010
The award ceremony for the 4th Regional Photography Contest took place on January 29th (2010). This contest is organized and sponsored by Armenia?s Chamber of Commerce and it runs for three categories: Landscapes, Icons and People. This year, 43 photographers submitted 80 images. Only two photos were allowed per photographer. Four photos were awarded, and Daniel Uribe obtained second place with the photo shown here of a butterfly (Greta dercetis) taken at Horizontes Nature Reserve in the municipality of Circasia, nearby Armenia. This private nature reserve is owned by Ms. María del Pilar Neira and her family, and is affiliated to the Colombian Network of Private Nature Reserves (Resnatur in Spanish). Horizontes Nature Reserve protects important water springs through a small but beautiful gallery forest where a healthy and vigorous regeneration of Wax Palm (Ceroxylon alpinum) takes place.
One of the prominent characteristics of this forest is the abundance of shade butterflies, among which the species Greta dercetis (Nymphalidae, Ithominae) is a prominent species.
The awarded photo was taken with a Nikon D80, 70-300 VR lens, no flash, at a focal length of 300 mm, f 8.0, 1/10 second, ISO 100, +/-0.0, on 22/03/2008.
14.02/2010
On February 14 (2010) we were ready at 6:15 am to bird Bremen Nature Reserve in Circasia (Quindío) with our new friend Carmen Martín from Spain and her Colombian friend Carol Rodríguez. We also invited Céline Billard from France and William Peña from Pereira.
We enjoyed plenty of birds this morning, especially the Andean Solitaire that was extremely vocal, the always beautiful Blue-crowned Motmot, Crimson-rumped Toucanet (we saw two groups with 4 birds each), Green Jay, Collared Trogon, Plumbeous Pigeon, Squirrel Cuckoo, White-naped Brush-Finch and Black-winged Saltator, among many others.
Céline is a big fan of macrophotography, taking lots of pictures of flowers and insects. But William has persevered showing Céline the birds of our region? today, Céline wrote down the names of all birds seen. Congratulations Céline, keep up the good work!
From left to right: Céline Billard, William Peña, Carmen Martín and Daniel Uribe. Photo taken by Carol Rodríguez.
22.12/2009
December 21 & 22 we birded Río Blanco and Los Nevados with the Namer family from Canada.
On January 14th Dina wrote us with the following nice note:
"Dear Daniel: A very belated thank you for the absolutely wonderful trip in the Andes. It truly was the highlight of our entire visit to Colombia, and we will never forget it. You were the perfect guide, unbelievably knowledgeable, organized and yet flexible and relaxed so we never felt pressured or stressed. It was a complete joy (except getting soaked and cold, which was my own fault for not having all the proper gear! I sincerely hope that we can return before too long, and share another adventure with you.
Have a wonderful 2010!
All the best,
Dina Namer."
From left to right: Mercedes Namer, Eban Namer, Michael Namer, Sarah Namer, Dina Namer and Daniel Uribe.
13.12/2009
On December 13/2009 we hiked the trail of Horizontes Nature Reserve in Circasia with Eban Namer and friends visiting from Canada.
We enjoyed greatly the shade butterflies of this small forest, took a lot of pictures of them and managed to see some nice birds too. I remember specially the amazing song of the Gray-necked Wood-Rail very close to us.
Eban was very king to send us the following note to be published at the web page:
?I had the pleasure to be accompanied by Daniel Uribe on a day trip to spot birds in the Armenia area. I was accompanied by three friends who were visiting the area and had little knowledge of Spanish. It was a wonderful opportunity to view some of the gorgeous birds and butterflies which inhabit the Quindio region. Daniel is a wonderful guide and has the subtle ability to balance a relaxing day with a pace that insures the accomplishment of all the day?s goals. His English is excellent and he has a superb knowledge of the birds of the area, identifying them both by markings and by songs. My friends and I had a wonderful day!?.
From left to right: EbanNamer, Cindy McIntyre, Peter Loveridge and Lindsay Copland. Photo taken by María del Pilar Neira.
20.12/2009
December 17-20/2009 birded again for the fourth time Cerro Montezuma (Montane Chocó), on this occasion with Knud Andreas Jonsson (Denmark), Sara Ramírez, Jorge López and Diego Duque (Colombia).
Our first day was invested in reaching the place, departing from Pereira at noon. Unluckily, it rained non-stop the second and third days, with clear skies on the morning of our last day.
Very tough birding due to the weather factor, but with great birds such as the endemics Black-and-gold Tanager, Gold-ringed Tanager, Crested Ant-Tanager, Parker?s Antbird and Chestnut Wood-Quail. And many wonderful specialties, such as Violet-tailed Sylph, Velvet-purple Coronet, White-tailed Hillstar, Purpled-bibbed Whitetip, Empress Brilliant, Toucan Barbet, Fulvous-dotted Treerunner, Buffy Tuftedcheek, Rufous-breasted Antthrush, Orange-breasted Fruiteater, Olivaceous Piha, Black Solitaire, Glistening-green Tanager, Flame-faced Tanager, Chestnut-breasted and Yellow-collared Chlorophonias.
From left to right: Knud Andreas Jonsson, Sara Ramírez, Jorge López, Daniel Uribe and Diego Duque.
