El Trampolin de Las Aves. Known to some as El Trampolin de La Muerte (the trampoline of death), this rough gravel road traverses a particularly steep section of the eastern slope of the south Colombian Andes. Named for its treacherous driving conditions caused by blind hairpin curves adjacent to thousand-foot drops, this road is also becoming famous for its incredible bird life. The road begins outside of the town of Mocoa near around 1000 m in elevation and continues up past 2300 m in elevation, several dozen kilometers later. Along its length is nothing but unbroken forest and incredible vistas. As part of our scouting trip for Worldwide Quest, Laura and I were fortunate to be able to explore this incredible area for two days.
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| El Trampolin, Putumayo Province, Colombia |
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| El Trampolin, Putumayo Province, Colombia |
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| El Trampolin, Putumayo Province, Colombia |
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| El Trampolin, Putumayo Province, Colombia |
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| Blister Beetle (Meloidea) - El Trampolin, Putumayo Province, Colombia |
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| El Trampolin, Putumayo Province, Colombia |
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| Sobralia rosea - El Trampolin, Putumayo Province, Colombia |
The weather gods tried their hardest to dissuade us and we experienced our share of rain throughout our visit. However, the skies cleared for a few hours in the early morning and again in the afternoon on our first day and it was during these times that we had our best mixed flocks of birds. Orange-eared Tanager was one I was really hoping to catch up with. Not only did we find this species, but a pair of them came down to eye-level!
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| Orange-eared Tanager - El Trampolin, Putumayo Province, Colombia |
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| Bronze-green Euphonia - El Trampolin, Putumayo Province, Colombia |
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| Speckled Chachalaca - El Trampolin, Putumayo Province, Colombia |
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| Russet-backed Oropendola - El Trampolin, Putumayo Province, Colombia |
At one point a tiny bump on a distant stick drew Laura's attention. I am glad we decided to investigate it further since it turned into a male Gorgeted Woodstar, a species I had only seen once or twice before. Soon another male tried to chase it off its perch, unsuccessfully however.
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| Gorgeted Woodstar - El Trampolin, Putumayo Province, Colombia |
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| Gorgeted Woodstar - El Trampolin, Putumayo Province, Colombia |
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| Gorgeted Woodstars - El Trampolin, Putumayo Province, Colombia |
A Lemon-browed Flycatcher was more successful in evicting the woodstar. It seemingly posed for our cameras and belted out its song.
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| Lemon-browed Flycatcher - El Trampolin, Putumayo Province, Colombia |
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| Lemon-browed Flycatcher - El Trampolin, Putumayo Province, Colombia |
The mixed flocks that we encountered were chock-full of fantastic birds. In the lower parts of the road we chanced upon many Amazonian species including Turquoise Tanager, Yellow-bellied Tanager, Violaceous Jay, and Speckled Chachalaca. As we ascended up the mountain, the ratio of Andean to Amazonian species increased. Yellow-throated Tanager was one of the standouts, while the normally scarce Deep-blue Flowerpiercer proved to be a common species here. Flocks of Short-billed Chlorospingus were fun to pick through and we even found a few Andean Cock-of-the-Rocks. Another major target was Black-streaked Puffbird, but we had to settle for a heard-only individual unfortunately.
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| Yellow-throated Tanager - El Trampolin, Putumayo Province, Colombia |
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| Deep-blue Flowerpiercer - El Trampolin, Putumayo Province, Colombia |
Hummingbirds were also well-represented, though the hoped for Wire-crested Thorntail proved elusive. Green-backed Hillstars and Green-fronted Lancebills were two of the more common specie. This lancebill, below, was guarding its territory beside a small waterfall.
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| Green-fronted Lancebill - El Trampolin, Putumayo Province, Colombia |
By late morning we had ascended near to 2000 m in elevation when the torrential rains began. We motored up the mountain to a small restaurant near 2,300 m (Restaurante El Filo) where we had a break and waited out the weather. A medium-sized songbird flew into a roadside pine while we waited; a quick check with my bins confirmed that it was the much hoped-for White-rimmed Brush-Finch. Pandemonium ensued despite the rain and I even risked ruining my camera to obtain some poor record shots. The White-rimmed Brush-Finch is a scarce east-slope specialist and was one of my most-wanted birds for El Trampolin.
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| White-rimmed Brush-Finch - El Trampolin, Putumayo Province, Colombia |
We had missed seeing the endemic Red-bellied Grackles earlier in the trip and El Trampolin would be our last shot at them. We birded hard on our first day here but did not hear or see any. On our second day, the rain began at dawn and continued throughout the morning. Our driver, Jovani, proved to not only be an excellent navigator of the rough road but also a great spotter. He slammed on the brakes when he noticed some Red-bellied Grackles in some trees beside the road. I risked my camera again to obtain some bad record photos, but how sweet it was to soak in views of these spectacular icterids.
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| Red-bellied Grackle - El Trampolin, Putumayo Province, Colombia |
Most of the day was a wash, literally, and many hours were spent in the van driving to our next destination - Laguna la Cocha. But we stopped on a few occasions to poke around. Twice we heard the distinctive vocalizations of White-capped Tanagers, and both times they provided incredible views (and photos).
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| White-capped Tanager - El Trampolin, Putumayo Province, Colombia |
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| White-capped Tanagers - El Trampolin, Putumayo Province, Colombia |
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| White-capped Tanagers - El Trampolin, Putumayo Province, Colombia |
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| White-capped Tanager - El Trampolin, Putumayo Province, Colombia |
At a small creek crossing the road I noticed movement which turned into a pair of Slaty-backed Chat-Tyrants. An attractive tyrannid that I cannot get enough of.
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| Slaty-backed Chat-Tyant - El Trampolin, Putumayo Province, Colombia |
Scanning for bird life...
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| Exploring El Trampolin, Putumayo Province, Colombia |
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| Exploring El Trampolin, Putumayo Province, Colombia |
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| Exploring El Trampolin, Putumayo Province, Colombia |
El Trampolin was undoubtedly one of the highlights of our trip and hopefully we will have an opportunity to return again in the future.
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| El Trampolin, Putumayo Province, Colombia |
2 comments:
Hi Josh, Thank you for sharing these amazing experience.
Just wanted to let you know it is not Nariño province but Putumayo province. The Trampolin goes from Sibndoy Valley all the way to Mocoa and both are inside Putumayo. Not Nariño.
All the best,
Juliana
Thanks, Juliana. I will make the corrections.
All the best,
Josh
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