The Eastern Andes from Bogota to Soata: birding trip for recordist Terry Morgan & Karen Walz (November 18-30, 2016).

01 - 12 - 2016

A 13-day birding trip through the Eastern Andes of Colombia, with emphasis on recording bird vocalizations of new species unknown to Terry Morgan & Karen Walz from USA. First days were devoted to localities near Bogota, including Laguna de Pedro Palo, Chicaque Ecopark, Monterredondo, Chingaza National Park, Paramo de Guasca & Siecha gravel pits. Moving north, we visited Laguna de Fúquene, Rogitama Nature Reserve & Paramo de la Rusia, including a 3-day stay at Soata where we birded the dry scrublands of the Chicamocha Canyon and the Oak Forests above town. Returning to Bogota, we visited the Enchanted Gardens of San Francisco and Laguna de Tabacal.

Covering 2,385 kilometers of mountain roads on the Eastern & Western sides of the Bogota plateau, we registered 303 species of which 55 were new to Terry & Karen. Highlights for the tour included the endemics Bogota Rail, Brown-breasted Parakeet, Black Inca, Chestnut-bellied & Indigo-capped Hummingbirds, Cundinamarca Antpitta (taped only), Silvery-throated Spinetail, Apical Flycatcher, Apolinar´s & Niceforo´s Wrens, and the rare Mountain Grackle. Among the near-endemics we enjoyed seeing well the Bronze-tailed Thornbill, Golden-bellied & Blue-throated Starfrontlets, Red-billed & Short-tailed Emeralds, Pale-bellied (Matorral) Tapaculo, Rufous-browed Conebill and Gray-throated Warbler. True specialties included the Noble Snipe, Spectacled Parrotlet, Andean Pygmy-Owl, Amethyst-throated (Longuemare´s Sunangel), Purple-backed Thornbill, Lazuline Sabrewing, Moustached Puffbird, Black-billed Mountain-Toucan, Bar-crested Antshrike, Blue-lored Antbird, Undulated Antpitta (taped only), Rusty-breasted Antpitta, Ash-browed Spinetail, Black-headed Hemispingus, Black-chested & Buff-breasted Mountain-Tanagers, Golden-crowned & Scrub Tanagers, Ochre-breasted & Yellow-breasted Brush-Finches, among others.

 


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